Recent MSK Discoveries & Advances

New MSK research uncovers an unknown role for immune cells in fueling triple-negative breast cancer; identifies a new strategy for fighting leptomeningeal metastases; finds trastuzumab deruxtecan shows enhanced benefit for patients with ERBB2 mutations in breast cancer; shows tumor DNA insights can help guide treatment for patients with hard-to-treat biliary tract cancers; and uses artificial intelligence (AI) to study early development.

A team of MSK researchers solved a decades-old scientific puzzle and revealed that a critical inflammatory signaling pathway doesn’t just summon immune cells to the place where they’re needed — it also protects healthy cells from being damaged by the immune response.

MSK research is revealing how cancer cells are active architects of their environment — remaking their cellular neighborhood in their own image — and these insights are helping to develop new ways to fight back.

Scientists at MSK have developed a new nanoparticle-based approach to breaking down fibrosis in cancer and other diseases, which could make immunotherapy more effective. Learn about their findings in laboratory models.

MSK researchers have discovered that a type of rogue DNA found in aggressive cancers has a hidden structural weakness — and that blocking a single repair protein can cause it to fall apart, suggesting a new therapeutic opportunity.

New MSK research shows how a metabolite boosts immune cells against cancer; adds to the understanding of how colorectal cancer spreads; reveals tumor CD19 levels may predict the success of CAR T cell therapy; and finds a new targeted drug combination shows promise in early trial for small cell lung cancer.

How MSK researchers are using artificial intelligence (AI) to design better "binders" for CAR T cell therapies.

Learn how HPV-related head and neck cancer can be treated with a sharply reduced radiation dose to prevent side effects, sometimes without surgery.

MSK researchers identified a protein called ZFP36L2 that acts as a critical "molecular switch" controlling how gut cells repair themselves after injury — a mechanism that colorectal cancer hijacks to spread to other organs. The findings could point toward new treatments that exploit cancer cells' dependence on this protein to stop metastasis or overcome treatment resistance.

New MSK research uncovers why some leukemia patients stop responding to promising new drugs; examines how bone’s hardness shapes the immune battle against metastasis; shows how a telehealth tobacco treatment program helps cancer patients quit smoking; creates the first atomic-level images of a key phosphate transporter that could inform treatment of ovarian cancer and kidney disease; finds Medicare Advantage patients with cancer receive optimal treatment at lower cost; and studies how much tissue surgeons should remove for tumor-related epilepsy.