www.Cancer.gov News Releases

Senator John McCain, a long-time supporter of cancer research, passed away on August 25.

In a new study, NCI-led researchers developed a gene expression predictor that can indicate whether melanoma in a specific patient is likely to respond to treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors, a type of immunotherapy.

NCI’s Steven A. Rosenberg, M.D., Ph.D., and two NCI-supported researchers have been named recipients of the 2018 Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research for their pioneering immunotherapy research.

Results from a randomized clinical trial show patients with HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancer treated with radiation and cetuximab had inferior survival compared to the current standard treatment with radiation and cisplatin. The trial’s goal was to find a less toxic treatment approach without compromising survival.

RESPOND is the largest coordinated study on biological and non-biological factors associated with aggressive prostate cancer in African-American men. The study is an effort to learn why these men disproportionally experience aggressive disease.

NCI and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) are launching the NAVIGATE program at 12 VA facilities across the country to make it easier for veterans to participate in NCI-sponsored clinical trials.

A novel approach to immunotherapy developed by NCI researchers has led to the complete regression of breast cancer in a patient who was unresponsive to all other treatments. The findings were published in Nature Medicine.

The NCI-MATCH precision medicine clinical trial has reached a milestone with the release of results from several study treatment arms. Findings from three arms were released at the 2018 ASCO annual meeting, adding to findings from one arm released in 2017.

Findings from the TAILORx clinical trial show chemotherapy does not benefit most women with early breast cancer. The new data, released at the 2018 ASCO annual meeting, will help inform treatment decisions for many women with early-stage breast cancer.

An NCI study in mice that found a connection between gut bacteria and antitumor immune responses in the liver has implications for understanding mechanisms that lead to liver cancer and for potential treatments. The study was published in Science.