Penn Medicine researchers will present four plenary sessions at the AACR – including remarks from the 2023 Annual Meeting Program Committee Chair Robert Vonderheide, MD, DPhil, director of the Abramson Cancer Center.

Researchers and oncologists have long looked to the body’s own defenses as a possible tool to conquer cancer. “We need to look at cancer vaccines to prevent disease or prevent relapse — to intercept cancer,” said Robert Vonderheide, MD, DPhil, director of the Abramson Cancer Center. Vonderheide also provided a glimpse of some of the groundbreaking research to be presented at the event.

AACR Program Committee Chair Robert H. Vonderheide, MD, DPhil, Director of the Abramson Cancer Center is excited for the topics that will be covered at the AACR Annual Meeting in 2023.

Susan M. Domchek, MD, executive director of the Basser Center for BRCA, discussed the importance of germline testing in breast cancer care.

Up to 50% of cancer-signaling proteins once believed to be immune to drug treatments due to a lack of targetable protein regions may actually be treatable, according to a new study from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Gregory R. Bowman, PhD, a Penn professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics and Bioengineering, leads this study as the first researcher funded by the Basser Cancer Interception Institute (BCII). His grant from the BCII supports the application of his ongoing work to BRCA-related research.

Can we stop cancer before it starts? That’s part of the goal of cancer interception, which involves “catching” cancer cells as they begin to develop into pre-cancers or very early cancers, and halt or reverse that process.

The Basser Center has launched the Men & BRCA program to accelerate research and provide men with specialized BRCA-related care. Dr. Kara Maxwell, Director of the new program, says that it is “part of a three-pronged approach comprising education, clinical care, and research.”

Jacquelyn Powers, MS, LCGC, a genetic counselor at the Basser Center, shares information about genetic counseling and testing services available at the Penn Medicine Mariann and Robert MacDonald Cancer Risk Evaluation Program and at the Basser Center.

Ovarian cancer is known as the silent killer, and Christine Hussey and her mother, Betty Walter, who have both participated in genetic testing at the Basser Center, know the importance of early detection.

A study conducted at Penn Medicine’s Abramson Cancer Center has revealed possible drivers of recurrence in breast and ovarian tumors with BRCA1/BRCA2 mutations. Senior study author Katherine Nathanson, MD, the Pearl Basser Professor for BRCA-Related Research and deputy director of the Abramson Cancer Center, discussed the study results and what they might reveal about the mechanisms of cancer recurrence.

Trudy Orthey learned she had a BRCA2 gene mutation after a family member’s cancer diagnosis. Now as a Basser Center patient, Trudy is cancer free and shares her journey with ovarian cancer.

Grammy Award-winning artist, songwriter, and actress Sara Bareilles performed at the Basser Center's fourth Basser Jean Bash last week in New York City. The sold-out event raised nearly $17 million to help find a cure for BRCA-related cancers.

Sara Bareilles shows off her smile while attending the 4th Annual Basser Jean Bash held at The Glasshouse in N.Y.C. on Nov. 15, 2022.