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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385 News Items found
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.
A researcher working in an MSK lab
MSK Research Highlights, September 25, 2025

New MSK research highlights the importance of tumor location in metastasis; shows how regulatory T cells work with sensory nerves in the skin to restrain pain and inflammation; explores whether a large language model can adequately summarize cancer patients’ experiences with pain; and finds proton therapy is effective at treating leptomeningeal metastasis.
An MSK researcher points to a scientific image on a screen
MSK Research Highlights, August 8, 2025

New MSK research develops a powerful new resource for studying gene regulation across eukaryotes; uncovers how “jumping genes” can drive cancer growth; describes how an unexpected oxygen sensor regulates ferroptosis; establishes a technique to map chromatin architecture in 3D; creates new models for studying schizophrenia-associated defects; and finds transcription factor 19 is critical for the responses of natural killer cells to viral infection.
Illustration of brain in green with pons area highlighted in orange.
In the Clinic
Latest Research Into DIPG Pediatric Brain Cancer Treatment Using Novel Drug Delivery Technique

A new drug delivery method could improve treatment of a lethal pediatric brain tumor called diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma.
A researcher working in an MSK lab
MSK Research Highlights September 18, 2024

New MSK research uses saturation genome editing to better understanding of the RAD51C gene, which has been linked to higher risks of breast and ovarian cancer; sheds new light on brain metastasis; and finds a commercially available contrast dye could help surgeons better separate cancer from healthy tissue.
Khaliq Sanda
Atypical Small Cell Carcinoma, a Rare Type Lung Cancer, Identified by MSK Research Team

A team of doctors and researchers at MSK have identified a new, rare type of small cell lung cancer that primarily affects younger people who have never smoked. Learn how one 19-year-old patient sparked a detective story.
A researcher working in an MSK lab
MSK Research Highlights, September 3, 2024

New MSK research uses cryo-electron microscopy to shed new light on the ubiquitin; could help predict the risk of blood clots in cancer patients; reveals why micronuclei burst, accelerating aggressive cancers; and surveys healthcare providers about the benefits and risks of commercial genetic testing.
An MSK scientists works in the lab
MSK Research Highlights, August 13, 2024

New MSK research found patients with non-small cell lung cancer brain metastases may benefit from up-front stereotactic radiosurgery; identified a connection between antibiotic use and autoimmune diseases; and uncovered a previously unknown structural role for messenger RNAs in the cytoplasm of cells.
A New Endpoint for Accelerated Approvals in Multiple Myeloma
A New Endpoint for Accelerated Approvals in Multiple Myeloma

MSK played a central role in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC)’s landmark decision in April 2024 to accept measurable residual disease (MRD) as an intermediate clinical endpoint for accelerated approval of new drugs and new indications in multiple myeloma clinical trials.