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March 2026

Matthew Galsky, MD, Sudeh Izadmehr, PhD, and colleagues

Monitoring of Plasma and Urine Tumor-Derived DNA To Inform Bladder-Sparing Approaches for Patients with Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 2026 Feb 24. PMID: 41706890

This study shows that systemic therapy, without surgical removal of the bladder, can lead to durable remission in a subset of patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC). It also shows that the measurement of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) and urine tumor DNA (utDNA) can identify patients who are most likely to remain cancer-free following this systemic therapy and bladder-preserving approach. The findings establish the conceptual and experimental foundation for incorporating ctDNA and utDNA assays into the management of patients with MIBC, to inform prognosis and the need for cystectomy.

Press Release

Lakshmi Rajdev, MD, MS, served as Co-Chair for Immunotherapy and Targeted Therapy for Advanced Gastroesophageal Cancer: ASCO Guideline Update, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, and participated in a related ASCO Guidelines podcast.

Fred R. Hirsch, MD, PhD, co-chaired the New York Lung Cancer Foundation Summit, “Call to Action,” held March 6-8. The goal of the annual summit is to identify gaps in lung cancer research and management and brainstorm about how those gaps can be filled.

Mount Sinai participants included Thomas Marron, MD, PhD; David Yankelevitz, MD; Emanuela Taioli, MD, PhD; Kenneth Rosenzweig, MD; Fionnuala Crowley, MD; Nicholas Rohs, MD; Andrea Wolf, MD; Raja Flores, MD; and Mary Beasley, MD.

Oncology Social Worker Promotions

• Kaitlin Giordano, LCSW, has been promoted to Associate Director of Oncology Social Work. Kaitlin provides leadership and oversight for The Mount Sinai Hospital oncology social work team with primary responsibility for the solid tumor services.

• Jessica Kreitman, LCSW, OSW-C, has been promoted to Manager of Oncology Social Work. Jessica oversees the oncology social workers at the Dubin Breast Center and the GI social workers at the Ruttenberg Treatment Center. She also manages inpatient oncology social workers at The Mount Sinai Hospital.

• Yu Mee Song, LCSW, OSW-C, was promoted to Manager of Oncology Social Work. Yu Mee oversees the multiple myeloma oncology social workers and supervises hematology social workers across both inpatient and outpatient settings.

Full Announcement 

Hematology/Medical Oncology Grand Rounds Thursday, May 21

Gedalio and Sonia Grinberg/Nathaniel Wisch, MD Endowed Visiting Lectureship

Michael Andreeff, MD, PhD

Department of Leukemia, Division of Cancer Medicine

MD Anderson Cancer Center

“Decoding PT53 in Myeloid Leukemias: When Guardian Becomes Gatekeeper of Resistance”

Cancer Biology Retreat

Tuesday, April 7

Department of Oncological Sciences

The Bohemian National Hall, 321 East 73rd Street

Questions? Contact Evelyn Markov or Alana Coleman

Mount Sinai Tisch Cancer Center

Seminar Series

Tuesdays at noon, Davis Auditorium

March 24

Jedd Wolchok, MD, PhD

Weill Cornell Medicine

Hosted by Nina Bhardwaj, MD, PhD

March 31

Suzanne Lentzsch, MD, PhD

Columbia University Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center

Hosted by Samir Parekh, MD

Biostatistics



The services of the Mount Sinai Tisch Cancer Center Biostatistics Shared Resource, directed by Marcio Diniz, PhD, can significantly increase the likelihood of successful grant awards. The first step in the process is to submit a request for services (allowing a four-week lead time).

Questions? Contact Erin Moshier, MSc, Managing Director.

Read the Biostatistics Shared Resource Newsletter

Shared Resources User Survey

Feedback is essential for improving the services and capabilities of the Mount Sinai Tisch Cancer Center’s Shared Resources. Feedback directly shapes future investments and ensures attention to needed support.

Researchers are encouraged to complete the user survey.

