Cancerwise

From clinical trial results that accelerated Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval to discovery-based studies setting the stage for breakthroughs in cancer care, MD Anderson researchers continued to turn bold ideas into lifesaving realities this past year.

Bridging laboratory discovery and patient care, this groundbreaking research is made possible by MD Anderson’s collaborative, translational research environment. Our research institutes and programs — including the James P. Allison Institute™, Institute for Data Science in Oncology (IDSO), Institute for Cell Therapy Discovery & Innovation and Cancer Neuroscience Program — exemplify this environment. They leverage our strengths in immunotherapy, data-driven discovery and cell therapies to push the boundaries of what’s possible.

Here are 18 research advances from the past year that are only possible here at MD Anderson.

1. Researchers discover healthy women have cells that resemble breast cancer

Building on the Human Breast Cell Atlas, work led by Nicholas Navin, Ph.D., revealed new insights into the genetic origins of breast cancer.

The study, published in Nature, discovered that at least 3% of normal breast tissue epithelial cells in healthy women have chromosomal abnormalities. These abnormalities — a gain or loss of chromosomes known as aneuploidy — are usually associated with invasive breast cancer. Researchers also found a correlation between age and the frequency of these abnormalities.

These data highlight the need for longitudinal studies to identify factors leading to cells becoming cancerous and to guide future approaches to early detection.

2. Novel CAR T cell therapy obe-cel demonstrates high response rates in adult patients with advanced B-cell ALL

The Phase Ib/II FELIX study evaluated treatment with the novel anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy, obecabtagene autoleucel (obe-cel), for patients with relapsed or refractory CD19-positive B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Results from this global trial, co-led by Elias Jabbour, M.D., showed strong long-term efficacy and response rates, as well as minimal immunotoxicity. Published in The New England Journal of Medicine, these findings supported recent FDA approval of obe-cel as a standalone treatment for a patient population that until now had limited treatment options.

3. New tool helps identify key targets to strengthen CAR NK cell therapies  

Researchers from the Institute for Cell Therapy Discovery & Innovation, led by Katy Rezvani, M.D., Ph.D., developed PreCiSE, a genome-wide CRISPR screening platform designed to systematically interrogate natural killer (NK) cell intrinsic regulators of function under tumor microenvironment pressure. By performing pooled loss of function screens directly in primary human NK cells, PreCiSE identifies genes whose disruption enhances cytotoxicity, metabolic fitness and resistance to suppressive cues associated with solid tumors. The study, published in Cancer Cell, identified critical intracellular regulators of CAR NK cell activity and validated that targeting these pathways enhances antitumor activity in preclinical models.

“This work provides a mechanistic framework for engineering the next generation of cell therapies that have the potential to be more powerful, precise and resistant to cancer,” says Rezvani.

4. Neutrophils help cancer cells to colonize abdominal fat

Despite abundant immune cells in the omentum — a fatty tissue suspended from the stomach — abdominal cancers often metastasize there. Research led by Honami Naora, Ph.D., showed that neutrophils, a type of white blood cell, release webs of DNA called neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) that attract innate-like B cells to the omentum. 

Furthermore, NETs stimulate these B cells to produce interleukin-10, an immunosuppressive cytokine, creating an immunocompromised microenvironment that fosters metastasis. The results, published in Cancer Cell, point to inhibiting NETs as a potential therapeutic strategy for omentum metastasis.