- One reason that cancer patients can have a poor response to a cancer therapy is due to the cancer cell’s ability to evade the therapy, through a variety of means including mutations to their own genome. A group of researchers from Italy explored the way colorectal cancer cells increase the rate of DNA mutations to evade targeted therapy. The study was published in Science.
- The first attempt in the United States to use CRISPR gene editing technology for cancer management was reported this week. A phase I trial showed safety and feasibility of using this technology in cancer immunotherapy and a potential for its further exploration in cancer management. The study will be presented next month at a meeting of the American Society of Hematology.
- Researchers from the University of Nottingham developed a blood test using protein microarray screening technology which can detect breast cancer “up to five years before there are any clinical signs of it.” This was reported at 2019 NCRI Cancer Conference.
- Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University found evidence that tumor cells spread increases when they are suffering from oxygen deprivation, or hypoxia. The study was published in October in Nature Communications.