Important reports from the Weiner lab include the first DNA vaccine studied for HIV as well as for
cancer immune therapy of cutaneous T cell lymphoma, the early development of DNA encoded genetic adjuvants, including IL - 12, advances in gene optimization, and advances in electroporation technologies resulting in improved gene delivery.
Recent breakthroughs in
cancer immune therapy have resulted in new biotechnology companies and value for patient's lives.
Cancer immune therapies targeting HPV - driven head and neck cancer as well as cervical cancer, have entered clinical trials.
Not exact matches
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Tuesday gave Swiss drug giant Novartis a second approval for its pioneering CAR - T
cancer therapy, which uses patients» own
immune cells (re-engineered outside the body and then replicated) to destroy blood
cancers.
There are more than 80
immune - related
cancer therapies currently in clinical trials, fueled by many billions of dollars in pharmaceutical investment from the likes of Bristol - Myers Squibb bmy, Merck mrk, Pfizer pfe, and dozens of biotechs.
Basically, CAR - T
therapy involves taking a patient's own
immune «killer» T - cells, inserting new genetic code into those cells which turn them into
cancer - hunters that can home in on malignant B - cells (another kind of
immune cell), and then pumping these specialized leukemia - busting cells back into the patient.
One setback for these
therapies which use the body's
immune system to fight
cancers is that they are, at times, more effective in certain patient pools than others.
The treatment is a type of so - called CAR T - cell
therapy — taking a patient's own
immune cells, called T cells, genetically manipulating them to attack specific proteins on
cancer, and infusing them back into the patient.
Gilead subsidiary Kite Pharma (which the biotech giant scooped up ahead of the FDA's approval for Yescarta, a treatment that reengineers patients»
immune cells to fight
cancer) will have access to Sangamo's platform technology, which could be used to create various types of
cancer cell
therapies.
CAR - T cell
therapy is a form of immunotherapy, a rapidly developing
cancer treatment that uses patients» own
immune cells to attack tumors.
Bellicum is among the flurry of biotechs investing heavily into cell
therapies such as experimental chimeric antigen receptor T - cell (CAR - T) treatments for
cancer (this is the next - gen treatment that involves reprogramming
immune cells to become
cancer killers and has shown promise in blood
cancers, which Bellicum specializes in).
Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis has made waves with a drug pipeline that includes one of the most talked - about experimental
cancer therapies in recent years — a treatment called Kymriah that reconfigures the body's own
immune cells to become aggressive blood -
cancer killers.
giant Novartis has made waves with a drug pipeline that includes one of the most talked - about experimental
cancer therapies in recent years — a treatment called Kymriah that reconfigures the body's own
immune cells to become aggressive blood -
cancer killers.
The company actually beat Wall Street profit estimates largely thanks to its superstar
cancer immunotherapy drug Keytruda, which has been shown to best chemotherapy in helping lung
cancer patients live longer and given Merck a leg up over rivals like Bristol - Myers Squibb's
immune therapy Opdivo.
For example, we've seen new discoveries in health care recently, especially in immuno - oncology
therapies, which help the
immune systems of
cancer patients recognize and destroy cancerous cells.
During the sessions, U.S. and Cuban scientists explored such topics as the molecular mechanisms
cancer cells employ to evade the body's
immune system, new tools to image and manipulate that system, and ways to rethink how such
therapies can best be deployed to reach patients where they receive health services.
A group of the nation's leading
cancer research scientists and their Cuban counterparts are exploring how to advance
cancer therapy, diagnosis, and prevention, including the use of immunotherapy to harness the body's
immune systems to attack and eliminate
cancer cells.
Revving up the
immune system to combat a wide variety of tumor types may take
cancer therapy in a new direction, says Khaled Barakat, a computational scientist at the University of Alberta in Canada, who was not involved in the study.
A type of
immune therapy known as PD - 1 blockade controlled
cancer in 77 percent of patients with defects in DNA mismatch repair — the system cells use to spell - check and fix errors in DNA (SN Online: 10/7/15).
In the United States, about 60,000
cancer patients each year could be eligible for the
immune therapy, the researchers estimate.
«If we know which genes are damaged in a breast
cancer patient's
immune system, prevention or even
therapy can be tailored by giving vaccines or perhaps antiviral drugs to reduce the chances of recurrence,» said Friedenson.
A transformative
cancer therapy based on modified
immune cells has lured doctors, companies, and patients alike, but many are hitting a frustrating roadblock: generating enough of these chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)- T cells to meet surging demand.
On its own, this
immune response had no immediate effect in the fight against the utilized breast tumors, but in combination with the ADC it proved itself effective in attacking
cancer cells in mice, resulting in the complete cure of the majority of mice receiving the combination
therapy.
«Current
therapies in clinical trials are focused on targeting genetic changes in tumors and helping to boost one's
immune system to fight the
cancer cells.
In the GD2 CAR - T treated animals, the residual
cancer cells did not express GD2, suggesting that these remaining cells were not vulnerable to the
immune therapy and might be able to cause the
cancer to recur.
The research suggests that
immune therapy for
cancer might be more effective if combined with drugs that inhibit NF - kB.
