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Viktor Adalsteinsson

KI alum Viktor Adalsteinsson develops liquid biopsies to detect cancer

Slice of MIT

March 6, 2024

Cancer patients who undergo surgery are often left with a frightening question: Did the surgeons get all the cancerous cells? No one wants a recurrence of disease, but additional treatments such as radiation or chemotherapy have significant side effects. That’s why Viktor Adalsteinsson PhD ’15 has been developing tools to support better-informed treatment decisions: so-called “liquid biopsies” that can detect the presence of cancer from a simple blood test.

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Transforming Early Detection: More Than Meets the A.I.

MIT Koch Institute

November 7, 2019

KI member and computer scientist Regina Barzilay spoke with The New York Times and PBS’s FRONTLINE about how her own breast cancer diagnosis inspired her to use machine learning tools to empower physicians and patients alike. Working with physician Connie Lehman, Barzilay’s A.I. systems are improving mammography and enabling earlier detection—and prediction—of the disease.

Lumicell Hits the Home Stretch

MIT Koch Institute

November 7, 2019

KI startup Lumicell launched a pivotal trial for its Lumicell Imaging System, a final step toward FDA approval for the innovative image-guided cancer surgery technology. Supported early on by the Koch Institute Frontier Research Program through the Kathy and Curt Marble Cancer Research Fund, the system was developed by KI member Linda Griffith, with MIT collaborator Moungi Bawendi and former KI administrator W. David Lee ’69. Lumicell’s system pairs an injectable contrast agent with a hand-held, single-cell resolution imager to scan surgical margins for residual cancer cells. Proprietary software produces real-time images that help surgeons take immediate action to prevent repeat surgeries, lower healthcare costs, and improve patient outcomes.

New Target for Small Cell Lung Cancer

MIT News

November 6, 2019

Researchers in the Jacks and Vander Heiden labs identified a new therapeutic target for small cell lung cancer (SCLC), an especially aggressive form of lung cancer with limited options for treatment. In a study appearing in Science Translational Medicine and featured in the NIH Director's Blog, the team used genetic screens to search for SCLC targets that could be tested relatively quickly and easily in a clinical setting. Researchers discovered a metabolic vulnerability to the loss of DHODH, a key enzyme in the pyrimidine synthesis pathway. They also found that a DHODH inhibitor brequinar—already approved for use in patients as an immunosuppressant—slowed tumor progression and increased survival in SCLC mouse models and was effective in treating two of four patient-derived small cell lung cancer tumor models. The study was funded in part by the MIT Center for Precision Cancer Medicine.

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.