Combining the immunotherapy agent durvalumab with the chemotherapy agents pemetrexed and cisplatin or carboplatin may provide a new treatment option for patients who have inoperable pleural mesothelioma, a cancer of the tissues lining the lungs, according to a phase II clinical trial led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and the Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy.
Tag: Immunotherapy
Cancer Research Institute to Honor Developers of COVID-19 mRNA Vaccines in Historic Gathering: “This Technology Will Play a Big Role in Cancer Treatment”
CRI will bestow the 2021 William B. Coley Award for Distinguished Research in Basic Immunology on four mRNA vaccine scientists followed by roundtable on origin and future application to cancer treatment.
MD Anderson Research Highlights for November 3, 2021
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Research Highlights provides a glimpse into recently published studies in basic, translational and clinical cancer research from MD Anderson experts. Current advances include the cost-effectiveness of expanded lung cancer screening criteria, a novel biomarker for predicting immunotherapy responses, development of a technique for multiplex single-cell chromatin profiling, combination immunotherapy for bone metastatic prostate cancer, understanding drivers of lung cancer metastasis, and enabling new T cell therapies for treating COVID-19.
CHOP Researchers Develop a New Class of CAR-T Cells that Target Previously Untargetable Cancer Drivers
In a breakthrough for the treatment of aggressive solid cancers, researchers at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) have developed a novel cancer therapy that targets proteins inside cancer cells that are essential for tumor growth and survival but have been historically impossible to reach. Using the power of large data sets and advanced computational approaches, the researchers were able to identify peptides that are presented on the surface of tumor cells and can be targeted with “peptide-centric” chimeric antigen receptors (PC-CARs), a new class of engineered T cells, stimulating an immune response that eradicates tumors.
MD Anderson Research Highlights: ASTRO 2021 Special Edition
This special edition features oral presentations by MD Anderson researchers at the 2021 American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Annual Meeting (Oct. 24-27) on novel therapeutic and diagnostic approaches, including partial breast irradiation, evaluating PD-L1 levels as biomarkers to better predict response to immunotherapy, and deep learning and biomechanical models.
MD Anderson Research Highlights: ESMO 2021 Special Edition
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Research Highlights provides a glimpse into recent studies in basic, translational and clinical cancer research from MD Anderson experts. This special edition features oral presentations by MD Anderson researchers at the virtual European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2021 on novel therapeutic approaches, including cell therapy for solid tumors, antibody drug conjugates targeting TROP2 and neoadjuvant pembrolizumab for advanced solid tumors with mismatch repair deficiencies.
Programmable Off-the-Shelf Dendritic Cells as an Immunotherapy Discovery Platform
A new therapeutic era has been ushered in with Adoptive Cell Immunotherapy, which uses patient-harvested T cells genetically engineered against tumor-specific targets.
Yale Cancer Center Study Shows New Drug Combinations Improve Outcomes for Patients with Advanced Lung Cancer
New findings from a large study led by researchers at Yale Cancer Center shows the addition of the drugs oleclumab or monalizumab to durvalumab improved progression-free survival for patients with locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer.
How a plant virus could protect and save your lungs from metastatic cancer
Using a virus that grows in black-eyed pea plants, researchers developed a new therapy that could keep metastatic cancers from spreading to the lungs, as well as treat established tumors in the lungs.
White blood cells that can help destroy malignant tumors
A new study at Tel Aviv University found that eosinophils – a type of white blood cells – are recruited to the battle against cancer metastases in the lungs.
MD Anderson and SNIPR BIOME collaborate to advance next-generation CRISPR microbiome therapeutics
MD Anderson and SNIPR BIOME have announced a strategic collaboration to advance next-generation CRISPR-based microbiome therapies to reduce immune-related side effects in patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors.
Making the microbiome more amenable to cancer immunotherapy
The gut microbiome can impact us in a variety of different ways, from our metabolism to our mood. Now, NIBIB-funded researchers are investigating if a fiber-based gel can restore beneficial microbes in the gut to enhance the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors, a type of cancer immunotherapy treatment, in mice.
