SEATTLE — Feb. 4, 2025 — Below are summaries of recent Fred Hutch Cancer Center research findings, patient stories and other news.
February is national cancer prevention month. See our prevention tip sheet and reach out to media@fredhutch.org if you’re looking for experts.
Clinical research and care
Could fecal microbiota transplantation help patients heal after stem cell transplantation?
A new study published in Nature Communications shows that oral fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) is a safe addition to preventing graft-versus-host disease in patients undergoing stem cell transplantation for blood cancers. This research is part of a phase 2 clinical trial led by Armin Rashidi, MD, PhD, a medical oncologist at Fred Hutch. The randomized phase of the trial will study whether FMT improves health outcomes for patients undergoing stem cell transplantation, such as less acute graft-versus-host disease, fewer hospitalizations, fewer infections, better quality of life and longer survival.
Media contact: Molly McElroy, mwmcelro@fredhutch.org
Navigating a brand-new cancer diagnosis
A recent expansion of the Fred Hutch Nurse Navigation Program is making the new patient experience easier. Janelle Wagner, RN, senior director of the program, explains how nurse navigators streamline processes for new patients by outlining all necessary testing and connecting with clinicians. Navigators also conduct psychosocial screening and identify barriers to care such as transportation issues, socioeconomic concerns or language barriers.
Media contact: Heather Platisha, hplatisha@fredhutch.org
Cancer Health Equity Now podcast: Let’s talk about cervical health
This episode of Fred Hutch’s Office of Community Outreach and Engagement’s podcast focuses on raising awareness about prevention and HPV vaccination while addressing the cultural barriers that often hinder these important conversations. The episode features Li Velasco, LUNAA Program Manager at Nuestras Raíces Centro Comunitario, and Elizabeth Swisher, MD, gynecologic oncologist at Fred Hutch and Deputy Director, Fred Hutch/University of Washington/Seattle Children’s Cancer Consortium.
Media contact: Heather Platisha, hplatisha@fredhutch.org
Surprising findings about blood cell mutations bode well for transplant recipients
After an allogeneic stem cell transplant, the donated cells must replicate again and again. Experts wondered whether the donated cells' continuous replication could pose a risk if new or existing mutations arose. In Science Translational Medicine, researchers from Fred Hutch examined pairs of donors and recipients and found a low average mutation rate. In a Q&A lead author Masumi Ueda Oshima, MD, MA, explained the study and its implications.
Media contact: Molly McElroy, mwmcelro@fredhutch.org
Cancer biology
Tricking cells into trashing cancer
Targeted protein degradation, a new therapy used in clinical trials and published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, tricks the cell’s garbage collectors into hauling away cancer-causing proteins. Behnam Nabet, PhD, and collaborators have been using this approach to rapidly destroy lung and pancreas tumors in mice. Nabet and team’s process targeted the gene KRAS G12V, a cancer-causing mutation with no off switch. Using dTAG, a protein degradation system developed by Nabet’s lab, tumor growth caused by KRAS G12V was not only stopped but reversed within a four-week span.
Media contact: Molly McElroy, mwmcelro@fredhutch.org
Basic sciences
Cold air makes oxygen toxic for worms
A study in the Frontiers in Physiology journal from postbaccalaureate researcher Cameron Suraci in the Roth Lab shows that in microscopic worms, hypothermia shields against anoxia (the absence of oxygen) and anoxia blunts the stress of hypothermia, allowing a higher survival rate against both conditions. Building off rare cases where stowaways survive both extreme cold and oxygen deprivation, these findings show that humans may share the same function between stress responses, though more research is needed to understand the relationship between oxygen and temperature.
Media contact: Molly McElroy, mwmcelro@fredhutch.org
Awards and milestones
Dr. Sara Hurvitz receives the Smith Family Endowed Chair in Women’s Health
Fred Hutch Senior Vice President and Director of the Clinical Research Division Sara Hurvitz, MD, received the inaugural Smith Family Endowed Chair in Women’s Health. The chair is established by Kathy Surace-Smith, a former life sciences industry executive, and Brad Smith, president of Microsoft. Over the past decade, less than 9% of NIH grants have funded women’s health, and this endowment will provide flexible funding to improve survivorship and quality of life for women with cancer.
Media contact: Heather Platisha, hplatisha@fredhutch.org
Evolutionary cell biologist Dr. Grant King named a Hanna Gray Fellow
The Howard Hughes Medical Institute named Grant King, PhD, a Hanna H. Gray Fellow — investing $1.5 million over an eight-year span to help King start his own lab. The fellowship supports early career scientists committed to making foundational discoveries while building an inclusive culture in academic science. King currently works in the Malik Lab studying how evolutionary innovations occur within eukaryotic cells. He is the third researcher from the lab to win this fellowship, following Toro Moreno, PhD, and Jeannette Tenthorey, PhD.
Media contact: Molly McElroy, mwmcelro@fredhutch.org
Leonard and Norma Klorfine Endowed Chair for Clinical Research awarded to Dr. Geoffrey Hill
Geoffrey Hill, MD, FRACP, FRCPA received the Leonard and Norma Klorfine Endowed Chair for Clinical Research. The chair was established by the Klorfine family in 2015 in celebration of Fred Hutch’s 40th anniversary and funds physician-scientists dedicated to lifesaving research. Hill is the senior vice president and director of the Translational Science and Therapeutics Division, and the endowment will fund future research by him and his team in transplant immunology.
Media contact: Molly McElroy, mwmcelro@fredhutch.org
50 years of doing hard things
2025 marks the 50th anniversary of Fred Hutch Cancer Center. With bold scientific feats including pioneering bone marrow transplantation, paving the way for the HPV vaccine and coordinating the development of the COVID-19 vaccine, the organization has become a world-class biomedical institution for research and clinical care.
Media contact: media@fredhutch.org
Science spotlight
Science Spotlight is a monthly installment of articles written by postdoctoral fellows that summarizes new research papers from Fred Hutch scientists. If you’re interested in learning more or covering these topics, contact media@fredhutch.org
- Searching for the ‘smoking gun’ that explains lung cancer in never-smokers
- In the race to replicate, it’s better to think small-scale
- Oral Shedding: A Kaposi Sarcoma Mystery
- Cigarettes or vapes, pick your poison
- Mutations remain one-in-a-million after HCT
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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.
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’s cancer program.