Recent News

From antibiotics to painkillers to cancer drugs, many molecules found in nature have proven to be remedies for human disease. At Memorial Sloan Kettering, a handful of drugs now in clinical trials have been derived from sources ranging from microorganisms to plants to marine creatures. The theory behind the development of drugs from natural products is that these molecules inherently have some kind of biological function, and that function can be enhanced and exploited to develop effective treatments for patients.

Scientists at Sloan Kettering Institute have discovered that the α6ß4 integrin, one of several receptor proteins, plays a key role in signaling for the formation of new blood vessels for a tumor, a process called tumor angiogenesis. By blocking the signaling activity of the α6ß4 subunit of this integrin on vascular cells, researchers found they could slow the growth of tumors.

In recognition of his contributions in basic science related to cancer research, Sloan Kettering Institute Director Thomas J. Kelly has been awarded the 2004 Alfred P. Sloan, Jr. Prize by the General Motors Cancer Research Foundation.

NEW YORK, September 21, 2003 - New research from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), Cornell University, and The University of Connecticut describes a novel way of producing therapeutic nerve cells that can cure mice with Parkinson's-like disease. The work, which will be published in the October issue of Nature Biotechnology (available online September 21), provides the first evidence that cloned cells can cure disease in an animal model.