Penn Medicine at the AACR Annual Meeting 2025

PHILADELPHIA – Researchers from the Abramson Cancer Center (ACC) of the University of Pennsylvania and Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine will present data on the latest advances in cancer science and medicine at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2025, taking place April 25-30 in Chicago. For updates, follow Penn Medicine on LinkedIn, Threads, and X, and PennMD Forum on X.

Expert interviews

Experts from Penn Medicine are available to comment on a wide range of cancer research and care topics during the meeting by video call, phone, or email. To arrange interviews, please contact Meagan Raeke at Meagan.Raeke@pennmedicine.upenn.edu or 267-693-6224.

News releases

Four Penn cancer researchers elected to the AACR Academy

Shelley Berger, PhD, honored by AACR for cancer research

Key presentations

M. Celeste Simon, PhD, the Arthur H. Rubenstein, MBBCh Professor in Cell and Developmental Biology, will deliver a presentation titled, “Can metabolism be targeted to cure liver (and other!) cancers?” in the Discovery Science Plenary session on Saturday, April 26 at 4:15 p.m. CT in Hall B1. Simon serves as the scientific director of the Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute and is an international expert in cancer cell metabolism.

Shelley L. Berger, PhD, FAACR, was awarded the 2025 AACR-Women in Cancer Research Charlotte Friend Lectureship and will deliver the lecture on Tuesday, April 29, at 5 p.m. CT in Room S103. Berger is the Daniel S. Och University Professor with appointments in the Perelman School of Medicine department of Cell & Developmental Biology and the School of Arts & Sciences.

Several Penn research trainees were also selected to deliver Minisymposia talks:

• Branched-chain amino acid metabolism and histone propionylation in pancreatic cancer (Abstract 3798). One of the reasons pancreatic cancer remains so deadly and difficult to treat is that it produces metabolites from certain nutrients that support tumor growth. This study looked at how and why these changes occur, revealing a new link between metabolism and epigenetics in pancreatic cancer cells. Christina Demetriadou, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher in the laboratory of Kathryn E. Wellen, PhD, a professor and the vice chair of Cancer Biology, will present the findings in the Metabolic Frontiers in Cancer session on Monday, April 28 at 2:30 p.m. CT in Room E450B.
• Heterogeneity in sensitivity to second-line inhibitors of therapy-resistant melanoma (Abstract 6385). Targeted therapies that inhibit the mutant BRAFV600E protein in melanoma can be an effective anti-cancer treatment, but they often result in resistant colonies of cancer cells that can cause cancer recurrence and make any further treatment difficult. This study aimed to find effective drug combinations to overcome treatment resistance. Gianna T. Busch, a graduate student in the laboratory of Arjun Raj, PhD, a professor of Genetics and Bioengineering at Penn, will present the findings in the Experimental Therapeutics: Drug Resistance session on Tuesday, April 29 at 2:30 p.m. CT in Room E450B.
• T-cell dependency of tumor regressions and complete responses with RAS(ON) multi-selective inhibition in preclinical models of pancreatic cancer (Abstract 6405). In this study, recently published in Cancer Discovery, researchers assessed a new type of KRAS-targeted therapy in pancreatic cancer models. They found that RAS(ON) multi-selective inhibition reshapes the tumor microenvironment by bringing in more T cells and other immune cells, making the tumor particularly receptive to immunotherapy. Margo I. Orlen, a graduate student in the laboratory of Ben Stanger, MD, PhD, the Hanna Wise Professor in Cancer Research and director of the Penn Pancreatic Cancer Research Center, will present the findings in the Checkpoints and Modulators of Tumor Microenvironment session on Tuesday, April 29 at 2:30 p.m. CT in Room S100 A.

More than 20 abstracts from ACC researchers were selected for poster sessions. Highlights include:

• Combinatorial use of VHL and KEAP1-based PROTACs reveals unexpected synergy and hook effect relief (Abstract 397). Presented by Sehbanul Islam, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of Luca Busino, PhD, an associate professor of Cancer Biology. Degraders and Glues 1 Poster Session on Sunday, April 27 from 2 to 5 p.m. CT in Section 18.
• FLASH proton radiotherapy mitigates corneal damage and stimulates wound healing in mice (Abstract 1334). Presented by Elias El Hoyek, a premed student at Penn in the lab of Constantinos Koumenis, PhD, the Richard H. Chamberlain Professor of Radiation Oncology. Radiation Sciences 1 Poster Session on Monday, April 28 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. CT in Section 6.
• Fibroblast activation protein directed CAR T cells engineered in situ using targeted lipid nanoparticles inhibit progression of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (Abstract 3129). Presented by Khuloud Bajbouj, PhD, a senior research investigator in the lab of Ellen Puré, PhD, the Grace Lansing Lambert Professor of Biomedical Science in the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. Therapeutic Approaches to Attack the Tumor Microenvironment Poster Session on Monday, April 28 from 2 to 5 p.m. in Section 24.
• Tumor molecular landscape and therapy implications in young BRCA1/2 carriers with breast cancer (Abstract 6596). Presented by Mwangala Akamandisa, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of Katherine Nathanson, MD, deputy director of the ACC and director of Genetics at the Basser Center for BRCA. Genomic Profiling of Tumors 2 Poster Session on Wednesday, April 30 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. in Section 9.

Penn Medicine is one of the world’s leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, excellence in patient care, and community service. The organization consists of the University of Pennsylvania Health System (UPHS) and Penn’s Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine, founded in 1765 as the nation’s first medical school.

The Perelman School of Medicine is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $580 million awarded in the 2023 fiscal year. Home to a proud history of “firsts,” Penn Medicine teams have pioneered discoveries that have shaped modern medicine, including CAR T cell therapy for cancer and the Nobel Prize-winning mRNA technology used in COVID-19 vaccines.

The University of Pennsylvania Health System cares for patients in facilities and their homes stretching from the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania to the New Jersey shore. UPHS facilities include the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Chester County Hospital, Doylestown Health, Lancaster General Health, Princeton Health, and Pennsylvania Hospital—the nation’s first hospital, chartered in 1751. Additional facilities and enterprises include Penn Medicine at Home, GSPP Rehabilitation, Lancaster Behavioral Health Hospital, and Princeton House Behavioral Health, among others.

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