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Two tumor cells, one with forcefield. two blue spheres with green and purple spheres on them

Kinase Closed: Shutting Down Cancer's Escape Routes

MIT News

March 26, 2026

Forest White and Cameron Flower PhD ’24 have uncovered why drugs that inhibit tyrosine kinase signaling pathways, such as imatinib (Gleevec), fail in some patients.  By analyzing tumor phosphoproteomics, the White Lab team found that many resistant cells are intrinsically wired to resist tyrosine kinase inhibitors: backup signaling networks are already running to support vital functions such as cell growth and division, even when tyrosine kinase inhibitors work as intended. 

As reported in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers overcame this resistance in cell models by pairing a tyrosine kinase inhibitor with a drug that targets the backup pathway—an approach currently in clinical trials for lung cancer. 

“We are really excited to watch these clinical trials and to see how well patients do on these combinations. And I really think there’s a future for using tyrosine phosphoproteomics to guide this clinical decision-making,” White says. The research was funded in part by the MIT Center for Precision Cancer Medicine.
 

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Cell-based Therapy Squeezes into Human Trials

MIT Koch Institute

October 29, 2019

Paving the way for SQZ Biotech’s first human trial, the FDA accepted the company’s IND application for a cell-based therapeutic vaccine to treat HPV-positive tumors, including reproductive and head and neck cancers. SQZ’s therapies, based on research by the KI’s Langer and Irvine labs, with MIT collaborator Klavs Jensen, activate the immune system against cancer. SQZ’s signature CellSqueeze device opens a temporary hole in a cell membrane through which materials can pass, in this case inserting tumor-associated antigens into peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). Proof-of-concept studies demonstrating the potential of both the device and a strategy using B-cells (one type of PBMC) were supported by the Koch Institute Frontier Research Program through the Kathy and Curt Marble Cancer Research Fund.

Bhatia and Young Elected to the National Academy of Medicine

MIT News

October 21, 2019

Congratulations to KI faculty members Sangeeta Bhatia and Richard Young on their election to the National Academy of Medicine. Bhatia was honored for “pioneering small-scale technologies to interface cells with synthetic platforms.” She is one of only 25 individuals who have been elected to all three National Academies—a distinction shared with fellow KI investigators Paula Hammond and Robert Langer. Young was honored "for fundamental insights into gene control in human health and disease, invention of widely used new technologies, and the development of novel therapeutics for cancer."

Golden Anniversary for Luria's Gold Medal

MIT Koch Institute

October 20, 2019

Fifty years ago, on the heels of a historic summer, microbiologist and MIT professor Salvador E. Luria learned he had just won the Nobel Prize. Shortly after the passage of the National Cancer Act of 1971 Luria successfully applied for funds to build a cancer research facility at MIT, overseeing its construction and recruiting scientists with expertise in genetics, immunology, and cell biology. As inaugural director, Luria and his founding faculty opened the MIT Center for Cancer Research in 1974, and quickly set the standard for investigating the fundamental nature of cancer.  Faculty members isolated the first human oncogene, discovered RNA splicing, and made numerous other seminal contributions to cancer biology and genetics, laying the groundwork for new methods to treat and diagnose cancer. In tribute to the individual who spearheaded the formation of the MIT’s first dedicated cancer research effort the Koch Institute is working, with friends and the MIT administration, to name the Koch Institute’s main meeting space the Salvador E. Luria Auditorium.  

Combating Resistance in Pancreatic Cancer

Cancer Research

October 18, 2019

The chemotherapy gemcitabine is among the most effective pancreatic cancer therapies, yet nearly all patients fail to respond or quickly develop resistance. A recent Cancer Research paper highlights work by the Hemann lab, in collaboration with the Vander Heiden group, to better understand how pancreatic tumor stroma—prominent fibrotic tissue that surrounds the tumor— limits gemcitabine response. Their findings implicate a metabolite known as deoxycytidine, which is secreted by stromal cells called pancreatic stellate cells, and inhibits gemcitabine processing in tumor cells. Their work suggests that reducing deoxycytidine production in the stellate cells may increase the efficacy of gemcitabine and similar therapies. This work was supported in part by a David H. Koch fellowship and the MIT Center for Precision Cancer Medicine; KI members Jacqueline Lees and Doug Lauffenburger are also senior authors. 

