From: munews.missouri.edu Researchers at the University of Missouri have unraveled how a cancer-critical enzyme is positioned on cell surfaces. The enzyme enables tumor cells to tunnel through collagen, creating a convenient path for tumors to spread cancer throughout the body. This breakthrough is an important step toward the development of pharmaceuticals that can prevent and treat the spreading of cancers …
How does chemo brain work? One cancer drug might interfere with brain signaling
By: Jennifer Couzin-Frankel From: sciencemag.org For the millions of people treated for cancer, “chemo brain” can be an unnerving and disabling side effect. It causes memory lapses, trouble concentrating, and an all-around mental fog, which appear linked to the treatment and not the disease. Although the cognitive effects often fade after chemotherapy ends, for some people the fog persists for …
Rainforest vine compound kills resilient cancer cells
By: Ana Sandoiu From: medicalnewstoday.com New research now published in the Journal of Natural Products shows that a vine compound is highly effective in the fight against treatment-resistant pancreatic cancer cells. Pancreatic cancer is notoriously difficult to treat, and the condition has a poor outlook. According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), the 5-year survival rate for people with early-stage …
Birmingham-Based Southern Research Introduces Transgenic Mouse Model in Support of Immuno-Oncology Therapeutic Development
Southern Research – the Birmingham-based research organization specializing in drug discovery, drug development, engineering, energy and the environment– has announced the Transgenic Mouse Human PD-1/L1 Model, its newest service offering in support of immuno-oncology (IO) therapeutic development. This model could help speed the development of new cancer therapies by targeting a key checkpoint inhibitor of medicines already on the market that activate …
Immunotherapy Pioneers at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Unveil Updated Efficacy Data of Single Infusion of Tisagenlecleucel, plus …
… First-of-Its-Kind Checkpoint Inhibitor Research to Boost Response of CAR T-cell Gene Immunotherapy From: prnewswire.com Physician-scientists from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) presented updated efficacy and safety data on Kymriah(R)* (tisagenlecleucel, formerly CTL019) –the first-ever U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved personalized CAR T-cell gene immunotherapy for aggressive blood cancers at the 60th American Society of Hematology (ASH) annual meeting, …
Maintaining the unlimited potential of stem cells
Source: Salk Institute for Biological Studies Salk scientists discover new protein complex that keeps embryonic stem cells at stage of fullest potential, a key to regenerative medicine Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are the very definition of being full of potential, given that they can become any type of cell in the body. Once they start down any particular path toward …
Can better cancer care lower company’s health costs?
From: foxbusiness.com When companies try to tackle rising healthcare costs, shifting more of the burden to employees is increasingly the strategy of choice. But Activision Blizzard, an entertainment company that employs more than 6,000 people in the United States, has been spending less on healthcare than projected for the last few years, in large part because it is offering better …
Larotrectinib: Targeting DNA in cancer therapy
Source: Children’s Hospital Los Angeles While other toddlers her age were fighting naptime, two-year-old Michelle was battling an aggressive, life-threatening cancer. Doctors at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles saved her life in an epic battle, wielding what is being hailed as a “magic bullet” in the fight against certain cancers. CHLA’s Leo Mascarenhas, MD, MS, saw promise in larotrectinib when he …
NCRI 2018: Using liquid biopsies to understand cancer treatment
By: Francis Newman From: icr.ac.uk Testing for cancer cells and DNA in the bloodstream is showing huge promise as a way of monitoring cancers and how they are responding to treatment. At the 2018 NCRI conference in Glasgow, ICR researchers spoke about how these so-called liquid biopsies can guide clinical decisions for cancer patients. A liquid biopsy is a new …
The future of fighting cancer: Zapping tumors in less than a second
Source: DOE/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory From: sciencedaily.com New accelerator-based technology being developed by the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University aims to reduce the side effects of cancer radiation therapy by shrinking its duration from minutes to under a second. Built into future compact medical devices, technology developed for high-energy physics could also help make radiation …