A new study led by a researcher at New York Institute of Technology provides insight that could change how scientists and clinicians understand genetic predisposition to breast cancer, a condition that affects one in eight U.S. women in her lifetime.
Tag: Cancer Research
New LJI research has major implications for controlling T cell activity
According to new research in the journal Immunity, T cells have a nuclear receptor doing something very odd—but very important—to help them fight pathogens and destroy cancer cells.
Detecting risk of metastatic prostate cancer in Black men
To explore prostate cancer disparities, researchers looked to another disorder, diabetes. They conducted a clinical trial and report four biomarkers linked to a higher risk of metastatic prostate cancer in men of West African heritage. They will present their results at ACS Fall 2023.
July Research Highlights
Huntsman Cancer Institute investigators find a way to reduce infection after pancreatic surgery, discover the best treatment combination that’s cost effective for prostate cancer patients, and learn lung cancer patients receiving chemotherapy have more emergency department visits. They also found a genetic mutation that makes anemia more likely after chemotherapy, and a non-invasive way to remove brain tumors.
Penn State Health Children’s Hospital, Penn State College of Medicine bring international research consortium to Hershey to strengthen their fight against childhood cancer
Penn State Health and Penn State College of Medicine are strengthening their commitment to curing childhood cancer by bringing Dr. Giselle Saulnier Sholler, an internationally known physician-scientist, and her research consortium to Hershey.
Alternative cellular ‘fuels’ boost immunity
A metabolic by-product that is more prevalent during fasting may supercharge immune cells as they fight infection and disease, reports an early stage study by Van Andel Institute scientists and collaborators.
Jinghui Zhang, PhD, elected Fellow of the International Society for Computational Biology
Former Chair of Computational Biology honored with induction into Class of 2023 Fellows.
Cancer Research Institute Awards Over $28 Million in Grants to Fuel Immunotherapy Innovations
The Cancer Research Institute awarded $28.7 million in research grants and fellowships in the 2023 fiscal year ending June 30, 2023. In total, CRI distributed 73 awards that will advance cancer immunology research at 41 institutions in 10 countries. CRI grants were awarded to support projects involving a variety of immune-based approaches as well as the development of novel technologies that may help pave the way for the next generation of immunotherapies.
Discovery could lead to more treatments to prevent cancer and infectious diseases
Researchers have cracked how a particular type of immune cell develops in the body and protects against infection and disease. And the discovery could help in the development of more preventive treatments, according to a new study.
A step toward treating chemotherapy-resistant prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is resistant to one of the most powerful chemotherapy medications — cisplatin. Now, researchers in ACS Central Science have developed the first therapy of its kind that disrupts prostate cancer cells’ metabolism and releases cisplatin into the weakened cells, causing them to die.
Bowel Research UK chooses Symplectic Grant Tracker to power life-changing research
Bowel Research UK has chosen Symplectic Grant Tracker from Digital Science’s suite of flagship products to advance its aims of funding life-changing research into bowel cancer and other bowel diseases.
Breast cancer by age: Study reveals early mutations that predict patient outcomes
A study led by researchers at Sanford Burnham Prebys has found that in young women, certain genetic mutations are associated with treatment-resistant breast cancer.
Antibody Treatment Prevents Graft Versus Host Disease, a Major Bone Marrow Transplant Complication, in Advanced Preclinical Tests
An experimental antibody treatment largely prevented a bone marrow transplant complication called graft versus host disease (GVHD) in the intestines, without causing broad immune suppression, in a preclinical study led by researchers from Penn Medicine and Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center and published today in Science Translational Medicine.
KU Cancer Center receives historic $100 million gift from Sunderland Foundation to support new cancer research and care facility
The University of Kansas Cancer Center has received a $100 million lead gift to build a new, state-of-the-art destination cancer center. This gift is both the largest gift ever given by the Sunderland Foundation and the largest ever received by the University of Kansas and The University of Kansas Health System.
UCLA researchers uncover potential biomarkers of positive response to immunotherapy
Scientists at the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have identified potential new biomarkers that could indicate how someone diagnosed with metastatic melanoma will respond to immunotherapy treatment.
Markey Cancer Center study reveals persistent cancer disparities in Appalachian Kentucky
A recent University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center study published in The Journal of Rural Health sheds light on Appalachian Kentucky’s alarming cancer burden, revealing striking disparities compared to non-Appalachian Kentucky and the rest of the country.Kentucky ranks first in the nation for cancer incidence and mortality rates, and Appalachian Kentucky bears the state’s greatest cancer burden, driven by disparities in health behaviors, such as smoking, and lower rates of cancer screening.
Treatment decisions in new era of individualized therapy for metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer guided by Dana-Farber case study
This case study by Dana-Farber gives evidence-based guidance for how to navigate decision-making for individual patients with metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer.
