News and Events

POSTPONED: RNA Imaging and Intracellular Dynamics Workshop

RNA biology has emerged as one of the most influential areas in modern biology and biomedicine. The NCI is home to a wide spectrum of work in RNA biology ranging from elucidating RNA biogenesis and structure, identifying functions for various classes of RNAs, establishing the role of RNA in disease and exploring RNA-based and RNA-targeted therapies.

This workshop will focus on how basic steps in RNA metabolism are carried out and are integrated into a complex intracellular environment. It aims to bring together experts in the field to describe recent advances in methodologies used to understand subcellular RNA distribution, organization and function, discuss the impact they have had on current models and identify key areas of future development.

POSTPONED: 3rd NCI Symposium on Cancer Health Disparities

Cancer health disparities affect millions of people across the United States. Disparities in cancer burden are evident by geography, race/ethnicity, genetic ancestry, immigrant status, culture, gender, sexual orientation (LGBTQ+) and socioeconomic class, among other factors. The 3rd NCI Symposium on Cancer Health Disparities will present recent advances in our understanding of the causes of cancer health disparities in rural populations and among Native Americans, focus on the roles of financial toxicity and the tumor immune profile in causing outcome disparities and discuss evidence-based strategies to reduce these disparities, including novel approaches to prevention and precision medicine.

Jonathan Hernandez named one of Washington, D.C.’s best doctors

Jonathan Hernandez, M.D., Investigator in the Surgical Oncology Program, has been selected as one of Washington, D.C.’s 2019 top doctors by The Washingtonian. Top Doctors are selected by nearly 13,000 doctors in D.C., Maryland and Virginia who name a colleague they would recommend in a variety of specialties.

Unlocking the key to HIV persistence

Even though antiretroviral therapies have allowed many people to live long lives, ridding the body of HIV completely has been an elusive goal ever since the discovery in the 1980s that HIV causes AIDS. New research from the Center for Cancer Research shows that proviral DNA sequences and their integration at specific sites could provide clues for researchers developing drugs to eradicate AIDS.

Clinical trial evaluates T-cell therapy for advanced mesothelin-expressing cancers

Some cancer cells express a higher-than-normal amount of mesothelin, which makes them more likely to multiply and spread to other parts of the body. Raffit Hassan, M.D., of the Thoracic and GI Malignancies Branch, is leading a trial that tests T-cell immunotherapy for patients with cancer of the lung and its lining, ovarian cancer and bile duct cancer that express high levels of mesothelin.

Mitochondrial shape in pancreatic cancer

Computational analysis leads to potential new drug combination for pancreatic cancer

A computer analysis has been able to predict that low levels of asparagine, an amino acid required for protein synthesis, combined with the shutdown of a stress response pathway can lead to reductions in the fitness of a tumor. These combined findings could potentially lead to new combination therapies to treat aggressive tumors, such as those found in pancreatic cancers.

Clinical trial will test radiotracer imaging for high-risk localized prostate cancer

Many men with prostate cancer are diagnosed at an early stage of the disease when the cancer is confined to the prostate. However, about 20 percent are diagnosed with high-risk disease, which tends to spread, or metastasize, to other parts of the body. William Dahut, M.D., Senior Investigator in the Genitourinary Malignancies Branch, is leading a study using positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) with radioactive material to try and identify places in the body where prostate cancer has spread.

Fusing a ring system onto an existing chromophore

New video: Discovering new far-red fluorescent probes

Fluorescent probes are workhorse molecules used by biologists to illuminate the inner workings of cancer cells. By lighting up cell components of interest, researchers can then observe cells in action through high-powered microscopes. This new video explains a novel class of far-red fluorescent probes synthesized by Martin Schnermann, Ph.D., Senior Investigator in CCR’s Chemical Biology Laboratory, and his team.

Clinical trial tests combination therapy for relapsed hairy cell leukemia

Hairy cell leukemia (HCL) is a rare and slow-growing leukemia in which bone marrow overproduces abnormal B lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell. Under a microscope, these malignant cells appear to be covered with tiny hair-like projections. In this study, patients will receive an immunotoxin called moxetumomab pasudotox to study its effect on relapsed HCL.

Elaine Jaffe named an NIH Distinguished Investigator

Elaine Jaffe, M.D., Senior Investigator in the Laboratory of Pathology, has been selected as an NIH Distinguished Investigator, a prestigious title reserved for tenured intramural senior investigators who are at the highest level in their fields. Dr. Jaffe has conducted pioneering studies related to the classification of malignant lymphomas and has led an international effort for consensus among clinicians and pathologists.

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