Mar 17, 2026 | Cancer Center News
Tumors contain many different types of cells organized in complex spatial patterns that can influence how the disease progresses. Because of this, it is hard to predict how a tumor will develop and respond to treatment. Researchers at the University of Illinois...
Feb 11, 2026 | Cancer Center News
Cancer Center at Illinois (CCIL) member Hua Wang, a professor of materials science and engineering, earned an Early Career Award from the METAvivor Foundation. Wang’s research project, “Next-Generation Exosome Vaccines for Treating Metastatic Breast...
Jan 29, 2026 | Cancer Center News
In recent years, cancer researchers have made major breakthroughs by using the body’s immune system to fight cancer. One of the most promising approaches, known as immune checkpoint blockade, works by releasing molecular “brakes” on T cells. This allows them to better...
Nov 13, 2025 | Cancer Center News
A naturally occurring protein that tends to be expressed at higher levels in breast cancer cells boosts the effectiveness of some anticancer agents, including doxorubicin, one of the most widely used chemotherapies, and a preclinical drug known as ErSO, researchers...
Nov 11, 2025 | Cancer Center News
Cancer Center at Illinois (CCIL) Program Leader Erik Nelson’s lab made an important discovery about the relationship between cholesterol and breast cancer progression with crucial implications for breast cancer therapeutics. Breast cancer is the second leading cause...
Mar 4, 2025 | Cancer Center News
Michael Mulligan, a Ph.D. student in the lab of Cancer Center at Illinois (CCIL) Deputy Director Paul Hergenrother, recently discovered that a small molecule called ErSO-TFPy has the ability to drastically reduce the size of large breast tumors in mice. Even more...
Nov 12, 2024 | Cancer Center News
Read time: 2 minutesKeywords: seed grants, metastatic breast cancer The Cancer Center at Illinois (CCIL) Seed Grant program awarded a promising study of breast cancer metastasis led by Ashok Samuel, a CCIL member and a faculty member in the Department of...
Sep 17, 2024 | Cancer Center News
An interdisciplinary team of researchers from the University of Illinois has discovered a potential new treatment option for drug-resistant breast cancer. Their findings, published in Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, demonstrates the role of activators of...
Sep 12, 2024 | Cancer Center News
For typical illnesses, the body’s immune system is a robust, pathogen-killing machine. It provides a general defense against harmful germs while also adapting and producing antibodies that target specific bacteria or viruses. After fighting off an infection like...
Aug 14, 2024 | Cancer Center News
Cancer Center at Illinois researchers Zeynep Madak-Erdogan and Erik Nelson tried their hand at dragon boating this summer, with a visit to the Prairie Dragon Paddlers at Homer Lake. Prairie Dragon Paddlers is a non-profit organization designed to support breast cancer...
Jul 16, 2024 | Cancer Center News
It was the early 1980s. At the time, glioblastoma patients survived on average for only 10-11 months. Four decades later, the life expectancy has only marginally improved by a few months. For one team of scientists, these aren’t just statistics but family...
May 14, 2024 | Cancer Center News
Cancer Center at Illinois (CCIL) member Hua Wang, professor of materials science and engineering, published new research in Materials Today Bio demonstrating the development of a novel technology to prevent post-surgical recurrence of breast cancer, especially...