Cancer

Study: Firms “underinvest” in long-term cancer research

Tweaks to the R&D pipeline could create new drugs and greater social benefit.

July 28, 2015

Seeking rare cells

Christopher Love uses microscale technology to isolate rare cells, yielding insight into human disease.

June 17, 2015

Alexey Radovinsky, Joe Minervini, Phil Michael, and Leslie Bromberg of the Plasma Science and Fusion Center

Making cancer treatment more accessible

MIT collaborates on a smaller, lighter delivery system for proton-beam radiotherapy.

June 4, 2015

Bringing biochemistry to life with color

Senior biology and chemistry major Daniel Zhang helps build noninvasive cancer diagnostic tools.

June 2, 2015

Sealed cup sits atop reflective surface with a prescription label and text that reads "Probiotics" and "Use: cancer detection".

Diagnosing cancer with help from bacteria

Engineered probiotics can detect tumors in the liver.

May 27, 2015

As cells pass through the CellSqueeze device at high speed, narrowing microfluidic channels apply a squeeze that opens small, temporary holes in the cells' membranes. As a result, large molecules — antigens, in the case of this study — can enter before the membrane reseals.

Freshly squeezed vaccines

Microfluidic cell-squeezing device opens new possibilities for cell-based vaccines.

May 22, 2015

Tyler Jacks receives MIT’s Killian Award

Cancer biologist and Koch Institute director recognized with MIT faculty’s top honor.

May 20, 2015

Sangeeta Bhatia wins $250,000 Heinz Award

Bhatia is recognized for her work in tissue engineering, disease detection, and advocacy for women in STEM.

April 23, 2015

How a computer can help your doctor better diagnose cancer

Model from MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory aims to automatically distinguish lymphoma subtypes.

April 23, 2015

MIT chemical engineers have designed an implantable device that can deliver many drugs at once, allowing researchers to determine which drugs are the most effective against a patient's tumor.

How to identify drugs that work best for each patient

Implantable device could allow doctors to test cancer drugs in patients before prescribing chemotherapy.

April 22, 2015

An illustration of T Lymphocytes on a Cancer Cell.

Recruiting the entire immune system to attack cancer

Stimulating both major branches of the immune system halts tumor growth more effectively.

April 13, 2015

The top two panels show tumors produced by cancer cells. The outer ring of cells (blue) has enough oxygen to survive, but not as much oxygen reaches the inner cells. At top right, tumor cells lack the SHMT2 gene and are unable to survive in this central region, as indicated by the pink stain that marks a protein produced during cell death. At top left, the cells express high levels of SHMT2, allow...

Biologists identify brain tumor weakness

Discovery could offer a new target for treatment of glioblastoma.

April 8, 2015

As a mix of cancer cells and white blood cells flows through the microfluidic channel, sound waves from the transducers located on both sides of the channel guide them into separate channels, allowing the rare cancer cells to be isolated.

Using sound waves to detect rare cancer cells

Acoustic device can rapidly isolate circulating tumor cells from patient blood samples.

April 6, 2015

Biological engineering PhD student Shiou-chi (Steven) Chang (right) and research associate Bogdan Fedeles (left) are both members of the Essigmann Lab

New evidence for how a rare form of liver cancer arises

MIT team finds mechanism by which exposure to vinyl chloride may produce cancerous mutations.

April 1, 2015

Graduate student Steven Keating holds a 3-D-printed copy of his cancerous astrocytoma brain tumor. It was printed by Keating with data from Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Cerebral curiosity

Graduate student Steven Keating takes a problem-solving approach to his brain cancer.