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Cancer Currents: An NCI Cancer Research Blog

A blog featuring news and research updates from the National Cancer Institute.

An illustrated banner to represent NCI's Cancer Currents research news blog. The design features interconnected scenes: a patient receiving care, a researcher in a lab, a tumor model, a laptop and mobile device displaying research articles, fitness activity, a clinical setting, and a researcher giving a scientific presentation. The background showcases rolling hills and abstract buildings.
  • Photo of doctors performing surgery in a hospital operating room.
    • By NCI Staff

    Secondary surgery for women with recurrent ovarian cancer does not improve how long those women live, findings from a large trial show. The results call into question the current standard of practice for these patients.

  • More than 30% of all human cancers are driven by mutations in RAS genes.
    • By NCI Staff

    An experimental drug, AMG 510, that targets mutated forms of the KRAS protein completely shrank tumors in cancer mouse models and data from a small clinical trial show that it appears to be active against different cancer types with a KRAS mutation.

  • Conceptual illustration of personal genomic data.
    • By NCI Staff

    At a recent NCI-sponsored scientific workshop, patients with cancer, researchers, and patient advocates exchanged ideas about personal genomic data, issues related to privacy, and data sharing.

  • Pathology slides from a patient with acute myeloid leukemia that has relapsed (left) and after remission (right).
    • By NCI Staff

    People with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with FLT3 gene mutations treated with gilteritinib had improved survival, higher rates of remission, and fewer side effects than those treated with chemotherapy, a recent trial found.

  • A CT scan of a tumor recurrence in the brain of a child with ALL.
    • By Sharon Reynolds

    Only 1.5% of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia who skipped radiation had a recurrence in the central nervous system, according to a recent trial. The therapy, which is intended to prevent such a recurrence, can have devastating side effects.

  • An astrocyte in culture emitting long, winding extensions.
    • By NCI Staff

    Brain cells called astrocytes can activate PPAR-gamma, a growth protein in cancer cells that helps them gain a foothold in the brain, a new study shows. The findings suggest that drugs that block PPAR-gamma activity may help treat brain metastases.

  • A graphic explaining epigenetic changes in normal cells and SDH-deficient GIST.
    • By NCI Staff

    Scientists may have pinpointed the cause of some gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs), a rare cancer, according to a new NCI-funded study. However, the culprit isn’t a harmful genetic mutation, but another type of genetic change, what are called epigenetic alterations.

  • A diagram showing how three drugs target parts of the MAPK signaling pathway in cancer cells with BRAF mutations.
    • By NCI Staff

    For people with colorectal cancer with a specific mutation in the BRAF gene, a treatment regimen of three targeted drugs can improve how long they live without increasing their risk of serious side effects, results from a new clinical trial show.

  • An older African American couple walking in a park.
    • By NCI Staff

    Updated guidelines on exercise for those living with cancer and cancer survivors were recently released. In this conversation, Dr. Kathryn Schmitz discusses what these new guidelines mean for doctors, patients, and survivors.

  • Headshot of Dr. Norman E. Sharpless
    • By Norman E. Sharpless, M.D.

    Dr. Ned Sharpless discusses his return as NCI director after serving as acting commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration for 7 months.

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