The reason why triple-negative breast cancer is such a tough disease to treat is largely given away in its name. Such tumors can’t be defined by traditional biomarkers — neither estrogen receptors, progesterone receptors, nor excess HER2 protein — forcing drug hunters down uncharted new pathways.

Researchers at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center explored one of them, and turned up with some new suggestions.

As one of the most prestigious cancer institutes in the US, Dana-Farber has enjoyed considerable support for its entrepreneurial pursuits, spinning out about 30 companies in the past 12 years.

“Now where we’ve always struggled — where every cancer center struggled — is support of basic science,” Barrett Rollins, chief scientific officer emeritus, told Endpoints News.

And then two of its trustees had an idea. What if they tied philanthropy to investment in Dana-Farber startups, requiring a donation to basic science as a condition for accessing its brightest biotech venture ideas?

As the second leading cause of mortality globally, the lucrative field of cancer treatment has elicited a frenzy of drug development and billions in venture funding. But a new study suggests that cancer-killing compounds may be lurking in the existing arsenal of non-oncology medicines.

By analyzing thousands of FDA-approved drugs and compounds that have been proven safe in clinical trials, scientists at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute found nearly 50 compounds — including drugs for diabetes, inflammation, alcoholism and even a treatment for arthritis in dogs — with previously undetected anti-cancer activity.

A couple years back, some cardiovascular specialists at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital stumbled across a surprising result.

Novartis had tasked them with carrying out the long-range Phase III trial for canakinumab, an experimental anti-inflammatory drug the company was trying to market for cardiovascular disease. The main results were mixed — modest reductions in fatal cardiovascular events, clear side effects — but an additional, exploratory analysis, turned heads over in oncology: Across 10,061 patients, those who had received canakinumab were less likely to develop lung cancer; 33% less likely for the highest dosage.

Howard Hughes Medical Institute — the noted nonprofit known for doling out generous investigator awards to researchers all around the US — is facing lawsuits by two Asian American biologists who allege they were unfairly denied renewal of grants because of their sex, age, national origin or disability.

Meredith Wadman of Science first reported the lawsuits, which according to legal experts and several other Asian American women who were discontinued as HHMI investigators reflect a pattern of prejudice at the organization. They also come amid a general increase in awareness about the obstacles women in life sciences face in their careers. Earlier this year, the Salk Institute in San Diego came under fire after in which female faculty members claim an “old boys’ club” of seniors restricted their access to funds, resources and networks.