November 29, 2019
Cancer journey not the only marathon for survivor
Midway through treatment for head and neck cancer, Jeff Cobb had a question for his doctors at UNC Lineberger. “Can I run a marathon?”
Category: News from Lineberger
November 26, 2019
Der named AAAS Fellow
The honor recognizes Der's contributions to cancer research. His lab's recent findings on pancreatic cancer have led to clinical studies of a new treatment.
November 21, 2019
Pancreatic cancer tumor classification could optimize treatment choices
In Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, Jen Jen Yeh, MD, and Naim Rashid, PhD, reported findings for how two subtypes of pancreatic cancer respond to treatments differently. Importantly, they found that one subtype of the disease showed poor responses to common therapies and also had worse survival outcomes.
November 18, 2019
Researchers find KRAS gene mutation differences have implications for pancreatic cancer treatment
The KRAS gene is commonly mutated in cancer. In the journal Cancer Discovery, researchers led by Channing Der, PhD, and Aaron Hobbs, PhD, reported details of the role of the KRAS G12R mutation in pancreatic cancer, and therapeutic strategies that might work for this mutation type. By studying unique differences in DNA mutations within the same gene, researchers are working to uncover the mutation-specific mechanisms that drive cancerous growth.
November 18, 2019
Mirlekar named recipient of Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer’s 2019 Young Investigator Award
The Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer honored Rahul Mirlekar, PhD, a postdoctoral research associate at UNC Lineberger, as a recipient of its 2019 Young Investigator Award. The society honored Mirlekar at its 34th Annual Meeting, held Nov. 6-10 in National Harbor, Maryland. The meeting was expected to attract more than 4,000 researchers, clinicians, pharmacists and …
November 14, 2019
Professional tennis player John Isner names NC Cancer Hospital reception area in his mom’s honor
The North Carolina Cancer Hospital, the clinical home of UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, has named the multidisciplinary clinic reception area in honor of Karen Isner, a two-time cancer survivor and the mother of professional tennis player John Isner.
November 14, 2019
Findings could help identify which aggressive breast cancers will respond to immune treatments
University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers have discovered a promising method to identify aggressive breast cancer tumors that will respond to drugs that unleash the immune system against cancer. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved a treatment that combines an immunotherapy drug and chemotherapy for triple negative breast cancer, but …
November 5, 2019
Feast or famine: Scientists find key bio ‘switch’ that helps cells adapt
Scientists from the UNC School of Medicine and Stanford University have uncovered what may be a fundamental biological mechanism that helps organisms adapt to rapid changes to nutrients in their environments. In a study published in Molecular Cell, the scientists found that a chemical mark on histones – a key protein involved in the function of our …
November 5, 2019
Researchers use genetic insights to develop model for HPV-linked head and neck cancer
A University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center-led research team has used genetic insights about head and neck cancers linked to HPV, or human papillomavirus, to improve laboratory tools for studying the disease. Leveraging their discovery that different subtypes of HPV-linked oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma exist based on the expression levels of two different …
November 5, 2019
NCI awards $1.68M grant to James to study gene important to childhood cancers
The NCI has awarded more than $1.68 million across five years to UNC Lineberger’s Lindsey James, PhD, to study a gene that can control how other genes are expressed in cells, and when dysregulated, can lead to cancer.