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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379 News Items found
Pediatric oncologist Kevin Curran with CAR T patient Esmeralda Pineda
Announcement
FDA Approves First CAR T Cell Therapy for Leukemia

Children, teens, and young adults with leukemia that have stopped responding to chemotherapy are the first eligible to receive the new treatment.
A network of neurons
Finding
Is Neurodegenerative Disease a Kind of Cancer?

New findings from experiments done in mice suggest a surprising cause of common neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
Acute myeloid leukemia cells under a microscope
Announcement
FDA Approves Enasidenib (Idhifa), a First-of-Its-Kind Drug, for Advanced Blood Cancer

A new treatment option for people with acute myeloid leukemia is available, and it works in an unconventional way.
Representative image of a dividing tumor cell showing the extrachromosomal location of duplicated BRAF genes
In the Lab
Giving Drugs Together — Rather than in Sequence — May Be Key to Halting Tumor Resistance

Scientists are learning how tumors develop resistance to drugs — and what can be done about it.
An organoid of a developing brain
In the Lab
Stem Cell Research Identifies Potential Drugs for Treating Zika Infection

Researchers from MSK and Weill Cornell have found that two compounds appear to fight off infection with the Zika virus.
A scientist looks at illustrations of chromosomes.
In the Lab
When Loss Is a Gain: New Tumor Suppressor Gene Identified in Follicular Lymphoma

The reason certain patients with follicular lymphoma do worse than others may come down to a missing gene.
Images from three different mice showing the effects of antibiotics and microbiome replacement
In the Lab
Bacteria versus Bacteria: Two Studies Uncover Species of Microbes That Protect against Infections in People with Cancer

Research recently published by MSK scientists suggests that the best way to fight dangerous bacteria may be with other bacteria.
Developmental biologist Anna-Katerina (Kat) Hadjantonakis
Science Byte
It Takes Two: A Pair of Proteins Coordinate to Direct Development of Embryonic Cells

MSK researchers shed light on the signals that determine the fate of embryonic cells.
MSK medical oncologist Luis Diaz, Jr.
In the Clinic
The Science Behind the FDA’s Approval of an Immunotherapy for Mismatch Repair–Deficient Cancers

A new paper from MSK physician-scientist Luis Diaz presents the evidence on which the FDA approved the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab for cancers with a specific genetic abnormality.
Lymph nodes and lymphatic vessels with adjacent blood vessels
Finding
Definitive Study Shows That People with Melanoma Do Not Need Immediate Lymph Node Removal

The results of a large, international randomized trial herald a change in medical practice for the treatment of melanoma.