This interview with Ludwig Institute Scientific Director Chi Van Dang, written in Portuguese, covers his work on cancer cell metabolism and chronobiology and his views on matters ranging from the future of cancer therapy to the challenges of developing cancer drugs.

This feature on Chi Van Dang, scientific director of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, reports on his contributions to cancer research and his return to Johns Hopkins University, where he completed his medical training and residency and began his career as an academic researcher, serving on the faculty for more than two decades.

This article reports on the establishment of the Princeton Branch of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research. It discusses the major research goals of the Branch and the importance of studying the role and influence of metabolism in cancer growth and therapy.

Ludwig San Diego postdoctoral researcher Beata Mierzwa has co-created a new cell biology video game, named Microscopya, to encourage girls to pursue careers in science and technology-related fields.

This second installment of a two-part series featuring the reminiscences of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory alumni includes Ludwig Princeton’s Eileen White, who recalls her time there as a postdoctoral fellow in Bruce Stillman’s laboratory.

Ludwig Cancer Research recently announced the appointment of Pat Morin as deputy scientific director of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research.

In an interview with Oncology Times, Ludwig Princeton Director Joshua Rabinowitz discussed the findings of a study he published in the journal Med showing that a ketogenic diet with chemotherapy tripled survival time compared with chemotherapy alone in mouse models of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Ludwig Princeton Associate Director Eileen White has been selected as a team leader for a $25 million Cancer Grand Challenges award to tackle cachexia, a debilitating wasting condition associated with advanced cancers that worsens patient prognosis and quality of life.

This study, led by Ludwig Princeton Branch Director Joshua Rabinowitz, shows that a ketogenic diet synergizes with chemotherapy to triple survival time compared to chemotherapy alone in rigorous mouse models of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC).

In this interview, which is in Vietnamese, Ludwig Scientific Director Chi Van Dang discusses his family, what drew him to medicine and cancer research and the state of cancer care in the U.S. and Vietnam. Dang also shares his current efforts and plans to support biomedical research and medical training in Vietnam.

Ludwig MIT’s Sangeeta Bhatia led a study, published in Nature Materials, which assesses a multimodal nanosensor that noninvasively reveals the presence of cancer-associated proteins through a urine test and pinpoints tumors’ locations via PET imaging.

Ludwig Lausanne’s Douglas Hanahan spoke with Oncology Times about his recently published research in Cancer Discovery. The study identified a previously unrecognized mechanism by which cancer cells of a relatively benign subtype of pancreatic tumors methodically revert to a progenitor state of cellular development to spawn highly aggressive tumors. These tumors are capable of metastasis to the liver and lymph nodes.

Ludwig San Diego’s Beata Mierzwa was honored as a female STEM leader by Lyda Hill Philanthropies’ IF/THEN Initiative, which opened in Dallas, Texas in May 2021.

Ludwig Scientific Director Chi Van Dang and co-authors note in this essay that the Cancer Moonshot program, launched under the leadership of then Vice President Biden, has made significant progress, though major challenges remain.

During Week 1 AACR Annual Meeting 2021, Ludwig Princeton’s Josh Rabinowitz spoke about his ongoing studies on whether ketogenic diets can slow tumor growth.

The Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research established a branch at Princeton University that will be wholly dedicated to the study of cancer metabolism and the translation of its findings into new paradigms for cancer prevention and treatment.

Ludwig Cancer Research announced on its 50th anniversary the launch of the newest branch based at Princeton University which will be wholly dedicated to the study of cancer metabolism and the translation of its findings into new paradigms for cancer prevention and treatment.

Ludwig Cancer Research announces the launch of its newest Branch, based at Princeton University and wholly dedicated to the basic and translational study of cancer metabolism.

In this interview with Endpoint News, Ludwig MIT’s Sangeeta Bhatia speaks about gender inequality in the biotechnology industry.

Many scientific leaders and advocates anticipate cancer-related issues will be given high priority in the new Biden Administration. Ludwig Institute Scientific Director Chi Van Dang and others comment on what to expect and what ought to be prioritized in a “Cancer Moonshot 2.0.”

