Recent MSK Discoveries & Advances

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Memorial Sloan Kettering researchers are relentlessly exploring every aspect of cancer — from basic investigations of cells and molecules to clinical trials of new treatments and population-wide studies of the disease. While our core mission is to translate this knowledge into new strategies to control cancer, many of our investigators are also making scientific progress against other diseases and conditions.

Below are some examples of discoveries and advances that recently were made in our laboratories and clinics, and featured in our news stories.

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373 News Items found
In the Clinic
MSK radiation oncologist Nancy Lee
Low-Dose Radiation To Treat HPV Throat Cancer a ‘Game Changer’
Learn how HPV-related head and neck cancer can be treated with a sharply reduced radiation dose to prevent side effects.
In the Clinic
MSK radiation oncologist and neuroblastoma expert Suzanne Wolden with a patient
Reduced Radiation for Neuroblastoma Could Lessen Children’s Side Effects Later
Learn how MSK doctors are exploring the use of less radiation in neuroblastoma treatment so children can avoid side effects.
Feature
MSK melanoma expert James Smithy, MD
New Treatments Improving Prognosis for Stage 4 Melanoma Patients
In recent years, advanced melanoma (a type of skin cancer) has been transformed from a disease that was almost always fatal to one that often can be br...
MSK physician-scientist Vinod Balachandran.
New mRNA Pancreatic Cancer Vaccine Trial Starts Next Phase
Learn how MSK researchers are deploying mRNA vaccines against pancreatic cancer.
MSK physician Dr. Deb Schrag
Experimental Blood Test for Cancer Shows Potential To Screen for Multiple Types Simultaneously
Learn how a blood test could someday provide a way to detect cancers at an early stage.
Medical oncologist Saad Usmani, who specializes in treating multiple myeloma.
Multiple Myeloma: Improved Prognosis With the Latest Treatments
Learn how multiple myeloma prognosis has improved significantly with the emergence of new drug treatments.
Postdocs Francisco “Pancho” Barriga and Kaloyan Tsanov in the lab
New MACHETE Technique Slices Into Cancer Genome To Study Copy Number Alterations
Learn why MSK researchers developed MACHETE, a new CRISPR-based technique to study large-scale genetic deletions efficiently in laboratory models.
Feature
Medical oncologist and male breast cancer expert Ayca Gucalp
What You Need To Know About Male Breast Cancer
MSK experts discuss risk factors, symptoms, and treatment for male breast cancer.
MSK pathologist Natasha Rekhtman and physician-scientist Charles Rudin
MSK Scientists Identify Rare (Rb-Proficient) Subtype of Small Cell Lung Cancer
Unlike most small cell lung cancer tumors, these retain a normal copy of a protein called RB.
Side-by-side headshots of scientists Christopher Lima and Rhyan Puno
With Cryo-EM, SKI Scientists Determine Structure of Key Factor in RNA Quality Control
Called NEXT, the factor plays an important role in handing over RNA to the exosome for destruction.
SKI immunologist Ming Li
SKI Scientists Identify Potential New ‘Soldier’ for Cancer Immunotherapy
The new cells, which the scientists have dubbed killer innate-like T cells, differ in several notable ways from the conventional target of many immunotherapies.
Charles Sawyers and Elizabeth Wasmuth
With CryoEM, MSK Researchers Obtain Exquisite View of the Androgen Receptor — A Key Protein in Prostate Cancer
The pictures provide new clues about how the androgen receptor interacts with cancer-causing proteins.
An illustration of a fish fin touching a human finger
Hands, Feet, and Fins: The Connection That Explains Acral Melanoma
Sloan Kettering Institute scientists are using zebrafish to understand human skin cancer that attacks the hands and feet.
Dirk Remus and Richard Hite
SKI Scientists Determine Structure of a DNA Damage 'First Responder'
The results of this collaborative project overturn some conventional wisdom about how the DNA repair process works.
A colorful pigeon standing in an urban setting.
SKI Scientists Discover a New Twist on an 80-Year-Old Biochemical Pathway
With the resurgence of interest in cancer metabolism, researchers are coming to realize that there is more to a cell’s biochemistry than once thought.
SKI scientists David Scheinberg and Derek Tan
Sloan Kettering Institute Scientists Retool CAR T Cells to Serve as ‘Micropharmacies’ for Cancer Drugs
These souped-up versions may help overcome some limitations of existing CAR T cells.
Charles Sawyers, a hematologic oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
A Conversation with MSK’s Charles Sawyers: What’s Next for Precision Oncology
Twenty years ago, Charles Sawyers played a pivotal role in the development of Gleevec, a game-changing cancer drug that has gone on to save millions of lives and open doors for research and innovation. In this episode, Dr. Diane Reidy-Lagunes talks with Dr. Sawyers about what’s next in the field of cancer pharmaceuticals. Is another silver bullet on the horizon?
SKI immunologist Andrea Schietinger
Discovery of a Stem-like T Cell in Type 1 Diabetes Holds Potential for Improving Cancer Immunotherapy, Sloan Kettering Institute Scientists Say
As an autoimmune disease, Type 1 diabetes raises important questions about immune cell activity that have broad implications for immunotherapy.
Finding
Yonina Murciano-Goroff, Jenny Xue, Bob Li, Piro Lito, and Yulei Zhao.
MSK Researchers Are Learning Why Some Patients Develop Resistance to Targeted Lung Cancer Drug
A paper from MSK researchers reports that resistance to sotorasib, a new targeted drug for lung cancer, can be caused by many different molecular changes.
Scientists Learn More about How Lung Cancer Becomes Resistant to Drugs
By switching from one cellular identity to another, lung cancer cells can evade targeted therapies. MSK scientists are trying to stop that from happening.