VUMC physician-scientists recognized for extending veterans’ lung cancer screening
Jennifer Lewis, MD, MPH, and Lucy Spalluto, MD, MPH, are the recipients of the 2024 VAQS Team Award for work they began in 2017.
International trial introduces another curative option for sickle cell disease
The therapy, haploidentical bone marrow transplant with thiotepa and posttransplant cyclophosphamide, is as safe and more affordable than the recently FDA-approved myeloablative gene therapy and gene editing treatments.
International overview of colorectal cancer provides multidisciplinary perspective of clinical advances
Cathy Eng, MD (Hematology and Oncology), is corresponding author of a paper published last week in The Lancet that provides an overview on treatment advances, clinical trials, incidence trends and ongoing challenges related to colorectal cancer, the third most diagnosed cancer in the world.
Study seeks to evaluate military exposures on veterans’ lung cancer risk
A prospective cohort of veterans including those with military toxic exposures, such as burn pits, will be screened annually with low-dose chest CT to detect lung cancer and other disease early.
Clinical trial shows efficacy for atezolizumab combined with carboplatin
Immunotherapy in combination with chemotherapy has become an important therapeutic treatment option in some patients with metastatic breast cancer. Which patients will benefit the most, however, remains unclear; current biomarkers such as PD-L1 that are used to predict response are mediocre at best.
Study identifies molecule as potential target for treating AML
While immune checkpoint inhibitors that target the PD-1 molecule on T-cells have proven to be effective with many cancers, these immunotherapies have not worked for acute myeloid leukemia (AML), but new research has identified a “cousin” molecule as a potential therapeutic target for AML.
Vulnerability found in immunotherapy-resistant triple-negative breast cancer
Vanderbilt researchers, including Hematology and Oncology Drs. Justin Balko, Brian Lehmann and Vandana Abramson, have discovered a druggable target on natural killer cells that could potentially trigger a therapeutic response in patients with immunotherapy-resistant, triple-negative breast cancer.
Foundation funds research to block drug resistance in cancer treatment
The Robert J. Kleberg, Jr. and Helen C. Kleberg Foundation has funded an ambitious initiative to overcome one of the most perplexing and frustrating mysteries of cancer treatment — how to prevent drug resistance. The three-year grant was awarded to Hematology and Oncology Dr. Ben Ho Park and Biochemistry Dr. Houra Merrikh.
New leaders named to Vanderbilt-Ingram research programs
Seven new leaders have been appointed to guide Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center’s research programs. Martha Shrubsole, PhD (Epidemiology), joins Xiao-Ou Shu, MD, PhD, MPH, Ingram Professor of Cancer Research (Epidemiology), as a co-leader of the Cancer Epidemiology Research Program. Vandana Abramson, MD (Hematology and Oncology), joins Justin Balko, PharmD, PHD (Hematology and Oncology), as a co-leader of the Breast Cancer Research Program.
Eden Biltibo is Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation scholar recipient
Vanderbilt’s Eden Biltibo, MD, MS, is one of the first recipients of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation’s Scholars Program, an initiative launched in 2022.