Researchers led by Ludwig San Diego Member Don Cleveland and Peter Campbell of the Sanger Center explain how free-floating circular DNA fragments, which are almost exclusively found in cancer cells, drive gene amplification to generate drug resistance in cancer

This profile focuses on the life and career of Angelika Amon, an inspired cell biologist and investigator at the Ludwig Center at MIT, who died October 29, 2020 from ovarian cancer at age 53.

In this C&EN feature, Ludwig San Diego’s Paul Mischel discusses his research into extrachromosomal DNA (ecDNA) and its role in cancer.

In this Nature paper, a Ludwig San Diego team led by Karen Oegema, Arshad Desai and Franz Meitinger details the molecular mechanisms underlying the potential vulnerability of certain cancers to a specific inhibitor of an enzyme, PLK4, that is required for centrosome formation. Their findings show (and explain why) high levels of a second enzyme (TRIM37), which is amplified in breast cancer and neuroblastoma, render cancer cells vulnerable to a PLK4 inhibitor developed by their team and other Ludwig researchers.

Atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumors (ATRT)—rare, fast-growing brain tumors that mostly strike children three years and younger—are linked to inactivation of a gene called SMARCB1. In a study published in Genes & Development, scientists led by Ludwig San Diego’s Frank Furnari describe how SMARCB1 loss disrupts neural development and promotes tumor growth.

In a Nature Genetics study, Ludwig San Diego’s Paul Mischel and colleagues report that the multiplication of cancer genes located on DNA that is not associated with chromosomes drives poor patient outcomes across many cancer types. They found that ecDNA is a common feature of human cancer, occurring at minimum in 14% of human tumors, with far higher frequencies in the most malignant forms of cancer.

Ludwig Harvard researcher Anthony Letai and team report in Science Signaling a technology for screening thousands of drugs in freshly isolated human cancer cells to help identify which are most likely to be effective. They hope the technique, called high-throughput dynamic BH3 profiling, will prove more accurate than traditional drug-screening approaches and help doctors personalize treatments and uncover vulnerabilities in cancer cells.

Some COVID-19 patients have ‘silent hypoxia’—low oxygen levels without being aware of it—which continues to puzzle doctors and contributes to COVID-19 mortality. Ludwig Oxford’s Peter Ratcliffe spoke with the World Economic Forum about hypoxia and what can be done about it, the coronavirus crisis, his advice to young researchers and the importance of curiosity-driven research.

Clinical study data showed that DETECT-A, Thrive Earlier Detection’s blood test for multiple cancers developed by Ludwig Johns Hopkins researchers, detected ten different cancer types and more than doubled the number of cases detected when combined with traditional screening methods. It also detected several cancers for which there are no standard screening methods.

Ludwig Lausanne’s Klara Soukup suggests that cancer researchers explore new research topics and problems, learn new skills, and reconnect with people and activities they enjoyed in the past while their research is on hold due to the pandemic.

This article, which covers work done in the laboratory of Ludwig Harvard investigator Brad Bernstein, discusses scientists’ growing recognition of the high complexity of many types of tumors.

A team led by Ludwig MIT researcher Sangeeta Bhatia has devised a new approach for the early diagnosis of lung cancer: a noninvasive, nanotechnology-based urine test that can detect the presence of proteins linked to the disease.

Ludwig Oxford’s Peter Ratcliffe gave his Nobel lecture titled “Elucidation of Oxygen Sensing Systems in Human and Animal Cells” on December 7 and participated in the Nobel Prize award ceremony on December 10 in Stockholm. Watch both videos here.

A Nature study led by Ludwig San Diego’s Paul Mischel and Bing Ren together with Ludwig Stanford’s Howard Chang suggests extrachromosomal DNA (ecDNA) may give cancer cells their malignant qualities.

In this Oncology Times interview, Ludwig Oxford’s Peter Ratcliffe spoke about his love of the scientific life, the complexity of cancer, the sequence of discoveries that led to his Nobel Prize and the impact his and his co-winners’ work has had on medicine.