MD Anderson Research Highlights for September 8, 2021
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Research Highlights provides a glimpse into recently published studies in basic, translational and clinical cancer research from MD Anderson experts.
Yale Cancer Center Study Shows Stem-Like T Cells Could Aid Immunotherapy in Cancer Treatment
In a new study by Yale Cancer Center, researchers show stem-like T cells within certain lymph nodes could be natural cancer fighters.
Engineering CAR T Cells to Deliver Endogenous RNA Wakes Solid Tumors to Respond to Therapy
New study shows CAR T cells expressing RN7SL1 can activate the body’s natural immune cells against difficult-to-treat cancers
Many with Food Allergies Don’t Know About Oral Immunotherapy Treatment Option
A study of a geographically, clinically, and socioeconomically diverse, nationally-representative sample of US households – including both adult patients and caregivers of children with food allergy – found that 72 percent did not know what oral immunotherapy (OIT) was prior to the survey.
MD Anderson and Bellicum Announce Additional License Agreement for Use of CaspaCIDe® Safety Switch
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Bellicum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced a global option and license agreement covering certain intellectual property and technology rights regarding Bellicum’s CaspaCIDe® (inducible caspase-9, or iC9) safety switch and related technologies, and the use of rimiducid, an agent used to activate the safety switch.
MD Anderson Research Highlights for August 25, 2021
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Research Highlights provides a glimpse into recently published studies in basic, translational and clinical cancer research from MD Anderson experts. Current advances include clinical studies to investigate novel treatment strategies, a new understanding of cancer precursor lesions, identifying a calcium signaling receptor, characterizing nodal immune flair after immunotherapy, a community screening tool for BRCA testing and a new method for diagnosing Clostridioides difficile infections.
Researchers uncover a way to harness the power of immunotherapy for advanced prostate cancer
Researchers led by the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center identified an inhibitor that showed promise against metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer cells.
Drug Combination Gets Advanced Liver Cancer Patients to Surgery
A combination of the kinase-inhibitor drug cabozantinib and the immunotherapy drug nivolumab can make curative surgery possible in some liver cancer patients who would normally not be considered surgery candidates.
New Approach for Cell Therapy Shows Potential Against Solid Tumors with KRAS Mutations
A new technology for cellular immunotherapy developed by Abramson Cancer Center researchers at Penn Medicine showed promising anti-tumor activity in the lab against hard-to-treat cancers driven by the once-considered “undruggable” KRAS mutation, including lung, colorectal, and pancreatic.
Personalized Immunotherapy Response Studied in Body-on-a-Chip Cancer Models
Wake Forest researchers and clinicians are using patient-specific tumor ‘organoid’ models as a preclinical companion platform to better evaluate immunotherapy treatment for appendiceal cancer.
MD Anderson and Hummingbird Bioscience announce strategic research collaboration to advance innovative immunotherapies
MD Anderson and Hummingbird Bioscience announced a multi-year strategic research collaboration to investigate HMBD-002, Hummingbird’s VISTA antagonist antibody, as a novel immunotherapy for cancer.
Study identifies gut microbes associated with toxicity to combined checkpoint inhibitors in melanoma patients
Researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center found specific intestinal microbiota signatures correlate with high-grade adverse events and response to combined CTLA-4 and PD-1 blockade treatment.
Tip Sheet: Disparities in cancer outcomes, catching up on cancer screenings, boosting immunotherapy effectiveness and SARS-CoV-2 origins
SEATTLE — July 7, 2021 — Below are summaries of recent Fred Hutch research findings and other news.
Roswell Park Experts Highlight Opportunities to Improve Outcomes for People with Gastroesophageal Cancer
Two Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center experts were invited to present new insights on treatment of gastroesophageal cancers during the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer 2021. In their talks, both presented July 1, the Roswell Park physician-researchers highlighted easily adoptable methods that may help other clinicians to provide care supporting improved patient outcomes.
Researchers engineer ‘natural killer’ cells that attack and destroy malignant tumour cells but leave the rest alone
Researchers at McMaster University have developed a promising new cancer immunotherapy that uses cancer-killing cells genetically engineered outside the body to find and destroy malignant tumours.