Questions? Contact Jerry Edward Chipuk, PhD, Associate Director of Shared Resources

AI Survey



As part of ongoing efforts to advance innovation, the Mount Sinai Tisch Cancer Center is conducting a brief survey to better understand how AI tools are currently being used across programs and to identify areas where additional support or resources may be most valuable.

Please complete the survey by March 13.

A new NCI-sponsored trial, Extended Clinical Follow-up and Biospecimen Collection for Patients Enrolled in TAILORx and RxPONDER: A Companion Protocol, aims to collect relapse tumor samples from TAILORx or RxPonder trial participants who have had a breast cancer recurrence. Primary and recurrence tumor specimens will be evaluated by whole transciptome and exome sequencing, and spatial transcriptomics and proteomics, to gain insight into tumor and microenvironmental factors that contribute to disease recurrence.

TAILORx and RxPONDER, landmark NCI-sponsored clinical trials, prospectively validated the prognostic and predictive role of the 21-gene Oncotype DX recurrence score assay in guiding adjuvant chemotherapy use in stage I-II ER-positive breast cancer, profoundly impacting clinical practice.

The ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group is conducting this trial with funding from the NCI and the Department of Defense (DOD) Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs.

Approximately 10 patients from Mount Sinai are expected to be enrolled.

Joseph Sparano, MD, is the national PI of the trial and PI of the DOD grant. Rima Patel, MD, is the local PI and overall ECOG-ACRIN PI.

Shubham Gulati, MS; Andrea Wolf, MD; Jai Mehrotra-Varma, BS; Stephanie Tuminello, PhD, MPH; Emanuela Taioli, MD, PhD; Raja Flores, MD

Disaster on MARS2? Lessons Learned From Modern Day Outcomes of Surgery for Pleural Mesothelioma

Annals of Thoracic Surgery. 2026 Feb 2. PMID: 41638523

This study of 71 patients treated with pleurectomy/decortication (PD) for pleural mesothelioma from 2015-2021 shows that PD can be done safely, with low post-operative mortality, countering the findings of the Mesothelioma and Radical Surgery 2 (MARS2) trial. With strict selection criteria and resection focused on balancing cytoreduction with patients’ tolerance for aggressive surgery, short-term complications and mortality of PD can be limited.

Press Release

Jesse Gelles, PhD; Jerry Edward Chipuk, PhD, and colleagues



A Gated Hydrophobic Funnel Within BAX Binds Bioactive Lipids to Potentiate Pro-Apoptotic Function

Nature Communications. 2026 Feb 25. PMID: 41741428

Mitochondria enable pro-apoptotic proteins such as BAX to initiate mitochondrial outer membrane permeabilization (MOMP), the key step in apoptosis. Using integrated structural, biophysical, and computational approaches, Dr. Chipuk and colleagues identified a new domain in BAX—the “BAX actuating funnel”—where the lipid 2-trans-hexadecenal binds and cooperates with BH3-only proteins to promote BAX activation, revealing a mechanism by which bioactive lipids and proteins jointly control the mitochondrial pathway of apoptosis.

Matthew Galsky, MD, and colleagues

A Small-Molecule Inverse Agonist of PPARγ for Advanced Solid Tumors: A Phase 1 Trial

Nature Medicine. 2026 Feb 27. PMID: 41760953

Dr. Galsky and colleagues report on the first part of FX-909-CLINPRO-1, a phase 1A 3 + 3 dose-escalation study of FX-909—a first-in-class oral small-molecule PPARγ inverse agonist—that enrolled 56 patients with advanced solid tumors, including 46 with urothelial carcinoma (UC). The phase 1 part A results establish FX-909 as the first pharmacological agent capable of effectively inhibiting PPARγ in humans, with promising preliminary antitumor activity in heavily pretreated patients with advanced UC, particularly in those with PPARγ^high tumors. The findings position PPARγ alongside the androgen and estrogen receptors as successfully targeted nuclear receptors that serve as critical oncology targets. 