A recent Nature study led by Ludwig Stanford’s Michelle Monje suggests that gliomas communicate with local neurons by creating synapses that accelerate tumor growth. These findings could allow scientists to slow tumor growth by targeting these synapses or their signaling.

Ludwig Oxford’s Peter Ratcliffe won the 2019 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, in recognition of his landmark discoveries on the mechanisms by which cells sense and respond to the availability of oxygen. He shares the prize with U.S. researchers William Kaelin of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Gregg Semenza of Johns Hopkins University.

A team led by Ludwig Johns Hopkins’ Bert Vogelstein found that young adults had a higher portion of dividing cells in the epithelia of tissues in the colon, duodenum, esophagus and sinuses compared to older adults. These findings could help explain why the incidence of cancer declines in very elderly humans.

Ludwig San Diego’s Paul Mischel and his team unraveled how ecDNA drives the evolution and heterogeneity of tumors and contributes to their drug resistance. Using Mischel’s research as a background, Boundless Bio, a biotech startup, aims to kill drug-resistant tumors by finding ways to attack ecDNA in specific cancers.

A team led by Michelle Monje of the Ludwig Center at Stanford has discovered that high-grade gliomas form synapses and tap electrical signals from healthy nerve cells to drive their own growth. Interrupting these signals with an existing anti-epilepsy drug greatly reduced the cancers’ growth in human tumors implanted in mice.

Teams led by Ludwig MIT’s Sangeeta Bhatia and Imperial College London’s Molly Stevens have developed a tool that detects colon cancer through a color change in urine. This early stage technology involves injecting nanosensors into mice. These protein sensors are cut up by enzymes in tumors known as proteases and released in urine, where their presence is detected by color change.

Ludwig Johns Hopkins Co-director Bert Vogelstein and Ludwig Stanford Director Irv Weissman have won the 2019 Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research. Weissman is renowned for being the first to isolate and characterize a human tissue stem cell—the hematopoeitic stem cell. Vogelstein is known for modeling the progressive mutational events underlying colorectal cancer and for being part of the team that first sequenced a cancer exome.

Researchers led by Ludwig Stanford Director Irv Weissman have discovered a new signal, transmitted by a protein known as CD24, that cancer uses to evade destruction by the immune system. Blocking this signal in mice implanted with human cancers allows immune cells to attack the cancers.

In this interview, Ludwig San Diego’s Frank Furnari discusses a recent Cancer Cell paper, in which he defined a targetable mechanism that increased the sensitivity of glioblastoma (GBM) to radiotherapy.

Ludwig Harvard investigator Rakesh Jain is one of several scientists exploring how the tumor microenvironment can help shield cancer cells from chemotherapy. His lab has shown that fibroblasts in the tumor microenvironment impair the delivery of chemotherapies, while Ludwig Lausanne’s Johanna Joyce has investigated how chemotherapy can transform macrophages into allies of the tumor.

In a Science Translational Medicine study, researchers led in part by Ludwig Johns Hopkins Co-director Bert Vogelstein describe how a laboratory test using artificial intelligence tools has the potential to more accurately sort out which people with pancreatic cysts will go on to develop pancreatic cancers.

A Cell Metabolism study led by Ludwig San Diego’s Paul Mischel has identified an enzyme involved in remodeling the cell membrane of cancer cells that is critical to both the survival and uncontrolled growth of multiple types of tumors. The study suggests a potential target for new cancer therapies. 

Precision oncology has moved from a niche focus area to expand across the practice of oncology. In this interview, Ludwig Scientific Director Chi Van Dang reflects on his experiences with precision oncology in clinical practice and promising scientific research. (Subscription required)

Ludwig Lausanne Director George Coukos and his team have deciphered a complex molecular conversation between cancer and immune cells that is key to orchestrating the successful invasion of tumors by T cells that kill cancer cells. The Cancer Cell study identifies biomarkers of great relevance to cancer immunotherapy and could enable a more precise clinical classification of tumors.

In this interview, Janet Woodcock, director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, highlights GBM AGILE, a study run by nonprofit brain cancer groups that aims to test various glioblastoma treatments. GBM AGILE was initially conceived in 2015 by over 130 global collaborators, including Web Cavenee, Director of Strategic Alliances in Central Nervous System Cancers, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research.

