HOUSTON, SEPTEMBER 25, 2026 ― At The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center , research breakthroughs are made possible through seamless collaboration between the institution's world-leading clinicians and scientists, bringing discoveries from the lab to the clinic and back. The studies below showcase the latest advances in cancer care, research and prevention.
UT MD Anderson researchers will be presenting the latest advances in radiotherapy at the 2026 American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Annual meeting from September 26-30.
Targeted antibody improves outcomes for patients with advanced lung cancer who have faced treatment resistance
Read the full release | Read the study in The Lancet Oncology
Patients with EGFR-mutant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who were treated with the novel bispecific immunotherapy ivonescimab plus chemotherapy were 48% less likely to experience cancer progression or death than those receiving chemotherapy alone. Results from the global Phase 3 HARMONi trial revealed that patients receiving the combination lived a median of 6.8 months without their disease worsening, compared with 4.4 months for those treated with chemotherapy alone. The treatment also improved tumor responses while maintaining a manageable safety profile.
"Despite major advances in EGFR-targeted therapies, resistance remains inevitable for most patients, and treatment options after progression are limited," said trial co-lead Xiuning Le, M.D., Ph.D. , associate professor of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology . "These results show that adding ivonescimab to chemotherapy can extend disease control and may offer an important new option for these patients."
Researchers uncover dual role of B7-H3 in tumor immune suppression
Read the full release | Read the study in Cancer Discovery
Researchers identified a previously unknown pathway that prostate tumors leverage to suppress the immune system by reshaping the tumor microenvironment to resist treatment. A combined targeted therapy approach improved antitumor responses and prolonged survival in preclinical models of castration-resistant prostate cancer . The findings suggest that tumors use this pathway as a backup physical defense and may explain why therapies targeting the B7-H3 immune checkpoint may show limited efficacy when used alone. The study was led by Di Zhao, Ph.D. , associate professor of Experimental Radiation Oncology , and Nicholas Navin, Ph.D. , chair of Systems Biology .
"Our study shows that the immune checkpoint B7-H3 does more than put the brakes on the immune system; it also reshapes the cells surrounding a tumor to help cancer grow and resist treatment," Zhao said. "By uncovering how this process works, we identified a promising strategy that combines B7-H3-targeted therapy with MEK inhibition. These findings could help guide more effective, personalized treatments for patients whose tumors are unlikely to respond to B7-H3 therapy alone."
Study identifies two factors that may help patients benefit from off-the-shelf CAR T cell therapies
Read the full release | Read the study in Cancer Discovery
Researchers traced how off-the-shelf chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells behave in patients, revealing how immune rejection and differences among CAR T cells influence their ability to multiply after infusion. The findings revealed that some patients' immune systems may reject donor-derived CAR T cells before they can fully expand and eliminate cancer. Researchers also identified specific CAR T cell populations that appear better equipped to multiply, persist, and destroy cancer cells.
"One of the biggest questions in the field has been why the same off-the-shelf CAR T cell therapy can lead to dramatically different results in different patients," said corresponding author Pavan Bachireddy, M.D. , assistant professor of Hematopoietic Biology and Malignancy and scientific director of the ECLIPSE platform. "By identifying both patient and CAR T cell characteristics that influence treatment response, we've uncovered insights that could help us develop more effective therapies for the future."
Most patients with appendix cancer may avoid chemotherapy after surgery, study suggests
Read the full release | Read the study in JAMA Surgery
Most patients with localized appendix cancer may be able to safely avoid chemotherapy after surgery, according to new research. The study found that fewer than 10% of patients experienced recurrence after surgery, and chemotherapy given after surgery was not associated with improved survival or a lower risk of relapse, even among patients considered higher risk. Researchers also identified specific tumor characteristics and genomic alterations that may help doctors better predict which patients are most likely to see their cancer return. This analysis, led by John Paul Shen, M.D. , associate professor of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology , and Sacha El Khoury, M.D., a research fellow of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology, represents the largest study to date of localized appendix cancer.
"For too long, the outdated notion that appendix cancer behaves similarly to colon cancer has driven treatment decisions for our patients," Shen said. "Our findings demonstrate that appendix cancer has a distinct biology and that, for most patients with localized disease, the risk of relapse is low. Understanding each tumor's unique characteristics can help us better identify who may benefit from closer monitoring while avoiding unnecessary treatment for others."
