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Targeting tumor supporting cells: Advancing CAR T success in pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer cells.

Image: Nemes Laszlo/Science Photo Library via Getty Images

Targeting tumor supporting cells: Advancing CAR T success in pancreatic cancer

Research led by Penn Vet’s Ellen Puré has used lipid nanoparticles to generate CAR T cells directed at a type of tumor support cells—cancer-associated fibroblasts—melting away the protective barrier around pancreatic tumor cells and paving the way for a potentially safer, more accessible, and cost-effective method to treat solid tumors.

3 min. read

A topical cream may prevent or slow growth of some common skin cancers

A topical cream may prevent or slow growth of some common skin cancers

An experimental cream developed at Penn Medicine that blocks a specific enzyme may offer a precise, better‑tolerated path to prevent and treat cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma.

Alex Gardner

1 min. read

David Holt is making cancer visible
David Holt

David Holt is a small animal professor of surgery at Penn Vet.

(Image: Courtesy of Penn Vet)

David Holt is making cancer visible

Penn Vet’s David Holt advances cancer care with a simple question asked in the operating room: “Have we removed it all?”

Martin Hackett

2 min. read

First CRISPR-based platform to pinpoint leukemia drivers
Rendering of a blood drop with a genetic DNA code inside.

Image: Alena Butusava via Getty Images

First CRISPR-based platform to pinpoint leukemia drivers

The new toolkit, developed by Penn Medicine and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, allows researchers to test potential cancer targets directly in patient leukemia cells.

2 min. read

Cancer care for the mind and spirit
Rebecca Boswell speaking with three people.

Patients are 10 times more likely to engage in mental health services when the therapy is integrated in a medical clinic, says Rebecca Boswell, center, with therapists at the Psychosocial Oncology Clinic.

(Image: Courtesy of Penn Medicine News)

Cancer care for the mind and spirit

A psychosocial oncology program is a part of a revolution in cancer care at Penn Medicine to address a wider range of cancer patients’ experiences, and includes specially-trained psychotherapists at no cost.

From Penn Medicine News

2 min. read

20 breakthroughs of 2025
Masoud Akbarzadeh holding up one of the fabricated materials.

The Polyhedral Structures Laboratory is housed at the Pennovation Center and brings together designers, engineers, and computer scientists to reimagine the built world. Using graphic statics, a method where forces are mapped as lines, they design forms that balance compression and tension. These result in structures that use far fewer materials while remaining strong and efficient.

(Image: Eric Sucar)

20 breakthroughs of 2025

From ancient tombs and tiny robots to personalized gene editing and AI weather models, Penn’s 2025 research portfolio showed how curiosity—paired with collaboration—moves knowledge into impact and stretches across disciplines and continents.

5 min. read