In a new eLife study, a team led by Matthew Vander Heiden of Ludwig MIT analyzed the composition of the interstitial fluid that normally surrounds pancreatic tumors and found that its nutrient composition is different from that of the culture medium normally used to grow cancer cells. Growing cancer cells in a culture medium more similar to this interstitial fluid could help researchers better predict how experimental drugs will affect cancer cells.

In this video interview from the 2019 ASCO-SITC Clinical Immuno-Oncology Symposium, Ludwig MSK’s Jedd Wolchok discusses the data to date on checkpoint blockades and the rationale for combination therapies and novel agents.

In this opinion piece, Ludwig Stanford’s Sam Gambhir argues that we should more aggressively pursue “precision health,” which he defined as ways to prevent disease and, when that isn’t possible, intercept and treat it earlier.

CancerSEEK, a blood test devised by researchers at the Ludwig Center at Johns Hopkins, is one of several methods in development to detect circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), which may indicate cancer.

The health-care industry is preparing for a new law, going in effect in 2020, that researchers say will mean more treatments for pediatric cancers. Ludwig Stanford’s Crystal Mackall says “It is an incredibly exciting time …We have lots of drug companies who want to speak with us suddenly. Before, we went hat in hand, cajoling.” (Subscription required.)

Ludwig Johns Hopkins Co-director Bert Vogelstein shares a video analysis of the results, published in Science, of a study on whether mutations that drive malignant growth are the same or vary between primary tumors and their metastases.

Two new pancreatic cancer research laboratories opening at MIT and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute are giving researchers and patients renewed hope in fighting a disease that claims thousands of lives each year. The lab led by Ludwig MIT’s Tyler Jacks will focus on how doctors can use the immune system to control pancreatic cancer.

Ludwig MSK’s Luis Felipe Campesato argues in this essay that though recent breakthroughs have made immunotherapy one of the pillars of cancer care, much progress is needed to expand its use across patients and cancer types.

This article features Chi Van Dang, scientific director of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, who is an advocate for chronotherapy. This approach involves timing the delivery of drugs with the body’s circadian clock, striking either when cancer cells are most vulnerable to assault and/or when healthy cells are least sensitive to toxicity.

A magnetic wire used to snag scarce and hard-to-capture tumor cells could prove to be a swift and effective tactic for early cancer detection, according to a Nature Biomedical Engineering study led by Ludwig Stanford’s Sam Gambhir. In pigs, the technique attracts 10-80 times more tumor cells than current blood-based cancer-detection methods.

General physicians and many oncologists think of metastatic cancer as being “widely disseminated and incurable” in most cases involving solid tumors in adults, said Ludwig Chicago Co-director Ralph Weichselbaum in a lecture he gave as the ASCO 2018 David A. Karnofsky Memorial Award winner. But he notes that dissemination is limited for some metastatic cancers, and such cancers may be curable with local therapy.

Doctors have hypothesized that pancreatic tumors release a chemical signal or factor that travels throughout the body promoting the breakdown of muscle and fat. However, a new Nature study led by Matthew Vander Heiden of Ludwig MIT suggests otherwise.

Ralph Weichselbaum, who is today director of the Ludwig Center at Chicago, and Ludwig Board member Samuel Hellman suggested somewhat controversially in 1995 that metastatic cancer could occupy an intermediate state between curable, localized tumors and lethal, systemic disease. Twenty-three years later, Weichselbaum, Hellman and colleagues have confirmed their “oligometastasis” hypothesis with a molecular analysis of tumors from patients treated for colorectal cancer.

During the society’s annual meeting scheduled for June 1-5 in Chicago, ASCO will present awards to several leaders of cancer care including Ludwig Chicago’s Ralph R. Weichselbaum, who received the David A. Karnofsky Memorial Award and Lecture, which recognizes an oncologist who has made outstanding contribution to cancer research, diagnosis, or treatment.

