Recent MSK Discoveries & Advances

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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382 News Items found
a lab coat hangs in an MSK lab
Drs. Anna-Katerina Hadjantonakis and Robert Farese Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Drs. Anna-Katerina Hadjantonakis and Robert Farese were elected to the 2026 class of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
colorful microscope image of cancer cells
Catching Cancer’s Earliest Moments: How Mutated Cells Transform Their Local Environment So a Tumor Can Develop

MSK scientists are shedding new light on a tumor’s earliest moments — revealing how lung cells with cancer-causing mutations recruit accomplices from healthy surrounding tissue to pave the way for a tumor to develop.
MSK physician-scientist Vinod Balachandran.
Investigational Pancreatic Cancer Vaccine Shows Lasting Results in Early Trial, Supporting Continued Testing

Learn how MSK researchers are deploying mRNA vaccines against pancreatic cancer.
Scott Lowe and Dana Pe'er
From Benign Growth to Pancreatic Cancer: New Study Shows How the Switch Gets Flipped

An MSK study reveals new details about how pancreatic cells carrying oncogenic mutations transition from benign to malignant — shining new light on the ecosystems that supports emerging tumors.
Scott Lowe
Cell Surface Protein uPAR May Hold the Key to Targeting Solid Tumors with CAR T Cell Therapy

MSK researchers and collaborators have developed a new type of CAR T cell designed to attack a cell surface protein called uPAR — allowing them to target both tumors and cancer-supporting cells in the tumor microenvironment.
Microscope in foreground, MSK researchers in the background.
MSK Research Highlights, March 27, 2026

New MSK research finds skin stem cells retain long-lasting memory of inflammation; shows how a large cancer DNA study could transform personalized oncology; reveals how the protein BAF helps cancer cells hide from the immune system; and investigates how early DNA markings shape cell fate.
a lab coat hangs in an MSK lab
MSK Research Highlights, March 20, 2026

New MSK research discovers a new approach that could prevent chemotherapy-related leukemia; shows how monoclonal antibodies can turn neutrophils into cancer killers; helps develop sensitive CAR T cells that target CD70 antigen to destroy cancer cells; and uses single-cell studies to yield new clues about a rare, aggressive pediatric sarcoma.
A researcher working in an MSK lab
MSK Research Highlights, March 2, 2026

New MSK research finds the TCA cycle’s waste-management function may present an opportunity against cancer; shows how microplastics impair immune ‘housekeeping’ functions; reveals the way the protein TOX plays different roles in different immune cells; and identifies a new combination approach for treating advanced kidney cancer after immunotherapy.
A researcher working in an MSK lab
MSK Research Highlights, February 23, 2026

New MSK research investigates harnessing the power of ferroptosis to spread cell death; reports how an MSK artificial intelligence (AI) model could help improve patient safety; and uses AI to reveal country-specific drivers of global cancer outcomes.
A researcher working in an MSK lab
MSK Research Highlights, February 4, 2026

New MSK research illuminates new details about Thetis cells that will support efforts to harness them therapeutically; shows how the timing and strength of danger signals steer immune cell fates; and employs single-nucleus DNA sequencing to shed new light on the evolution of pancreatic cancer.