Prime Minister witnesses signing of memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Public Health and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center to explore establishing a world-class Cancer Center in Qatar. - Minister of Public Health: Qatar is keen to attract the best specialized international centers to advance cancer patient care and support scientific research and innovation - Establishes a framework for a strategic partnership spanning cancer care, research, artificial intelligence, and innovation - The proposed partnership will bring more than 140 years of clinical excellence, scientific discovery, and innovation to patients in Qatar and the wider region. New York, NY, 23 September 2026 - 4 PM ET - His Excellency Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, today announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Public Health and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) - one of the world's leading cancer centers to explore the possibility of developing an integrated cancer center in the State of Qatar, to be operated according to MSK's clinical standards and protocols, positioning it as a regional referral center and destination for patient care. Dr. Selwyn M. Vickers, MSK President and CEO, Scott M. Stuart, Chair of MSK's Board of Trustees, and several other Trustees, were also present at the signing. The memorandum of understanding was signed by His Excellency Mr. Mansoor bin Ebrahim Al Mahmoud, Minister of Public Health, and Dr. Vickers. It establishes a framework to explore the first strategic partnership of its kind in the fields of cancer care, research, artificial intelligence, and innovation. Cancer is a growing public health challenge across the Middle East, with incidence projected to more than double by 2050.[[1]] The memorandum of understanding lays the foundation for the potential development of a comprehensive cancer center in the State of Qatar, operated under MSK's clinical standards and protocols, that would serve as a referral and destination hub for patients across East Africa, Asia, India, and Pakistan, who today have limited access to highly specialized cancer treatment. The proposed partnership also includes a significant investment by the State of Qatar in advancing research, artificial intelligence, and other areas where MSK is known as a world leader. His Excellency Mr. Mansoor bin Ebrahim Al Mahmoud, Minister of Public Health, said: "The signing of this memorandum of understanding allows both sides to explore establishing a distinguished partnership between the Ministry of Public Health and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, with the aim of advancing cancer patient care in Qatar and the region, and supporting the development and expansion of scientific research and innovation, in line with the priorities of the National Health Strategy and Qatar National Vision 2030." His Excellency affirmed the State of Qatar's keenness to attract the best specialized international centers to support the country's ongoing efforts to advance cancer patient care, noting the significant progress achieved in treatment, research, and disease prevention, and that the memorandum of understanding supports this progress in delivering the best possible standard of care to patients. Dr. Selwyn M. Vickers, President and Chief Executive Officer of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, said: "Cancer remains one of the most significant public health challenges of our time, and the need for specialized care in this field continues to grow. As the world's leading cancer center, we have both the expertise and the responsibility to help. This proposed partnership will bring more than 140 years of clinical excellence, scientific discovery, and innovation to patients in Qatar and the wider region - delivering the same standard of cancer care our center is known for, in fulfillment of our mission to end cancer for life." For his part, Mr. Scott M. Stuart, Chair of the Board of Trustees of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, said: "Our Board of Trustees is continuously evaluating global opportunities to advance our mission. This proposed partnership has risen to the level of an institutional priority, given the significant regional need it addresses and its alignment with our center's unique capabilities and expertise. We welcome the State of Qatar's strategic partnership and investment, which will help advance our center's broader mission in research, clinical care, and education, and extend our exceptional expertise and cancer care to patients around the world." The memorandum of understanding also establishes a framework for potential collaboration in precision medicine, cancer research, and innovation - including genomics, cell therapies, cancer vaccines, antibody-based platforms, and clinical trials - in addition to deploying advanced cloud computing and artificial intelligence capabilities to support clinical care, scientific research, diagnostics, drug discovery, and innovation in oncology. Together, these efforts will help translate the latest scientific and clinical developments at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center into better treatment options and outcomes for patients receiving care at the hospital in Doha. This proposed strategic partnership contributes to strengthening the State of Qatar's leading position in cancer patient care, research, and innovation at both the regional and international levels. About the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH), State of Qatar The Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) is the government authority responsible for setting national health policy and strategy in the State of Qatar. MOPH oversees the country's healthcare system, including primary, secondary, and tertiary care, and works in partnership with Hamad Medical Corporation, the Primary Health Care Corporation, and the private sector to deliver high-quality, accessible healthcare services. The