Common plant fiber gel doubled rate of tumor eradication
Many people don’t realize that the trillions of bacteria, viruses, and fungi residing within the gastrointestinal tract––collectively called the gut microbiome–– are connected to overall health, and specifically to cancer.
Study Shows Immunotherapy Drug Combination Improves Response in HER2-Negative Breast Cancer Including a Subset of Estrogen Receptor Positive Cancers
In a new study by researchers at Yale Cancer Center, combining the immunotherapy drug durvalumab and PARP-inhibitor olaparib with chemotherapy improved response to treatment for women with high-risk, HER2-negative breast cancer, including a subset of estrogen receptor positive cancers.
Study Finds Dosing Strategy May Affect Immunotherapy Outcomes
DALLAS – June 14, 2021 – Overweight cancer patients receiving immunotherapy treatments live more than twice as long as lighter patients, but only when dosing is weight-based, according to a study by cancer researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center.
Astronomy Meets Pathology to Identify Predictive Biomarkers for Cancer Immunotherapy
Pairing sky-mapping algorithms with advanced immunofluorescence imaging of cancer biopsies, researchers at The Mark Foundation Center for Advanced Genomics and Imaging at Johns Hopkins University and the Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy developed a robust platform to guide immunotherapy by predicting which cancers will respond to specific therapies targeting the immune system.
LUDWIG CANCER RESEARCH STUDY SHOWS HOW CERTAIN MACROPHAGES DAMPEN ANTI-TUMOR IMMUNITY
A Ludwig Cancer Research study adds to growing evidence that immune cells known as macrophages inhabiting the body cavities that house our vital organs can aid tumor growth by distracting the immune system’s cancer-killing CD8+ T cells.
Reported in the current issue of Cancer Cell and led by Ludwig investigators Taha Merghoub and Jedd Wolchok at Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) and Charles Rudin of MSK, the study shows that cavity-resident macrophages express high levels of Tim-4, a receptor for phosphatidylserine (PS), a molecule that they surprisingly found on the surface of highly activated, cytotoxic and proliferative CD8+ T-cells.
Immunotherapy drug delays recurrence in kidney cancer patients
Treatment with an immunotherapy drug following kidney cancer surgery, prolonged disease-free survival rates in patients at high risk for recurrence, according to an interim report of a phase 3 clinical trial of adjuvant immunotherapy in this patient population.
UC San Diego Health Begins Treating Multiple Myeloma with CAR T-cell Therapy
As the first designated medical center in San Diego certified to offer this type of immunotherapy, UC San Diego Health will begin treating patients this month.
Cancer Research Institute Celebrates Ninth Annual Cancer Immunotherapy Month™
Cancer Research Institute celebrates progress in cancer immunotherapy research, announces new initiatives aimed at addressing racial and ethnic disparities in cancer treatment and academic research, during ninth annual Cancer Immunotherapy Month this June.
LUDWIG CANCER RESEARCH STUDY DISCOVERS HOW TO REVIVE POTENT BUT INERT ANTI-CANCER IMMUNE CELLS FOR THERAPY
A Ludwig Cancer Research study has discovered how to revive a powerful but functionally inert subset of anti-cancer immune cells that are often found within tumors for cancer therapy.
Led by Ludwig Lausanne’s Ping-Chih Ho and Li Tang of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, the study describes how an immune factor known as interleukin-10 orchestrates the functional revival of “terminally exhausted” tumor-infiltrating T lymphocytes (TILs), which have so far proved impervious to stimulation by immunotherapies. It also demonstrates that the factor, when applied in combination with cell therapies, can eliminate tumors in mouse models of melanoma and colon cancer. The findings are reported in the current issue of Nature Immunology.
Hanna and Mark Gleiberman Give $12 Million to UC San Diego
Hanna and Mark Gleiberman give $12 Million to UC San Diego to support the internationally recognized head and neck cancer center at UC San Diego Health. Funding will support research and patient experience.
