University of Colorado Anschutz Cancer Center

10/29/2026

When Deanna LaCamera was diagnosed with an aggressive lung cancer in December 2018, she decided that she would leave money behind to help cancer-focused medical students, residents, and fellows in the University of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine attend medical conferences to further their education and professional development.

Since its establishment in 2019, the Deanna E. LaCamera Oncology Fellows Support and Educational Enrichment Fund in the CU Anschutz Cancer Center has supported 10 students every year who present at oncology conferences. Learn more ⬇️

The Deanna LaCamera Fund helps cancer-focused trainees advance their professional careers by providing funds for them to attend conferences.

10/26/2026

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CU Anschutz Cancer Center Community Advisory Council (CAC) member and breast cancer survivor Selena Dunham shares her personal experience with the disease and more below.

Q: As a breast cancer survivor what do you want other women to know this breast cancer awareness month?

A: “Every woman should know the importance of self-exams and mammograms. Understanding your genetic makeup, family history, and environment can help you assess your risk and take steps to protect your health. Men also need to be screened.”

Q: What inspired you to serve on the community advisory committee?

A: “When I was diagnosed with breast cancer 11 years ago, I felt overwhelmed and uninformed. I realized how fortunate I was to have good insurance, excellent doctors, and a supportive family. Learning to play an active role in my care and ask the right questions aided my recovery. By serving on the community advisory committee and sharing my story, I hope to help many other people.”

Q: Why is having that patient voice at the table so important?

A: “Every person and every patient is different. That is why it is important for patients and community members to be at the table when decisions are made, research and prevention grants are awarded, and doctors determine which questions to ask. Our answers, experiences, and input matter. People of all backgrounds need to participate in research so researchers can understand how to treat everyone effectively.”

10/23/2026

Earlier this month, CU Anschutz Cancer Center's Traci Lyons, PhD, spoke at the American Cancer Society Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Colorado event, sharing her research into breast cancer treatments with the community. The cancer center is proud to jointly sponsor this impactful event with UCHealth.

10/21/2026

"The lung is doing what it is designed to do and that is to clear debris and repair damage,” said CU Anschutz Cancer Center member Jessica L. Christenson, PhD, who is the first author of this study. “But in this case, cancer cells are taking advantage of that repair response.”

Learn more about this breast cancer research led by the CU Anschutz Cancer Center ⬇️

Breast Cancer Hijacks the Lung Repair System to Fuel Tumor Growth, Study Finds

10/19/2026

“Cardiovascular disease is still the number one killer in the United States, so we know that there's a real importance to managing the cardiovascular health of every patient throughout their entire lifetime,” says Lavanya Kondapalli, MD, director of the CU Anschutz Cancer Center's University of Colorado Cardio-Oncology Program.

This program is committed to providing cardiovascular care to patients with cancer and survivors of childhood and adult cancer, learn more ⬇️

The program helps people with heart conditions undergoing treatment, as well as those who develop heart-related side effects from cancer therapies.

10/16/2026

Starting in 2006, Colorado Cancer Screening Program (CCSP) has expanded its work over the last two decades. CCSP focuses on colorectal cancer, lung cancer, and hereditary cancer syndromes through population-based research, partnerships with local and national organizations, and training for healthcare teams across the state to better implement cancer prevention and control initiatives that reduce barriers and increase access to care.

Learn more about the mission and accomplishments of CCSP: https://medschool.cuanschutz.edu/colorado-cancer-center/community/colorado-cancer-screening-program

10/15/2026

It's Global Lobular Breast Cancer Awareness Day! Did you know that lobular breast cancer, or invasive lobular carcinoma of the breast (ILC), accounts for between 10-15% of all breast cancer cases?

As a way to take action and bring awareness, the CU Anschutz Cancer Center was proud to help host the 3rd Annual Lobular Breast Cancer Awareness Day in Colorado. Attendees engaged with presentations and discussions around research, screening, survivorship, and more led by advocates and researchers including cancer center's Matthew Sikora, PhD.

The CU Anschutz Cancer Center is home to a lobular breast cancer research initiative, which brings together an interdisciplinary team engaged in cutting-edge basic, translational, and clinical research for patients with lobular breast cancer. Learn more about this initiative and ILC, click the link in our first comment.

Lieutenant Governor Dianne Primavera Natera Lobular Breast Cancer Alliance LBCA The Lobcast

10/15/2026

Pope Leo XIV underwent surgery for lung cancer on Tuesday, after imaging revealed a nodule on his right lung. Leo does not have a known smoking history, but he does have cancer in his family, including his mother and brother.

"Yes, we're seeing that more and more commonly. In our practice in Colorado, our population is not typically a heavy smoking population, so we see a lot of lung cancers in patients who have never smoked," says CU Anschutz Cancer Center member Elizabeth A. David, MD, MAS, about how common it is for people without a smoking history to develop a cancer like this.

"We see a lot of lung cancers being found on imaging studies being done for other reasons," David, a professor of cardiothoracic surgery at the University of Colorado Department of Surgery.

Learn more about how lung cancer is diagnosed and treated in our new Q&A with David, click the link in our first comment.

10/14/2026

Between 2019 and 2023, 71.8% of new diagnoses of female breast cancer in the United States were among women ages 55 and older, according to the National Cancer Institute.

"The truth is that the face of breast cancer is the face of an older adult,” says CU Anschutz Cancer Center’s associate director of global oncology, Enrique Soto Pérez de Celis, MD, PhD.

Soto leads a new geriatric oncology multidisciplinary clinic at the cancer center, which has prioritized care for older people with breast cancer, learn more:

Breast cancer strikes far more often after age 50, yet the needs of older patients aren’t always met, says a CU Anschutz Cancer Center geriatric oncologist.

10/13/2026

Congratulations to CU Anschutz Cancer Center's Alessandra Brambati, PhD! 🏆

Brambati has been granted a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director’s New Innovator Award to research the molecular mechanisms of DNA repair in neurons. Learn more ⬇️

The awards fund critical biomedical research that is high-risk, high reward and aims to help answer some of health science’s biggest questions.