As Ludwig MIT’s director Bob Weinberg once said: “If you live long enough, you will get cancer.” But why is cancer the beast that stalks us all? What is it about this disease that makes it inevitable? And why is it the price we must pay for many incredible evolutionary advances? To understand this issue, we need to go way back in our evolutionary history.

The Medicine Maker Power List recognizes the top 100 inspirational industry professionals in four categories: Masters of the Bench, Industry Influencers, Business Captains, and Champions of Change. Ludwig’s Scientific Director Chi Van Dang was included as #10 in the “Masters of the Bench” category for his contributions to the understanding of the Myc oncogene.

A study published in Science Translational Medicine led by Ludwig MIT’s Robert Weinberg found that surgery in breast cancer patients may trigger a systemic immunosuppressive response, allowing the outgrowth of dormant cancer cells at distant sites whose ability to generate tumors had previously been kept in check by the immune system.

A Ludwig Johns Hopkins study published in Science Translational Medicine reports the analysis of an experimental, minimally invasive DNA test for the detection of ovarian and endometrial cancers, both of which are difficult to detect in their early stages, when they are most curable.

In a study published in Science Translational Medicine, Ludwig Harvard investigator Rakesh Jain and his colleague Dai Fukumura at Massachusetts General Hospital found that obesity, known to reduce survival in several types of cancer, may also explain the ineffectiveness of angiogenesis inhibitors, which block the formation of blood vessels that feed tumors.

Ludwig’s Scientific Director Chi Van Dang, the new Editor-in-Chief of Cancer Research, discusses the evolution of cancer research, advances in areas like the tumor microenvironment, and challenges raised by the complexity of cancer.

Ludwig’s Scientific Director Chi Van Dang expressed excitement about promising areas in the Lancet Oncology Commission report, which expands on recommendations of the Cancer Moonshot’s blue ribbon panel.

Ludwig San Diego’s Don Cleveland was awarded the prestigious Breakthrough Prize in life sciences for his research on the genetics of inherited neurodegenerative disorders such as ALS and Huntington’s disease. A total of five $3 million awards were given in that field.

A team of scientists led by Ludwig Harvard’s Marcia Haigis may have hit upon a new therapeutic strategy against breast cancer with the finding that breast tumor cells recycle the ammonia that is generated as a byproduct of normal cell metabolism and use the toxic waste as a source of nitrogen to fuel their growth.

The Defeat GBM Research Collaborative, a project of the National Brain Tumor Society (NBTS), aims to overcome slow progress in the development of treatments for the brain cancer glioblastoma (GBM). Cure gives an update on the achievements of this collaborative, of which Ludwig San Diego’s Paul Mischel is one of the leading researchers.

Ludwig San Diego’s Kevin Corbett is featured as the latest “Cell scientist to watch.” In this interview, Corbett shares what inspired him to become a scientist, the big questions his lab is trying to answer, advice for scientists about to start their own labs and more.

Mads Gyrd-Hansen of Ludwig Oxford is a “cell scientist to watch” and Nordic cuisine aficionado. In this Journal of Cell Science feature, Gyrd-Hansen talks about his inspiration, what he’s working on now, the meaning of trust and more.

If Ludwig MIT’s Bob Weinberg didn’t pursue science, he may have been a carpenter. Lucky for us, Weinberg has made landmark advances in cancer research and is a staunch advocate for basic science. Learn more about Weinberg’s fascinating life and career from MedPage Today.

Ludwig Johns Hopkins Co-director Bert Vogelstein illustrated the theme of the 2017 ACCR Annual Meeting—”Discover, Predict, Prevent, Treat”—at this year’s opening plenary. He explained that the development of new therapies goes hand in hand with the development of new prevention strategies. One key step is identifying the source of mutations for each type of cancer by improved molecular markers of disease using diagnostics such as liquid biopsies.

Ludwig Oxford scientist Colin Goding’s recent Genes & Development study was selected as the Editor’s Choice in Cancer Biology for The Scientist’s April issue. As previously reported, the study identified an ancient, cellular starvation response, conserved through eons of evolution, that underlies the spread of the aggressive skin cancer melanoma.

Ludwig Oxford scientist Colin Goding examines why cancer cells spread within the body and explains how understanding this process can help devise new treatment options.