Rodrigo Paredes, MD; Alexander Karol, MD; Deborah Doroshow, MD, PhD; Matthew Galsky, MD, and colleagues

Evolving Trends in Latin American Participation in Global Oncology Clinical Trials: A Decade of Phase III Activity (2013-2022)

JCO Global Oncology. 2026 Feb 20. PMID: 41719503

This study provides a descriptive overview of Latin America’s participation in trial sites of global phase III oncology trials over the past decade. Most of the trials focused on solid tumors, the majority of which were metastatic. Despite modest increase in participation, findings show that trial growth within Latin America (LATAM) was not geographically uniform, with Brazil accounting for nearly half of all LATAM trial sites, followed by Argentina and Mexico; this imbalance reflects persistent barriers to broader participation. The findings highlight challenges in aligning global oncology trial design with the needs of under-represented regions and broadening access.

Natasha Kyprianou, PhD, was the Hallmarks of Cancer speaker at the University of Mississippi Medical Center on January 22. She presented “Phenotypic Reprograming Overcomes Therapeutic Resistance in Prostate Cancer.”

Dr. Kyprianou will be a Visiting Professor at the Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University on March 12. She will present “Therapeutic Exploitation of Anoikis and Cell Plasticity Intersection in Advanced Prostate Cancer.”

Eirini Papapetrou, MD, PhD, will present “Mechanisms of Clonal Expansion and Hyperinflammation in TET2-Driven Clonal Hematopoiesis” at the 2026 Intercepting Blood Cancers Workshop, March 19-21, in Barcelona.

Fred R. Hirsch, MD, PhD, was invited to present the Keynote Lecture, titled “The Future of Biomarkers in the ADC Era,” at the European Lung Cancer Congress 2026, March 25-28, in Copenhagen.

Two breast surgery fellows at Mount Sinai West, with endorsement from Tristen S. Park, MD, were invited to speak at prestigious early career doctors debates.



• Andrew Seto, MD - Young Doctors Forum Debate at the Taiwanese Breast Cancer Symposium in Taipei

• Leslie Kim, MD - Junior Doctors Debate on controversial topics at the Global Breast Cancer Conference in Seoul. Dr. Park will serve as debate moderator and will also be a podium speaker, focusing on de-escalation of surgery in favorable breast cancer.

Michelle Rudshteyn Korostin, MD, Hematology and Medical Oncology Fellow (PGY6), at The Mount Sinai Hospital, was honored as Fellow of the Month (March) by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She was recognized for her service to patients and families: “…Dr. Rudshteyn did not simply provide excellent oncologic care—she assumed responsibility for the total experience of a critically ill patient and his family…”

The rectal cancer programs at The Mount Sinai Hospital and Mount Sinai Queens have earned a three-year accreditation from the National Accreditation Program for Rectal Cancer (NAPRC), recognizing excellence in clinical care, program structure, quality improvement, and date-driven performance. Established by the American College of Surgeons, the NAPRC sets rigorous, evidence-based standards designed to improve outcomes and ensure that patients with rectal cancer receive coordinated, high-quality, multidisciplinary care.

Patricia Sylla, MD, System Chief of the Division of Colon and Rectal Surgery, and Peter Kozuch, MD, Site Director for the Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Mount Sinai West, are NAPRC Co-Directors.

Read More

The Community Outreach and Engagement Program is pleased to shine a light on the extraordinarily dedicated staff who truly make a difference through education and screening programs in the communities Mount Sinai serves.

Errol Webster, Program Manager for the Mount Sinai Robert F. Prostate Cancer Screening Unit, sums up what community and his work mean to him:

“To me, community means a sense of togetherness… Each one helping one in any way you possibly can no matter how small the gesture… Knowing that each person that we screen could potentially be a life saved makes this journey rewarding…”

Read the full Q&A with Mr. Webster 

• Read the 2026 Specialty Report

• See recent press releases at https://icahn.mssm.edu/research/tisch under Discover the Latest.

  TCC Connections  is a monthly publication of the Mount Sinai Tisch Cancer Center

Ramon Parsons, MD, PhD, Director

Janet Aronson , Editor

Past issues of  TCC Connections  are available on the Mount Sinai Tisch Cancer Center website