Blood test could monitor bone metastasis in medullary thyroid cancer
Read the full release | Read the study in Cell Reports Medicine
Researchers uncovered a possible reason why metastatic medullary thyroid cancer causes abnormal bone growth, pointing to a new opportunity to detect and monitor bone metastases in patients. The researchers discovered that cancer cells with RET mutations produce higher levels of the OPG protein, which disrupts the balance of bone renewal, blocking destruction and favoring the accumulation of bone. The findings suggest that measuring OPG levels via blood tests could identify and monitor patients that develop aggressive disease. The study was led by Theresa Guise, M.D. , professor of Endocrine Neoplasia and Hormonal Disorders .
"Our findings suggest that RET-mutant cancer cells may send signals that encourage new bone formation while stopping the breakdown of old bones, causing a pile-up," Guise said. "This imbalance could explain the unusual bone lesions uniquely seen in medullary thyroid cancer bone metastases and suggests that monitoring blood levels of the OPG protein could help identify and monitor patients who develop bone metastases."
Fecal microbiota transplantation may improve immunotherapy-related colitis
Read the full release | Read the study in Cell Reports Medicine
Targeting the gut microbiome with fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) may help cancer patients with immunotherapy-related colitis avoid the need for steroids and other immune-suppressing treatments. Findings from the Phase 1/2 trial showed that nearly 77% of the first 13 patients treated with FMT saw improvements, with symptoms subsiding in a median of just 1.5 days. Eight of the 10 patients who responded remained in remission during follow-up.
"What stands out in these results is the quick onset of clinical improvement from an early introduction of microbiome therapy as well as the number of patients who were able to resume cancer treatment," said principal investigator Yinghong Wang, M.D., Ph.D. , professor of Gastroenterology & Hepatology . "These findings suggest FMT may have a role earlier in the course of immunotherapy-related colitis as a quick and effective treatment that could mitigate the exposure to immunosuppressive treatment as well as related complications."
AI model uses routine imaging to identify patients at risk for serious treatment-induced lung inflammation
Read the full release | Read the study in Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer
Researchers developed an artificial intelligence (AI) model that can identify lung cancer patients at increased risk of developing a serious immunotherapy-related side effect before treatment begins, offering a possible path toward more personalized monitoring and prevention strategies. The findings indicate that standard medical imaging may contain clues about a patient's susceptibility to pneumonitis, a potentially life-threatening form of lung inflammation that occurs in about 10% of lung cancer patients receiving immunotherapy . By analyzing routine chest CT scans obtained before treatment, the researchers identified imaging patterns associated with future risk. This method outpaced current approaches, which rely on subjective imaging analysis and clinical risk factors that do not fully capture underlying vulnerability. The study was led by Jia Wu, Ph.D. , associate professor of Imaging Physics and Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology and an affiliate member of UT MD Anderson's Institute for Data Science in Oncology ; co-senior authors Ajay Sheshadri, M.D. , associate professor of Pulmonary Medicine ; and Mehmet Altan, M.D. , associate professor of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology.
"Pneumonitis remains one of the most challenging complications of immunotherapy because it can be difficult to predict before symptoms appear," Wu said. "Our model was able to identify signals associated with future risk using information that already exists in routine CT scans."
B cells may help predict risk of colitis from immunotherapy
Read the full release | Read the study in Cell Reports
Researchers identified a previously unknown role for B cells in triggering and sustaining colitis occurring as a side effect of immune checkpoint inhibitors , a widely used form of cancer immunotherapy . The findings suggest that changes in circulating B cell activity may occur before symptoms emerge, providing a potential blood-based biomarker to identify patients at risk of immunotherapy-related colitis. The study was led by Roza Nurieva, Ph.D. , professor of Immunology , together with co-first authors Naimah Turner, a research assistant in the Nurieva Laboratory; Synat Keam, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow in the Nurieva Laboratory; Noha Abdel-Wahab, Ph.D., associate professor at Cleveland Clinic Ohio and Abu Dhabi, and others.
"Immune checkpoint inhibitors have significantly improved outcomes for patients with advanced cancer, but they can also come with severe side effects that may disrupt treatment," Nurieva said. "Our study suggests that early B cell dysregulation sets off an inflammatory cascade in some patients while they are asymptomatic, serving as a driver of and predictive biomarker for risk of immunotherapy-related colitis that can guide future preventive treatment strategies."