A recent study led in part by Ludwig Johns Hopkins Co-director Bert Vogelstein argues that random “mistakes” dividing cells make when copying their DNA account for nearly two-thirds of the mutations that cause cancer. This article, which includes input from Vogelstein, explains the methodology of the study and the implications of its findings.

Ludwig Harvard Co-director Joan Brugge was recently awarded the American Cancer Society Medal of Honor. The full video of the ceremony is available here. Starting at 7:35, you can watch the ACS’ introduction of Brugge, a deeply moving video tribute to her life and research, and her acceptance speech. We are very proud to be a part of her powerful story, and congratulate her on this well-deserved honor!

The San Diego Union-Tribune covers Paul Mischel’s latest research in this article, which includes a video of Mischel’s lab. In the video, Mischel describes how his team recently found that oncogenes “jump off” chromosomes onto extrachromosomal circles of DNA, driving tumor evolution and drug resistance. If we better understood the mechanisms behind this activity, Mischel says, we might be able to develop more effective cancer treatments.

In this podcast, Paul Mischel fields questions about the recent study he led that upends old assumptions about cancer genes. Mischel’s findings will shift how cancer diversity and resistance are understood and studied.

A recent study led by Ludwig San Diego’s Paul Mischel is likely to change the way tumor evolution is understood by scientists and could ultimately lead to new ways to prevent and treat many malignancies. The Scientist reports on the findings and includes perspectives from several scientists not involved in the study.

​Chi Van Dang will join Ludwig as Scientific Director on July 1, 2017. A hematological oncologist and renowned researcher, Dang joins Ludwig from the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine’s Abramson Cancer Center, which he has directed since 2011.

In its report on the big brain cancer research-related developments of 2016, the National Brain Tumor Society cites a Cancer Cell study led by Ludwig San Diego’s Paul Mischel in partnership with a colleague at The Scripps Research Institute. That study demonstrated that GBM cells import vast amounts of cholesterol to survive and that the mechanisms they use to do so can be specifically and effectively undermined with drug-like molecules currently in clinical development.

As we step into 2017, a big question looming in the minds of all stakeholders in the cancer research arena is: What is the future of cancer research in the new administration?

Ludwig San Diego’s Paul Mischel spoke with Oncology Times about his recent Cancer Cell article, which identified a metabolic vulnerability in the brain cancer glioblastoma (GBM) that can be exploited by an experimental drug.

Roeland Nusse of Ludwig Stanford and Stephen Elledge of Ludwig Harvard on winning the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences. Nusse was noted for his discovery of the first Wnt gene and elucidation of its role in embryonic development, stem cells and the genesis of tumors. Elledge was honored for his influential discoveries on how cells sense DNA damage and then engage their mechanisms of DNA repair—and how these processes relate to the development of cancer.

​A study co-led by Ludwig San Diego’s Paul Mischel has been featured in AACR’s Research Watch. The study demonstrates that GBM cells import vast amounts of cholesterol to survive and that the mechanisms they use to do so can be specifically and effectively undermined with drug-like molecules currently in clinical development.

A recent Science study co-led by Ludwig Stanford investigator Hiromitsu Nakauchi found that withholding an amino acid from diet depletes blood stem cells in nice. This article explains how the findings may make it possible to conduct bone marrow transplantations – and permit the treatment of some cancers – without chemotherapy or radiation therapy.

Derek Leske—an avid cyclist and immunologist at Ludwig Oxford—shares his career goals, inspirations and hobbies. Leske is co-first author of a recent study that examines the role a protein named SPATA2 plays in an elaborate system of protein tagging that regulates inflammatory signaling.

The New York Times writes about the six researchers who received the prestigious Lasker Awards this year. Among them is Sir Peter Ratcliffe of Ludwig Oxford, who was recognized for his role in elucidating the mechanisms and distinct signaling pathways by which cells gauge and respond to the availability of oxygen.