Fine-tuning 3D lab-grown mini tumors to help predict how patients respond to cancer therapies
Scientists from the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have developed a new method to bioprint miniature tumor organoids that are designed to mimic the function and architecture of real tumors. The improved process allows researchers to use an advanced imaging method to study and analyze individual organoids in great detail, which can help researchers identify personalized treatments for people with rare or hard-to-treat cancers.
ASCO: HER2-targeted antibody drug conjugate shows strong anti-tumor activity and durable responses across multiple tumor types
In a new study of trastuzumab deruxtecan, a HER2-targeted antibody drug conjugate, researchers observed encouraging responses and long-lasting clinical benefit in several tumor types. These data from an interim analysis of the Phase II DESTINY-PanTumor02 study, led by The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, were presented today at the 2023 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting.
New drug delays progression of glioma, a deadly brain cancer
In an international study co-led by UCLA, scientists have shown that a new targeted therapy drug can extend the amount of time people with a subtype of glioma are on treatment without their cancer worsening. The finding suggests a possible new treatment option for people with the slow-growing but deadly brain tumor.
American Cancer Society Experts Presenting Key Research at 2023 ASCO Meeting
Scientists from the American Cancer Society are presenting research studies at the 2023 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) June 2-6 in Chicago, Illinois.
ASCO: Targeted therapy for early breast cancer, progress treating recurrent glioma, PSMA PET scan advances and more
Physicians and scientists from the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center will discuss the latest research and clinical trial results on combination therapies for breast cancer, a potential new treatment for patients with recurrent glioma, and advances in PSMA PET guided radiotherapy for patients with prostate cancer, among other topics, at the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s annual meeting.
Renowned Researcher Bradley R. Cairns, PHD, Elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society
Cairns joins renowned scientists as part of the Royal Society, known for its significant role in many scientific discoveries. Cairns is the second current faculty member elected at the U.
American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) to host Annual Meeting in San Diego, October 1-4
Registration opens today for the American Society for Radiation Oncology’s (ASTRO) 65th Annual Meeting, which will be held at the San Diego Convention Center, October 1-4, 2023. Media registration is available at www.astro.org/astro2023press, and general registration is available at www.astro.org/annualmeeting.
New Computational Tool Identifies Novel Targets for Cancer Immunotherapy
Researchers at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have developed a computational platform capable of discovering tumor antigens derived from alternative RNA splicing, expanding the pool of cancer immunotherapy targets. The tool, called “Isoform peptides from RNA splicing for Immunotherapy target Screening” (IRIS), was described in a paper published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Computational biology superstar Sanju Sinha joins Sanford Burnham Prebys
Sanju Sinha, Ph.D., has joined Sanford Burnham Prebys as an assistant professor in the Cancer Molecular Therapeutics Program to continue his research on cancer development and drug discovery. He comes to Sanford Burnham Prebys from the Cancer Data Science Lab at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), where he trained to leverage the power of artificial intelligence to discover new drugs to prevent cancer.
You’ve got some nerve
Researchers at the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center and the School of Dentistry identified a new metric to articulate the relationship between nerve density and oral cancer.
Saturated fatty acids promote immune escape of oral cancers
A team from the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center and School of Dentistry, led by Yu Leo Lei, D.D.S., Ph.D., have identified a mechanism in mice for how obesity affects some oral cancers’ ability to escape from the immune system.
Targeting uncontrolled inflammation may hold the key to treating therapy-resistant cancers
Van Andel Institute scientists have pinpointed how a specific gene mutation triggers an inflammatory cascade that may drive development of treatment-resistant cancers.
Markey Cancer Center study identifies new treatment target for metastatic cancer
A new University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center study reveals more about changes that happen to cancer cells when they metastasize and identifies a promising target for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer.Metastasis is when cancer cells spread from the primary tumor to surrounding tissues and distant organs in the body and is the primary cause for breast cancer mortality.
Three-drug combination slows progression of advanced kidney cancer
A targeted kinase inhibitor added to a two-drug immunotherapy combination slowed the progression of advanced kidney cancer in previously untreated patients, according to research published in The New England Journal of Medicine and led by an oncologist from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
Gamma delta T cells can fight aggressive breast cancer
Researchers from the University of Frieburg discovered that coordinated differentiation and changes in the metabolism of breast cancer stem cells make them invisible for the immune system.
St. Jude tool gets more out of multi-omics data
An upgraded computational tool from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital can find potentially druggable hidden drivers of cancer and other biological processes using multi-omics data.
MD Anderson researchers Helen Piwnica-Worms and Richard Wood elected to National Academy of Sciences
Two MD Anderson researchers, Helen Piwnica-Worms, Ph.D., and Richard Wood, Ph.D., have been elected to the prestigious National Academy of Sciences for their respective contributions to advancing our understanding of cancer genetics, biochemistry and cell biology.
Study finds fluorescent guide can help detect tumor left behind after breast cancer surgery
A new technique designed to allow surgeons to identify and remove residual tumor tissue during breast-conserving surgery showed promising results in a multi-center trial led by investigators from the Mass General Cancer Center, a member of Mass General Brigham.
