SEATTLE \u2014 Oct. 7, 2025 \u2014 Below are summaries of recent Fred Hutch Cancer Center research findings, patient stories and other news.<\/p>\n
October is breast cancer awareness month and hereditary cancer awareness week was Sept. 29 – Oct. 5. If you\u2019re working on stories related to these diseases, please reach out to media@fredhutch.org<\/a> to connect with experts.<\/p>\n Cancer screening<\/p>\n Are we ready for multi-cancer detection tests?<\/a> Whole-body MRI and cancer screening<\/a> Hereditary cancer<\/p>\n Testing for hereditary cancers can be a lifesaver<\/a> Immunology<\/p>\n Oh, the microbes you\u2019ll meet!<\/a> Cancer research<\/p>\n Cancer AI Alliance unveils first collaborative AI platform for cancer research<\/a> Fred Hutch study finds new life for \u2018ineffective\u2019 drugs<\/a> Infectious disease<\/p>\n Experts urge clinical trials network to study infectious disease therapies in immunocompromised patients<\/a> Awards and other recognitions<\/p>\n Dr. Yeon Soo Kim receives NIH Pathway to Independence Award<\/a> Dr. Elizabeth Swisher receives the Torkelson Family Endowed Chair<\/a> Dr. Shailender Bhatia receives the Lyn and Daniel Lerner Endowed Chair in Merkel Cell Carcinoma<\/a> He’s one of the longest living bone marrow transplant survivors<\/a> Science spotlight<\/b><\/p>\n Science Spotlight<\/a> is a monthly installment of articles written by postdoctoral fellows that summarizes new research papers from Fred Hutch scientists. If you\u2019re interested in learning more or covering these topics, contact media@fredhutch.org<\/a><\/p>\n # # #<\/b><\/p>\n Fred Hutch Cancer Center Based in Seattle, Fred Hutch is an independent, nonprofit organization and the only National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center in Washington. We have earned a global reputation for our track record of discoveries in cancer, infectious disease and basic research, including important advances in bone marrow transplantation, immunotherapy, HIV\/AIDS prevention and COVID-19 vaccines. Fred Hutch operates eight clinical care sites that provide medical oncology, infusion, radiation, proton therapy and related services. Fred Hutch also serves as UW Medicine\u2019s cancer program.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SEATTLE \u2014 Oct. 7, 2025 \u2014 Below are summaries of recent Fred Hutch Cancer Center research findings, patient…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":284335,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[738,146579,146583,6958,67976,99847,146566,6954,3738,146581,146582,3736,815,146562,146575,146567,146560,146584,95796,1856,146578,146569,146565,146568,146563,146574,146580,23266,146572,16771,50600,74111,146559,159,146576,146570,146564,146561,146571,146573,67,132,68,146577,146558],"class_list":{"0":"post-284334","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-genetics","8":"tag-artificial-intelligence","9":"tag-brca","10":"tag-brian-n-dontchos","11":"tag-cancer-research","12":"tag-cancer-risk","13":"tag-cancer-screening","14":"tag-cancer-screening-research-network","15":"tag-cancer-treatment","16":"tag-clinical-trials","17":"tag-elizabeth-m-swisher","18":"tag-garnet-anderson","19":"tag-genetic-testing","20":"tag-genetics","21":"tag-heather-cheng","22":"tag-heather-h-cheng","23":"tag-hsieh-lab","24":"tag-human-biology","25":"tag-immunocompromised-patients","26":"tag-immunology","27":"tag-infectious-disease","28":"tag-inherited-cancer-risk","29":"tag-joshua-a-hill","30":"tag-manjiri-dighe","31":"tag-meghan-koch","32":"tag-merkel-cell-carcinoma","33":"tag-michael-boeckh","34":"tag-michael-j-boeckh","35":"tag-mri","36":"tag-multi-cancer-detection-tests","37":"tag-ovarian-cancer","38":"tag-prostate-cancer","39":"tag-public-health-sciences","40":"tag-ruth-etzioni","41":"tag-science","42":"tag-scott-ramsey","43":"tag-shailender-bhatia","44":"tag-steven-a-pergam","45":"tag-steven-pergam","46":"tag-taran-gujral","47":"tag-translational-science-and-therapeutics","48":"tag-united-states","49":"tag-unitedstates","50":"tag-us","51":"tag-william-grady","52":"tag-william-m-grady"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284334","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=284334"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284334\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/284335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=284334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=284334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=284334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nMulti-cancer detection tests<\/a> (MCDs) are already entering the market, despite still being studied for efficacy by the\u00a0Cancer Screening Research Network <\/a>(CSRN), which is based at Fred Hutch. While many MCD outcomes are unknown, experts including CSRN co-principal investigators Scott Ramsey, MD, PhD,<\/a>\u00a0Ruth Etzioni, PhD<\/a>, and Garnet Anderson, PhD<\/a>, as well as Bill Grady, MD<\/a>, discuss potential drawbacks, other standard-of-care cancer screening and how health care organizations can prepare for the new tests.
\nMedia contact: <\/b>Kat Wynn, <\/b>kwynn@fredhutch.org<\/a><\/p>\n
\nFred Hutch <\/b>radiologists Brian N. Dontchos, MD<\/a>, and Manjiri Dighe, MD<\/a>, review a range of data around the ability of whole-body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)\u00a0to screen for cancer. Findings demonstrate an overall lack of efficacy and data for adults and children using the scans. In one 6,000-person study, MRI scans found abnormalities in 95% of patients, only 1.8% of which had a form of malignancy.