A blue ribbon panel, co-chaired by Tyler Jacks of Ludwig MIT and including Ludwig scientists George Demetri and Levi Garraway, released a report for the Cancer Moonshot that describes a set of 10 recommendations for accelerating cancer research to achieve the ambitious goal of making a decade’s worth of progress in 5 years.

Ludwig Stanford Director and stem cell research pioneer Irv Weissman discussed the history of using blood-forming stem cells to treat cancer and the “big leap” he is taking to move this field forward. Weissman and his colleagues have shown that such treatment could be effective for other diseases as well, including type one diabetes and lupus.

Ludwig Harvard Co-Director George Demetri offers his perspective on how the field of sarcoma research has offered a blueprint for that of other tumor types.

Ludwig MIT Director Bob Weinberg recently received the AACR Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research. Weinberg spoke to MedPage Today about his acceptance speech, during which he spoke passionately about why basic cancer research must continue and why collaboration should happen organically.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden delivered an address at the AACR Annual Meeting, calling on researchers to accelerate progress against cancer by working more collaboratively and sharing data more freely. Ludwig Harvard director George Demetri was quoted in this article on the address, which also summarized key findings reported at the meeting.

Ludwig MIT Director Bob Weinberg was honored for his seminal contributions to cancer research and cancer biology with the 13th annual American Association for Cancer Research Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research at the AACR Annual Meeting in New Orleans.

The MIT Technology Review takes a look at the busy life of Ludwig scientist Sangeeta Bhatia: a bioengineer, entrepreneur and role model for young women in STEM.

In recognition of World Cancer Day, the Oxford Science Blog asks Ludwig’s Colin Goding about his research on melanoma and his thoughts on the future of cancer treatment.

Ludwig Harvard director George Demetri talks to MSNBC’s Chris Matthews about what can be accomplished with Vice President Biden’s “Moonshot” initiative.

Ludwig Harvard director George Demetri was among the top cancer researchers who met with United States Vice President Joe Biden’s staff to discuss ideas for his cancer “moonshot” initiative announced during President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address.

What if we could find cancerous tumors years before they can harm us — without expensive screening facilities or even steady electricity? Ludwig MIT’s Sangeeta Bhatia leads a multidisciplinary lab that searches for novel ways to understand, diagnose and treat human disease.

Ludwig’s aim is to support scientific research to ease the suffering caused by cancer. To that end, we fund basic research in the biological sciences, applied research for the design and development of candidate cancer therapies and diagnostics and early stage clinical trials to evaluate new treatments and therapeutic strategies.

Defeat GBM-funded research discovers a completely new process whereby EGFR alterations – which occur in the majority of GBMs – fuel tumor growth, and, importantly, identifies a potential way to exploit these changes in tumor cells to treat GBM using a class of anti-cancer drugs already in development.

The aim of a conference held earlier this month was to bring together the world’s leading oesophageal cancer experts for the first time. And by getting everyone in one room, our hope was to invigorate research ideas and stimulate progress in understanding and treating the disease.

Among the Conquer Cancer Foundation’s newest supporters, Ludwig Cancer Research is an international community of distinguished scientists dedicated to preventing and controlling cancer. Its emphasis on collaboration and long-term support has fostered its role as a leader in immunotherapy and other challenging aspects of cancer research since its founding in 1971.

One of the most practical applications of precision medicine lies within the field of pharmacogenomics, a portmanteau of pharmacology and genomics. It is a discipline designed for tailoring drug treatments to an individual’s genetic make-up.

A recent paper does not show that two-thirds of cancer cases are due to bad luck.

The San Diego Branch focuses mainly on cancer genetics, cell signaling, gene regulation and the mechanisms of cell division. We have made important achievements investigating the processes that cells use to maintain the integrity of their genome, and how failure in these processes can lead to cancer.

Just like in life, there are no turn-by-turn directions when it comes to cancer research. Ludwig’s Tyler Jacks shares the lessons he’s learned, and what they mean for all of us.

How Daniel K Ludwig’s formula for success has fuelled four decades – and counting – of top-notch cancer research.

Government funding, which has long supported the bulk of basic scientific research, is increasingly threatened in the U.S. If we hope to capitalize on the remarkable progress made in molecular medicine over the past few decades to solve such intractable problems as cancer, diabetes, and other diseases, something will have to change—and soon.

