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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378 News Items found
Pink, blue, green, and white blob on black background
In the Clinic
Study Shows Liquid Biopsy Is Accurate for Guiding Prostate Cancer Treatment Choice

Detecting a protein in a blood sample could help doctors make treatment decisions for prostate cancer patients.
MSK computational biologist Dana Pe'er
In the Lab
One by One: Single-Cell Analysis Helps Map the Cancer Landscape

Sloan Kettering Institute investigators are taking important steps toward being able to identify all the cell types in tumors. With this information, they can figure out how the cells work together.
Leukemia cells
Finding
Findings from Two Patients Shed New Light on Drug Resistance in AML

A team at MSK has discovered a previously unknown type of resistance to a new leukemia drug.
A doctor examines a mole.
Finding
Don't Scratch That Mole? Scientists Are Learning More about Inflammation and Cancer

It's not only what's inside your cells that determines your cancer risk. It's what surrounds them too.
Omar Abdel-Wahab
Feature
What Is Epigenetics, and Why Is Everyone Talking about It?

The word “epigenetic” literally means “above the genes.” Calico cats demonstrate a type of epigenetic inheritance called X-inactivation.
Large cells filled with yellow-colored fat
Finding
Cancer Cells Eat Fat to Grow and Spread

Research conducted in zebrafish shows that melanoma cells have an affinity for fat, and that eating it makes them more aggressive.
Scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of T lymphocyte cells (blue) attached to a red cancer cell.
Finding
Discovery of Unusual Cell Type Could Help Guide Immunotherapy

A newly identified group of immunosuppressive cells could provide insight into the effects of immunotherapy drugs.
Young girl wearing pink sits with her mother
Feature
Meet This Year's Stop & Shop Ambassadors for Pediatric Cancer Research

Meet the four young ambassadors featured in the annual Stop & Shop campaign to fundraise for the Department of Pediatrics at Memorial Sloan Kettering.
Blue cells containing small red and green dots on a black background
In the Lab
Scientists Pinpoint a New Cause of Resistance to EGFR-Targeting Drugs

Multiple copies of a gene called <em>YES1</em> appear to be responsible for certain precision drugs losing their effectiveness.
Bioinformatician Ahmet Zehir stands at a whiteboard
Finding
Gene Mutations in the Blood Can Complicate Findings from Tumor Sequencing

A blood condition related to aging can lead to misinterpreting tumor data.