MSK is a Reason to Love NYC

Dr. Luis Diaz Jr., far left, and Dr. Andrea Cercek, second from right, with patients from the trial. Photo by Richard DeWitt.

Dr. Luis Diaz Jr., far left, and Dr. Andrea Cercek, second from right, with patients from the trial. Photo by Richard DeWitt.

Reason #37 to love New York in 2022? Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

So says New York Magazine as it celebrates the groundbreaking clinical trial led by Dr. Andrea Cercek and Dr. Luis Diaz Jr. In the small trial, all 14 participants who received six months of immunotherapy for rectal cancer had complete remission without additional treatment. The patients had a specific mismatch repair-deficient tumor mutation, which is thought to occur for 5% to 10% of rectal cancers.

Read more about the trial from MSK’s coverage and the New England Journal of Medicine article.

Low-Protein Diet for Colon Cancer, Algorithm for Radiation Therapy Scheduling Drastically Boosts its Efficacy and More

  • Researchers from the University of Michigan found, in preclinical studies, that a low-protein diet blocked the nutrient signaling pathway that drove colon cancer growth. “A low-protein diet, and specifically a reduction in two key amino acids” starved cancer cells and helped overcome treatment resistance Results of the study were published in Gastroenterology.
  • Researchers from the University of Missouri discovered that nicotinamide, or niacinamide, a form of vitamin B3, might increase breast cancer and brain metastasis risk. It is contrary to the results of earlier research that showed multiple health benefits of taking the supplement. The study was published in Biosensors and Bioelectronics.
  • New animal research on squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), a skin cancer linked to RAS gene mutations, found that cancer development was driven by the interaction and mutual influence of tumor stem cells and their environment. The study further discovered a surprising for SCC connection to leptin, a hormone produced by fat cells. The findings of this study go beyond the studied cancer type and give an insight into cancer biology that may result in developing new ways of treating cancer. The study was published in Nature.
  • Canadian researchers used mathematics to devise an algorithm for scheduling radiation therapy that could make it up to 22 percent more effective at killing cancer cells than existing standard radiation treatment regimens. The algorithm needs to be tested in clinical studies. The work was published in Journal of Mathematical Biology.
  • Scientists from Germany discovered the reason for the previously observed phenomenon where metastatic growth only appeared after the surgical removal of the original tumor. They conducted an animal study and, in the cancer cells, identified a messenger substance (ANGPLT4) that promoted the local growth of the primary tumor. In the blood, ANGPLT4 split into two fragments, one of which suppressed metastasis. Surgical removal of the primary tumor disables the source of the metastasis-suppressing fragment, thus activating individual dormant metastatic tumor cells. While surgery remains the gold standard in treating most cancers, further study of ANGPLT4 may pave the way to developing new metastasis-suppressing drugs. The study was published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.

It’s That Time of Year: Check Out the 2022 Highly Cited Researchers™

Clarivate released its 2022 list of Highly Cited Researchers™. Their methodology identifies approximately 7,000+ researchers from around the world who demonstrate significant influence in their field(s) of interest through their highly cited papers. Curious on who made this global list of influential scientific researchers from Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK)? Read on to find out!

The Highly Cited Researchers’ names are drawn from the publications that rank in the top 1% by citations for field and publication year in the Web of Science™ citation index.

This year, I am delighted to share that 49 researchers associated with MSK made this prestigious list. Thirty-three MSK authors on the 2022 list were also on the 2021 list. In addition, Sarat Chandarlapaty, Alexander Drilon, Xuejun Jiang, and Ming O. Li were first time researchers to make the list.

Name  Category Name  Category
Omar Abdel-Wahab  Molecular Biology & Genetics Vincent A. Miller Clinical Medicine
Maria E. Arcila   Clinical Medicine Robert J. Motzer  Clinical Medicine
Michael F. Berger  Clinical Medicine *Eric G. Pamer Immunology
*Renier Brentjens  Cross-Field  Dana Pe’er  Molecular Biology & Genetics
Margaret K. Callahan Cross-Field  Michael A. Postow  Clinical Medicine
Sarat Chandarlapaty  Cross-Field  Natasha Rekhtman  Cross-Field
Justin R. Cross  Cross-Field  Gregory J. Riely Clinical Medicine
Elisa de Stanchina Cross-Field  Neal Rosen  Cross-Field
Luis A. Diaz, Jr.  Cross-Field Jonathan Rosenberg Cross-Field
Alexander Drilon Clinical Medicine Alexander Y. Rudensky Immunology
Frederic Geissmann Immunology Charles M. Rudin Clinical Medicine
*Asia Gobourne Cross-Field  Michel Sadelain Cross-Field
Mithat Gonen  Cross-Field  Charles L. Sawyers  Cross-Field
*Matthew D. Hellmann   Clinical Medicine Howard I. Scher  Cross-Field
Clifford A. Hudis   Clinical Medicine Nikolaus Schultz Cross-Field
Christine A. Iacobuzio-Donahue  Molecular Biology & Genetics *Alexandra Snyder Cross-Field 
Xuejun Jiang   Cross-Field  David Solit Cross-Field
*David S. Klimstra  Cross-Field  Ying Taur  Cross-Field
Marc Ladanyi  Clinical Medicine Craig B. Thompson Molecular Biology & Genetics
*Jacob H. Levine Cross-Field William D. Travis Clinical Medicine
Ross L. Levine  Cross-Field  Marcel R. M. van den Brink Immunology
Ming O. Li  Cross-Field  Agnes Viale Cross-Field
Joan Massague  Molecular Biology & Genetics Jedd D. Wolchok  Immunology, Clinical Medicine
Ingo K. Mellinghoff  Cross-Field  *Ahmet Zehir  Cross-Field 
Taha Merghoub  Cross-Field    * Former employee

To see current and past researchers, check out Synapse, your portal to MSK works, containing a database of references for journal articles, books/chapters, conference papers, meeting abstracts, and other items published by MSK authors.

On behalf of the Library staff, congratulations to these researchers and to all of our distinguished authors, who through their work contribute daily to the ever-growing body of published medical and scientific literature. 

Donna Gibson
Director, Library Services