\nMedia contact: <\/b>Heather Platisha, <\/b>hplatisha@fredhutch.org<\/a><\/p>\n
\nDuring Hereditary Cancer Awareness Week, Fred Hutch cancer patients and experts share the impact of genetic testing for inherited cancer risk. Genetic mutations like CHEK2 and BRCA 2 can increase the risk of breast, ovarian, prostate, thyroid and many other cancers. According to Heather Cheng, MD, PhD,<\/a> and Mercy Laurino, MS, PhD,<\/a>\u00a0patients with identified inherited risks can have more treatment options and better outcomes. Fred Hutch offers a variety of screening programs<\/a> and clinics for breast, ovarian, gastrointestinal and blood cancers.
\nMedia contact: <\/b>Heather Platisha, <\/b>hplatisha@fredhutch.org<\/a><\/p>\n
\nA study by Fred Hutch immunologist Meghan Koch, PhD<\/a>, published in the journal\u00a0Science<\/a> describes a biological mechanism that tunes the developing immune system so that it doesn\u2019t overreact to harmless microbes or new foods encountered during development. This learning in mice begins in the first week of life with a maternal antibody passed through breastmilk. The discovery could lead to potential therapies for food allergies in newborns and infants.
\nMedia contact: <\/b>Molly McElroy, <\/b>mwmcelro@fredhutch.org<\/a><\/p>\n
\nA research collaboration of top cancer centers including Fred Hutch announced the first scalable platform using federated learning for cancer research. The platform will enable researchers and clinicians to train AI models that learn from participating cancer centers\u2019 millions of clinical data points while maintaining data security, privacy and adherence to regulatory and ethical standards. \u00a0
\nMedia contact: <\/b>Molly McElroy, <\/b>mwmcelro@fredhutch.org<\/a>
\nResearch in Cell Reports Medicine<\/a> from Taran Gujral, PhD,<\/a> and Nao Nishida-Aoki, PhD<\/a>, found three times the number of effective drugs after testing them on slices of tumor that also contain key elements of the tumor microenvironment<\/a> (TME). Future studies could examine what happens in the TME that diminishes the effectiveness of drugs that work well on isolated cancer cells in a dish.
\nMedia contact: <\/b>Molly McElroy, <\/b>mwmcelro@fredhutch.org<\/a><\/p>\n
\nThe U.S. population of immunocompromised patients \u2014 those at an increased risk of infectious disease \u2014 has grown to 20 million. A vision for the proposed clinical trials network published recently in\u00a0JAMA Network Open<\/a>,\u00a0building upon last year\u2019s interdisciplinary meeting between leading experts, advocates and government officials. Fred Hutch researchers Josh Hill, MD<\/a>,\u00a0Michael Boeckh, MD, PhD<\/a>, and\u00a0Steve Pergam, MD, MPH<\/a>, lead the effort to create the network.\u00a0
\nMedia contact: <\/b>Claire Hudson, chudson@fredhutch.org<\/a><\/p>\n
\nPostdoctoral researcher Yeon Soo Kim, PhD, received a K99\/R00 Pathway to Independence Award<\/a>\u00a0from the National Cancer Institute to fund her research in the Hsieh lab<\/a>. Kim studies how advanced prostate cancer evades therapy by altering the way RNA builds proteins. The award will support further research that could improve the efficacy of treatments for advanced prostate cancer.
\nMedia contact: <\/b>Molly McElroy, <\/b>mwmcelro@fredhutch.org<\/a><\/p>\n
\nElizabeth Swisher, MD<\/a>, is the inaugural recipient of the Torkelson Family Endowed Chair, established by former ovarian cancer<\/a> patient Doris Torkelson. Swisher has studied genetic risk factors for gynecologic cancers for over 25 years and was an early leader of the Fred Hutch Breast and Ovarian Cancer Prevention (BOCP) Clinic<\/a>. She will use the funding to develop and offer tailored treatments for gynecologic cancers.
\nMedia contact: <\/b>Heather Platisha, <\/b>hplatisha@fredhutch.org<\/a><\/p>\n
\nShailender Bhatia, MD<\/a>, is the inaugural recipient of the Lyn and Daniel Lerner Endowed Chair in Merkel Cell Carcinoma<\/a> (MCC). The chair was established by the Lerner family after both Daniel and daughter Julie were treated at Fred Hutch. Bhatia has led numerous clinical trials against MCC, a rare and aggressive skin cancer, and will use the funding to pursue better immunotherapies against the disease. Bhatia is the director of the Melanoma and Renal Cancer Team.
\nMedia contact: <\/b>Heather Platisha, <\/b>hplatisha@fredhutch.org<\/a><\/p>\n
\nThis episode of the From Bench to Bedside and Beyond<\/a> podcast recognizes Fred Hutch\u2019s 50th anniversary with one of the oldest living bone marrow transplant (BMT) survivors. His transplant case was published in the New England Journal of Medicine<\/a> by Nobel Prize-winner Dr. E. Donnall Thomas<\/a> in 1975.
\nMedia contact: <\/b>Molly McElroy, <\/b>mwmcelro@fredhutch.org<\/a><\/p>\n
\n <\/b>Fred Hutch Cancer Center unites individualized care and advanced research to provide the latest cancer treatment options while accelerating discoveries that prevent, treat and cure cancer and infectious diseases worldwide.