American science is increasingly starved of funds. In 2013, the U.S. National Institutes of Health was forced to slash $1.5 billion from its budget. As a consequence, only one in seven biomedical researchers who apply for an NIH grant today will receive one — marking an historic low.

University of Chicago cancer specialists make strides in curing metastatic cancers.

This month, Daniel Ludwig’s trust made a final US$540 million donation to the six American Ludwig Centers he had helped to found. In total, Ludwig has given over $900 million to the six centres.

In the case of these six cancer research centers, a $540 million endowment is meant to help them pursue work that is speculative and risky, unencumbered by the profit requirements of “the market” or the conservatism and restrictions of government funding.

Six U.S. medical centers will each receive $90 million to pursue cancer research with very few strings attached.

Six facilities for cancer studies launched in 2006 by New York-based charity Ludwig Cancer Research will each receive $90-million more from the parent group to pursue unrestricted research into how the disease starts, spreads, and can be stopped.

The estate of the late American shipping magnate Daniel Ludwig on Monday donated a total of $540 million to six elite U.S. cancer research facilities, making one of the largest one-time gifts dedicated to combating the disease.

An American shipping magnate’s trust will announce on Monday one of the largest philanthropic gifts to support cancer research: more than half a billion dollars to be divided equally among six institutions, including Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Stanford has received a vast sum of money to study a tiny population of deadly cancer cells, a gift that could help combat the heartbreak of phoenixlike disease recurrence.

Gift from Ludwig Cancer Research fund comes as government, private grants have declined.

The Ludwig Cancer Research organization announces one of the largest gifts ever toward cancer research with $540 million to six research centers across the country.

Johns Hopkins University scientists will share in one of the largest one-time philanthropic gifts for cancer research ever made, $540 million aimed at preventing and curing the disease, officials are scheduled to announce today.

MIT and Harvard each received $90 million from Ludwig Cancer Research, on behalf of its founder Daniel K. Ludwig, which will provide funding to transform basic research on metastasis, the process by which cancer cells spread from a primary tumor to distant sites in the body.

A trust fund created by billionaire shipping tycoon Daniel K. Ludwig ends today with a bang and a gift to research. Six U.S. medical centers will receive $540 million—$90 million each—from the fund to endow cancer studies in perpetuity.

A new study has revealed that brain cancer cells can actually evade many current cancer drugs—by temporarily scaling down a certain genetic mutation that the drugs target.

A genetic variation that protects skin against sun damage may also increase the risk of testicular cancer, at least in mice. Researcher Gareth Bond discusses why this relationship may have evolved and how the findings could help to create personalized cancer treatments for humans.

A genetic variant that increases the risk of testicular cancer may be favored by evolution because it helps protect those with fair skin from the sun’s damaging ultraviolet rays, according to a new study.

Australian scientists say they have discovered a molecule which they believe is responsible for the growth of some cancerous tumours. It provides researchers with a new target for anti cancer therapies.

David Lane, PhD, has been named Scientific Director of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research. In the new role, which commenced last month, Lane will coordinate Ludwig’s global research efforts and activities.

Research demonstrates a little-appreciated but inescapable fact about cancer: It is an evolutionary disease. And studies are provoking new thinking about ways to use drugs to kill cancerous cells.

One protein that keeps healthy cells from behaving this way is a tumor suppressor named p53. This protein stops potentially precancerous cells from dividing and induces suicide in those that are damaged beyond repair. Not surprisingly, p53’s critical function is disrupted or silenced in many cancers.

Researchers have identified a mechanism of action that explains why patients with glioblastoma have not had successful outcomes when treated with inhibitors of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) despite the fact that mTOR is overexpressed in approximately 90% of cases of the disease.

Tumors that arise in the same organs in humans and fish look and behave alike, and the cancers often share common genetic underpinnings. As a result, most researchers believe that the basic mechanisms underlying tumor formation are conserved across species, allowing them to study the formation, expansion, and spread of tumors in animal models with the hope of eventually finding new insights into cancer in people.