Connecting You to Tomorrow's Biotechnology Innovations
Researchers led by the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center have identified a new subtype of prostate cancer that occurs in about 7 percent of patients with advanced disease. The subtype is characterized by loss of the gene CDK12. It was found to be more common in metastatic prostate cancer compared to early stage tumors […]
The findings detailed in an upcoming peer-reviewed paper provide a rationale for the encouraging clinical results observed with Bria-IMT™, an immunotherapy from BriaCell Therapeutics, in current and past clinical testing. The paper will appear in Frontiers in Immunology, the 5th most cited journal in Immunology worldwide. Bria-IMT™, also known as SV-BR-1-GM, has caused remarkable reduction […]
A common cold virus engineered to attack the most common and deadly of brain tumors allowed 20 percent of patients with recurrent glioblastoma to live for three years or longer, researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center report on a phase I clinical trial in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. The altered […]
CHOP Oncologists Update Analysis in Pivotal Global Trial of CAR T-Cell Treatment for Relapsed or Refractory ALL Updated results from a global clinical trial of the CAR T-cell therapy, tisagenlecleucel, a landmark personalized treatment for a high-risk form of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), reveal that children and young adults continued to show high rates of […]
An immune-oncology focused biotechnology company, BriaCell, has provided a clinical update on its lead immunotherapy drug for advanced breast cancer. BriaCell provided further update on its ongoing clinical trial of Bria-IMT™ according to Protocol WRI-GEV-007 (listed in ClinicalTrials.gov as NCT03066947). Six patients have received inoculations since the trial began in early 2017, with the observation […]
Columbia engineers bioengineer soft microfibers to improve T-cell production. T cells play a key role in the body’s immune response against pathogens. As a new class of therapeutic approaches, T cells are being harnessed to fight cancer, promising more precise, longer-lasting mitigation than traditional, chemical-based approaches. These “living drugs” are poised to transform medicine, with […]
Desmoplastic melanoma is a rare subtype of melanoma that is commonly found on sun-exposed areas, such as the head and neck, and usually seen in older patients. Treatment is difficult because these tumors are often resistant to chemotherapy and lack actionable mutations commonly found in other types of melanoma that are targeted by specific drugs. […]
BriaCell, an immuno-oncology focused biotechnology company with a proprietary targeted immunotherapy technology, has provided a clinical update regarding its ongoing clinical trials of Bria-IMT™ (formerly referred to as SV-BR-1-GM). BriaCell currently is enrolling patients in two separate but related clinical trials. Trial WRI-GEV-007 (listed in ClinicalTrials.gov as NCT03066947) is a Phase I/IIa clinical study designed […]
An antibody therapy against a key inflammatory molecule involved in migraines reduces the number of headaches that chronic migraine patients experience per month in a phase III trial. A new study of fremanezumab, an immunotherapy that counteracts one of the molecules released during migraine, was found successful in reducing the number of days that chronic […]
Malaria*1 is one of three major infectious diseases*2 affecting approximately 300 million people every year, accounting for about 500,000 deaths, but effective vaccine development has not been successful. Among malaria parasites infecting humans, Plasmodium falciparum (P. falciparum)*3 causes especially severe disease. In addition, acquired immunity to malaria is inefficient, even after repeated exposures to P. […]
Cancer immunotherapy drugs only work for a minority of patients, but a generic drug now used to increase blood flow may be able to improve those odds, a study by Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) researchers suggests. In mice with melanoma, the researchers found that the drug – called pentoxifylline – boosts the effectiveness of […]
A clinical trial testing the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab shows the drug to be well tolerated among patients who have carcinoid or pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. Janice M. Mehnert, MD, director of the Phase 1 and Developmental Therapeutics Program at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, is the lead author of research that is part of an […]
In an early-phase clinical trial of an experimental immunotherapy, researchers achieved durable molecular remissions in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia who had failed other treatments Researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center showed about 70 percent of patients with the most common adult leukemia had their tumors shrink or disappear following an experimental chimeric antigen […]
A personal cancer treatment vaccine that targets distinctive “neoantigens” on tumor cells has been shown to stimulate a potent, safe, and highly specific immune anti-tumor response in melanoma patients, report scientists from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. The study, published online by Nature “provides proof-of-principle that a personal vaccine […]
Merck known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has placed a clinical hold on KEYNOTE-183, KEYNOTE-185 and KEYNOTE-023, three combination studies of KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab), the company’s anti-PD-1 therapy, in the blood cancer multiple myeloma. This decision follows a review of data by the […]
Combination therapy with two immunotherapy drugs produces an unprecedented doubling of response rates from 20 percent to 40 percent, a new study shows. The multicenter trial involving 100 patients showed that the addition of ipilimumab to nivolumab, which is currently FDA-approved for treatment of kidney cancer, leads to responses that can last beyond two years. […]
Ludwig Cancer Research unveiled the full scope of Ludwig’s participation at this year’s American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting in Chicago, June 2-6. Ludwig scientists will present findings on efforts to diagnose and treat a variety of cancers, including melanoma, glioblastoma, multiple myeloma and lymphoma. “The ASCO Annual Meeting provides a unique opportunity […]
Phase 1 pilot study utilizes T-cell antigen presenting cells to prolong the persistence of cancer-fighting chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells, reduce the relapse rate After phase 1 results of Seattle Children’s Pediatric Leukemia Adoptive Therapy (PLAT-02) trial have shown T-cell immunotherapy to be effective in getting 93 percent of patients with relapsed or refractory […]
Researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have developed biodegradable nanoparticles that can be used to genetically program immune cells to recognize and destroy cancer cells — while the immune cells are still inside the body. In a proof-of-principle study to be published April 17 in Nature Nanotechnology, the team showed that nanoparticle-programmed immune cells, […]
A phase one study of 11 patients with glioblastoma who received injections of an investigational vaccine therapy and an approved chemotherapy showed the combination to be well tolerated while also resulting in unexpectedly significant survival increases, researchers at the Duke Cancer Institute report. Patients treated with the study drug (dose-intensified temozolomide and vaccines) were continuously […]