Funding news
UF Health Cancer Center funding provides…
With pilot funding, the researchers will address serious cancer-related research problems with artificial intelligence.

NCI-funded project to study role of gut…
The team will study the role of the gut microbiome in prostate cancer.

UF neurosurgery researcher receives grant for…
With a Florida Department of Health grant, Brent Reynolds, Ph.D., will research a new method of treatment for glioblastoma.

Cancer research news
Mansi Dalal, M.D., on graft failure in pediatric…
In an interview with OncLive, Mansi Dalal, M.D., discussed graft failure risk factors in pediatric non-malignant disorders.

Jordan Milner, M.D., on hematopoietic stem cell…
In an interview with OncLive, Jordan Milner, M.D., discussed hematopoietic stem cell transplant in pediatric patients with severe aplastic anemia.

Two mutations team up to cloak a deadly brain…
A new study of glioblastoma suggests that two specific cancer cell mutations may work together to help hide tumors from the immune system.

Research Snapshots
The Cancer Center’s Research Snapshots highlight recent discoveries made by Cancer Center researchers.
Research Snapshots aim to make research discoveries in newly published manuscripts more accessible for other scientists and the community as a whole.
If you are a Cancer Center researcher and would like to have your research considered for this feature, please contact communications specialist Leah Buletti or research communications administrator Ian Bennett.
UF study provides insight into the role of myeloid cells in glioma progression
Research from the University of Florida Health Cancer Center sheds light on the complex interactions between cancer cells and the immune system.

Sotorasib shows meaningful anticancer activity in patients with KRAS G12C-mutated metastatic pancreatic cancer
UF Health was a study location for a multicenter phase 1-2 trial showing that the KRAS G12C inhibitor sotorasib achieved anticancer activity with an acceptable safety profile in heavily pretreated patients with KRAS G12C-mutated metastatic pancreatic cancer.

UF study finds younger patients with colorectal cancer less likely to have targetable genetic mutations
Researchers found that while younger patients with colorectal cancer were significantly more likely to be diagnosed with advanced stage colorectal malignancies, these patients had significantly lower rates of genetic mutations. That decreases the number of effective, approved drugs that are available for treatment. Universal genetic testing at UF Health identified a relatively large population of older patients with sporadic colorectal cancer who were eligible for immunotherapy, emphasizing the importance of testing all patients.

A new way to capture cancer cells’ symphony
A team of UF researchers has shed new light on the functional mechanisms of spontaneous calcium waves in human color and prostate cancer cells. The study indicated that calcium dynamics enable long-distance functional communication in electrically non-excitable cancer cells.

UF-led research identifies genes involved in chemotherapy resistance in pediatric AML
A team led by UF researchers has used genome-wide CRISPR/cas9 screening to identify genes that are sensitive or resistant to etoposide, a chemotherapy drug used to treat pediatric acute myeloid leukemia, or AML. The findings could pave the way for developing new drug targets to overcome treatment resistance.

Study finds no association between coffee or caffeine consumption and postmenopausal breast cancer risk
An observational study of more than 77,000 postmenopausal women found no association between coffee consumption and overall invasive breast cancer risk or subtype-specific breast cancer risk.

Open-source software program seeks to facilitate automatic imaging
A team of researchers led by UF Health Cancer Center members Xin Tang, Ph.D., and Dietmar Siemann, Ph.D., has developed an open-source software program to help researchers with user-programmable, multifunctional and automatic time-lapse live cell/tissue imaging.

New tools explore mechanobiology of cell nucleus
A team of researchers led by UF Health Cancer Center member Xin Tang, Ph.D., has developed a new biophysics technique to shed light on the mechanobiology of the nucleus in single cancer and normal cells.

Researchers develop new method for exosome-based cancer biomarker discovery
A group of researchers led by UF Health Cancer Center member Mei He, Ph.D., has developed a new exosome isolation approach that could have important implications for discovering and detecting cancer biomarkers.

Interaction of bacterial genera associated with therapeutic response to immune checkpoint PD-1 blockade in a United States cohort
The functional relationship between immunity, intestinal microbiota and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) response to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) PD1 in an American cohort remains unexplored. In a new Genome Medicine study titled, “Interaction of bacterial genera associated with therapeutic response to immune checkpoint PD-1 blockade in a United States cohort…”

Cancer diagnosis is associated with a lower burden of dementia and less Alzheimer’s-type neuropathology
Cancer and Alzheimer’s disease are common diseases in aging populations. According to prior research, there is a lower incidence of Alzheimer’s disease-type (amnestic) dementia among individuals with cancer. Both cancer and amnestic dementia are prevalent and potentially lethal clinical syndromes.

Incidence, nature and consequences of oncologists’ experiences with sexual harassment
Sexual harassment in the workplace of clinical oncologists remains to be fully characterized. In this study, Merry J. Markham, M.D., FACP, and Julia L. Close, M.D., and team conducted a prospective cross-sectional study of clinical oncologists in the United States.

Netiquette for social media engagement for oncology professionals
A study published on February 3 shows how to create a social media identity, best practices for engaging both in patient and caregiver spaces and professional communities, and how to address inappropriate behavior on social media with the goal of helping physicians develop an enjoyable experience online.

Addressing racial disparities: Dietary Vitamin A and breast cancer risk in Black women
A study published in The Journal of Nutrition has shown an inverse association of dietary intake of vitamin A, including carotenoids, with ER-positive breast cancer risks among premenopausal Black women.

Biological features between miRNAs and their targets are unveiled from deep learning models
miRNAs play key roles in a variety of biological processes and human diseases and several miRNA-targeted therapeutics have undergone clinical trials for treating human cancers.

When microRNAs clash with their targets
Mingyi Xie’s, Ph.D., lab in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Medicine at the University of Florida studies RNA processing mechanisms that drive cancer development.
