- Researchers from University College London, the Francis Crick Institute, AstraZeneca, etc., identified the genetic basis of an increased risk of resistance to treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in non-smokers. The study was published in Nature Communications.
- The Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) study showed that different physical properties of colorectal cancer cells had different potential for cancer metastasis. The study was published in Nature Communications.
- Researchers from Stanford University found that, contrary to an earlier FDA warning, the risk of secondary cancers in patients on CAR-T cell therapy is low. The study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
- A study found that statins (in particular, pitavastatin), a class of drugs used to lower cholesterol, may be instrumental in suppressing chronic inflammation, a finding that could help prevent inflammatory-related cancers, e.g., pancreatic cancer. The study was published in Nature Communications.
- “Father of tamoxifen”, Pharmacologist V. Craig Jordan, a professor of Breast and Medical Oncology and Molecular and Cellular Oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center who discovered selective estrogen receptor modulators and developed breakthrough breast cancer treatment died last week.
- Note: Kendra contributed this entry. The National Institutes of Health is developing a fairly simple (in today’s terms) model to predict whether a given cancer patient will likely respond to immunotherapy. This is a far cry from a large foundational model, but there’s still value in training simpler classifiers. The current state for predicting patient responses to immunotherapy is that one or both biomarkers approved by the FDA will be measured for a particular patient to help oncologists select the drugs most likely to work.
The model in beta right now is described in Nature Cancer (lead author Tian-Gen Chang). The model “makes predictions based on five clinical features that are routinely collected from patients: a patient’s age, cancer type, history of systemic therapy, blood albumin level, and blood neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, a marker of inflammation. The model also considers tumor mutational burden.” The model has shown decent predictive ability and is available here: https://loris.ccr.cancer.gov.
Category Archives: Cancer Research News
Triple Negative Breast Cancer Research Advancements, Bacteria That Promote Colorectal Cancer, and More
- Researchers from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) created an artificial intelligence (AI) tool “that uses data from individual cells” in tumors to predict patients’ response to a specific drug. The report was published in Nature Cancer.
- Purdue University researchers are developing nanoparticles capable of enhancing immunotherapy effects in cancer treatment. The study was published in ACS Nano.
- Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania gained insights into how cancer-caused liver inflammation hinders the immune system’s ability to fight cancer. The study was published in Nature Immunology.
- The researchers from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center found that a specific type of bacteria, Fusobacterium nucleatum, known as related to gum disease, may promote colorectal cancer. These findings pave the way for therapies targeting these bacteria in colorectal cancer patients. The findings were published in Nature Immunology.
- Researchers from the University of Colorado Cancer Center explored the potential of a two-drug combination, doxorubicin plus bocodepsin, as a promising treatment option for triple-negative breast cancer. The preclinical study paves the way for future human clinical trials. The study was published in Breast Cancer Research.
- A new multicenter study found that women with early-stage triple-negative breast cancer who have high levels of immune cells in the tumor may be at a lower risk of recurrence and have better survival rates. The study was published today in the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA).
Chronic Stress Connection to Cancer Explained, Taking from Cancer to Fight Cancer, and More
- In a mice experiment, researchers from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory got an insight into the exact nature of the connection between cancer and psychological stress. The researchers discovered that stress hormones called glucocorticoids impacted the neutrophils (white blood cells), forming structures called NETs (neutrophil extracellular traps). Usually, NETs play a positive role in immune defense in the body, but “in cancer, NETs create a metastasis-friendly environment.” The study was published in Cancer Cell.
- Researchers at the University of Virginia Cancer Center identified a new, more efficient than existing methods, way to identify high-risk patients with acute myeloid leukemia. By measuring specific molecules in cancer cells, the new method helps identify patients at risk of poor outcomes and how well patients would respond to treatments. In the future, the technique may lead to more personalized treatments and better outcomes for patients with blood cancer. This research was published in Blood Advances.
- Researchers from UC San Francisco (UCSF) and Northwestern University borrowed from cancer stratagems to fight cancer by using a specific mutation found in lymphoma to drastically increase the potency of normal human T cells in killing cancer cells without triggering side effects. Also, while current immunotherapies are used only against hematological cancers, the T cells engineered by Northwestern U and UCSF could kill solid tumors – “tumors derived from skin, lung and stomach in mice.” Human trials can be expected in the future. An article reporting on this research was published in Nature.
- In a preclinical study, researchers from Columbia University and other institutions explored a molecule called Malat1, responsible for activating breast cancer dormant cells and triggering metastasis. By deleting the Malat1 gene, researchers were able to suppress cancer’s ability to metastasize. Extended to humans in the future, this research may eventually lead to better treatments and improved patient outcomes. The study was published in Nature Cancer.
- Researchers from Vanderbilt University developed a way to kill a tumor by “disrupting its acidic “microenvironment” without harming normal tissue”. The method targets hydroxyapatite (HAP), a naturally occurring mineral also produced by some tumors. The study was published in Cancer Medicine.