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
Seven-day old mouse embryo
Snapshot
Picturing How Cells Communicate

Developmental biologists are studying mouse embryos under the microscope to understand how embryonic cells communicate with one another.
rod-shaped bacteria
Feature
Microorganisms in the Gut Can Affect Cancer Outcomes

Discover how microbiome research is revealing the role that bacteria play in cancer treatment.
MSK Surgeon Aimee Crago
In the Clinic
How Research Is Driving the Latest Treatments for Sarcoma

Surgeon and researcher Aimee Crago discusses the latest treatments for different types of soft tissue sarcoma, including liposarcoma and desmoid tumors.
Metastatic tumor in the lung, with different colors used to represent the cell nuclei, the blood vessels, and the P-selectin protein.
In the Lab
Hacking Metastasis: Nanotechnology Researchers Find New Way to Target Tumors

A protein in blood vessels that plays a role in cancer metastasis is a promising target for delivering cancer drugs to tumors using nanoparticles.
A doctor speaks with a patient who has advanced prostate cancer about inherited mutations.
In the Clinic
Study Suggests Men with Metastatic Prostate Cancer Should Be Tested for Inherited Mutations

Learn why a new finding suggests that men with advanced prostate cancer should be screened for gene mutations.
MSK physician Aimee Crago consults with two colleagues.
In the Clinic
New Targeted Drug Therapy for Advanced Sarcoma Extends Survival by Nearly a Year

Learn more about olaratumab, a promising drug that has been shown to extend survival for people with advanced soft tissue sarcoma — particularly leiomyosarcoma — by nearly a year in a phase II clinical trial.
DNA molecules wrapped around histones
Feature
The Future of Cancer Research: Five Reasons for Optimism

Discover some of the most exciting research that Memorial Sloan Kettering scientists are pursuing in the fight against cancer.
scan of mouse blood vessel
In the Lab
Surprising Discovery Connects Rare Vascular Disease to Cancer Gene

Researchers found that a common cancer gene called PIK3CA also causes the condition venous malformation. Their discovery has already pointed the way to targeted therapies for this rare and painful condition that affects one in 10,000 people.
Colored x-ray of lung cancer
In the Lab
New Lung Cancer Therapy May Target Previously Untreatable Tumors

Researchers are developing uses for a drug that could benefit many people with lung cancer.
Image of two sets of embryonic cells
In the Lab
The Dual Life of PTEN: Gene Mutations Contribute to Both Cancer and Birth Defects

MSK investigators have shown that a gene mutation linked to many kinds of cancer can also cause birth defects of the nervous system.