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Cancer Research

Inspiring people, place, and purpose
penn president amy gutmann

Inspiring people, place, and purpose

Penn President Amy Gutmann’s record tenure of nearly 18 years is the University’s most transformative.

Penn Today Staff

Decade-long remission after CAR T cell therapy
Two people stand closely together, smiling

Bill Ludwig, left, was the first patient to receive CAR T cells as part of clinical trials at Abramson Cancer Center. Carl June, right, has played a pioneering roll in the therapeutic use of CAR T cells. (Image: Penn Medicine)

Decade-long remission after CAR T cell therapy

Two patients represent longest-known CAR T cell response to date, providing insight into treatment effect and outcomes.

Caren Begun

Researchers find new potential targets for skin-cancer treatment
Microscopic view of skin tissue cells.

Researchers find new potential targets for skin-cancer treatment

Making up for the genetic mutations of MLL4 in skin cells, one of the most commonly mutated genes across all of human cancers, may keep epithelial cancer from beginning and progressing

Alex Gardner

This new ovarian cancer treatment could improve survival rates | 5 Questions

This new ovarian cancer treatment could improve survival rates | 5 Questions

Janos L. Tanyi of the Perelman School of Medicine spoke about a large-scale trial of Cytalux, which makes cancer cells glow during surgery, being conducted at the Abramson Cancer Center. “Those patients who have all the visible cancerous lesions removed have the best survival rates,” he said.

How should cancer immunotherapy be used?

How should cancer immunotherapy be used?

Ravi Parikh of the Perelman School of Medicine was interviewed about his research on the use of new and expensive immunotherapy medications to treat cancer patients considered to be ineligible for clinical trials. These older, sicker patients turned out be “about twice as likely to receive these novel immunotherapies compared to healthier patients who would have been included, and this is despite the fact that these drugs have never been studied in this particular group of individuals,” said Parikh. Furthermore, the study found “no survival difference” for trial ineligible patients receiving these treatments.

Improving diversity in cancer clinical trials
Medical worker in a face mask holds a clipboard for an African American person to sign.

Improving diversity in cancer clinical trials

The Cancer Clinical Trials Community Ambassador Training Program at the Abramson Cancer Center was established in August 2021 to create spokespersons and resources to increase awareness and access to cancer clinical trials in the diverse Philadelphia communities. 

From Penn Medicine News

Changing the identity of cancer cells to eliminate them
Human cells with acute myeloid leukemia

New findings from a study led by the School of Veterinary Medicine’s Andrés Blanco point a way forward for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia. (Image: National Cancer Institute)

Changing the identity of cancer cells to eliminate them

A team led by the School of Veterinary Medicine’s M. Andrés Blanco has uncovered a new target for treating certain blood cancers that works by removing an obstacle to their maturation.

Katherine Unger Baillie