Cannabis knocks down pain, improves sleep and lifts brain fog in cancer patients
Cancer patients who use cannabis to address their symptoms have less pain and sleep better, according to new University of Colorado Boulder research. But they also experience another, unexpected, benefit: After a few weeks of sustained use, they seem to think more clearly.
Analyzing CAR-T Cells with Image Cytometry for Potential Solid Tumor Treatments
The April 2023 issue of SLAS Discovery contains six full-length articles and one mini-review covering high-throughput screening (HTS) for protease-inhibiting drugs, high-content phenotypic screening and other life sciences research.
IU cancer center researcher leads first in-human multiple myeloma study with 90.5 percent response rate
Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center served as the lead site for a promising first-in-human clinical trial for patients with relapsed multiple myeloma. Patients treated with higher doses of the immunotherapy called REGN5459 resulted in a 90.5 percent overall response rate.
AACR: Penn Medicine Preclinical Study Identifies New Target for Recurrent Ovarian Cancer
Results from a preclinical study from Penn Medicine, presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2023, verified a new target for drug-resistant ovarian cancer and provided data to support a treatment approach that is already making its way into clinical trials.
Study: Cancer database’s cases drop 14% in pandemic’s first year, indicating 200,000 ‘missing cases’
A study, based on reported cases of new cancer diagnosis to the National Cancer Database (NCDB), estimates roughly 200,000 people with cancer cases weren’t diagnosed or treated at Commission on Cancer-accredited facilities at the onset of the pandemic in 2020, around the same time that triage guidelines recommended delays in cancer-related care.
AACR 2023: Ohio State experts share new findings on immuno-oncology, ‘smart-drugs,’ obesity-related endometrial cancers and other research topics
New smart-drug treatment options for pancreatic cancer, immuno-oncology treatments and real-time immune-monitoring strategies are among the research topics to be presented by investigators at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James) at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting held April 14-19 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida.
Four Penn Medicine Abramson Cancer Center Researchers Receive Top AACR Awards
Four distinguished researchers from the Abramson Cancer Center and Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania will receive 2023 Scientific Achievement Awards from the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), during the AACR Annual Meeting 2023.
Identifying cancer genes’ multiple personalities
Mutations in our genes can lead to severe problems, like colon or liver cancer. But cancer is very complex. Mutations in the same genes can lead to different subtypes of tumors in different people. Currently, scientists don’t have a good way to produce such tumor subtypes for study in the lab.
Research uncovers alternate mechanism for producing key protein in metastatic prostate cancer
In the Nature Cancer study, researchers led by Dana-Farber’s Himisha Beltran, MD, and Martin Bakht, PhD, found that PSMA expression is lower in liver metastases than in other parts of the body, regardless of expression of the androgen receptor. They also found that some tumors that test negative for the AR do express PSMA and that some AR-positive tumors don’t – which led them to look for a control mechanism that doesn’t involve the AR. Their search revealed that the HOXB13 protein as a key regulator of PSMA.
New method of clustering colorectal cancer patients using DPE sequencing
A new editorial paper was published in Oncoscience (Volume 10) on March 23, 2023, entitled, “New method of clustering colorectal cancer patients using differential presence of exons (DPE) sequencing.”
tRNA biomarkers for cancer diagnosis and prognosis enabled by new method
Ribonucleic acid (RNA) molecules are present in all living cells, with different types of RNA having different jobs. For example, messenger RNA is copied from DNA and carries instructions on how to make a protein. Transfer RNA (tRNA) links the mRNA sequence with its corresponding amino acid, ensuring that proteins are stitched together correctly as instructed by DNA.
UTEP to Investigate Pancreatic Cancer Risk Factors with $1M NIH Grant
The University of Texas at El Paso will undertake potentially transformative research on how specific risk factors promote pancreatic cancer development with support from a $1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health’s National Cancer Institute.
Fred Hutch at AACR: New targets for cancer therapies, experts available in diversity and cancer screening tests — and Fred Hutch’s Philip Greenberg becomes AACR president
Experts from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center will present their latest findings on targets in RIT1-driven cancers, ROR1 CAR T-cell immunotherapy, interplay of the microbiome and genetics in colorectal cancer and more at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, to be held April 14-19 in Orlando, Florida.
Healthy lifestyle associated with reduced mortality risk in childhood cancer survivors
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital researchers found childhood cancer survivors have higher mortality than the public, but survivors with a healthy lifestyle and fewer heart disease risk factors had lower risk.
Five Researchers Awarded Pilot Project Funding
Institutional Research Grants provide important financial support for new treatments and discovering valuable genetic information. This year’s grants fund the development of a new skin cancer detection and treatment device, as well as studies that analyze the relationship between cancer treatment and mental health, how cells detect and repair broken DNA, how metabolism affects cancer cells, and the possible link between leukemia, inflammation, and aging.