T-Cell immunotherapy is a multi-billion dollar success. Companies are genetically engineering an individual’s own immune cells to attack cancer in the blood or lymph system. Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy, or CAR-T therapy has seen huge acquisitions and investments. Gilead Sciences paid $11.9 billion for Kite Pharma, which received FDA approval for its own CAR-T …
Roving cancer tumor cells have been genetically engineered to secrete a protein that triggers a death switch in resident tumor cells they encounter. The cancer-fighting cancer cells also have a built-in suicide switch — so the weaponized cells self-destruct before they can start tumors of their own. Previous research has used circulating tumor cells to …
Harvard researchers describe a vaccine approach that uses an injectable scaffold loaded with a selection of tumor-expressed peptides. It is a path to a personalized anti-cancer vaccine. The strategy proved more effective at stimulating anti-tumor responses and, importantly, a tumor-specific immune memory in mouse models that kept the animals rejecting tumor cells at least half …
Injecting minute amounts of two immune-stimulating agents directly into solid tumors in mice can eliminate all traces of cancer in the animals, including distant, untreated metastases, according to a study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. The approach works for many different types of cancers, including those that arise spontaneously, the study …
CancerSEEK is a blood test that detects tiny amounts of DNA and proteins released into the bloodstream from cancer cells. This can then indicate the presence of ovarian, liver, stomach, pancreatic, oesophageal, bowel, lung or breast cancers. Known as a liquid biopsy, the test is distinctly different to a standard biopsy, where a needle is …
Scientists in Singapore have made a unique discovery about how to treat cancers – when it comes to pinpointing cancer treatment targets, it is better to listen to many computer programmes rather than just one. Researchers have developed an advanced system that integrates this ‘wisdom of the crowd’ through a powerful consensus algorithm to isolate …
Bill Gates sees enormous opportunities to make progress on some of the toughest health challenges. Gates described what he sees in a keynote to the JP Morgan 36th Annual Healthcare Conference in San Francisco. Since 1990, the world has cut child mortality in half. HIV is no longer a certain death sentence. Many of the …
A new Tel Aviv University study pinpoints the inverse correlation between a known oncogene — a gene that promotes the development of cancer — and the expression of an oncosuppressor microRNA as the reason for extended pancreatic cancer survival. The study may serve as a basis for the development of an effective cocktail of drugs …
A team of scientists have created a new generation of tiny remote controlled nanorobots which could one day allow doctors to diagnose disease and deliver drugs from within the human body. The team led by Professor Li Zhang from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, including Professor Kostas Kostarelos from The University of Manchester, have …
Bigger creatures should have more cancer risk. However, Elephants do not have high rates of cancer. They have some kind of protection. * elephants have 20 extra duplicates of p53, a tumor suppressor gene. * they also duplicate copies of the LIF gene, which encodes for leukemia inhibitory factor. Elephant cells commit suicide at the …
A new mouse study has shown that the drug trodusquemine can melt away the accumulated arterial plaques that lead to heart attacks and strokes. Atherosclerosis is the number one killer in the world. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a general term used to describe all the conditions affecting the heart and blood vessels and is responsible …