Wafik S. El-Deiry Highlights p53 Research and ONC201 Approval at Cancer Events
Wafik S. El-Deiry highlighted p53 research and the August 2025 approval of dordaviprone/modeyso, the first treatment for diffuse gliomas with H3K27M mutations. Separate posts also described glioblastoma precision oncology discussions and a lifetime achievement award in Mumbai.
Wafik S. El-Deiry delivered a keynote address at the Israel Cancer Association USA event at the Mar-a-Lago Club in West Palm Beach, Florida on Saturday, April 18, 2026, and highlighted his research on p53 and the discovery of ONC201/TIC10. He also said ONC201 was approved in August 2025 as dordaviprone/modeyso, the first ever treatment for diffuse gliomas with H3K27M mutations.
El-Deiry spoke about some highlights of his research on p53, discovery of WAF1 in the early 1990’s while at Johns Hopkins, work that connected the p53 tumor suppressor to the innate immune system, and work 19 years ago in 2007 that led to discovery of ONC201/TIC10 in his lab at University of Pennsylvania. ONC201 was tested in clinical trials and was approved in August of 2025 as dordaviprone/modeyso, the first ever treatment for diffuse gliomas, aggressive brain tumors, with H3K27M mutations. He continues to work in this area including preclinical research of combinations across tumor types including brain tumors.
At the event, El-Deiry shared information about the field of Precision Oncology with active WIN Consortium Molecular Tumor Board, pursuit of data around the world on cancer risk and treatment efficacy, AI, digital pathology and functional precision medicine. He extended an invitation for collaboration between the WIN Consortium in cancer personalized medicine and the Israel Cancer Association.
His 12 minute keynote presentation was followed by greater than 15 minutes of audience questions not included in the video. There were general questions about rising cancer rates, cancer in younger individuals, particular cancers whose rates and mortality continue to be very challenging in terms of progress. There were questions about pancreatic cancer, colon cancer, melanoma, questions about COVID vaccines and cancer, questions about nutrition, physical activity, lifestyle, discussion of limitations of cancer immunotherapy, questions about precision oncology, and questions about the best cancer centers to get opinions from around the US.
In a separate post about the Illuminate 3.0 Oncology Town Hall in Mumbai, El-Deiry said a presentation on glioblastoma in precision oncology discussed “Precision in Neuro Oncology: Promise vs Practical Limits.” He said the speaker spoke about ONC201 discovered in his lab 19 years ago and approved by the US FDA in August 2025 for recurrent H3K27M-mutated gliomas, and that she is a site PI for the Jazz Pharmaceuticals phase III ACTION trial in Hong Kong.
El-Deiry said he invited the speaker to participate in the WIN Consortium international Molecular Tumor Board, where there are presentations of complex and challenging cases of glioblastoma including with or without H3K27M mutation. In another post, he said he was recognized by a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Illuminate 3.0 Oncology Town Hall in Mumbai, India.