Checkpoint inhibitors, alone, are effective in 25% of patients when administered as a single agent. The goal of the collaboration between Celgene and Jounce is to address the other 75% of patients. The lead program is focused on ICOS, the Inducible T cell CO-Stimulator, a protein on the surface of T cells that can spur an immune response against a patient’s cancer. Continue reading
Mechanisms of Melanoma Resistance to PD-1 Checkpoint Inhibition
It is estimated that about 40 percent of patients with advanced melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, will initially respond to an immunotherapy, but about a quarter of those 40 percent will relapse within three years of treatment. In order to identify the mechanisms by which resistance to PD-1 inhibition is mediated, UCLA researchers studied biopsies of melanoma tumors taken before and after treatment with Keytruda (pembrolizumab) in patients whose cancer had returned. Continue reading
Bristol Myers Acquire Cormorant for Anti-IL-8 Cancer Drug
BMS (Bristol Myers Squibb) acquired all of the outstanding capital stock of Cormorant, the private, Stockholm-based biotech company developing HuMax-IL8, for $520MM. HuMax-IL8, which is currently in Phase I/II trials, is a monoclonal antibody that targets interleukin-8 (IL-8), a protein is expressed by many solid tumors. IL-8 also suppresses the immune system and increases the ability of tumors to metastasize. Continue reading
RNA Vaccines in Melanoma and Prostate Cancer
Vaccine strategies for cancer immunotherapy depend on the induction of dendritic cells (DC) in close proximity to T cells. This is best accomplished in lymphoid tissue. However, directing vaccines to lymphoid tissue has been quite challenging. Continue reading
Diffuse Gastric Cancer is Associated with Elevated GDF15 – Kristen D. De Wilde, Contributor
About 90% of stomach tumors are adenocarcinomas, which are subdivided into two main histologic types: (1) well-differentiated or intestinal type (IGC), and (2) undifferentiated or diffuse type (DGC). The intestinal type is related to corpus-dominant gastritis with gastric atrophy and intestinal metaplasia, whereas the diffuse type usually originates in pangastritis without atrophy. Diffuse gastric cancer (DGC) differs from the more common intestinal (IGC) type in that the former is less differentiated, has a poorer prognosis, and occurs more frequently in younger patients. Continue reading
Intra-tumor heterogeneity leads to sampling bias and biomarker failure – Conor McAuliffe, Contributor
A growing understanding of genetic variation both between histologically similar tumors from different patients and within individual tumors themselves is shedding light on the difficulties in treating cancer and developing biomarkers to diagnose it. It has long been known that a single tumor displays differences in morphology, nuclear shape, proliferation, and proportions of constituent cell types. However, these differences may be only be the “tip of the iceberg” as vast genetic and epigenetic variations that underlie them have been discovered between and within tumors. Continue reading
Gastric Cancer Monoclonal Antibody Against Specific Target Shows Promise in Phase 2b Study
In a phase II randomized trial, adding IMAB362 to standard chemotherapy increased progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) by about 50% compared with the standard treatment alone. Continue reading
Rociletinib for Resistant Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients with EGFR T790M Mutation – Anthony J. Meglio, Contributor
There are two major subtypes of lung cancer: Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC), which accounts for 85% of all cases, and Small Cell Lung Cancer (SMLC). About 60% of NSCLC are unresectable at diagnosis, hence, the poor prognosis – ten to twelve months survival when treated with platinum-based chemotherapy. Treatment options are evaluated based on the histologic subtype and the presence of mutations to determine the the best combination of molecular therapies for treatment. Ten to twenty percent of patients with NSCLC have a mutated epidermal growth factor receptor, most commonly. a deletion in the in-frame of exon 19 (around amino acid 747 to 752) or a L858R point mutation of exon 21. On June 1, 2016, the FDA approved the first blood test (liquid biopsy) companion diagnostic to determine whether these mutations are present. Continue reading
Combination Therapy of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors to Combat Lung Cancer – James P. McCauley, Contributor
Researchers at AstraZeneca have completed a small-scale study which demonstrated the synergistic benefit of utilizing two immunotherapy drugs to combat non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) over just a single immunotherapy drug. The study found that utilizing an immune checkpoint inhibitor for PD-1, called durvalumab, in combination with another immune checkpoint inhibitor for CTLA-4, called tremelimumab, had a tumor response rate of 23% for metastatic NSCLC. Researchers at AstraZeneca are, indeed, confident that combination immune checkpoint therapy is the key to developing more efficient immunotherapies to target and effectively treat cancer. Continue reading
Combined Endoglin and VEGF Monoclonal Antibody Therapy in Cancer – Subasinghe Nissanga A Dias, Contributor
Blood vessel formation (angiogenesis) is an important pathologic process in solid tumors. The liberation of vast amounts of vasoendothelial growth factor (VEGF), which attracts endothelial cells, is responsible for angiogenesis. Continue reading