Ministry's mandate includes public health protection, disease prevention, health emergency preparedness, licensing and regulation of healthcare professionals and facilities, food safety, and health financing, guided by the National Health Strategy and aligned with Qatar National Vision 2030. About Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) The people of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) are united by a singular mission: ending cancer for life. Our specialized care teams provide personalized, compassionate expert care to patients of all ages. Informed by basic research done at our Sloan Kettering Institute, scientists across MSK collaborate to conduct innovative translational and clinical research that is driving a revolution in our understanding of cancer as a disease and improving the ability to prevent, diagnose, and treat it. MSK is dedicated to training the next generation of scientists and clinicians, who go on to pursue our mission at MSK and around the globe. One of the world's most respected comprehensive centers devoted exclusively to cancer, we have been recognized as one of the top two cancer hospitals in the country by U.S. News & World Report for more than 30 years and ranked as the best hospital in the world for oncology according to Newsweek's World's Best Specialized Hospitals 2027 list. www.mskcc.org. Ministry of Public Health - State of Qatar: [email protected] Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center: [email protected] [1] Znaor, A., Fouad, H., Zahwe, M., Eser, S., Fadhil, I., Soerjomataram, I., Hammerich, A., & Bray, F. (2025). Cancer surveillance in the Eastern Mediterranean region: a 10-year International Agency for Research on Cancer-WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean collaboration. The Lancet Oncology, 26(3), e131-e139. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1470-2045(24)00624-7 Media contact. Type of article. Section.

ROS1-Targeting Lung Cancer drug yields 90% response rate. - Early efficacy among the highest seen in lung cancer, expert says by Mike Bassett, Staff Writer, MedPage Today Most patients with advanced or metastatic ROS1-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who had not previously received a tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) had an objective response with zidesamtinib (Jideytro), according to updated data from a phase I/II trial. With a median follow-up of 15.2 months, the objective response rate was 94%, with complete responses seen in 15%, reported Alexander Drilon, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, at the World Conference on Lung Cancer in Seoul, South Korea. The median duration of response was not reached, with >=6-, >=9-, and >=12-month rates of 96%, 94%, and 86%, respectively. Median progression-free survival was also not reached, with >=6-, >=9-, and >=12-month rates of 95%, 95%, and 90%. Among 10 central nervous system (CNS) response-evaluable patients: * All 10 had an intracranial response * Seven of the 10 had a complete intracranial response * Intracranial response at >=6, >=9, and >=12 months was 100%, 100%, and 78%, respectively In addition, there were no CNS progression events among patients who entered the study without brain metastases. The data "support continued investigation of zidesamtinib as frontline therapy for TKI-naive patients," Drilon said. Earlier results from ARROS-1 demonstrated the efficacy of zidesamtinib in patients with previously treated locally advanced or metastatic ROS1-positive NSCLC, leading to FDA approval for that indication. According to drugmaker GSK, these new findings will support a planned supplemental new drug application to the FDA seeking to expand the agent into the first-line setting. "We've seen the trifecta for zidesamtinib," said invited discussant Malinda Itchins, MBBS, PhD, of the Royal North Shore Hospital and Chris O'Brien Lifehouse in Sydney. "We've seen early strong efficacy - actually amongst the highest we've seen in lung cancer, with an objective response of 94%... and only 10% progressing at 12 months," she said. "We see a pleasing tolerability profile... and we see CNS activity, and we know how important this is to avoid whole-brain radiation and to preserve people's quality of life and function." Itchins also noted that the efficacy data with zidesamtinib "compares very favorably" to taletrectinib (Ibtrozi) and repotrectinib (Augtyro) - drugs currently being used in the clinic for patients with ROS1-positive NSCLC who are TKI naive. In explaining the rationale behind the development of zidesamtinib, Drilon observed that the approved frontline TKIs for locally advanced or metastatic ROS1-positive NSCLC have important limitations, "such as suboptimal CNS activity and dose-limiting side effects." "Zidesamtinib was designed with the goals of maximizing anti-ROS1 resistance mutation activity and CNS coverage, while attempting to minimize TRK inhibition and decrease CNS side effects compared to other agents," he said. The global, single-arm, first-in-human ARROS-1 trial enrolled 629 patients and included a phase II cohort of patients with locally advanced or metastatic ROS1-positive NSCLC who were naive to TKI therapy. Up to one prior line of chemotherapy and/or immunotherapy was permitted and patients received zidesamtinib 100 mg once daily. The efficacy population had a median age of 59 years, 59% were women, 59% were never smokers, 17% had baseline metastases, 93% had stage IV disease at study entry, and 27% had received platinum-based chemotherapy and/or immunotherapy. Patients were distributed across North America (40%), Europe (29%), and Asia Pacific (31%). Among 532 patients in the safety population, the most common treatment-related adverse events were peripheral edema (34%), increased weight (18%), increased blood creatine phosphokinase (18%), dysgeusia (17%), and increased aspartate aminotransferase (15%). Treatment-related adverse events led to dose reductions in 11% of patients and treatment discontinuation in 1%.