Tip Sheet: Latest research on COVID-19, health disparities, antibodies to parainfluenza, and neuron function
SEATTLE — May 4, 2021 — Below are summaries of recent Fred Hutch research findings and other news.If you are covering news at the upcoming American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy, American Society of Clinical Oncology, or other conferences, feel free to reach out to our media team for help sourcing experts: media@fredhutch.
Researchers identify potential combination therapy for aggressive lung cancer
The combination approach uses immune checkpoint inhibitors with ATRA, a safe medication that is widely used to treat leukemia.
Penn Medicine and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia to Host Symposium on the Future of Cell and Gene Therapies
Penn Medicine and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) will host a virtual event on May 6 and 7 that will bring together cell and gene therapy leaders from the two institutions and around the world to discuss the latest achievements in the field, novel strategies, and future developments and applications for chimeric antigen receptor, CAR, T cell therapy and more.
University of Chicago scientists design “Nanotraps” to catch and clear coronavirus from tissue
Researchers at the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (PME) at the University of Chicago have designed a completely novel potential treatment for COVID-19: nanoparticles that capture SARS-CoV-2 viruses within the body and then use the body’s own immune system to destroy it.
Genetic Changes in Head and Neck Cancer, Immunotherapy Resistance Identified
A multi-institutional team of researchers, led by UC San Diego School of Medicine and Moores Cancer Center, has identified both the genetic abnormalities that drive pre-cancer cells into becoming an invasive type of head and neck cancer and patients who are least likely to respond to immunotherapy.
How the Pandemic Has Exacerbated Rates of Skin Cancer
With summer approaching and more and more people getting vaccinated for COVID-19, many San Diegans eagerly anticipate the season best known for outdoor activities. But with more time in the sun comes the need for sun-safe practices. During the pandemic,…
Study: New Approach May Boost Prostate Cancer Immunotherapies
Researchers have discovered a new way to transform the tissues surrounding prostate tumors to help the body’s immune cells fight the cancer. The discovery, made in human and mouse cells and in laboratory mice, could lead to improvements in immunotherapy treatments for prostate cancer, the second most common cancer in men in the U.S.
Case Western Reserve awarded $3 million National Cancer Institute grant to apply AI to immunotherapy in lung cancer patients
Medical researchers from Case Western Reserve University, New York University (NYU), and University Hospitals have been awarded a five-year, $3 million National Cancer Institute grant to develop and apply artificial intelligence (AI) tools for predicting which lung cancer patients will respond to immunotherapy.
MD Anderson and TriSalus Life Sciences announce strategic research collaboration to evaluate treatment of solid tumors
MD Anderson and TriSalus announced a strategic research collaboration to evaluate the treatment of liver and pancreas tumors with the investigational therapy SD-101 in combination with immunotherapy using a novel delivery approach.
Software Package Enables Deeper Understanding of Cancer Immune Responses
Researchers at the Bloomberg Kimmel Institute for Caner Immunotherapy at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have developed DeepTCR, a software package that employs deep-learning algorithms to analyze T-cell receptor (TCR) sequencing data. T-cell receptors are found on the surface of immune T cells. These receptors bind to certain antigens, or proteins, found on abnormal cells, such as cancer cells and cells infected with a virus or bacteria, to guide the T cells to attack and destroy the affected cells.
Researchers devise more efficient, enduring CAR gene therapy to combat HIV
A UCLA research team has shown that using a truncated form of the CD4 molecule as part of a gene therapy to combat HIV yielded superior and longer-lasting results in mouse models than previous similar therapies using the CD4 molecule.
The University of Kansas Cancer Center Among the First to Offer CAR T-cell Therapy to Treat Multiple Myeloma
The University of Kansas Cancer Center is the first and only site in the region to offer CAR T-cell therapy to treat multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer that affects about 30,000 people each year.
Liver Cancer Tumors Appear to Be Resistant to Immunotherapy in Patients With Underlying Non-alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH)
Immunotherapy is not only significantly less effective in liver cancer patients who previously had a liver disease called non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), but actually appears to fuel tumor growth, according to a Mount Sinai study published in Nature in March. NASH affects as many as 40 million people worldwide and is associated with obesity and diabetes.