Antibody-drug conjugate. This complex vocabulary masks a straightforward idea: Tether a cancer-killing drug to an antibody, then administer it to a cancer patient for a two-in-one strike on their tumors. Martin Schnermann, Ph.D., and his team in the Chemical Biology Laboratory are trying to improve these conjugates. To do so, they’ve focused on neither antibodies nor drugs but rather the molecules that tether the two together.

A team of scientists from NCI, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, and industry has created a new basis for classifying cervical cancers based on their genetic mutations. With it, they’ve proposed and tested a potent approach for treating one subtype of cervical tumors.

Behind a table laden with a mix of food platters, chips bags, drinks, and slow cookers, a large map of the U.S. presided over a gathering for the NCI Frederick postbaccalaureate and postdoctoral fellows finishing their assignments.  The map, speckled with colored spots that indicated where fellows were heading next, was a focal point of the afternoon. The celebration was the second annual Fellows Sendoff Potluck...

We invite you to participate in this quarter’s Trivia Challenge. Winners of this quarterly challenge will earn bragging rights, and the first person to respond to all questions correctly will receive a virtual shoutout with the next batch of questions.

NCI Frederick researchers and colleagues are improving therapies that modify and equip a patient’s own immune cells to target their solid tumors. Their modification, while still at an early stage of development, can potentially minimize the risk that the armed cells will be therapeutically rejected.