Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Many human cancers originate and grow from quiescent stem cells. Because these cells are rare, they tend to be difficult to isolate and continue to remain poorly understood. Researchers from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) have now identified a rare, quiescent population of stem cells responsible for disease persistence and therapy resistance in acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a common blood cancer that affects children and adults. These cells hide from standard markers used to identify them, showing why traditional diagnostic and therapeutic approaches fail to target leukemia stem cells effectively. Further, the team — led by senior study author Dr. Alex Kentsis, Director of MSK's Tow Center for Developmental Oncology, and first author Dr. Sumiko Takao, now Assistant Professor at Kanazawa University — identified several key factors, including the transcription factor JUN as regulators of this quiescence. Their findings show JUN is required for maintaining quiescence and is associated with therapy resistance across diverse patient leukemias, thus making JUN and other quiescence regulators attractive targets for future therapies. This also includes MYB, for which new drugs are now being developed for clinical trials for patients. “By addressing a fundamental challenge in leukemia — therapy resistance and relapse driven by quiescent leukemia stem cells — this approach has the potential to improve treatment strategies that are so desperately needed for survival and quality of life for leukemia patients,” Dr. Kentsis says. Read more in Nature Communications: https://lnkd.in/gg_cUaZV

Dr. Alexandra Joyner, a developmental biologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK), is hanging up her lab coat following an illustrious 40-plus-year career. Dr. Joyner has made significant contributions to our understanding of how organs are shaped during development and what goes wrong in disease states and following injury. She pioneered the use of pluripotent stem cells as a platform for generating genetically engineered mouse models — a technology that has transformed research possibilities in biomedicine. “Dr. Joyner is a great example of a scientist trained in a fundamental discipline — developmental biology — who, like many others at the Sloan Kettering Institute (SKI), embraced putting that focus in service of improving outcomes in patients with cancer, while gaining fundamental insights into biology through the study of cancer,” says Dr. Joan Massagué, Director of SKI and Chief Scientific Officer for MSK. When asked what advice she has for new scientists, she shares: "You have to decide: Why are you going into this career? And then you have to stay true to that. For me, it was the curiosity-driven science, the discovery, and the mentoring. Those are the things that make me want to come to work every day." Learn more about Dr. Joyner's legacy and impact: https://bit.ly/4iSZoZ9

Congratulations to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK)'s Dr. Sheng Cai, Dr. Susan DeWolf, Dr. Michael Forte, Dr. Adam Schoenfeld, and Dr. Santosha Vardhana for being awarded the American Society of Clinical Investigation Young Physician-Scientist Award. The Young Physician-Scientist Awards recognizes physician-scientists who are early in their first faculty appointment and have made notable achievements in their research. Learn more: https://bit.ly/3RvGmvR

Christine Mezzina was just 25 years old when she was diagnosed with lymphoma. “While my friends were getting married and having children, I was battling cancer,” says Christine. “I used to feel heartbroken looking out of my hospital window at everyone living their life while mine was put on hold. After a year of treatment, I made it to the other side. I don’t take one day for granted — every birthday is a privilege.” Today, Christine is a project coordinator with the Patient and Family Advisory Council on Quality (PFACQ) at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) and has worked at MSK for almost 13 years. In her role, Christine operates as the liaison between the PFACQ volunteers (patients and caregivers) and all of MSK. “I love working alongside patients and caregivers,” says Christine. “I enjoy speaking with them and hearing about their journeys as well as sharing mine. I believe that we take comfort in one another.” Christine remembers that when she first returned to MSK as staff member, she was concerned that stepping back into the familiar environment would resurrect old fears and anxieties. In the end, her desire to offer solace and hope to others overcame her concerns. “I knew coming back and helping however I could was the best decision for me, and it really changed my life for the better.”

