May 14, 2021 |
Tom Perry
As a freshman, Sarah McNeer ’21 (Liberty Township, Ohio) was excited to get into a Biochemistry lab and start conducting her own research.
Little did she know that her dedication to research would lead to her becoming the fourth recipient of the Laura Scott Etter Prize.
“I am honored to receive this award in recognition of the years of work I have devoted to my undergraduate research,” McNeer said. “I would like to thank the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, as well as the Honors and Investigative Studies Committee, for making this project possible. I would especially like to thank Dr. (Suzanne) Parsons, my academic advisor, research mentor, and role model, for her support of my personal and professional goals.”
New technique uncovers the tricks used by cancer cells to evade immunotherapies
By harnessing the immune system against cancer, immunotherapies have revolutionized the way some types of cancer are treated. But most patients across cancer types do not respond, and in most cases, scientists are at a loss as to why.
Researchers at Columbia and MIT have created a new technique that can uncover nearly all of the tricks cancer cells use to evade immunotherapies, which could lead to the development of more effective treatments.
The researchers tested their new technique with cancer cells and matching immune cells from melanoma patients and identified previously unknown resistance mechanisms to immune checkpoint inhibitors, a powerful and widely used class of immunotherapy drugs.
[co-authors: Kim Beane, and Daniel Meckley]
Cancer is a horribly painful and debilitating illness, but would you ever call it “diabolical”? What about “conniving”? You might after you hear about the latest research out of Vanderbilt University showing that cancer cells adjust their metabolic profile to evade the effects of treatment. A team of scientists has shown certain melanomas that initially respond well to a particular treatment, ultimately reprogram their metabolism to defeat the ongoing exposure to that same treatment and continue to grow. The good news is that this discovery opens the door to learning how the cells do this, and then, how to stop them.
something and heratio asks about it. was he really there? he says in the mind s eye, heratio. so it is in the visual imagery. with regard to the ocular melanoma, are you cured? do you have a clean bill now? no, one never knows if one has a clean bill. the melanoma itself seems to be flat. and destroyed. but probably i have a few melanoma cells in my blood, which escaped into the bloodstream before the diagnosis. that s okay if they don t settle anywhere. and the chances are that they won t settle anywhere. so one touches wood or whatever, and hopes one will be among the 99% of people with ocular melanoma who have no metastasis. that s great news.