Obstetrics & Gynecology

News and Events

Programs and providers of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Weill Cornell Medicine are often the focus of news stories and features appearing in major national media. We invite you to review some stories that typify the breakthrough accomplishments of our remarkable team and highlight the impact our care has had on patient’s lives.

Research Matters: Personalizing Pancreatic Cancer Treatment

Dr. Siolas pancreatic cancer researcher

Video of Research Matters: Personalizing Pancreatic Cancer Treatment

It’s not surprising that pancreatic cancer is often referred to as a silent killer. With few early symptoms and an aggressive nature, it has one of the lowest survival rates of all cancers.

“By the time people are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, most are not candidates for surgery because the tumor is too extensive,” said Dr. Despina Siolas, assistant professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine and an oncologist at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center. “Too often, I see patients succumb to cancer due to a lack of effective treatment options.”

The first line treatment for most pancreatic tumors is chemotherapy, a one-size-fits-all approach that does not work for everyone. “We are trying to personalize treatment for this disease and develop new therapeutic regimens, so we can save more patients,” Dr. Siolas said.

Dr. Siolas is focusing on the KRAS gene, which is mutated in 93% of pancreatic cancer cells and promotes uncontrolled cancer cell growth and tumors. But not all the mutations are equal.

Scientists Identify a Molecular Switch to a Painful Side Effect of Chemotherapy

woman with neuropathy pain

Chemotherapy activates a stress sensor in immune cells, triggering inflammation and nerve damage, which may help explain why many cancer patients experience debilitating pain as a side effect, according to a new study by Weill Cornell Medicine and Wake Forest University School of Medicine researchers.

Up to half of all patients receiving chemotherapy experience chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN), which causes tingling, numbness and pain in the hands and feet. Since there are limited options to address this condition, patients are often forced to stop their cancer treatment early. The preclinical research, published Oct. 29 in Science Translational Medicine, may lead to strategies for preventing and controlling CIPN, as well as biomarkers for identifying patients at risk.

“We uncovered a molecular mechanism that maps specifically to immune cells, not neurons,” said co-senior author Dr. Juan Cubillos-Ruiz, the William J. Ledger, M.D. Distinguished Associate Professor of Infection and Immunology in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Weill Cornell Medicine. “This provides strong evidence that chemotherapy-induced neuropathy is not just a nerve issue but an immune-mediated inflammatory process driven by cellular stress responses.”

Common-Cold Coronavirus Could be the Key to a Better COVID-19 Vaccine

photo of a gloved hand inserting a syringe into a vial

Prior exposure to coronaviruses that cause ordinary colds can boost the immune system’s ability to attack a vulnerable site on the COVID-19-causing coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, according to a study led by investigators at Weill Cornell Medicine. The finding suggests a new vaccination strategy that might provide broader and more durable protection against SARS-CoV-2 strains compared with existing vaccines—and might also protect against other emergent coronaviral threats.

In the study, published Oct. 9 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, the researchers analyzed human antibody responses to the base of SARS-CoV-2’s outer spike protein. This segment, known as the S2 subunit, mediates the coronavirus’s entry into a host cell, and, because of this critical function, does not vary much between different coronavirus subfamilies. Thus, targeting it successfully could help provide broad protection against existing and future coronavirus threats. Although exposure to SARS-CoV-2 alone elicits a weak antibody response against S2, the researchers found evidence that prior exposure to common cold coronaviruses, especially one called OC43, can prime the immune system for a much more effective anti-S2 response—one that may be able to neutralize a wide range of coronaviruses.

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