A study finds that cancer mutations occur in distinct patterns based on the 3D structure of the genome and the underlying cause of the mutation. This helps us to understand cancer better and may lead to new treatment approaches.
Tag: MD Anderson Cancer Center
Next-gen bioinformatics tool enables big data analysis without programming expertise
A new data analysis tool developed by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center incorporates a user-friendly, natural-language interface to allow biomedical researchers without specialized expertise in bioinformatics or programming languages to conduct intuitive analysis of large datasets.
MD Anderson and Astex Pharmaceuticals announce strategic collaboration to accelerate clinical evaluation of therapies for patients with leukemia
MD Anderson News Release September 08, 2020 The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Astex Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., based in Tokyo, Japan, today announce a strategic collaboration agreement aimed at accelerating the clinical evaluation of Astex’s pipeline of products for patients with certain types of leukemia, including myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
MD Anderson and Xencor enter strategic collaboration to advance investigational XmAb® drug candidates
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Xencor, Inc. today announced a strategic collaboration to study investigational treatments for patients with a variety of cancer types.
MD Anderson welcomes 15 volunteer board members, honors two new Life Members
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Board of Visitors (BOV) has named 15 new members and bestowed its highest honor of Life Member on senior members Regina Rogers of Beaumont and Melvyn N. Klein of Corpus Christi.
Lung cancer trial of RET inhibitor selpercatinib achieves durable responses in majority of patients with RET gene fusions
For patients with non-small cell lung cancers marked by RET gene fusions, the targeted therapy selpercatinib was well tolerated and achieved durable objective responses, or tumor shrinkage, in the majority of patients in a Phase I/II trial.
Study shows frequently used serology test may not detect antibodies that could confirm protection against reinfection of COVID-19
Two different types of detectable antibody responses in SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) tell very different stories and may indicate ways to enhance public health efforts against the disease, according to researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein receptor binding domain (S-RBD) are speculated to neutralize virus infection, while the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein (N-protein) antibody may often only indicate exposure to the virus, not protections against reinfection.
MD Anderson and UT Austin Create Unique Data-Driven Collaboration to Eliminate Cancer Using Novel Mathematical and Computational Approaches
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and two institutions at The University of Texas at Austin – the Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences and the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) – today announced a new initiative to build a strong collaboration in Oncological Data and Computational Science.
MD Anderson and Ipsen advance new therapy with potential benefit for underserved patients with lung and ovarian cancer
MD Anderson and Ipsen have advanced a new targeted therapy into clinical trials for certain patients with lung and ovarian cancers. Details are being presented at the AACR Annual Meeting.
Study finds no overall survival benefit, but improved quality of life with talazoparib in advanced BRCA-mutated breast cancer
New data from the Phase III EMBRACA trial led by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center found the PARP inhibitor talazoparib did not demonstrate a statistically significant overall survival (OS) benefit for patients with metastatic HER2-negative breast cancer and mutations in the BRCA1/2 genes. Most patients included in the study went on to receive subsequent systemic therapies, which may have affected the survival outcome analysis. The research confirmed previous results showing talazoparib improved patient reported quality-of-life measures over available chemotherapies and had a tolerable safety profile.
Majority of patients responded in CAR T-cell trial for mantle cell lymphoma
Majority of patients responded in CAR T-cell trial for mantle cell lymphoma. Study showed 93% of patients responded with 67% achieving complete response.
Immunotherapy effective in metastatic prostate cancers with specific markers of immune activation
A subset of patients with metastatic prostate cancer and specific markers of immune activity responded well to treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors, according to results of a Phase II trial.
New therapeutic strategies proposed for some lung and kidney cancers
New therapeutic strategies proposed for some lung and kidney cancers. Study shows cancers with high levels of the SLC7A11 gene may respond to glucose transporter inhibitor treatment.
Combination creates powerful central memory T cells for cellular therapy
MD Anderson researchers find that treating T cells with panobinostat and IL-21 re-programs them to a powerful central memory T cell type that persists longer.
Study sheds light on fatty acid’s role in “chemobrain” and multiple sclerosis
A study led by The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has found that myelin is surprisingly dynamic, a discovery that has implications for treatment of multiple sclerosis and a type of myelin damage caused by some chemotherapy drugs, often referred to as “chemobrain.”
Pembrolizumab shows promise for some advanced, hard-to-treat rare cancers
Pembrolizumab shows promise for some advanced, hard-to-treat rare cancers. Open-label Phase II study at MD Anderson reports on four cancer types.
Osteosarcoma profiling reveals why immunotherapy remains ineffective
Comprehensive profiling of tumor samples taken from patients with osteosarcoma shows that multiple factors contribute to the traditionally poor responses observed from treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors, according to new research from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Absent p53, oral cancers recruit and reprogram nerves to fuel tumor growth
Loss of an important tumor-suppressing gene allows head and neck cancer to spin off signals to nearby nerves, changing their function and recruiting them to the tumor, where they fuel growth and cancer progress.
