News Releases

For Frank and Charmayne Dierker, breast cancer advocacy is a family affair.  The Chestertown, Md., couple have made a $1 million gift to establish The Frank and Charmayne Dierker Endowed Leadership Fund in Breast Cancer at Johns Hopkins.

To decipher how cancer develops, Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center investigators say researchers must take a closer look at the packaging.

William G. Nelson, M.D., Ph.D., a member of The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine faculty since 1992, has been selected to lead the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins.

A call to explore a broader use of HPV (human papillomavirus) vaccines and the validation of a simple oral screening test for HPV-caused oral cancers are reported in two studies by a Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center investigator.

Striking another blow against childhood cancer and its devastating effects on families, Giant Food executives presented a $1 million check on October 21 to Johns Hopkins for pediatric leukemia research.

Caring Collection Goal to Hit $1 Million Help the Caring Collection, Inc. reach their goal this year to raise $1 million to donate to Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and other institutions to purchase and update cancer research equipment.

Baltimore Hyundai Dealers Present $40,000 Donation to Benefit Pediatric Oncology at Johns Hopkins

The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) has reported results from its first comprehensive study which focused on the deadly brain cancer glioblastoma.

Virtually all cancers arise through mutation of genes that control cell growth.  As the cancers grow, they shed fragments of DNA, biological evidence of these mutant genes, into the bloodstream. Now, Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center researchers have developed a novel test to measure tumor-derived DNA in the bloodstream.

The Johns Hopkins researchers who last year discovered a genetic cause of the inherited from of a deadly lung disease have now identified the same underlying cause in a majority of patients with the disease.

The complete genetic blueprint for lethal pancreatic cancer and brain cancer was deciphered by a team at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center. The studies, led by the same group who completed maps of the breast cancer and colorectal cancer genomes in 2007, are reported in two articles in the Sept. 5, 2008, issue of Science Express.

Young adults without a family history of bowel disease are unlikely to develop adenomas, the colorectal polyps most likely to lead to cancer, according to new research directed by scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center. The finding supports current cancer screening guidelines recommending adults in general undergo screening colonoscopies starting at age 50.

Men whose tumors recur after prostate cancer surgery are three times more likely to survive their disease long term if they undergo radiotherapy within two years of the recurrence. Surprisingly, survival benefits were best in men whose new tumors were growing fastest, according to results of a "look-back" study of 635 men by Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions researchers reported June 18 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Johns Hopkins Magazine (April 2008) features Lillie Shockney.

The following summaries are based on abstracts scheduled for presentation at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting, April 12 - 16 in San Diego, CA.

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have uncovered clearly recognizable genetic alterations in tumors and tissue removed from patients with early-stage lung cancers that look like good predictors of which of these cancers are more likely to recur.

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have teased out two distinct sets of risk factors for head and neck cancers, suggesting that there are two completely different kinds of the disease.

Second-grader Gavin loves to collect and study rocks and minerals. He hopes to be a geologist one day. Six-year-old Aaliyah loves to dance and sing along to her favorite Beyonce songs. Michael is in fourth grade and enjoys playing video games but hopes to soon get back to playing his favorite sports, football and basketball. And 10-year-old Justin dreams of becoming a left-handed pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles.

Patients cared for by hospitals with residents in training have a 17 percent less chance of dying after lung cancer surgery compared with patients undergoing surgery at non-teaching hospitals, according to results of a Johns Hopkins study published in the March issue of the Annals of Thoracic Surgery.

Johns Hopkins scientist Charles Drake is testing a unique molecule for its ability to awaken the immune system’s ability to recognize and destroy prostate cancer cells.  This molecule is a key protein that acts as a sleep-aid to soldiering immune cells.

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Brady Urological Institute, Wake Forest University and the Karolinska Institute in Sweden have identified an array of gene markers for hereditary prostate cancer that, along with family history for the disease, appear to raise risk to more than nine times that of men without such markers.  The panel, gleaned from a study of more than 4,000 Swedes, found that these markers are common and could account for nearly half of the prostate cancer cases in this study.  Results are published online in the Jan. 16 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Research linking HPV to head and neck cancers was identified by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) as one among six advances deemed most significant in clinical cancer research for 2007. 

Gina Szymanski, M.S., R.N., nurse manager at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, has received the Linda Arenth Excellence in Cancer Nursing Management Award from the Oncology Nursing Society.

Scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center say they have evidence that cancer stem cells for multiple myeloma share many properties with normal stem cells and have multiple ways of resisting chemotherapy and other treatments.

A morning gargle could someday be more than a breath freshener - it could spot head and neck cancer, say scientists at Johns Hopkins. Their new study of a mouth rinse that captures genetic signatures common to the disease holds promise for screening those at high risk, including heavy smokers and alcohol drinkers.