Tryptophan has long been known for its role in producing serotonin, which promotes a good night’s sleep. But researchers at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center are exploring a new mechanism for the amino acid, which supports the immune system’s efforts to fight cancer. Kunle Odunsi, MD, PhD, FRCOG, FACOG, who is Deputy Director, M. Steven Piver Professor and Chair of the Department of Gynecologic Oncology and Executive Director of the Center for Immunotherapy at Roswell Park, will present results from novel research on the role of tryptophan in tumor development at the Frontiers in Cancer Immunotherapy symposium, to be held Feb. 27–28 in New York City.

Blood and marrow transplantation (BMT) is a standard therapy used to treat leukemias and other life-threatening blood diseases. A Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center-led team has identified genetic variations in the DNA of both transplant recipients and their unrelated cell donors that were associated with poor patient outcomes.

Patient navigators serve as personal health care guides, maintaining one-on-one relationships with patients and their families. Roswell Park Cancer Institute has expanded its breast cancer navigation program due, in part, to a new contract from Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Breast Cancer Patient Navigation Project.

Tactiva Therapeutics LLC, a new biotech company spun off from Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, will create jobs as it develops some of the most promising concepts in the burgeoning field of cancer immunotherapy and accelerates the timeline for getting beneficial therapies to patients.

More than 1 in 4 adults and nearly 1 in 10 youth use tobacco, according to findings from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study, published online ahead of print in the New England Journal of Medicine. The PATH Study, established in 2011 through collaboration between the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Drug Abuse and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products, is a uniquely large, nationally representative longitudinal study designed to examine tobacco use behaviors and health among the U.S. population over multiple years of follow-up. The PATH Study is being conducted by Westat of Rockville, Md., with Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center as the scientific lead.

Metastasis, or spread of a tumor from the site of origin to additional organs, causes >90% of cancer-related deaths, but our understanding of the molecular mechanisms behind metastasis remains limited.