Fred Hutch

09/16/2025

In celebration of Trainee Appreciation Week at Fred Hutch, we’re spotlighting the incredible postdocs and grad students driving innovation across our scientific divisions!

Meet Arama Lyu, a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Lawrence Fong’s lab. Aram is focused on mapping the myeloid landscape in prostate cancer at single-cell resolution. By analyzing patient samples and mouse models, he aims to uncover how tumors respond to immune checkpoint inhibitors, paving the way for more effective cancer immunotherapies.

Join us in celebrating Aram and all the trainees whose dedication and curiosity are advancing cancer research!

09/15/2025

In celebration of Trainee Appreciation Week at Fred Hutch, we’re spotlighting the incredible postdocs and grad students driving innovation across our scientific divisions.

Meet Steve Salerno, a postdoctoral research fellow in the Leek Lab (Public Health Sciences Division), whose work sits at the intersection of biostatistics, AI/ML and cancer research. He’s passionate about building open, reproducible tools that empower the biomedical community.

“I first heard the word ‘biostatistics’ while working in my family’s restaurant," he said. "A patron asked about my interests, but all I could articulate was that I ‘loved math and wanted to help people.’ This kind stranger suggested I pursue biostatistics ... It is surreal to now be a postdoctoral researcher at an institution like Fred Hutch.”

Steve develops AI/ML methods to predict survival outcomes and automate diagnostics, and creates statistical approaches for studies where direct data collection isn’t feasible—an emerging frontier in public health.

“It is such an exciting moment for our field," he said. "Together, [AI/ML and statistics] promise new insights and faster, more responsible translation. I want to embrace this future and help others do the same.”

Thank you, Steve, for your dedication to data for good and advancing cancer research!

09/15/2025

Fred Hutch Cancer Center — an organization responsible for transforming cancer treatment and helping establish Seattle's biotech hub — turns 50.

09/14/2025

Katie Monin, a Seattle lawyer and mom of two, was celebrating her parents’ 50th anniversary at Disney World when she suddenly felt off. What she thought might be a panic attack turned out to be something far more serious: a brain tumor.

Back home in Seattle, Katie was diagnosed with a grade 3 oligodendroglioma, a fast-growing malignant brain cancer. After meeting with Dr. Lia Halasz, a radiation oncologist at Fred Hutch and UW Medicine who specializes in brain and central nervous system tumors, she started treatment at Fred Hutch - Proton Therapy in October 2024.

“Dr. Halasz was great. She helped me with facts but also optimism,” Monin said. “I was in a dark place, and she was very responsive about addressing symptoms, warning me about what the symptoms might be, and she was very thorough. She showed me how the treatment plan would avoid impact to my vision.”

Katie is now looking forward to the future and already planning for next summer’s vacation, when she’ll be finished with chemotherapy.

Read more: https://bit.ly/464JiXk

09/13/2025

You're invited to the 3rd Annual BACPAC Prostate Cancer Community Research Symposium — a free event hosted by Fred Hutch Cancer Center and UW Medicine, in collaboration with BACPAC and ZERO Prostate Cancer.

Join community members, advocates, researchers, and healthcare providers for a day of learning, connection and action focused on prostate cancer awareness and care.

This event is open to all patients and caregivers — whether you're connected to Fred Hutch or UW Medicine or not. Come be part of the conversation and help shape the future of prostate cancer research and treatment.

Register: https://bit.ly/4fSYyv5

09/13/2025

Over the last several decades, there have been significant leaps and bounds in the research and treatment of cancer.

09/13/2025

Rainer Storb (Fred Hutch): Six decades of bone marrow transplant breakthroughs. “His CV has more pages than almost any of you have papers.”
https://cancerletter.com/in-the-archives/20250905_8/

09/11/2025

Dr. Elizabeth Swisher, a pioneer in gynecologic oncology, receives the Torkelson Family Endowed Chair. This gives her more flexibility to pursue lifesaving research. https://bit.ly/4mYFNJp

The chair was established by Doris Torkelson, who was successfully treated for ovarian cancer at Fred Hutch.

Elizabeth Swisher, MD, who leads gynecologic oncology at Fred Hutch Cancer Center, was recently named the inaugural recipient of the Torkelson Family Endowed Chair.

The endowed chair was established...

09/10/2025

Where is the thyroid? And what does thyroid cancer look like? Thyroid cancer expert Mayumi Endo, MD, answers your questions.

09/08/2025

Not all cancers are alike, especially when it comes to prostate cancer.

“Most patients are diagnosed with a low- or favorable intermediate-risk prostate cancer,” said Fred Hutch Cancer Center genetic epidemiologist Burcu Darst, PhD, who collaborated with Daniel Lin, MD; Louisa Goss, MS; Lisa F. Newcomb, PhD; Yingye Zheng, PhD, and others on new research published today in JAMA Oncology. Lin holds the Pritt Family Endowed Chair in Prostate Cancer Research at UW Medicine.

“The guidelines recommend they go on active surveillance rather than getting treated. For many of them, it’s really unlikely they’ll later be diagnosed with aggressive disease.”

The problem — for patients, clinicians and researchers — is figuring out who will develop an aggressive form of the disease and who will not.

According to the American Cancer Society, around one in eight men are diagnosed with prostate cancer and one in 44 men die of it. Most diagnosed with the disease do not die; there are currently 3.3 million prostate cancer survivors in the U.S. As one cancer center director put it, most men diagnosed with the disease "die with prostate cancer, not of prostate cancer."

Now, research by Darst and scientists from the Canary Prostate Active Surveillance Study (PASS), suggests that a patient’s polygenic risk score, or PRS, may be able to help clinicians differentiate the more dangerous prostate cancers from those that will never cause an issue.

Read more: https://bit.ly/4m5sHIZ