Cancer Research | Penn Today

Anthony Fauci and Penn Medicine physicians on cancer care during pandemic

A virtual conference on cancer and COVID-19 discussed how medical professionals adapt to a rapidly changing environment and enforce protocols to deliver care safely, while individuals are choosing to skip cancer screenings or delay treatments.

Avery Posey in a medical lab wearing a white coat.

Avery Posey’s cancer research takes high risks for big rewards

The assistant professor of systems pharmacology and translational therapeutics, who studied with Carl June as a postdoctoral fellow, combines his two research passions—gene therapy and investigating ‘little known’ biology—in the pursuit of new knowledge.

‘Self-eating’ stem cell process may be the key to new regenerative therapies

A Penn study uncovers new roles of chaperone-mediated autophagy in how stem cells repair or regenerate damaged organs.

illustration of a microscopic gene and the isolated protein with the mutation.

Rare genetic mutation leaves people at higher risk for multiple cancers

Researchers find a new and previously undiscovered mutation in a particular gene associated with a higher risk of multiple kinds of cancer, and can lead to modified screenings for this particular gene protein.

For those at risk for cancer, weighing the risk of COVID-19 with delays in screening and treatment

Lawrence Shulman of the Perelman School of Medicine says declining numbers of new cancer diagnoses over the past four months don’t mean fewer people actually have cancer. “There are a lot of patients out there who have cancer but are not undergoing diagnosis and entry into the cancer care system,” he said.

Surgeon uses an imaging machine to assess a tumor

Glowing dye may aid in eliminating cancer

In dogs with mammary tumors, researchers from the School of Veterinary Medicine and Perelman School of Medicine used a substance that glows under near-infrared light to illuminate cancer.

New cancer immunotherapy targeting myeloid cells slows tumor growth

Researchers found that inhibiting a molecule hijacked by tumor cells to suppress the immune system shrank tumors.

Fluorescent microscopic image of lung tissue stained in blue and pink

Blocking tumor signals can hinder cancer’s spread

A cross-campus team led by Serge Fuchs of the School of Veterinary Medicine used an inhibitor of an enzyme called p38α kinase to suppress the spread of melanoma to the lungs in a mouse model.

neon x-ray of a torso with the liver organ highlighted brightly

New liver cancer research targets non-cancer cells to blunt tumor growth

By targeting senescent cells using “senotherapy,” researchers can greatly reduce tumors in models.

Microscopic view of pancreatic cancer cells

Activating an estrogen receptor can stop pancreatic cancer cells from growing

Activating the G protein-coupled estrogen receptor has been shown to stop pancreatic cancer from growing, but may also make tumors more visible to the immune system and thus more susceptible to modern immunotherapy.

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