Research highlights future of cancer care

On World Cancer Research Day, the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) highlights pioneering research that is improving treatment options, expanding access to precision care, and offering hope to patients across the Middle East.

Dr. Ghassan Abou-Alfa, Gastrointestinal Medical Oncologist at MSK said, “World Cancer Research Day reminds us that every discovery, from lab insights to new treatment strategies, has the potential to save lives. Our goal is to ensure these advances reach patients worldwide, including the Middle East, Africa, Eurasia, Asia, and the Americas, and directly improve outcomes. We aim to lead the way in innovations that treat, and ultimately prevent, cancer in the region.”

The key breakthroughs include:

l Promising leads for the mystery of increasing rates of cancer in young adults. Serious cancers, including colorectal, breast, prostate, uterine, stomach, and pancreatic cancers, are increasingly diagnosed in people under 50.

Early findings point to a mix of influences, from changes in the gut microbiome and environmental exposures to lifestyle and reproductive factors.

MSK’s Young Adult Cancer Programme combines advanced genomic testing with personalized support to better understand these trends and improve prevention, early detection, and care for younger patients.

l KRAS-targeting vaccine advances treatment options. MSK has developed an “off-the-shelf” vaccine for pancreatic and colorectal cancers driven by KRAS genemutations, a common driver of tumor growth. Unlike personalised vaccines, it can be mass-produced and stored for immediate use. Early results show that the vaccine triggers the immune system and helps control tumor growth in some patients, potentially providing a faster and more widely accessible treatment option.

l Some women may safely skip additional radiation after mastectomy. For women whose breast cancer initially spread to lymph nodes but clears after pre-surgery (neoadjuvant) chemotherapy, extra radiation to the nodes may not be needed. A study found that skipping this radiation did not increase the risk of cancer returning, helping avoid unnecessary treatment and long-term side effects.

l New CAR T cells attack aggressive blood cancer in pilot study. MSK tested a novel CAR T cell therapy in patients with advanced acute myeloid leukemia (AML). In the first trial of its kind, the engineered cells targeted leukemiaeffectively without major side effects, opening new possibilities for hard-to-treat blood cancers.

l Pembrolizumab boosts survival in head and neck cancer. Adding pembrolizumab before and after standard therapy significantly extends the time patients remain cancer-free in locally advanced head and neck cancer – the first major positive result in two decades.

l MSK-led research drives 11 FDA approvals. MSK-led clinical trials contributed to 11 FDA approvals in 2024, covering brain, lung, breast, thyroid, and colorectal cancers. These approvals include new drug uses, targeted therapies, and engineered cell therapies, expanding treatment options for patients worldwide.