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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376 News Items found
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.
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.
fluorescent cells
Small Number of ‘Highly Plastic’ Cancer Cells Drive Disease Progression and Treatment Resistance

A small number of cancer cells with the ability to change their identities and behaviors appear to be a key driver of cancer progression and its ability to evolve resistance to treatment, MSK researchers have found in a laboratory study of lung cancer.
Scientific image showing spindle-shaped and round dormant metastatic cancer cells
Dormant Cancer Cells Change Shape To Survive Immune System Attack

New MSK research reveals how dormant metastatic cancer cells protect themselves from the immune system by changing their shape.
microscope image of regulatory T cells
MSK Researchers Solve a Key Colorectal Cancer Mystery

A new MSK study finds that in colorectal cancer, not all regulatory T cells are created equal. One subtype suppresses cancer growth while another aids it. The findings could help improve immunotherapy treatment for the majority of patients with colorectal cancer, and potentially for other cancers.
A researcher points to cells on a screen
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Applauds Highly Cited Researchers 2025

In 2025, MSK was again ranked among the top organizations with the greatest number of highly cited scientific researchers worldwide, according to the annual list of Highly Cited Researchers, published by the Institute for Scientific Information at Clarivate.
Lab member using a next-generation sequencing machine
To Study Treatment Resistance in High-Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer, MSK Researchers Develop New Approach

An MSK research team aims to find new ways to stop the most common and deadly form of ovarian cancer — high-grade serous ovarian cancer — from recurring with the help of a method they developed for tracking the evolution of treatment resistant cells in ovarian cancer using blood tests.
Harini Veeraraghavan stands in front of a radiology display
How MSK Doctors Are Using AI To Improve Radiation Treatment

MSK researchers are leading the development of new artificial intelligence (AI) models to improve the targeting of radiation therapy — teaching computers to better isolate tumors and spare more of the surrounding healthy tissue.