Mixed dose radiation enhances immune response to cancer
A new study in mice shows that delivering different doses of radiation to a tumor revs up the immune system and allows it to detect not only the treated tumor but distant tumors that were not irradiated. When mixed dose radiation is followed with immunotherapy drugs called immune checkpoint inhibitors, it makes the drugs more effective at killing cancer cells throughout the body than when radiation was delivered at a single dose level.
Zachary Morris named chair of human oncology
Dr. Zachary Morris, a leading expert on innovative approaches to cancer therapy, will be the next chair of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health Department of Human Oncology effective June 2.
UW study details how HPV may promote head and neck cancer
Cancer researchers have long known that the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus (HPV) is a leading cause of head and neck cancer and now a study from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health sheds light on how HPV turns healthy cells into cancer.
The future of cell therapy: Novel study tests treatment for radiation-induced dry mouth
For certain side effects of complex and lifesaving medical procedures, care teams can be left with limited and risky treatment options, but a program at UW Health is changing that using patients’ own cells as “living therapeutics.”
Jamey Weichert, Zachary Morris leading a team to develop new way to help immune system fight back against cancer
Scientists at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health are breaking new ground to make cancer cells more susceptible to attack by the body’s own immune system.
First-in-humans clinical trial to treat children with relapsed neuroblastoma opens at American Family Children’s Hospital
A first-in-humans clinical trial for children with relapsed or refractory neuroblastoma has opened at American Family Children’s Hospital (AFCH) and is being conducted by researchers at University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. Neuroblastoma is one of the most common solid tumors in children. Patients who are classified as “high-risk” (about 40 percent of those diagnosed) have less than a 50 percent survival rate.
UW–Madison inventors aim to replace old-style breast-surgery marker
Three University of Wisconsin–Madison innovators have invented a better way for surgeons to locate tumors during lumpectomies for breast cancer.
Darcie Moore, Zachary Morris receive 2019 Shaw Scientist Awards
University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health assistant professor of neuroscience Darcie Moore, PhD, and assistant professor of human oncology Zachary Morris, MD, PhD, are recipients of 2019 Shaw Scientist Awards from the Greater Milwaukee Foundation.
Wisconsin researchers well-represented at international radiation oncology conference
The 60th annual meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), the world’s premier radiation oncology society, got underway this week in San Antonio, Texas, with a strong Wisconsin presence.
Jennifer Smilowitz elected Fellow of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine
Jennifer Smilowitz, PhD, clinical associate professor in the Department of Human Oncology at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, has been elected a Fellow of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM).
Wisconsin study seeks ‘extreme survivors’ of metastatic breast cancer
Some patients can live for years, and even decades, after breast cancer has spread to their bones and other tissues.
New study to help women make better breast-cancer surgery decisions
Women face big decisions soon after being hit with a cancer diagnosis, including whether to have a breast-conserving lumpectomy or mastectomy.