NCI Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis

While host immunity has been successfully leveraged to improve cancer therapy outcomes, a person’s immune function and resilience decrease with age, which may affect the effectiveness and/or toxicity of cancer therapy. NIH is hosting a virtual workshop titled “Immune Aging and Cancer Therapy” on March 24 and 26, 2026 to discuss what we know about the impact of immune aging on cancer treatment. For more information and registration, visit https://lnkd.in/eTZKEBEj

NIH is hosting an upcoming virtual workshop titled “Foundation Models for Cancer: Advancing Diagnosis, Prognosis, and Treatment Response” on March 24-26, 2026 at 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM ET. Join DCTD staff to explore how foundation models can transform cancer research and clinical care. Topics include a high-level introduction to foundation models, discussion of validation and reproducibility, examples of diagnostic case studies, and more. View the full agenda and register here: https://lnkd.in/eXAud3NZ

NIH’s staff within DCTD coauthored a report on the virtual workshop titled “Digital Pathology Imaging (DPI) in Cancer Clinical Trials and Research” held on March 6-7, 2024. Nearly 400 attendees from academia, industry, government, and non-government organizations discussed the expanding role of DPI in translational cancer research, biomarker studies, clinical trials, and pharmaceutical development. The authors reflected on current challenges, practical solutions, and future directions in pathology with practical recommendations for integration that include: - Invest in DPI infrastructure alongside standardized protocols and IT staff - Optimize workflows before digitization and after scanning slides for remote access - Apply Digital Imaging and Communication in Medicine (DICOM) whole-slide imaging in NCI clinical trials for interoperability - Develop structured annotation frameworks and scalable tools to create AI-ready datasets across institutions - Adapt biobanking workflows for biospecimen–image linkage and specimen tracking More information here: https://lnkd.in/euwTtMEJ

Cervical cancer remains one of the deadliest cancers, especially in under-resourced countries and regions of the U.S. where it is a major public health problem. NIH is now supporting a phase 3 trial, NRG-GY037 (https://lnkd.in/eA-wqRZV led by NRG Oncology, part of the NCI National Clinical Trials Network), to test if merging advances from two recent trials can improve progression-free and overall survival in women with newly diagnosed locally advanced cervical cancer. If NRG-GY037 is successful, it would improve outcomes for patients with the highest risk of cervical cancer relapse. Read more about the trial: https://lnkd.in/eWcbKTY2

🚨🆕 New research from the Friends of Cancer Research Digital PATH Project, published in Modern Pathology, offers important insights into HER2 scoring by several AI models. This is the result of a great multi-stakeholder collaboration, including contributions from myself and fellow biostatisticians at the NCI Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis

Did you know that Dr. Alice Chen from NIH’s Developmental Therapeutics Clinic (DTC), co-led the international randomized, double-blind placebo phase 3 KOMET trial that was instrumental in FDA’s approval of selumetinib in adults with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) with symptomatic inoperable plexiform neurofibromas (PN) diseases?   Selumetinib, an oral kinase inhibitor, is now indicated to treat adults (18 years or older) with the rare, incurable NF1 with symptomatic inoperable PN diseases. Staff from DTC and NCI’s Pediatric Oncology Branch (POB) provided important guidance on the development of KOMET.   Learn more about the results from the KOMET trial (https://go.nih.gov/5EeRyZ7) and how DTC accomplishes its mission to develop innovative treatment for patients with cancer (https://lnkd.in/etc9RgkB).   Image Caption: Swimmer plot showing best response* in participants randomly assigned to selumetinib (full analysis set) (Credit: Chen et al., 2025 [Lancet, Figure 2A])

Research investigators like Dr. Mamounas from the Comprehensive Breast Program Orlando Health Cancer Institute use NIH’s NCTN Biobanks, housed in DCTD, as a key biospecimen resource for their studies. Find out how to request biospecimens for your own research: https://lnkd.in/g3h2kj4p  

NIH’s Translational Research Program (TRP), housed in DCTD, recently announced its successfully competed Specialized Programs of Research Excellence (SPORE) grantees for 2025. The SPORE Program uses the P50 and U54 grant funding mechanisms to promote collaborative, interdisciplinary, translational cancer multi-project research. SPOREs are primarily focused on organ site disease, but also on themes that cut across organ sites. View the full list of SPORE grantees here: https://lnkd.in/eFWdSHwC

NIH's National Institute on Aging (NIA) invites you to register to participate in a virtual Pre-Summit Listening Session on December 10 to share your ideas and priorities to inform planning for the 2026 Dementia Care and Caregiving Research Summit. This session is open to everyone: care partners, persons living with dementia, and other interested parties. Register to attend: https://go.nih.gov/rfEXKSS

Initial results from the NIH-supported clinical trial, myeloMATCH, a precision medicine clinical trial for people with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) or acute myeloid leukemia (AML), are being presented at the 2025 ASH Annual Meeting (December 6-9, 2025; Orlando, FL) via poster and oral talks. Read about these exciting myeloMATCH updates: https://lnkd.in/e2nXQWZg Patients on myeloMATCH will be followed along the course of their disease, with possible additional treatment options accessible to them based on further genetic testing. More information on myeloMATCH: https://lnkd.in/ej8GxFSm