Science

There may be a new, more effective method for treating high-risk neuroblastoma, according to scientists at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and collaborators in the Cancer and Inflammation Program at NCI at Frederick. Together, the groups published a study describing a previously unrecognized protein on neuroblastoma cells, called GPC2, as well as the creation of a novel antibody-drug conjugate, a combination of a human antibody and a naturally occurring anticancer drug, that locates and binds to GPC2 in a highly efficient way.

The NIH Bethesda campus recently welcomed several special guests for a presentation titled Given a Voice: Update on the NIH–Lacks Family Partnership. Henrietta Lacks’ grandchildren Jeri Lacks-Whye (who is also the Lacks family spokesperson) and David Lacks, Jr. came to speak with NIH Director Francis S. Collins, Ph.D., M.D. about the importance of protecting patients and their families.

Student interns presented their research to the NCI at Frederick community during the annual Student Poster Days event, held in the Building 549 lobby and the Advanced Technology Research Facility (ATRF) atrium over two days.

A team of scientists and specialists from NCI at Frederick, NCI at Bethesda, the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, and Data Management Services, Inc., has developed the first method for identifying natural products that could increase the effectiveness of camptothecin-based cancer treatments.

The National Cancer Institute and Children’s Oncology Group recently opened enrollment for a new Phase II trial of personalized precision cancer therapies. Called the Pediatric Molecular Analysis for Therapy Choice (Pediatric MATCH), the trial seeks to treat children and adolescents aged 1­–21 whose solid tumors have failed to respond to or re-emerged after traditional cancer treatments.

According to a study in Plant Biotechnology Journal, genetically modified rice could be an inexpensive production platform for microbicides that inhibit HIV entry into target cells. Such a method could be one sustainable option for poverty-stricken countries with high rates of AIDS.

Until 2007, the Zika virus remained relatively obscure. That year, however, Zika infections were recorded in three-quarters of the population of Yap, a small island located between the Philippines and Papua New Guinea. A major outbreak in French Polynesia followed in 2013.

Before a crowded auditorium of science and business professionals at the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research’s Advanced Technology Research Facility, Joost Oppenheim, M.D., had just finished his presentation about a compound with the potential to expand the impact of a promising category of cancer therapeutics when he fielded a question from Stephan Stern, Ph.D. 

Two government agencies and five national laboratories are collaborating to develop extremely high-performance computing capabilities that will analyze mountains of research and clinical data to improve scientific understanding of cancer, predict drug response, and improve treatments for patients.

Dr. Bennet Omalu, the famed forensic pathologist who discovered Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), recently spoke at NCI at Frederick about his upbringing as well as the trials he faced while working to educate the NFL about CTE.