CD19 CAR NK-cell therapy achieves 73% response rate in patients with leukemia and lymphoma
According to results from a Phase I/IIa trial at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, treatment with cord blood-derived chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) natural killer (NK)-cell therapy targeting CD19 resulted in clinical responses in a majority of patients with relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), with no major toxicities observed.
Study provides new understanding of mitochondria genome with potential for new avenues of treatment for multiple cancers
A study led by The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center furthered understanding about mitochondria, the cell components known as the “powerhouse of the cell.” Knowing more about the genome is crucial given that mitochondria play important roles in tumorigenesis.
Study demonstrates liquid biopsy as effective predictor of stage III melanoma relapse and treatment
A study at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center showed that circulating tumor cells (CTCs), a form of liquid biopsy, was independently associated with melanoma relapse, suggesting CTC assessment may be useful in identifying patients at risk for relapse who could benefit from more aggressive therapy following primary treatment.
Breast biopsies after neoadjuvant chemotherapy accurately predict presence of residual breast cancer
Researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have identified a standardized protocol that uses image-guided breast biopsies to reliably predict residual disease in breast cancer patients and that potentially identifies exceptional responders who may not require surgery.
Residual cancer burden after neoadjuvant therapy can accurately predict breast cancer survival
Researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center today reported results from a pooled analysis of more than 5,100 breast cancer patients that found residual cancer burden (RCB) continuous index and classification were independently and strongly prognostic for all breast cancer phenotypes.
Receiving care in a multidisciplinary prostate cancer clinic increases discussion about treatment options and adherence to national guidelines
Newly diagnosed prostate cancer patients have multiple standard-of-care treatment options available, but many are not fully informed of their choices. A study led by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center found men who seek treatment at a multidisciplinary (MultiD) prostate cancer clinic are more likely to be advised about treatment choices and to receive care that complies with evidence-based treatment guidelines.
Secondary surgery does not improve overall survival for recurrent ovarian cancer patients
Researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reported that secondary tumor-reduction, or cytoreduction, surgery followed by chemotherapy did not result in longer survival than chemotherapy alone in patients with platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian cancer.
MD Anderson, Artios Pharma and ShangPharma announce in-licensing agreement for DNA damage response inhibitor
MD Anderson, Artios and ShangPharma have announced the in-licensing by Artios of a small-molecule ATR inhibitor program, developed jointly by MD Anderson and ShangPharma.
MD Anderson and Takeda Announce Collaboration to Accelerate the Development of Clinical-Stage, Off-The-Shelf CAR NK-Cell Therapy Platform
MD Anderson and Takeda today announced an exclusive license agreement and research agreement to develop CAR NK-cell therapies for the the treatment of B-cell malignancies.
MD Anderson and Varian partner to optimize radiation oncology treatment
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Varian today announced a new strategic collaboration to develop an integrated software platform to streamline review of radiation oncology treatment plans.
Triplet-targeted therapy improves survival for patients with advanced colorectal cancer and BRAF mutations
The three-drug combination of encorafenib, binimetinib and cetuximab significantly improved overall survival (OS) in patients with BRAF-mutated metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), according to results of the BEACON CRC Phase III clinical trial led by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
PARP inhibitor plus chemotherapy improves progression-free survival for advanced ovarian cancer patients
Researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reported study results showing that initial treatment with the PARP inhibitor veliparib in combination with chemotherapy significantly increased progression-free survival (PFS) for patients with newly diagnosed, metastatic high-grade serous ovarian cancer, according to the results of the VELIA trial.
Investigational drug with immunotherapy may provide new therapeutic opportunity for patients previously treated for kidney and lung cancer
Investigational drug with immunotherapy may provide new therapeutic opportunity for patients previously treated for kidney and lung cancer. Pegilodecakin with pembrolizumab and nivolumab shown to be safe in Phase IB study
MD Anderson study confirms protein as potential cause of most common type of pancreatic cancer
An oncogene, UPS21, has been confirmed as a frequently amplified gene in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, the most common and often lethal form of pancreatic cancer. The discovery could lead to new treatment options.
Study finds lack of racial diversity in cancer drug clinical trials
New research published this week in JAMA Oncology has found a lack of racial and ethnic diversity in clinical trials for cancer drugs. It raises concerns about the effectiveness of cancer drugs in some patients, especially since genetic differences may affect how a patient responds to a drug.
Boehringer Ingelheim and MD Anderson form unique virtual research and development center to rapidly advance new cancer therapies
Boehringer Ingelheim and MD Anderson have announced a new multi-year partnership to conduct collaborative research, combining the drug-development capabilities of MD Anderson with the pipeline of novel medicines from Boehringer Ingelheim.