USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center at Keck Medicine of USC

09/01/2026

Connecting community insight directly to research innovation is key to closing cancer screening disparities.

Join us for the upcoming Los Angeles Regional Research Roundtable: From Community, Through Discovery, For Community: Community-Owned Research as a Method for Closing Cancer Screening Gaps.

What to Expect:
- An introduction to community-based participatory clinical research as a framework for addressing cancer health disparities
- A real-world example from South Los Angeles showcasing CREST (Cancer-free Research through Early Screening and Technology)—an initiative leveraging community-owned research infrastructure and shared screening capacity via the IMPACT-DETECT program

Event Details:

Date: September 11, 2026
Time: 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM PT
Hosts: Gracie Dinkins, MD & Dean Sherzai, MD, PhD (Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science)
Collaborating Institutions: USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center at Keck Medicine of USC, UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, City of Hope, Cedars-Sinai Cancer, and CDU

All are welcome to attend, but registration is required to join.
👉 Register here: bit.ly/RRRSep2026
📧 Questions? Contact Grace Kukuk at [email protected]

08/24/2026

Lynch syndrome is a genetic condition that significantly increases the risk of colon, uterine, and ovarian cancers. For women with Lynch syndrome, doctors often recommend risk-reducing surgery, removing the uterus and/or ovaries, once they’re done having children, as a way to prevent cancer before it starts.

In a recent study led by Rebecca Waggoner, MS, a cancer genetic counselor at USC Norris, and Julie Culver, MS, Director of Genetic Counseling at USC Norris Cancer Hospital and Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Keck School of Medicine, researchers looked at 65 women and discovered that those cared for at a safety-net hospital had a higher uptake of risk-reducing gynecologic surgery than those cared for at a university medical center. Women at the safety-net hospital were almost twice as likely to get the preventive surgery (68%) compared to those at the university medical center (35%), and they got it faster, too. Together, these findings raise critical questions about how to educate and support women making these difficult decisions across diverse clinical settings.

More research is needed to figure out exactly why, but the takeaway is clear: getting diagnosed with a hereditary cancer syndrome is only step one. If colon, uterine, or ovarian cancer runs in your family, talk to your doctor about genetic testing.

08/20/2026

Big news! USC Norris Cancer Hospital, part of Keck Medicine of USC, has been named one of MONEY's Best Hospitals for Cancer Care of 2026!

This recognition honors hospitals with a proven track record of delivering high-quality cancer treatment, backed by strong federal quality scores, positive patient experiences, and a team of highly experienced oncology specialists.

We're proud of our incredible oncology team, from our physicians and nurses to every support staff member, for their unwavering dedication to compassionate, expert cancer care.

08/18/2026

This year, California Life Sciences and the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine are partnering with the UC San Diego Gene Therapy Initiative to expand the annual Cell & Gene Therapy Symposium into a two-day program. Each organization brings distinct expertise to the field: CLS and CIRM in commercialization, regenerative medicine funding, and the policy and industry networks shaping California’s life sciences ecosystem, and UC San Diego GTI in translational gene therapy research.

Learn more and register here:

CLS's CGT Symposium brings together leaders from across the life sciences ecosystem to explore the opportunities and challenges shaping the future of these transformative therapies.

08/18/2026

USC researchers developed a technique that uses focused ultrasound to temporarily “light up” solid tumors, giving cancer-fighting immune cells a target they can finally recognize.

Peter Yingxiao Wang, PhD, USC Norris member and Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, with appointments in Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, and USC Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, and his team found a new approach that offers hope.

Their solution is called SHIFTERS. Instead of searching for a naturally occurring marker that may not even exist, the researchers developed a way to temporarily create one. Using focused ultrasound, physicians prompt tumor cells to briefly display CD19, a marker CAR-T cells already recognize.

Learn more here:

USC researchers developed a technique that uses focused ultrasound to temporarily "light up" solid tumors, giving cancer-fighting immune cells a target they can finally recognize.