Researchers at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) are trying to understand how the immune system senses cancer in order to make better immunotherapies. "If we can figure out generally what the immune system is sensing — and how it affects how cancers grow, spread, and adapt," says Dr. Benjamin Greenbaum, a computational biologist at MSK. "We will have a much clearer idea of how we can intervene therapeutically." Learn more: bit.ly/4leGxcA

Hundreds of innovators across Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) attended the MSK Innovation with Lasting Impact Summit: "Ushering in a New Era of Entrepreneurship & Innovation." During the event, new and expanded opportunities for MSK innovators were showcased within the MSK commercialization ecosystem, and MSK leaders spoke about the promising vision and path for the Office of Technology Development (OTD).

“Building relationships overtime and being part of a patient’s journey is one of the most fulfilling parts about my job,” says Irini Economos, who has been a child life specialist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) Kids for almost three years. Her role focuses on family-centered care, to help support patients and their families from diagnosis through treatment and into survivorship. “In order to care for the child, you have to care for the whole family, and we as child life specialists are supportive in that process.” On any given day, you can find Irini providing the tools, often through play, to help a patient cope, engage in developmentally appropriate activities, and maintain a level of understanding and control over their experience. In her role, she supports all patients undergoing scans, whether with sedation or not, and makes them feel at ease by providing them with the information and preparation they need to understand what the experience will be like. “One example we share with patients is that the MRI camera looks different, but it works similarly to the way a normal camera works. So I tell patients that when your parent takes a picture of you on their camera, the camera doesn’t touch you, and the same goes for an MRI camera,” says Irini. “The goal is to make the child feel safe and feel part of the process.” "One way I help familiarize and normalize the scan experience is that I ask patients when their parent takes a picture of them on their camera, if that camera touches them," says Irini. "When they inevitably say 'no,' I explain the same goes for the MRI camera." Outside of MSK, Irini loves spending time outdoors with friends and family, as well as supporting Fred’s Team and hopes to run for the group at an event in 2026.

For a parent with cancer, telling a child about their diagnosis can be one of the hardest things they’ll ever do. That's where MSK social workers Meredith Cammarata and Natalie Santos can help. Through their expertise with MSK's Talking With Children About Cancer Program, they're able to provide support for parents who are undergoing cancer treatment. "When I meet with parents who are diagnosed with cancer and have young children, it’s important for me to get to know them and their children first," Meredith shares. "Parents are looking to us, the professionals, because they are afraid, and struggle with how to support their children.” MSK social workers give parents tools to help them with the difficult conversations they need to have. “We guide parents on how to answer hard questions from their children,” Natalie adds. “We encourage them to be honest and share age-appropriate details. The best way to protect children, which is also the hardest, is to include them.” Both Natalie and Meredith find a strong sense of meaning and purpose in their work supporting parents with cancer and their children. “I meet people, every day, faced with devastating illness and I am truly inspired by their remarkable resilience and strength,” says Meredith. “Each patient has enriched my understanding of what it means to be an oncology social worker and has given me more than I will ever be able to thank them for.” We're grateful for all of our incredible MSK social workers this National Social Workers Month.

Researchers at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) and Weill Cornell Medicine report hopeful results from a phase 1 study that tested a novel drug delivery technique to pediatric brain tumors. The findings indicate that convection-enhanced delivery (CED) appears safe and effective at distributing a drug throughout a rare and particularly deadly pediatric brain tumor called diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG). The median survival for DIPG is typically 8-12 months. Several children in the trial have lived for more than three years after treatment. “This is the most exciting thing I’ve done in my career by far,” says Dr. Mark Souweidane, a pediatric neurosurgeon at MSK and Weill Cornell who led the study. “With this trial, we have shown that we can use this very powerful drug-delivery platform repeatedly and safely." Dr. Souweidane says that data gathered from this trial will guide the next steps in the design of the ongoing and follow-up trial at MSK. Learn more: https://bit.ly/440UNzy

The feel-good content that we needed today: Doctors from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center reading the most heartwarming messages from their patients. Happy Doctors' Day!