Pancreatic Cancer
FDA Approval Opens New Frontier in Pancreatic Cancer Treatment
For decades, a metastatic pancreatic cancer diagnosis offered patients little hope, with few treatment options and too little time. Now, a pill tested in a global clinical trial – Sylvester was the only South Florida site conducting the study – has changed the trajectory of treating this difficult, deadly disease. The Food and Drug Administration has approved daraxonrasib, a targeted therapy, based on the trial results. Patients who took daraxonrasib lived almost twice as long as patients receiving chemotherapy. "This is a monumental shift in the treatment of pancreas cancer," said Peter Hosein, M.D. , co-leader of Sylvester's Gastrointestinal Cancer Site Disease Group.
PanCAN Grant Aims to Help Sylvester Develop Blood Test for Pancreatic Cancer
For patients with lung, colon and certain other solid tumors, blood tests to detect circulating tumor DNA, or ctDNA, routinely help oncologists identify tumor vulnerabilities and guide treatment decisions. Pancreatic cancer patients have not had that same advantage, as invasive biopsies remain the standard. Now, however, a $225,000, two-year grant from the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN) could bolster Sylvester researchers' efforts to establish ctDNA as a reliable way to measure the molecular makeup of metastatic pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest malignancies.
Alcohol & Cancer
Alcohol-Linked Cancer's Toll Extends Far Beyond the Liver With Deaths Rising Across Age Groups
Alcohol-attributable cancer deaths in the U.S. doubled between 1990 and 2023, a Sylvester study has found. The study , first presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting and now published in The Lancet Regional Health – Americas, also revealed that alcohol-linked cancer deaths are not limited to older adults or liver cancer. Among adults ages 20 to 54, colorectal cancer was the leading alcohol-related cancer death in men, while breast cancer ranked first among women.
AI Messages May Improve Awareness of Alcohol-Related Cancer Risks
Online warnings about alcohol and cancer prompted stronger responses when they named specific cancers and included AI-generated images showing health consequences, according to a study led by Sylvester researchers. The study , published in Cancer, a journal of the American Cancer Society, found that pairing cancer-specific messages with AI images helped people better understand alcohol's cancer-related risks. "Many people remain unaware that alcohol is linked to several cancers," explained Taghrid Asfar, M.D., MSPH , lead study author and professor of public health.
AI & Cancer
Darkness to Light: How AI Helped Reveal a Hidden Cellular Communication Network
The protein universe contains hundreds of millions of members, but most remain largely unexplored, creating a vast biological "darkness" that may hold clues to human health and disease. Now, Sylvester scientists have used artificial intelligence and advanced experiments to uncover a previously hidden protein that helps cells form physical connections and share resources. The discovery , published in Nature, reveals a new layer of cellular communication and shows how combining AI with experiments can illuminate hidden members of the dark human proteome, uncover new biology and reveal new ways to treat disease. "What we found suggests there is another layer of biology that has been hiding in plain sight," explained Daniel Isom, Ph.D. , Sylvester researcher and the study's senior author.
Blood Cancer
Sylvester Researchers Discover Why Some Lymphomas Resist CAR T-Cell Therapy
A multicenter study led by Sylvester researchers, in collaboration with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Moffitt Cancer Center, has identified a genetic alteration that helps some large B-cell lymphomas resist CAR T-cell treatment. Published in Blood Cancer Disovery, the study found that loss of the RHOA gene helps tumors evade immune attack by disrupting key immune responses. The findings provide new insight into treatment resistance and future treatment strategies.
Cancer Treatment
Can Routine Lab Results Predict Chemotherapy Side Effects?
Chemotherapy is not the same journey for every patient. For some, its side effects are predictable and manageable. For others, lingering fatigue, nausea and other symptoms complicate their recovery. Sylvester researcher Melissa Lopez, Ph.D., MS, RDN , is working to turn that uncertainty into insight. Lopez, nutrition lead in lifestyle medicine in Sylvester's Survivorship and Supportive Care Institute , has been awarded an NCI ENICTO pilot grant to determine if readily available clinical and nutritional markers from lab results can help predict symptom burden during and after chemotherapy.
Breast Cancer Profile
Elisa Krill Jackson, M.D.: Making Breast Cancer Treatment More Personalized
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and Sylvester breast oncologist Elisa Krill Jackson, M.D. , has seen dramatic progress during her 30 years in the specialty. Tumor genomics help her tailor treatment for patients with early-stage breast cancer, while antibody conjugates deliver chemotherapy more directly to breast cancer cells. Additionally, clinical trials continue to advance treatment options. Krill Jackson elaborates on the advances in this interview.
