skin cancer

Highlighting NIH’s Newest Lasker Scholars

IRP Program Enhances Research Capabilities of Talented Doctors

Dr. Jeffrey Strich (left) and Dr. Michael Sargen (right)

Just like many important scientific breakthroughs require the expertise of scientists specializing in multiple disciplines, developing new medical treatments requires both laboratory-based investigations into the nitty-gritty details of biology and clinical studies involving patients. In recognition of that fact, the IRP’s Lasker Clinical Research Scholars Program provides incredible support and resources to researchers who conduct both types of studies.

Over the past year, two more doctors have joined the prestigious pantheon of Lasker Scholars at NIH: one pursuing treatments for patients struck by potentially lethal infections and the other aiming to head off dangerous skin cancers before they become life-threatening. Read on to learn about the important research they are pursuing with the winds of the Lasker Program at their backs.

Robot-Assisted Experiments Point to Treatments for Rare Cancer

Study Identifies Drugs That Exploit the Disease’s Weak Spots

drug-screening robots performing automated experiments

The best way to destroy a cancer cell is to target its weak points, but that’s obviously easier said than done, especially when you want to kill those diseased cells while sparing healthy ones. That’s where robots come in, allowing scientists to quickly evaluate the effects of thousands of drugs on cancer to see what works and what doesn’t. IRP researchers recently used that approach to identify potential treatments for a rare skin cancer, including a strategy that appears to be particularly good at hitting the disease where it’s most vulnerable.

A Ray of Hope for a Rare and Deadly Skin Cancer

IRP Research Leads to First FDA-Approved Therapy for Merkel Cell Carcinoma

Dr. James Gulley talking with a patient

May is Skin Cancer Awareness Month. Skin cancers are the most common cancer in the U.S., affecting as many as five million people every year. Yet the rarest of these cancers is also one of the deadliest. Merkel cell carcinoma affects about 3,000 Americans each year, and until recently a lack of effective treatments meant only half of patients survived five years or longer after diagnosis. The median survival was nine months.

This bleak outlook changed radically in 2017 with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of a new immunotherapy drug called avelumab. Developed through a collaboration between IRP researchers and the pharmaceutical company EMD Serono, Inc., and marketed as Bavencio, avelumab was the first treatment approved specifically for Merkel cell carcinoma.