08/13/2026

Congratulations to Saul Priceman, PhD, Associate Professor of Medicine and Immunology and Immune Therapeutics at Keck School of Medicine of USC, and Director of the Keck School of Medicine/NCCC Center for Cancer Cellular Immunotherapy Research, on receiving a PCF Challenge Award from the Prostate Cancer Foundation! This is a team-science award with John Lee, MD PhD, at UCLA, and Branden Moriarity, PhD, and Beau Webber, PhD, at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities.

The project, "Multifactorial Antigen-Presenting Gamma-Delta T cells Targeting Cancer and Viral Antigens for the Treatment of mCRPC," will focus on developing a novel T cell immunotherapy platform that will target prostate cancer through both engineered tumor-killing activity and activation of anti-viral memory T cells.

T cell immunotherapy has the powerful potential to treat and even cure blood cancers, but has yet to be optimized in prostate cancer and other solid tumors. If successful, this project could lead to an effective new therapy for prostate cancer.

We can't wait to see where this research leads. Congratulations, Dr. Priceman!

Learn more: https://www.pcf.org/our-impact/the-work-we-fund/challenge-awards/class-of-2025/multifactorial-antigen-presenting-gamma-delta-t-cells-targeting-cancer/

08/06/2026

Aging immunotherapy resistance is one of the biggest unmet challenges in cancer care, and thymulin's potential here is fascinating. Congratulations to Dr. Fumito Ito on this NIH grant.

A hormone made in a small organ behind your breastbone could hold the key to helping older adults respond better to cancer treatment.

Keck School of Medicine of USC researchers have received a five-year, $3.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study thymulin, a hormone produced by the thymus that keeps chronic inflammation, sometimes called "inflammaging," under control as we age.

The team, led by Fumito Ito, MD, PhD, previously found that thymulin reduced inflammation and improved survival in older mice with cancer. Now they will test whether it can strengthen immunotherapies like anti-PD-1 and anti-PD-L1 treatments and help slow metastatic cancer, with the goal of developing therapies that work better for the older patients who make up most cancer cases.

08/05/2026

Members of the USC Norris CCC - Office of Community Outreach and Engagement team led a REEL Health colorectal cancer training for 110 community health workers.

Funded by Genentech, REEL Health uses storytelling to deliver critical education on cancer prevention, genetics and family history, and patient navigation, helping frontline health workers inform their communities about the rising rates of colorectal cancer and the steps that reduce risk, such as improved nutrition, regular exercise, and early detection.

We're grateful to Care2 Health Center, USC Copecc, and the Keck School of Medicine of USC Community and Workforce Development Office for their joint effort in bringing this training to life. Investments like this strengthen the community health workforce and expand access to lifesaving cancer prevention knowledge.

Together, we're building healthier, more informed communities!

07/23/2026

Congratulations to Dr. Suhn Rhie and the team on this impressive work. Mapping enhancer networks at this level of resolution provides valuable insight into how prostate cancer cells regulate gene expression and identifies promising targets for future therapeutic strategies.

A new discovery from Keck School of Medicine of USC could change how scientists think about targeting cancer at the genetic level. Researchers studying prostate cancer cells found that DNA "switches," called enhancers, don't work alone. They form interconnected 3D networks, with some enhancers acting as central hubs that control many genes at once.

Using an advanced technique called Region Capture Micro-C, the team mapped 3,216 key enhancers specific to prostate cancer across 201 tumor and healthy tissue datasets. When they used CRISPR to remove central enhancers, cancer-promoting genes switched off and tumor cell growth slowed. The study, led by Suhn Kyong Rhie, PhD, with USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center at Keck Medicine of USC was published in Genome Biology and could lay groundwork for future gene-editing therapies.

07/21/2026

Our heartfelt appreciation goes out to everyone who made the 11th Annual Quinn Brady Memorial Swing Against Cancer Golf & Dinner Event a tremendous success.

We are incredibly grateful to tournament chair Bill Poland, the Swing Committee, sponsors, volunteers, golfers, and all who supported this special event benefiting the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center. Originally founded by Quinn Brady, Larry Dickenson, and Mike Bambauer, Swing Against Cancer continues to make a lasting impact by raising critical funds for lifesaving cancer research and the development of new cancer therapies.

Your generosity helps advance discoveries that bring hope to patients and families today and for generations to come. Thank you for investing in the future of cancer care and research at USC Norris.