«Steep funding cuts for the federal health agencies are counterproductive at a time when innovative research is moving us closer to identifying solutions for rare diseases, new prevention strategies to protect Americans from deadly and costly conditions, advances in gene
therapy, new technologies for understanding the brain, and treatments that harness the ability of our
immune system to fight
cancer.»
Patients with metastatic non-small cell lung
cancer will always progress after chemotherapy, so most patients go on to be treated with immunotherapy, a type of
therapy that uses the body's
immune system to fight
cancer.
«Our findings results suggest a new strategy for
immune system - based
therapies for
cancer,» says the study's senior author, Harvey Cantor, MD, of Dana - Farber and Harvard.
In addition to formulating diagnostic strategies for
cancer immunotherapy agents, her team is focused on developing a deep understanding of tumor
immune biology as well as mechanisms associated with
immune response and
immune escape in
cancer patients, with the intent of generating rational strategies for the creation of combination
therapies.
Because the CAR - T cells do not eradicate all
cancer cells, the researchers think the
immune therapy will need to be combined with other treatments.
«Our results suggest that we've been looking at these
cancer drugs the wrong way — as tumour - targeting drugs — instead of what we now feel is their most important biological role: as
immune stimulating
therapy.»
Treatments aimed at revving up the
immune system's attack on the
cancer may be the most promising approach to
cancer therapy since combination chemotherapy.
«It is anticipated that this novel compound will have significant efficacy in human melanomas and other
cancers either as a stand - alone
therapy or in combination with other targeted or
immune - based
therapies,» explained co-corresponding author Rhoda Alani, MD, the Herbert Mescon Chair of Dermatology at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM).
EMD Serono, Kirschbaum says, «focuses on the development of targeted
cancer therapies on three therapeutic platforms: targeting the tumor cell, the tumor environment, and the
immune system.»
«While
immune checkpoint blockade
therapy is effective in many
cancers, it has been less successful for this particular form of prostate
cancer, which has motivated a search for targeted
therapies that overcome this resistance.»
Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson
Cancer Center developed a novel chimeric mouse model to test the combination
therapy using
immune checkpoint blockades with
therapies targeting myeloid - derived suppressor cells (MDSCs).
He hopes that further studies may identify novel approaches to
immune - based
cancer therapy or reveal new drug targets for inflammatory diseases.
Researchers have designed a nanoparticle - based
therapy that is effective in treating mice with multiple myeloma, a
cancer of
immune cells in the bone marrow.
«It is expected that this study will lay the foundation for developing a new class of potent and effective
cancer therapies and the development of reagents targeting epigenetic events in
immune - mediated diseases as well as other epigenetically - influenced diseases,» said Alani, who also is chief of dermatology at Boston Medical Center.
A new wave of potential
immune therapies aims to target the network of complex sugars that coat
cancer cells, Esther Landhuis reported in «Cancer's sweet cloak» (SN: 4/1/17, p
cancer cells, Esther Landhuis reported in «
Cancer's sweet cloak» (SN: 4/1/17, p
Cancer's sweet cloak» (SN: 4/1/17, p. 24).
Dr. Cripe and his colleagues at The Ohio State University, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center tested how well the oncolytic viral
therapy — a
cancer - killing form of the herpes simplex virus, called oHSV — infected and killed tumor cells in mice with and without a healthy
immune system.
So he joined GSK Vaccines in 2010, as a molecular biologist in the company's Antigen - Specific
Cancer Immunotherapeutic program, which aims to harness the immune system for the development of well - tolerated cancer ther
Cancer Immunotherapeutic program, which aims to harness the
immune system for the development of well - tolerated
cancer ther
cancer therapies.
Stamets furnished capsules of freeze - dried fungus for a seven - year, NIH - funded study by Bastyr University and the University of Minnesota to determine whether turkey tail mushrooms could help breast
cancer patients whose
immune systems had been compromised by radiation
therapy.
Physician Peter Bach at Memorial Sloan Kettering
Cancer Center is appalled at the sky - high price of cancer treatments in the United States, and he is watching new immune therapies drive them higher
Cancer Center is appalled at the sky - high price of
cancer treatments in the United States, and he is watching new immune therapies drive them higher
cancer treatments in the United States, and he is watching new
immune therapies drive them higher still.
Much of the
cancer - killing effect of the oHSV injections was lost when the researchers tested the
therapy in tumors of mice with defective
immune systems.
Epigenetic
therapies are thought to work in two ways to fix these errors in
cancer cells — by correcting the «position» of the gene switches and by making the cell appear as though it's infected by a virus, triggering the
immune system.
2011: Another success makes headlines: David Porter and Carl June report that
immune cells modified with gene
therapy had cured two terminal leukemia patients of their
cancer.
Viral
therapy for childhood cancer could possibly improve if treatments such as chemotherapy do not first suppress patients» immune systems, according to findings published today in the journal Molecular Therapy — Onco
therapy for childhood
cancer could possibly improve if treatments such as chemotherapy do not first suppress patients»
immune systems, according to findings published today in the journal Molecular
Therapy — Onco
Therapy — Oncolytics.
Instead, the
therapy may benefit from the activity of the
immune system operating in tandem, creating a synergistic,
cancer - killing effect.