Baylor Cancer Researchers at Forefront of New Discoveries

Contact: Lori Fogleman, 254-709-5959
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May is National Cancer Research Month, which highlights the importance of lifesaving research to the millions of people around the world affected by cancer. Thanks to spectacular advances made by cancer researchers, approximately 18.6 million people in the United States and millions more worldwide are living with, through and beyond their disease.

Over the past year, Baylor University Media and Public Relations has reported on Baylor research at the forefront of discovering novel approaches to effective cancer therapies. University researchers are using tumor starvation techniques, natural products, phages, modified bacteria, precision nutrition and more in their trailblazing work on some of the most aggressive cancers, including kidney, pancreatic, oral, colorectal and breast cancers.

Next-generation approach to the treatment of renal cell carcinoma

Baylor cancer researcher Kevin G. Pinney, Ph.D., professor of chemistry and biochemistry, is using a $750,000 grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) to study a next-generation approach to effective therapy in the treatment of kidney cancer, specifically renal cell carcinoma (RCC), the most common form of kidney cancer in adults.

Pinney is evaluating promising (first-in-class) small-molecule drug conjugates (SMDCs) that effectively target a prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) prevalent in the blood vessels feeding RCC tumors. These SMDCs will deliver unique therapeutic agents – or payloads – to provide therapeutic efficacy against RCC tumors by knocking out the blood flow, thus starving the tumors of necessary oxygen and nutrients. It is anticipated that the result will be tumor death and significantly improved outcomes for RCC patients.

Accelerating effective therapies for pancreatic cancer

Baylor cancer therapeutics researcher Daniel Romo, Ph.D., The Schotts Professor of Chemistry and co-director of the Baylor Synthesis and Drug Lead Discovery Lab, is one of 24 innovators named to the fifth cohort of Texas Medical Center Innovation’s 2025 Accelerator for Cancer Therapeutics, funded by CPRIT. Romo is a nationally recognized researcher on natural products and their derivatives for advances in basic cell biology and drug lead development.

His work with ACT accelerates the urgent need for novel, effective therapies for localized and metastatic pancreatic cancer, specifically pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), the most common type of pancreatic cancer. Using a simplified derivative of a marine sponge-isolated natural product called pateamine A, Romo said a new line of effective therapy can shift the paradigm for this disease.

Natural product as a potent anticancer agent in breast cancer therapies

Outgrowth of disseminated metastases is the major cause of mortality in cancer patients. Baylor cancer researcher Joseph Taube, Ph.D., associate professor of biology who leads The Taube Lab at Baylor, investigates the molecular pathways and cellular properties which enable primary tumor cells to metastasize.

In 2026, Taube published several pathbreaking studies to understand the biology of Ophiobolin A (OpA), a natural product and potent anticancer agent in breast cancer therapies. In a recent study published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences, researchers noted that breast cancer therapies often rely on inducing apoptosis, but many breast cancers – especially triple-negative breast cancers – become resistant to apoptosis-inducing therapies. The Taube-led study represents a major frontier in oncology research, exploring whether OpA can instead trigger inflammatory programmed cell death pathways such as pyroptosis or PANoptosis. The significance is not merely killing cancer cells – but potentially activating cell death pathways that could synergize with immunotherapy.

AI-driven precision nutrition could transform cancer treatment

Baylor researchers Leigh Greathouse, Ph.D., associate professor of nutrition sciences, and Anakan Choudhury, Ph.D., post-doctoral research fellow, are exploring the game‑changing potential of AI to personalize nutrition aimed at cancer prevention and therapy, reported in the journal Cell Host & Microbe.

A cancer biologist, registered dietitian and a cancer survivor herself, Greathouse’s research focuses on understanding how diet and the microbiome converge to influence cancer development, treatment response and survivorship. Choudhury’s research involves exploring key bacterial markers in the gut microbiomes of colon cancer patients and identifying key dietary indicators for a healthy gut microbiome to improve their response to chemotherapy/ immunotherapy. 

New approach to colorectal cancer treatment uses common food-borne bacteria

Colorectal cancers accounted for the second-most deaths caused by cancer in 2025, and Baylor researchers led by Michael S. VanNieuwenhze, Ph.D., FRSC, University Distinguished Professor and chair of the Department of Biology, are studying a promising approach to fight colorectal cancer that uses modified bacteria as a courier to deliver potent cancer-killing proteins into tumor cells, as published in the journal Cell Chemical Biology. 

Building on growth in the use of bacteria as a tool in fighting cancer, the researchers attached saporin, a known cancer-killing toxin, to the surface Listeria monocytogenes, which delivers the toxin to tumor cells. Listeria, commonly recognized as a food-borne bacteria, can be modified for express therapeutic purposes while maintaining its ability to penetrate human cells – making it a particularly promising agent in the fight against colorectal cancer.

Using precision phages to shape the human microbiome and promote health

Baylor is partnering on a five-year, up to $28 million initiative called Microbe/phage Investigation for Generalized Health TherapY (or MIGHTY) funded by the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H). Their project aims to harness the natural predators of bacteria – known as phages – as precision tools to shape the human microbiome and promote health. Aaron Wright, Ph.D., The Schofield Endowed Chair in Biomedical Science, will lead Baylor’s contributions to the larger team, supplying expertise in microbes and chemical biology to the broader effort.

As an initial application, the team will focus on the oral microbiome where bacterial pathogens drive tooth decay and gum disease, while also contributing to chronic illnesses, including cardiovascular disease, Type II diabetes, and oral and colorectal cancers. The researchers aim to develop an easy-to-use, low-cost phage product – such as a chewable gummy – that can improve oral health for everyone.

Exercise intervention leads to healthier hearts in young cancer patients

Matters of the heart, both physical and emotional, have been examined and questioned for thousands of years, but Baylor researcher Savannah Rauschendorfer, Ph.D., an exercise oncologist and assistant professor of exercise physiology, focuses her interest from a unique vantage point: the toxic side effects of chemotherapy on the hearts of adolescent and young adult cancer patients.

Using biomarkers, Rauschendorfer is hoping to discover whether it’s possible to uniquely detect individuals who are at risk of cardiotoxicity development early during treatment. Through a study at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, she is looking to find the best ways exercise can be implemented into the routines of current cancer patients or those who have been patients as adolescents and young adults.

Cellular and molecular mechanisms that drive pancreatic and breast cancer progression

Baylor’s Jonathan Kelber, Ph.D., an associate professor of biology who researches the most aggressive forms of breast and pancreatic cancers, is serving with the prestigious Fulbright Specialist Program, a U.S. Department of State initiative that has him in Slovakia to advance interest in science and scientific research opportunities in the Central European nation.

Kelber’s cancer research program – developed over a decade – and his National Institutes of Health-funded Developmental Oncogene Laboratory at Baylor integrates cell biology, genetics and molecular biology to understand how cancer cells change their behavior during tumor progression and tissue regeneration, supported by clinical collaborations at the University of Pennsylvania, UT Southwestern and Baylor College of Medicine.

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked Research 1 institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for 20,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions. Learn more about Baylor University at www.baylor.edu.