David G. Kirsch, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovator '08-'10, Innovation Award Committee Member) at the Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, and colleagues, have tested a new injectable agent that causes cancer cells in a tumor to fluoresce, potentially increasing a surgeon's ability to locate and remove all of a cancerous tumor on the first attempt.

Mark A. Lemmon, PhD (Damon Runyon Scholar ’97-‘98, Damon Runyon Fellow ’93-’96) of Yale University, New Haven, and colleagues at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia reported that a next-generation ALK inhibitor drug, called PF-06463922, shows promise in treating pediatric neuroblastoma. In animal models, it caused rapid and sustained tumor regression and was more effective than the FDA-approved ALK inhibitor crizotinib.