Throughout campus and across the river in Boston and Brookline, MIT hosts a vibrant network of 43 fraternities and sororities, with more than 35 percent of undergraduate students belonging to one of these value-based communities. Each fraternity and sorority is a unique community that not only fosters leadership and builds lifelong friendships, but also takes its role in giving back seriously. Keeping up a 143-year-long tradition of philanthropy, several fraternities and sororities raised funds for a variety of local charities this fall, including the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, Boston Area Rape Crisis Center, and Dignity Matters of Boston. With donations still coming in, Liz Jason, associate dean of Fraternities, Sororities and Independent Living Groups (FSILG) at MIT, says, 'Philanthropy is a defining tradition within our FSILG community; it's where values become action. When chapters give back, they strengthen their bonds, uplift others, and demonstrate what it truly means to be part of MIT: using talent, passion, and collective effort to make a real difference.'...

Glioblastoma is the most common form of brain cancer in adults, and its consequences are usually quick and fatal. After receiving standard-of-care treatment (surgery followed by radiation and chemotherapy), fewer than half of patients will survive longer than 15 months. Only 5 percent of patients survive longer than five years. Researchers have explored immune checkpoint inhibitors as an avenue for boosting glioblastoma survival rates. This type of immunotherapy, which has proven effective against a range of tumor types, turns off a molecular switch that prevents T cells from attacking cancer cells. The patient's own immune system is then able to clear the tumor. However, glioblastoma is unusually resistant to attack by T cells, rendering immune checkpoint inhibitors ineffective. The culprit is a different immune cell, macrophages, which have been recruited to tumors, where they support tumor growth while suppressing the ability of T cells to infiltrate and attack tumors. A team of researchers led by Forest White at the MIT Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research used sophisticated immune profiling tools to map out how macrophages evolve from a first-line defense against cancer and other pathogens into a shield that protects the glioblastoma tumor ' as well as how the tumor cells themselves are transformed by the encounter....

Antibody treatments for cancer and other diseases are typically delivered intravenously, because of the large volumes that are needed per dose. This means the patient has to go to a hospital for every treatment, where they may spend hours receiving the infusion. MIT engineers have now taken a major step toward reformulating antibodies so that they can be injected using a standard syringe. The researchers found a way to create solid particles of highly concentrated antibodies, suspended in a solution. These particles carry enough antibodies that only about 2 milliliters of solution would be needed per dose. This advance could make it much easier for patients to receive antibody treatments, and could make treatment more accessible for patients who have difficulty coming into a hospital, including older people. 'As the global population ages, making the treatment process more convenient and accessible for those populations is something that needs to be addressed,' says Talia Zheng, an MIT graduate student who is the lead author of the new study....

Aggressive T-cell lymphoma is a rare and devastating form of blood cancer with a very low five-year survival rate. Patients often relapse after receiving initial therapy, making it especially challenging for clinicians to keep this destructive disease in check. In a new study, researchers from MIT, in collaboration with researchers involved in the PETAL consortium at Massachusetts General Hospital, identified a practical and powerful prognostic marker that could help clinicians identify high-risk patients early, and potentially tailor treatment strategies to improve survival. The team found that, when patients relapse within 12 months of initial therapy, their chances of survival decline dramatically. For these patients, targeted therapies might improve their chances for survival, compared to traditional chemotherapy, the researchers say. According to their analysis, which used data collected from thousands of patients all over the world, the finding holds true across patient subgroups, regardless of the patient's initial therapy or their score in a commonly used prognostic index....