2022 Accomplishments Report

Featured Research

Several prominent studies led by OSUCCC – James researchers in 2022 are helping to change the landscape of cancer care. In addition, two internationally renowned cancer researchers who finished their careers at Ohio State were honored posthumously at a memorial scientific symposium that included lectures by medical scientists from the United States and Europe.

Carlo Contreras

Flu vaccine may become new melanoma treatment

The flu vaccine could double as a breakthrough treatment for advanced melanoma, according to Ohio State researchers who are conducting an immunotherapy study that may lead to a new use for influenza vaccination through a more targeted injection method into the melanoma tumor. Carlo Contreras, MD, leads this research.

 

Study reveals male sex hormones are new targets for cancer immunotherapy

A study that was published in the journal Science Immunology and led by researchers at the Pelotonia Institute of Immuno-Oncology at the OSUCCC – James examined differences in intratumoral immune responses between male and female cancers of non-reproductive origin (e.g., bladder and liver). PIIO Director Zihai Li, MD, PhD, was senior corresponding author.

Discovery could ‘revolutionize’ understanding of aggressive cancer growth and spread

After more than decade of research, an OSUCCC – James team reported in the journal Nature Metabolism that ammonia in the body is not a waste molecule but plays a critical role in activating fat production in cancer cells, promoting growth and spread. Deliang Guo, PhD, was senior author, and Chunming Cheng, PhD, was first author.

Two titans of cancer research honored at memorial scientific symposium

Medical scientists from the United States, Germany, Finland and Spain lectured on cancer-related topics held dear by the late Clara D. Bloomfield, MD, and Albert de la Chapelle, MD, PhD, at a memorial symposium held in their honor at Ohio State, where they played key leadership roles from 1997 until their deaths just eight months apart in 2020.