Recent MSK Discoveries & Advances

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Recent MSK Discoveries & Advances

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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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377 News Items found
In the Clinic
MSK radiation oncologist Nancy Lee
Avoiding Surgery for HPV Throat Cancer May Be Possible for More Patients

Learn how HPV-related head and neck cancer can be treated with a sharply reduced radiation dose to prevent side effects, sometimes without surgery.
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
New, Rare Type of Small Cell 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.
Harini Veeraraghavan stands in front of a radiology display
How MSK Doctors Are Improving Radiation Treatments With AI

Dr. Harini Veeraraghavan's lab is 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 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.
Detail shot of a scientist purifying proteins
MSK Research Highlights, July 31, 2024

New MSK research showed giving chemotherapy shortly after a stem cell or bone marrow transplant from a less than perfectly matched donor greatly reduces the chances that the patient will develop graft-versus-host disease (GVHD); and sheds new light on cell state changes in prostate cancer.
Andrea Schietinger
Better Together: Spatial Arrangement of Three Immune Cells Is Key to Attacking Tumors

In order for immune cells to effectively kill cancer cells, a triad of three cells are necessary — a dendritic cell, a cytotoxic “killer” T cell, and a helper T cell, researchers at MSK and Baylor College of Medicine have found. The discovery could alter the way doctors administer immunotherapies.
Ellen Horste
From Basic Science to Biotech: One MSK Alum’s Journey

Learn how GSK graduate Dr. Ellen Horste’s time investigating fundamental biological questions prepared her for a career in the emerging field of gene therapy.