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The Yaffe Lab, in collaboration with the Irvine Lab, is looking at novel ways to combine chemotherapy and radiotherapy with immunotherapy for more effective cancer treatment. In a study appearing in Science Signaling, tumor cells from mice were treated with DNA-damaging chemotherapy and re-injected back into the tumors before administering immune checkpoint blockade therapy.
Current conventions suggest that molecules released by dead or dying tumor cells can enhance immune cell response—a phenomenon known as immunogenic cell death—but here the researchers found that signals released by the still-living damaged cells were the ones inducing the greater immune response. This new approach, dubbed “immunogenic cell injury,” could offer a viable treatment strategy for patients whose tumors have not previously responded to immunotherapy. The team will continue to test their approach using different drugs, dosages, and tumor types.
This work was funded in part by the Mazumdar-Shaw International Oncology Fellowship, the MIT Center for Precision Cancer Medicine, and the Charles and Marjorie Holloway Foundation. |
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Fundamentally Curious
“The best science comes from those who are fundamentally curious.” So reads new lettering in the west wing of the Koch Institute Public Galleries, alongside a dedicated plaque celebrating the life and work of Angelika Amon. The unveiling ceremony, attended by Angelika’s family and close colleagues, also debuted a new exhibit celebrating MIT’s rich legacy of discovery science—an endeavor near and dear to Angelika’s heart—and announced the creation of the Amon Young Scientist Award to support exchange of ideas between MIT and international researchers. |
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Shifting the Conversation Around Diet and Cancer
Vander Heiden Lab researchers are applying new knowledge about cancer cell metabolism to better understand how low carbohydrate diets affect tumor development. By comparing a calorically restricted diet and a ketogenic diet in mouse models, the study found that the reduced availability of fatty acids played a major role in limiting tumor growth. These findings, published in Nature, do not recommend a particular diet, but rather, urge further investigation to determine how dietary interventions might be combined with existing or emerging drugs to advance patient care.
The work was supported in part by the Emerald Foundation, the MIT Center for Precision Cancer Medicine, and the Ludwig Center at MIT. |
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Remembering David Livingston
Our community mourns the passing of renowned oncologist and scientist Dr. David Livingston, co-founder and co-leader of the Bridge Project and longtime member of the Koch Institute Scientific Advisory Board. We are grateful for the generosity with which David shared his insight, time, and effort, and offer our condolences to his family, friends, and colleagues. |
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A Checkup for Checkpoint Blockade
Why do some tumors fail to respond to immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy? New research by the Spranger Lab, in collaboration with the Love and Wittrup Labs, suggests that non-responsive T cells may be dysfunctional due to differences in cytokine signaling during T cell activation in the tumor-draining lymph node. Their findings, published in Science Immunology, suggest that cytokine therapy could improve the tumors’ response to ICB.
This work was supported in part by the Koch Institute Frontier Research Program through the Casey and Family Foundation Cancer Research Fund. |
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Stem Cells and Colon Cancer
MIT Stem Cell Initiative investigators Ömer Yilmaz and Alex Shalek are investigating the impacts of high-fat diets on intestinal stem cells. Applying Shalek’s single-cell sequencing tools to three-dimensional colon tumor models called organoids developed in the Yilmaz Lab, their teams seek to understand how changes induced by high-fat diets in these stem cells can lead to cancer. The work of the MIT Stem Cell Initiative is supported by Fondation MIT. |
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KI Directors Panel on December 14
Rounding out the Koch Institute’s tenth anniversary year public programs is a panel discussion about the enduring legacy of cancer research at MIT. Current and past directors Matthew Vander Heiden, Tyler Jacks, Richard Hynes, and Phil Sharp join moderator Susan Hockfield at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, December 14 to reflect on the progress of the last five decades and look ahead at the Koch Institute’s next ten years and future advances in the fight against cancer. Please join us on Zoom! |
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$25M Gift to the Bridge Project
The Commonwealth Foundation for Cancer Research has pledged $25 million to the Bridge Project, a collaboration between the Koch Institute and Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center (DF/HCC). Together with matching gifts to be raised by MIT and DF/HCC, these funds will support projects near or already in the clinic, particularly those focusing on traditionally challenging classes of cancer drug targets or on more conventional targets found in rarer forms of cancer.
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Secret Gardener
Ever since a flower box display for the Sean Collier Memorial was moved into the Koch Institute Public Galleries, arrangements of plants and decorations with themes ranging from dinosaurs to holiday cheer have appeared every month. The Boston Globe reveals the creative gardener to be Kathy Cormier, who heads the Hope Babette Tang (1983) Histology Facility within the Robert A. Swanson (1969) Biotechnology Center. |
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KI Trainees Honored
Congratulations to Coralie Backlund (Irvine Lab), Jason Conage-Pough (White Lab), Alicia Darnell (Vander Heiden Lab), and Jay Mahat (Sharp Lab), winners of the 2021 Peter Karches Mentorship Prize. This annual award recognizes the critical role mentorship plays in engaging new generations of cancer researchers. Cheers, all! |
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Modeling the Mechanisms of Metastasis
A team co-led by Roger Kamm has received a $7.8 million, five-year U54 grant to join National Institutes of Health’s inaugural group of Metastasis Research Network Centers. The team will study how metastasizing tumor cells adapt to mechanical stresses, as well as how these stressors impact cell fate, including cell death, dormancy, or proliferation. |
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