Health experts on the major breakthroughs in fighting cancer. Leading experts in cancer research reflected on the significant strides made in tackling the disease, along with the work that remains to be done toward finding a cure, at the TIME100 Health Leadership Forum in New York on Thursday. Resources have been the key toward making important discoveries, said Shane Jacobson, the CEO of both the American Cancer Society, which sponsored the event, and the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network. Philanthropic investments and federal government funding, he continued, have allowed scientists and oncologists to make the progress Our Better Health see today in cancer prevention and treatment. Cancer is "omnipresent" Jacobson said. In the U.S., one in three men and women will receive a cancer diagnosis sometime during their lives, according to the American Cancer Society. "It has been, historically, such a devastating disease," he said. "We knew so little about it that it has garnered resources - and it takes resources to tackle most of the problems we face in healthcare." Developments in tackling cancer - such as the encouraging results of an mRNA cancer vaccine that were announced by Moderna and Merck last month - stem from "decades of progress, decades of new knowledge, decades of even failure, and learning from that failure to bring forth these kinds of results," Jacobson said. "It used to be maybe on an annual basis we would celebrate something significant, but the innovation is moving so rapidly that these celebrations, these big moments, are now almost on a monthly basis, and we should expect that speed to continue," he said. But, he added, just as important as these advances is ensuring that everyone is able to access the drugs and therapies they need - "otherwise," he said, "the innovation falls short of its potential." Vaccines and immunotherapy have emerged as powerful tools to fight cancer, said Dr. Andrea Cercek, a gastrointestinal medical oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center who was a 2025 TIME100 Health honoree. "The hope... between vaccines and immunotherapy as well is that they harness the immune system, which is really the most powerful drug we have," she said. "It can fight anything as long as it's equipped to do so and it recognizes something is foreign, and so it's really that combination that needs to happen for therapy to work." Cercek herself has been pioneering immunotherapy drugs to treat cancer. In 2024, she and her colleagues released the findings of their study of patients who had a specific type of rectal cancer, revealing that, after six months of being treated with an immunotherapy drug, none of the patients showed detectable tumors, meaning that none of them needed chemotherapy, radiation, or surgery afterwards. Cercek has expanded her research, and said during the panel that "we're very close" to seeing this kind of treatment being used successfully for other types of cancer so that patients don't have to undergo more invasive therapies. TIME senior health correspondent Alice Park, who moderated the panel, closed the discussion with a big question: Will Our Better Health cure cancer? And if so, what will that cure look like? "Absolutely we will," Cercek replied. "Probably it will be with early detection and prevention - I think that is going to be, ultimately, what cures cancer." "Yes," Jacobson said. "And I think it's 'cures,' plural. It's not one cure, and we're seeing that now." The TIME100 Health Leadership Forum was presented by the American Cancer Society, Kite - a Gilead Sciences company, Insulet, Musely, and NMDP. by Chantelle Lee Reporter Sep 10, 2026 Loading...