Johns Hopkins University engineers are the first to use a non-invasive optical probe to understand the complex changes in tumors after immunotherapy, a treatment that harnesses the immune system to fight cancer. Their method combines detailed mapping of the biochemical composition of tumors with machine learning. "Immunotherapy really works like magic and has fundamentally changed […]
Novel form of immunotherapy could revolutionize cancer treatment
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. […]
Presurgical Nivo/Chemo Boosts pCR Rates in NSCLC
Patients with resectable non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) often receive treatment before they undergo surgery. For such patients who achieve a pathologic complete response (pCR), the chances of survival are improved. However, only a small percentage of patients achieve a pCR with neoadjuvant chemotherapy alone. Adding the immune checkpoint inhibitor nivolumab (Opdivo) to platinum-doublet chemotherapy […]
New cancer immunotherapy recruits help from lymphatic vessels
Immunotherapy, which recruits the body’s own immune system to attack cancer, has given many cancer patients a new avenue to treat the disease. But many cancer immunotherapy treatments can be expensive, have devastating side effects, and only work in a fraction of patients. Researchers at the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering at the University of […]
Community Oncologists Balk at Home Chemo’s Financial Effects
This is the third in a series of articles on delivering cancer treatment at home. If providing cancer therapies at home means handing off patients to a home-infusion company, Tennessee Oncology wants no part of it. The Nashville-based practice, one of the largest community-based practices in the country, is built on a business model that […]
FDA Targets Cancer Indications That Fail to Prove Benefit
US regulators are stepping up scrutiny of cancer indications that were granted an accelerated approval on the basis of surrogate endpoints but that have failed to show clinical or survival benefits on more extensive testing. At issue are a number of cancer indications for immunotherapies. Four have already been withdrawn (voluntarily by the manufacturer), and […]
Immune cells in cerebrospinal fluid predict response to immunotherapy
Results from a study led by Joan Seoane, Director of Preclinical and Translational Research co-program at VHIO and ICREA Professor, show that immune cells accessing cerebrospinal fluid faithfully recapitulate the characteristics of cells identified in brain metastasis, and could therefore constitute novel biomarkers of response to immune-based therapies. Immune checkpoint inhibitors including anti-PD1, anti-PD-L1, and […]
Mutant gene-targeted immunotherapy approach developed
A novel targeted immunotherapy approach developed by researchers at the Ludwig Center, the Lustgarten Laboratory, and Bloomberg-Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center employs new antibodies against genetically altered proteins to target cancers. The researchers targeted their immunotherapy approach to alterations in the common cancer-related p53 tumor suppressor gene, the […]
Immunogenic ferroptotic cancer cell death: A new approach in cancer immunotherapy
The interdisciplinary team of scientists from three different countries (Belgium, Italy, and Russia) under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Dmitri V. Krysko (Ghent University, Belgium) unravels the immunogenicity of ferroptotic cancer cells. Cell death is an essential biological process that plays an active role both during human embryonic development and in the onset of various […]
New type of immunotherapy may pave the way for better cancer treatments
Immunotherapy for cancer has made great advances and many patients can now receive effective treatments that were not available 10 years ago. However, there are certain types of cancer that do not respond to existing immunotherapy. A study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) reports on […]