Two esteemed leaders from the Penn Medicine Abramson Cancer Center and Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania will be honored with 2023 Special Awards from the American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO), and Conquer Cancer, the ASCO Foundation, during the 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting.
Tag: abramson cancer center
AACR: Penn Medicine Preclinical Study Identifies New Target for Recurrent Ovarian Cancer
Results from a preclinical study from Penn Medicine, presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2023, verified a new target for drug-resistant ovarian cancer and provided data to support a treatment approach that is already making its way into clinical trials.
Four Penn Medicine Abramson Cancer Center Researchers Receive Top AACR Awards
Four distinguished researchers from the Abramson Cancer Center and Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania will receive 2023 Scientific Achievement Awards from the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), during the AACR Annual Meeting 2023.
Machine Learning-Triggered Reminders Improve End-of-Life Care for Patients with Cancer
Electronic nudges delivered to health care clinicians based on a machine learning algorithm that predicts mortality risk quadrupled rates of conversations with patients about their end-of-life care preferences, according to the long-term results of a randomized clinical trial published by Penn Medicine investigators in JAMA Oncology today.
Novel Drug Shows Early Promise in Treating Multiple Myeloma
A first-of-its-kind drug known as modakafusp alfa has shown early potential in combating multiple myeloma, a form of bone marrow cancer, in a study presented by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania’s Abramson Cancer Center at the 2022 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting (Abstract 565).
Penn Medicine Researchers Present Advance in Re-Treatment with CAR T Therapy
Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania’s Abramson Cancer Center presented preliminary results of an ongoing Phase I clinical trial demonstrating successful re-treatment with CAR T cell therapy for patients whose cancers relapsed after previous CAR T therapy at the 2022 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting (Abstract 2016).
Penn Medicine at the 2022 ASH Meeting
Researchers from the Abramson Cancer Center and Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania will be presenting data on the latest advances in blood cancer research and treatment at the 2022 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting from December 10-13.
Engineering CAR T Cells to Deliver Endogenous RNA Wakes Solid Tumors to Respond to Therapy
New study shows CAR T cells expressing RN7SL1 can activate the body’s natural immune cells against difficult-to-treat cancers
Penn-led Consortium Identifies More Genetic Markers for Inherited Testicular Cancer
A meta-analysis of nearly 200,000 men revealed 22 new genetic locations that could be susceptible to inherited testicular germ cell tumors.
New Approach for Cell Therapy Shows Potential Against Solid Tumors with KRAS Mutations
A new technology for cellular immunotherapy developed by Abramson Cancer Center researchers at Penn Medicine showed promising anti-tumor activity in the lab against hard-to-treat cancers driven by the once-considered “undruggable” KRAS mutation, including lung, colorectal, and pancreatic.
AACI Members Choose Winn as President-Elect
Robert Winn, MD, director of VCU Massey Cancer Center, has been elected by the members of the Association of American Cancer Institutes (AACI) to serve as vice president/president-elect of AACI’s board of directors.
Black and White Women Have Same Mutations Linked to Breast Cancer Risk
The prevalence of genetic mutations associated with breast cancer in Black and white women is the same.
Penn Medicine at the 2021 ASCO Meeting
Researchers from the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania will be presenting data on the latest advances in cancer research and treatment at American Society of Clinical Oncology virtual annual meeting, including new findings on minority health, immunotherapy, and…
Low on Antibodies, Blood Cancer Patients Can Fight off COVID-19 with T Cells
Antibodies aren’t the only immune cells needed to fight off COVID-19 — T cells are equally important and can step up to do the job when antibodies are depleted, suggests a new Penn Medicine study of blood cancer patients with COVID-19 published in Nature Medicine.
Less is More for the Next Generation of CAR T Cells
Penn Medicine researchers discovered that less is more when it comes to the length of what is known as the single-chain variable fragment in CAR T cells.

100,000th Cancer Survivor Receives Survivorship Plan Through Penn Medicine’s OncoLink
Penn Medicine’s OncoLink — the first cancer information website on the internet — has hit a new milestone: 100,000 cancer survivors from around the world have now received a personalized survivorship care plan through the website to guide them through life after cancer.
Five Years Later: Penn-developed CAR T Therapy Shows Long-lasting Remissions in Non-Hodgkin Lymphomas
A significant number of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) patients in a Penn Medicine-initiated clinical trial continue to be in remission five years after receiving the chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy Kymriah™, researchers in Penn’s Abramson Cancer Center reported today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Penn Medicine Cancer Cell Therapy Pioneer Carl June, MD, Named 2021 Dan David Prize Laureate
International cancer cell therapy pioneer Carl June, MD, the Richard W. Vague Professor in Immunotherapy in the department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and director of the Center for Cellular Immunotherapies at Penn’s Abramson Cancer Center, has been named a 2021 Dan David Prize Laureate.
New Biomarker May Predict Which Pancreatic Cancer Patients Respond to CD40 Immunotherapy
Inflammation in the blood could serve as a new biomarker to help identify patients with advanced pancreatic cancer who won’t respond to the immune-stimulating drugs known as CD40 agonists, suggests a new study from researchers in the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania published in JCI Insight.
Patients in Cancer Remission at High Risk for Severe COVID-19 Illness
Patients with inactive cancer and not currently undergoing treatments also face a significantly higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19, a new study from Penn Medicine published online today in JNCI Cancer Spectrum shows.
New Biomarker Identifies Patients with Aggressive Lymphoma Who Don’t Respond to Precision Therapy
A new biomarker discovered by a team that includes researchers from Penn Medicine identifies patients with an aggressive form of lymphoma unlikely to respond to the targeted treatment ibrutinib.
Diagnostic Imaging May Increase Risk of Testicular Cancer
Early and repeated exposures to diagnostic imaging, such as X-rays and CT scans, may increase the risk of testicular cancer.
Penn Medicine Researchers Receive $5.4 million Grant to Find Genetic Drivers of Testicular Cancer
A team of researchers led by Katherine L. Nathanson, MD, deputy director of the Abramson Cancer Center and the Pearl Basser Professor for BRCA-Related Research in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, was recently awarded $5.4 million over five years from the National Institutes of Health to continue the long-standing genomics work of the TEsticular CAncer Consortium.
Brain Tumor Organoids May be Key to Time-sensitive Treatments for Glioblastomas
Lab-grown brain organoids developed from a patient’s own glioblastoma, the most aggressive and common form of brain cancer, may hold the answers on how to best treat it. A new study in Cell from researchers at Penn Medicine showed how glioblastoma organoids could serve as effective models to rapidly test personalized treatment strategies.
How Oncologists Can Ethically Navigate the “Right-to-Try” Drug Law
The 2018 federal Right to Try Act allows patients with a life-threatening illness to be treated with drugs that have not yet been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Many in the oncology community say Right to Try strips away important regulatory protections and view the move as a risky step bound to create ethical dilemmas for physicians whose goal is to guide patients toward safe and appropriate treatment decisions. Oncology is one field at the forefront of requests for unapproved drugs. An interdisciplinary team of bioethicists, oncologists, and lawyers from Penn Medicine and other institutions penned a commentary published online this week in the Journal of Clinical Oncology to offer recommendations to help oncologists navigate this new “Right to Try” world, while maintaining their ethical obligations to patients.