Next generation cancer diagnostics are poised to change the way that cancer is detected and treated. Ph.D. candidate Roshan Chikarmane shares his perspectives on the teams and technologies that are leading the charge.
Cancer
Cancer in the Time of Coronavirus
Posted by | A Day in the LifeHealth care has pivoted in response to COVID-19, but how have these changes affected cancer patients? A student shares her perspective on having a parent with cancer during the pandemic.
Chasing Cancer: How the COVID-19 Pandemic Affects Cancer Outcomes
Posted by | Events and HappeningsPulitzer Prize-winning author and oncologist Siddhartha Mukherjee along with former executive vice president of the American Cancer Society and Hopkins oncologist Otis Brawley spoke with the Washington Post about how COVID-19 affects cancer outcomes.
The Longrifles Seminar: A Legacy of Collaboration
Posted by | Events and HappeningsThe Longrifles Cancer Seminar series, founded by Don Coffey, remains a hub of collaborative brainstorming for the Brady Urological Institute.
Cancer Diagnosis — It’s in Your Blood
Posted by | Perspectives in ResearchThe benefits of detecting and treating cancer at early developmental stages have long been observed by clinical oncologists. Colonoscopies as well as other methods for early detection have been estimated to prevent as many as 60% of deaths attributable to colorectal cancer by identifying and removing precancerous growths1. More broadly, patients with early stage cancer […]
Cancer and the Mutation Paradox
Posted by | Perspectives in ResearchIt has long been known — thanks largely to work by Johns Hopkins’ own Bert Vogelstein — that cancer is a disease generally caused by an accumulation of genetic mutations. This is sometimes referred to as the somatic mutation theory.1 This hypothesis states that each time a cell divides and grows, there are opportunities for […]
Engineering Magic Bullets for Pancreatic Cancer
Posted by | Perspectives in ResearchIn a 1909 manuscript titled “Ueber den jetzigen Stand der Chemotherapie” (“About the Current State of Chemotherapy”), Nobel laureate Paul Ehrlich proclaimed, “We must learn to aim in a chemical sense.” What did he mean? Ehrlich was referring to his “magic bullet” theory of chemical specificity, the observation that certain drugs can eliminate disease-causing entities […]
The Colorful World of Cancer Drug Discovery
Posted by | Perspectives in ResearchMelanoma cells stained with PTRF (in red), RPA194 (in green) and nucleus stained in blue. RPA194 is the main subunit of the RNA polymerase I (POL 1) enzyme. Our lab discovered a first-in-class small molecule that inhibits POL 1 enzyme and causes the destruction of RPA194 protein. Here, we are investigating how these proteins are […]
A Novel Cancer Immunotherapy Unveiled: Y-Traps
Posted by | Perspectives in ResearchThe human immune system is composed of a diverse array of cells, which collectively work to exterminate pathogenic entities in the body. Yet this system is able to recognize host, or self, tissues as “friendly” through a variety of so-called immune checkpoint signals. Many cancer types — including melanomas and breast cancers — exploit this […]
Advancing Glioblastoma Research: A Tale of Two Superheroes
Posted by | Perspectives in ResearchGlioblastoma research is similar to superhero film plots. How, you may ask? If each superhero represents a different treatment drug, then we as researchers want to cause destruction of the cancer cells with the least number of superheroes possible. This is because we wouldn’t want patients to need to take a large cocktail of treatments […]