PD-1 inhibition (Figure 1) has quickly become a front-line therapy for non-small cell lung cancer and melanoma. Moreover, PD-1 and PD-L1 inhibitors are being tested in combination with other checkpoint inhibitors, targeted therapies, cancer vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, and other modalities. But, how does PD-1 blunt the anti-tumor immune response? Continue reading
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Combined CA4P (Fosbretabulin) therapy in Cancer- Ashini R. Dias, Contributor
Malignant tumors cannot grow beyond a certain size without establishing blood supply to feed them with necessary nutrients and oxygen. The process of recruiting new blood vessels to the tumor is termed angiogenesis. Growth factors, mainly secreted by the tumor itself, induce angiogenesis; the most notable of these is vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), which helps endothelial precursor cells mature into neo-capillary forming, endothelial cells. These secrete other growth factors, like platelet derivative growth factor (PDGF), which attracts pericytes and vascular smooth muscle cells that, together, create the outer layers of capillaries. Continue reading
Photo-immunotherapy approaches for cancer
The NCI (National Cancer Institute) highlighted two photo-immunotherapy (PIT) approaches that employ antibodies conjugated to phthalocyanine dye IRDye 700DX (IR700). Continue reading
Celgene Acquires EngMab for BCMA Program
Celgene acquired EngMab for $600MM to enrich its programs targeting B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) for the treatment of multiple myeloma. Celgene is exploiting BCMA in both CAR T (chimeric antigen receptor T-cell) and bispecific antibodies targeting CD-3 (Cluster of differentiation 3), Continue reading
Roche Signs $310MM Early Stage Deal with for mRNA Vaccines
Roche will be collaborating with BioNTech to develop personalized vaccines based on BioNTech’s mRNA products combined with Roche’s PD-L1 checkpoint inhibitor, Tecentriq (atezolizumab), which was approved for bladder cancer in May 2016. Continue reading
CDKN2A Mutation Shortens Survival in Melanoma Patients
Individuals that carry mutations to the CDKN2A tumor suppressor gene have 65-fold increased risk of developing melanoma and a lifetime penetrance of melanoma of 60-90%. In a new study by researchers from the Karolinska University Hospital in Sweden, individuals who had inherited CDKN2A mutations were on average 10 years younger at their melanoma diagnosis than the non-mutated familial melanoma cases. Continue reading
Hypomethylating agents are effective in myelodysplastic syndrome
Results of studies in patients with low- and intermediate-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) treated with hypomethylating agents (low dose azacytidine or decitabine) followed for a median of 18 months were presented at the Society of Hematologic Oncology meeting in Houston on September 9, 2016. Continue reading
Leap’s Two Early-Stage Immuno-Oncology Antibodies
Leap Therapeutics, an immuno-oncology company, recently reversed merge with Macrocure to become a publicly traded company, and received an investment of $10MM from current investors in order to advance two antibodies – DKN-01, a humanized monoclonal antibody targeting the Dickkopf-1 (DKK1) protein on cancer cells, and TRX518, a humanized GITR agonist that augments T-cell responses against tumors. Continue reading
Melanoma Metastases Enabled by Melanosomes
Researchers have identified vesicles containing micro-RNA are important in the aggressive biologic behavior of melanoma, a cancer that kills via metastasizing to distant sites from primary tumors that are quite small. Continue reading
Blocking CD47 Innate Checkpoint Control for Cancer Treatment
Several companies, including Trillium, Celgene, Tioma, and Forty Seven are developing products that block CD47 for the treatment of cancer. Researchers have also shown that attacking CD47 may be a better approach to bone marrow conditioning prior bone marrow transplant. Continue reading