A new platinum-based drug may be more effective in fighting cancer cells than cisplatin, the current standard platinum therapy. . KI researchers tested the compound phenanthriplatin against 60 types of cancer cells. It was found to be four to forty percent more potent than cisplatin, depending on the cancer type tested.  The findings appear in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The researchers plan to soon extend these potency studies to include aggressive tumor models.  read more
 

This year's Koch Institute Summer Oncology Symposium was held on June 14th and focused on Epigenetics and Plasticity in Cancer.  The event included presentations from leading experts in the field and attracted by over 800 participants from across the country and outside the US.

View Epigenetics Symposium Videos

This year the Koch Institute will hold its first Fall Oncology Symposium, which will focus on signaling pathways in cancer.  The event is being produced in collaboration with Cell Signaling Technologies and will be held on November 6, 2012 in MIT's Wong Auditorium in the Tang Center. Cellular signaling and cell-to-cell communication are critical topics for the advancement of cancer research and treatment.   At the conference, leading experts will present their latest results on mechanisms of action, structural components of cellular signaling and novel methods required to interrogate these pathways. Seating will be very limited and early registration is highly recomended. 

Register Now

The Koch Institute faculty member was one of  twelve Bostonians recognized for their contributions to society by the Boston Globe Magazine. Hammond was honored for the diversity and practicality of her lab's projects, which include a strategy for packaging and delivering therapeutic RNA segments to diseased cells, where they can silence cancer-causing genes. read more

BBC News reports that KI researchers, in collaboration with University of Pennsylvania scientists, have developed a synthetic blood vessel network structure that may one day be instrumental in supporting liver and other organ transplants. The research was reported in the journal Nature Materials.  read more

KI researchers have found three enzymes that are essential in repairing DNA damage caused by chronic inflammation in the colon, a problem for those with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and other conditions. Those lacking or producing low levels of the enzymes are significantly more likely to develop colon cancer, according to the research. Measuring these enzyme levels in a particular patient could help predict that patient's risk of colon cancer. read more

KI researchers have built tiny particles out of DNA and RNA  to deliver snippets of RNA directly to tumors, turning off genes expressed in cancer cells. The particles' composition, together with their specialized construction, poses less risk of side effects and allows for better targeting. This research is reported in the June 3rd edition of Nature Nanotechnology. read more

KI Institute Professor Robert Langer will receive the 2012 Society of Chemical Industry Perkin Medal in September, for his achievements in chemical engineering. He is widely recognized as a leading innovator in biomedical engineering, biopolymers and tissue engineering.  read more