Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States, taking half a million lives each year. CAR T technology has successfully harnessed the human immune system to produce awe-inspiring cancer remission rates. CRISPR-mediated genome engineering has enabled new developments in CAR T cells to bypass logistical, technical, and immunological roadblocks, making the
A novel form of macrophage-based immunotherapy is effective at treating a broad spectrum of cancers, including those at advanced stages, according to a groundbreaking study led by Georgia State immunology professor Yuan Liu. Liu’s treatment works by leveraging macrophages, specialized white blood cells involved in the detection and elimination of cancer cells and other pathogens. Macrophages also activate
Their study outlines several treatments being investigated for the treatment of patients with myelofibrosis and other myeloproliferative neoplasms, generally after they have become resistant or intolerant to Janus kinase inhibition. A recent study outlines several treatments being investigated for the treatment of patients with myelofibrosis (MF) and other myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs), generally after they have become resistant or
Immunotherapy has unleashed a revolution in care for some cancer patients. But most immunotherapies help only a small subset of patients, meaning doctors often have to resort to a trial-and-error process to determine who might actually benefit from the novel treatments. Now, scientists have developed a new metric they believe can help predict whether patients will respond
The immune checkpoint inhibitor nivolumab may be a safe and effective treatment for people with advanced gastric or esophagogastric junction cancer who failed standard chemotherapy regimens, results from a Phase 3 clinical trial suggest. A three-year survival analysis of the trial, called ATTRACTION-2 (NCT02267343), showed that the treatment significantly extended patients’ lives and the time they
When the machinery that guides the transition of stem cells to somatic cells doesn’t shut down properly, cells can become cancerous. Identifying the mechanisms that impede those processes would offer scientists a target for cancer research. Purdue University scientists, led by Humaira Gowher, an associate professor in the Department of Biochemistry, have discovered the epigenetic process that
In the first clinical study of its kind in the US, researchers used CRISPR to modify CAR T cells to make them more potent against cancer, but the clinical benefits are unknown. mmune cells altered by CRISPR are safe to use in cancer patients, according to results of a clinical trial reported February 6 in Science.
Scientists from the German Cancer Research Center systematically investigated the DNA of more than 2,600 tumour samples from patients with 38 different types of cancer to discover traces of viruses – which they found in 13 percent of the samples studied. The researchers also identified mechanisms that the pathogens use to trigger carcinogenic mutations in
A Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) research team has found that the overgrowth of connective called fibrosis may block the effectiveness of immunotherapies against metastatic breast cancer. Their report published in PNAS also finds that plerixafor, a drug approved to mobilize blood system stem cells in the treatment of lymphoma and multiple myeloma patients, can reduce fibrosis in
CAR T-cell therapy is a highly promising treatment strategy for tumors, but is associated with life-threatening side effects. Researchers at EPFL, UNIL and CHUV have developed a new way to “switch off” the therapy when a cancer patient’s life is in danger, paving the way for safer immunotherapy approaches to target solid tumors. Immunotherapy, unlike
