News and Breakthroughs

The MYC oncogene is notorious in the cancer research world because it is implicated in many advanced or aggressive cancers such as treatment-resistant prostate cancer. In this episode, Sarki Abdulkadir, MD, PhD, shares how his team bucked the conventional notion that the MYC gene is “undruggable” and uncovered a handful of compounds that block MYC gene activity, making prostate cancer tumors sensitive to hormone therapy and opening up a potential new therapeutic target for treatment-resistant prostate cancer.

On a fall day in 2022, Alex Pancoe ’09, of Glencoe, Illinois, was about an hour short of cresting the summit of Ama Dablam, a 22,000-foot mountain in the Nepalese Himalayas, when a wave of weakness struck him.

Investigators have demonstrated how molecular profiling of tumors can be used to help predict treatment response and survival in patients with meningiomas, the most common type of primary brain tumor, according to a recent study published in Nature Medicine.

Scientists have discovered how interactions between RNA and the TOP1 essential enzyme, which is overexpressed in many human cancers, regulate DNA during transcription and may inform the creation of new cancer therapies, according to a Northwestern Medicine study published in Molecular Cell.

One year after Soohyun Han completed breast cancer treatment, her 16-year-old twins gave a musical performance to celebrate her recovery, thank her cancer care team, and raise funds for breast cancer research. On Friday, August 16, Nathan and Joshua Kim played violin and cello at the Lurie Cancer Center at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, together with their friend, as part of the Windy City Youth Ensemble.

The Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center’s SPORE in Prostate Cancer and Polsky Urologic Cancer Institute announce the following awards in support of innovative prostate cancer research.

Northwestern Medicine scientists have discovered increased immune cell activity in Merkel cell carcinoma tumors, which could help predict treatment response in patients and inform the development of new targeted therapies, according to findings published in the journal Cancer Discovery.

CAR T-cell therapy is an effective treatment for aggressive subtypes of follicular lymphoma, according to a clinical trial published in Nature Medicine.

Men with prostate cancer experienced less anxiety, fatigue, sleep problems using mindfulness

Learn how a breakthrough discovery showing how gene mutations found in T-cells of patients with lymphoma could hold the key to a potent cancer-fighting immunotherapy. Featuring Jaehyuk Choi, MD, PhD.

At their 26th Annual Awards Dinner, Gilda’s Club Chicago honored Leonidas Platanias, MD, PhD, and the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University for their remarkable achievements and dedication to improving the lives of patients with cancer.

Multilevel care interventions improved clinician–documented advanced care planning compared with a clinician-level intervention alone for patients with genitourinary cancer, according to recent findings published in JAMA Oncology.

Investigators have discovered that using a novel drug agonist to target the STING pathway in preclinical models of glioblastoma reprogrammed previously suppressed immune responses, according to recent findings published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Northwestern Medicine scientists have discovered that a weakened form of a virus can be used to help eliminate cancer in mice.

Northwestern Medicine scientists have used ultrasound technology to penetrate the blood-brain barrier and provide a small dose of a chemotherapy and immunotherapy, a major advance for the treatment of this deadly cancer.