Issue 46 - Dec. 13, 2013 - The Cancer Letter

Could mRNA vaccines hold the key to building an affordable universal cancer vaccine?

“I believe in the concept of a universal cancer vaccine,” said Elias Sayour, a pediatric oncologist at the University of Florida. “I think if this fails in a prospective phase III trial, I still believe we can engineer a vaccine that works prospectively.”

January 14, 2026

Vol.52 No.1

Clinical

A planned randomized trial will ask an intriguing question: Do COVID vaccines potentiate checkpoint inhibitors?

A phase III clinical trial will soon begin testing the evidence collected thus far that points to a stunning prospect: the COVID-19 vaccine—a widely accessible mRNA vaccine already on the market—could make checkpoint inhibitors work better for lung cancer and melanoma patients.

January 09, 2026

Vol.52 No.1

By Sara Willa Ernst and Jacquelyn Cobb

Clinical Trials & Tribulations

How a Montefiore Einstein screening program is changing the history of lung cancer in the Bronx

Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer death in the United States, largely because it is most often diagnosed at an advanced stage.

MSK’s AML researcher Bayard “Barney” Clarkson, former president of ASCO and AACR, dies at 99

Bayard “Barney” Clarkson, a pioneering leukemia researcher, a career-long member of the faculty of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and past president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the American Association for Cancer Research, died on Dec. 30.

Paul Engstrom, Fox Chase pioneer of cancer prevention, dies at 89

Paul F. Engstrom, a well-respected, longtime member of our Fox Chase Cancer Center community, died Dec. 26. He was 89.

Patient advocate David Mitchell, 75, dies of multiple myeloma

David Mitchell, a tireless patient advocate whose lived experience with multiple myeloma shaped a decade of courageous leadership on behalf of patients nationwide, died Jan. 2. He was 75.

January 09, 2026

Vol.52 No.1

By Ellen V. Sigal

Issue 46 – Dec. 13, 2013

YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN

Could mRNA vaccines hold the key to building an affordable universal cancer vaccine?

A planned randomized trial will ask an intriguing question: Do COVID vaccines potentiate checkpoint inhibitors?

How a Montefiore Einstein screening program is changing the history of lung cancer in the Bronx

MSK’s AML researcher Bayard “Barney” Clarkson, former president of ASCO and AACR, dies at 99

Paul Engstrom, Fox Chase pioneer of cancer prevention, dies at 89

Patient advocate David Mitchell, 75, dies of multiple myeloma

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