A Few Bad Apples

PNAS

October 11, 2019

Hynes Lab researchers present the most comprehensive analyses to date of the extracellular matrix (ECM) of pancreatic cancer. Their findings, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, reveal previously unknown molecular changes during cancer progression in both mouse models and human patients and distinguish ECM proteins produced by tumor cells from those produced by stromal cells—the dense and fibrotic connective tissue that surrounds and interweaves tumors. Although stromal cell-derived proteins comprise the bulk of the tumor ECM, it is actually a set of tumor cell-derived proteins that correlate most strongly with poor patient survival. These findings may help explain why previous strategies for general depletion of the stroma added to poor patient outcomes, and suggest more precise ECM manipulations as pancreatic cancer treatments.

Holding Court

MIT News

October 10, 2019

On October 4, 2019, MIT's North Court was renamed in honor of Susan Hockfield, MIT’s 16th—and first female and first life scientist—president. Festivities included a reception and a dedication ceremony with music and remarks given by Robert Millard '73, chairman of the MIT Corporation, James Champy '63 SM '65, lifetime member emeritus of the MIT Corporation, and Paula Hammond '84 PhD '93, the David H. Koch (1962) Professor of Engineering and head of the Department of Chemical Engineering. Among the many achievements noted was the establishment of the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research. Hockfield's advocacy for the convergence of biology and engineering helped lay the foundation for this building—which, as Hammond pointed out, is the site with the highest rate of intra-MIT co-authorship as well as the top inventing building on campus. We are grateful for Hockfield's championship and proud that our "backyard" will bear her name.

Photo credit: Gretchen Ertl

Vaccine with a Double STING

MIT News

September 30, 2019

A new vaccine from the laboratory of KI faculty member Daniel Anderson targets mRNA to immune cells using lipid nanoparticles. The nanoparticles, described in Nature Biotechnology, protect antigen-coding mRNA from breaking down in the injection site and guide the payload to antigen-presenting immune cells that will in turn attract and stimulate T cells and other immune cells. Further, the lipid polymers themselves boost T cell activity by activating the STING (stimulator of interferon genes) pathway. The team is working to build a library of additional immune-stimulating nanoparticle structures and screen them to identify the designs that best boost the vaccine’s effectiveness against individual cancers and other diseases.

A Triple Threat

Upworthy

September 25, 2019

KI member and Marble Center for Cancer Nanomedicine director Sangeeta Bhatia talks with Upworthy about her uphill climb through the worlds of engineering, medicine, and entrepreneurship, and her continued commitment to pushing boundaries as a scientist and mentor. Bhatia discusses the challenges of increasing the number of women in the STEM pipeline and credits early flexible support with helping her balance the demands the challenges of starting an ambitious research program and a new family.

The Mighty Mighty Ketones

MIT News

September 3, 2019

Ketone bodies—molecules produced by the breakdown of fat—promote the regeneration of stem cells in the intestinal lining, according to new work from the laboratory of Ömer Yilmaz. In a study appearing in Cell, researchers found that intestinal stem cells produced unusually high levels of ketone bodies, even in the absence of a ketogenic (high-fat) diet, and that these molecules stimulate the Notch pathway to boost stem cell production. Comparisons of diets in mice suggest that ketogenic diets may help repair damage to the intestinal lining, which can occur in cancer patients receiving radiation or chemotherapy. This research was supported in part by the Koch Institute Frontier Research Program through the Kathy and Curt Marble Cancer Research Fund, the MIT Stem Cell Initiative, and The Bridge Project, a collaboration between the Koch Institute and Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center.

Turning the 'Phage on Chemotherapy

Cancer Immunotherapy Research

September 3, 2019

A subset of white blood cells known as macrophages play a central role in the ridding the body of unwanted cellular threats. However, some microenvironments can render macrophages inactive. Chen Lab researchers, in collaboration with investigators at the University of Southampton, set out to combat bone marrow-resident tumors that are generally resistant to treatment. They demonstrated that low doses of cyclophosphamide chemotherapy activated macrophages when combined with therapeutic antibodies. The combination cleared bone marrow-resident tumor cells, such as B cell lymphoma and breast cancers. The results, published in Cancer Immunotherapy Research, suggest that treating cancer patients with low-dose chemotherapy will not only kill tumor cells directly, but could also aid in immunotherapy via macrophage activation in resistant organs. The immunotherapeutic potential of macrophages was featured in the KI’s 2016 Image Awards exhibition.