Discoveries, developments

MD Anderson shares in $13.4 million award to study low-grade DCIS treatment

MD Anderson researchers are joining Duke Cancer Center and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in a funding award of $13.4 million in hopes of determining if women with the earliest form of breast cancer, ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), need invasive surgery. The study will research the quality of life and psychosocial outcomes of women with DCIS. It’s designed to determine if every woman needs an operation for a condition that’s non-fatal, assess patient outcomes and explore issues that arise from having DCIS and how women make their decisions for treatment.

Multi-center study reveals unique subtypes of most common malignant brain cancer

An international collaborative study led by researchers at MD Anderson, Columbia University Medical Center and the University of Sao Paulo’s Ribeirao Preto Medical School has revealed detailed new information about diffuse glioma, the most common type of tumor found in adult brain cancer patients. The study, which included data from 1,122 samples of diffuse glioma from lower to higher grades, raises hopes for improved clinical outcomes. It also points to a more precise way of predicting which tumors are more likely to grow rapidly and prescribing treatments accordingly.

Potential therapeutic targets identified for multiple sclerosis

Treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) and other inflammatory diseases may benefit from new findings revealed in a study that identified potential therapeutic targets for a devastating disease striking some 2.3 million people worldwide. The study, led by researchers at MD Anderson, described a protein regulator, Trabid, as an important piece of the puzzle that leads to autoimmune inflammation of the central nervous systems in MS patients.
 

Targeted axillary dissection of lymph nodes after chemotherapy improves staging accuracy of node-positive breast cancer patients

A new procedure developed by MD Anderson surgeons improves the accuracy of axillary staging and pathologic evaluation in clinically node-positive breast cancer. It also reduces the need for a more invasive procedure with debilitating complications. The research has changed treatment guidelines at the institution for a select group of breast cancer patients with lymph node metastasis, who now will receive Targeted Axillary Dissection. The study’s findings  may help up to 40% of women diagnosed with axillary metastasis who undergo neoadjuvant chemotherapy to avoid more extensive and often debilitating surgery. 

MD Anderson joins nation's cancer centers in endorsing HPV vaccination for cancer prevention

In response to low national vaccination rates for the human papillomavirus (HPV) — under 40% of girls and just under 21% of boys — MD Anderson has joined with the 68 other National Cancer Institute-designated cancer centers in calling for increased HPV vaccination for the prevention of cancer. These institutions collectively recognize insufficient vaccination as a public health threat and call upon the nation’s health care providers, parents and young adults to take advantage of this opportunity to prevent many types of cancer. MD Anderson has made a commitment to ending HPV-related cancers with the recently unveiled HPV-related Cancers Moon Shot.

Study reveals potential therapy targets for triple negative breast cancer

A multi-institutional international study led by MD Anderson scientists has revealed new information about how long non-coding RNAs (lncRNA) interact with HIF-1, a signaling pathway that’s overexpressed in many cancers. HIF-1 has been shown to regulate breast cancer progression. The team’s findings explored HIF-1’s role in triple negative breast cancer, an aggressive and hard-to-treat form of the disease. The study analyzed data from The Cancer Genome Atlas, a research program that’s looking at genomic changes in more than 20 types of cancer, with support from the National Cancer Institute and National Human Genome Research Institute within the National Institutes of Health.

MD Anderson, AbbVie connect to advance cancer immunotherapy

The immunotherapy platform at MD Anderson and the global biopharmaceutical company AbbVie will join forces to find new ways to unleash the immune system’s potential to fight cancer. The three-year collaboration agreement provides a framework for MD Anderson and AbbVie to efficiently choose and carry out preclinical and clinical studies evaluating new ideas in the cutting-edge area of immuno-oncology.

MD Anderson applauds State of the Union call to cure cancer

MD Anderson is grateful Vice President Joe Biden has inspired the creation of a national cancer moon shot and President Barack Obama’s commitment to support this collective fight to end cancer. MD Anderson created the cancer Moon Shots Program in fall 2012 to accelerate declines in cancer mortality across several major cancer types. Based on multidisciplinary teams and platforms focused on execution, these pioneering efforts reflect that knowledge available today can be converted into new preventive measures and lifesaving therapeutic advances for cancer patients around the world. 

MD Anderson and Enumeral enter into collaborative research and development agreement

MD Anderson has entered into a collaborative research and development agreement with Enumeral Biomedical Holdings Inc. focused on discovering and developing novel monoclonal antibodies against specified targets in immuno-oncology. The agreement leverages Enumeral’s antibody discovery and patient-centric immune profiling platform and MD Anderson’s preclinical and development expertise and infrastructure. MD Anderson’s Oncology Research for Biologics and Immunotherapy Translation (ORBIT), a translational research platform of MD Anderson’s Moon Shots Program, will play a key role.

New findings may enhance PARP inhibitors therapy in breast cancer

Findings from an MD Anderson study reveal that PARP inhibitors, an emerging class of drugs being studied in cancer clinical trials, may be enhanced by combining them with inhibitors targeting an oncogene known as c-MET that’s overexpressed in many cancers. Researchers believe the study results may hold promise for future treatment of breast cancer and possibly other cancers, saying these findings may predict tumor resistance to PARP inhibitors. They suggest that treatment with a combination of c-MET and PARP inhibitors may benefit patients whose tumors with high c-MET expression don’t respond to PARP inhibition alone.