Stanford Cancer Institute

We were thrilled to host Neli Ulrich, PhD, MS, from Huntsman Cancer Institute as our guest speaker for this month’s Stanford Cancer Institute Breakthroughs in Cancer seminar. Her presentation, “A Story of Tackling Cancer Prognosis and Survivorship: Obesity, Omics, and Oncology Trials,” is now available for viewing here: https://bit.ly/4fv4SYo.

A promising Stanford Medicine treatment for deadly pediatric brain and spinal cord cancers received a Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy (RMAT) designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to expedite the FDA approval process. By expediting approval, more children will be able to benefit from the treatment sooner. Crystal Mackall, MD, founding director of the Stanford Center for Cancer Cell Therapy and co-leader of the Stanford Cancer Institute Cancer Immunotherapy Program, and Stanford Cancer Institute member and pediatric neuro-oncologist Michelle Monje, MD, PhD, are leading an ongoing clinical trial to evaluate the therapy’s safety and efficacy. The therapy uses chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cells, immune cells extracted from a patient’s body that are engineered to target a specific marker on tumor cells, to treat a deadly group of pediatric brain and spinal cord tumors known as diffuse midline gliomas. This group includes a brain cancer called diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), which has a median survival of eleven months, with only 10% of patients surviving for more than two years after diagnosis. Read more: https://stan.md/4hIjzZH #braincancer #childhoodcancer #cancerresearch #celltherapy

We’re excited to announce the 2025 winners of the SCI Fellowship awards. These exceptional fellows are dedicated to advancing cancer research in areas such as basic biology, prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and enhancing the quality of life for cancer patients. For more details, visit: https://stan.md/3UPJ1Tf #CancerResearch

We’re pleased to announce the recipients of the 2025 American Cancer Society Institutional Research Grant. This grant supports the development of new investigators to conduct independent research while encouraging collaborations among awardees and other Stanford Cancer Institute investigators. It also fosters direct relationships between the Stanford Cancer Institute and the local American Cancer Society. Congratulations to all the awardees; we look forward to the important research that will emerge from your efforts. View the funded projects: https://stan.md/3UKkij6 #CancerResearch

A trio of research papers from Stanford Medicine researchers and their international collaborators transforms scientists’ understanding of how small DNA circles — until recently dismissed as inconsequential — are major drivers of many types of human cancers. The papers, published simultaneously in Nature on Nov. 6, detail the prevalence and prognostic impact of the circles, called ecDNA for extrachromosomal DNA, in nearly 15,000 human cancers; highlight a novel mode of inheritance that overthrows a fundamental law of genetics; and describe an anti-cancer therapy targeting the circles that is already in clinical trials. The team, jointly known as eDyNAmiC, are a group of international experts led by Stanford Cancer Institute member and professor of pathology Paul Mischel, MD. In 2022, Mischel and the eDyNAmiC team were awarded a $25 million grant from the Cancer Grand Challenges initiative to learn more about the circles. Cancer Grand Challenges, a research initiative co-founded by Cancer Research UK (CRUK) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in the United States, supports a global community of interdisciplinary, world-class research teams to take on cancer’s toughest challenges. “We’re in the midst of a completely new understanding of a common and aggressive mechanism that drives cancer,” said Mischel, who holds the Fortinet Founders Professorship. “Each paper alone is noteworthy, and taken together they represent a major inflection point in how we view cancer initiation and evolution.” Mischel is also an institute scholar at Stanford Medicine’s Sarafan ChEM-H. Read more https://stan.md/48LhnNc #Cancer Research

In his nearly two decades as a clinical professor at Stanford Medicine, Bryant Lin had never stood before a classroom of students as a patient -- let alone as a patient who, despite never inhaling "a single puff of smoke of any kind," has been afflicted with an incurable form of late-stage lung cancer. Therefore, it was little surprise when the focus of lesson No. 1 in his new fall class swerved toward Lin's tear ducts rather than his lungs. "I was hoping not to get choked up... but somebody, thoughtfully, left a Kleenex box up here," Lin said, reaching toward the nearby podium of a unique class he named MED 275: From Diagnosis to Dialogue: A Doctor's Real-Time Battle with Cancer. It was in early May, about a month before his 50th birthday, that he received the diagnosis of stage IV non-small cell cancer -- aka never-smoker lung cancer. Lin will discuss "The power of cancer storytelling" on Saturday, Nov. 16, from 11:30 am to 4 pm. Read more and register to join online: https://stan.md/48DzUuu #LungCancer

Advancements in lung cancer care are improving individual patient outcomes and addressing the broader challenges of genetic risk factors and health disparities. #LungCancer #LungCancerAwarenessMonth #CancerScreening #HealthEquity

The SCI Bridging the Gap Health Equity Symposium was a great success! We want to extend our gratitude to all the researchers, community members, and participants who contributed to this important event. Your engagement in meaningful discussions about cancer care and health equity is vital as we work together toward a more equitable future in cancer treatment. https://stan.md/3ArQl0o #HealthEquity #StanfordCancerInstitute

On October 29, 2024, the inaugural Stanford Cancer Institute Advances in Mass Spectrometry Enabled Drug Discovery symposium successfully convened leading experts from academia and industry. The event focused on the transformative role of mass spectrometry in drug development, exploring current challenges, opportunities, and recent advancements in the field. The day's sessions included: - Using Mass Spectrometry Platforms for Ligand Discovery - Expanding Covalency in Drug Design - MS Technology & Discovery Proteomics - Advancing Activity-Based Protein Profiling - Developing Proximity-Based Therapeutics Thank you to all speakers, attendees, and organizers for making this event a great success! View photos of the event here: https://bit.ly/40nLzM9 #StanfordCancer #DrugDiscovery #proteomics #MassSpectrometry Nathanael Gray

Allison Kurian, MD, MSc, director of the Stanford Cancer Institute Population Sciences Program, and Stanford Cancer Institute member Jennifer Caswell-Jin, MD, received a $3.5 million legacy gift to launch the Bright Pink Preventive Risk Outreach And Cascade Testing (PROACT) Program. The gift is provided by Bright Pink, a non-profit focused on improving outcomes for breast and ovarian cancer that concluded operations after 18 years. “This program builds on a proven platform that has already increased testing uptake and will provide critical insights to identify gaps in care, informing policy changes and systemic reforms,” says Kurian. Read more: https://stan.md/3YF2tob #BreastCancer #OvarianCancer