Cancer Research | Penn Today

Ingredient in Indian long pepper shows promise against brain cancer

Penn scientists use cryo-electron microscopy to illuminate how a chemical compound found in the plant, piperlongumine, works against glioblastoma.

head shots of Marisa Bartolomei, M. Celeste Simon, Michael Kearns, and Diana Mutz

Four Penn faculty elected to the National Academy of Sciences

The new members of the Academy, honored scholars recognized for their unique and ongoing contributions to original research, include researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine, School of Engineering and Applied Science, and Annenberg School for Communication.

Person wearing a face mask seated in a chair receives and IV drip from a nurse wearing a face mask.

Immunotherapy alone extended life for certain metastatic lung cancer patients

Penn Medicine researchers show that patients harboring a KRAS gene mutation with high levels of PDL-1 lived longer when treated with immunotherapy alone, compared to patients without this mutation.

rendering of a cell nucleus amidst multicolored cellular matter

Mysterious ‘nuclear speckle’ cell structures may help block cancers

A new study out of Penn Medicine shows that the tumor-suppressor protein p53 brings speckles and DNA together to boost gene expression.

microscopic view of pancreatic cancer cells.

Immune-stimulating drug before surgery shows promise in early-stage pancreatic cancer

Giving early-stage pancreatic cancer patients a CD40 immune-stimulating drug helped jumpstart a T cell attack to the notoriously stubborn tumor microenvironment before surgery and other treatments.

Cancer cell therapy pioneer Carl June receives the Sanford Lorraine Cross Award

The Richard W. Vague Professor in Immunotherapy in the department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine in the Perelman School of Medicine and director of the Center for Cellular Immunotherapies at Penn’s Abramson Cancer Center received the award for his work in developing chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy.

Penn Medicine cancer cell therapy pioneer Carl June named 2021 Dan David Prize Laureate

The Richard W. Vague professor in Immunotherapy in the department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine has been recognized in the “future” category for his contributions to molecular medicine.

Four empty vials for human stool samples.

Take-at-home tests boost colorectal cancer screening tenfold

By making it the default to send screening tests to patients’ homes unless they opted out via text message, screening rates increased by more than 1000%.

African American person wearing a face mask having their temperature taken via forehead scanner by a masked, gloved medical professional.

Patients in cancer remission at high risk for severe COVID-19 illness

Patients with inactive cancer and not currently undergoing treatments also face a significantly higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19, with Black cancer patients twice as likely to test positive for the virus.

Gloved hands putting individual tiny pipettes in a holder in a lab setting.

Mutations commonly linked to breast cancer found to pose no increased risk

Several genetic mutations previously linked to breast cancer and included on commercial genetic tests were found not to increase a woman’s risk of disease, according to a multi-institutional population study of more than 64,000 women.

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