Category Archives: Cancer Knowledge

Treatment breakthrough for advanced bladder cancer — ScienceDaily

Published today in Nature, the study examined an antibody (MPDL3280A) which blocks a protein (PD-L1) thought to help cancer cells evade immune detection. In a phase one, multi-centre international clinical trial, 68 patients with advanced bladder cancer (who had failed all other standard treatments such as chemotherapy) received MPDL3280A, a cancer immunotherapy medicine being developed by Roche. In addition, patients were all tested for the protein PD-L1 and around 30 were identified as having PD-L1 positive tumours. After six weeks of treatment, 43 per cent of PD-L1-positive patients found their tumour had shrunk…

Why patients respond to a life-saving melanoma drug

The study, led by UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center members Drs. Paul Tumeh and Antoni Ribas, primary investigator of pembrolizumab, is the first of its kind since the FDA approved the use of Keytruda in September and could lead the way for more effective use of the drug in patients with melanoma and other cancers. A protein known as PD-1 puts the immune system’s brakes on, preventing T cells from attacking cancer cells. Pembrolizumab removes the brake lines, freeing up the immune system to kill cancer cells. …

‘Off switch’ for pain discovered: Activating the adenosine A3 receptor subtype is key to powerful pain relief

The scientific efforts led by Salvemini, who is professor of pharmacological and physiological sciences at SLU, demonstrated that turning on a receptor in the brain and spinal cord counteracts chronic nerve pain in male and female rodents. Activating the A3 receptor — either by its native chemical stimulator, the small molecule adenosine, or by powerful synthetic small molecule drugs invented at the NIH — prevents or reverses pain that develops slowly from nerve damage without causing analgesic tolerance or intrinsic reward (unlike opioids). An Unmet Medical Need Pain is an enormous problem…

Vaccines may make war on cancer personal

Like flu vaccines, cancer vaccines in development are designed to alert the immune system to be on the lookout for dangerous invaders. But instead of preparing the immune system for potential pathogen attacks, the vaccines will help key immune cells recognize the unique features of cancer cells already present in the body. …

Treatment breakthrough for advanced bladder cancer

Published today in Nature, the study examined an antibody (MPDL3280A) which blocks a protein (PD-L1) thought to help cancer cells evade immune detection. In a phase one, multi-centre international clinical trial, 68 patients with advanced bladder cancer (who had failed all other standard treatments such as chemotherapy) received MPDL3280A, a cancer immunotherapy medicine being developed by Roche. In addition, patients were all tested for the protein PD-L1 and around 30 were identified as having PD-L1 positive tumours. After six weeks of treatment, 43 per cent of PD-L1-positive patients found their tumour had shrunk…

Trial shows new imaging system may cut X-ray exposure for liver cancer patients

In a report prepared for presentation Dec. 3 at the 100th annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America in Chicago (abstract #SSM24-02), the researchers described the results of a clinical trial of the imaging system AlluraClarity, made by Philips Healthcare, on 50 patients with liver cancer. …

Experimental Ebola vaccine appears safe, prompts immune response

“The unprecedented scale of the current Ebola outbreak in West Africa has intensified efforts to develop safe and effective vaccines, which may play a role in bringing this epidemic to an end and undoubtedly will be critically important in preventing future large outbreaks,” said NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. …

Genetic testing could improve breast cancer prevention — ScienceDaily

Their study showed that prevention strategies could be improved by testing not only as currently for major cancer predisposition genes such as BRCA1 and BRCA2 — which identify a small percentage of women at very high risk — but also by factoring in data on multiple gene variants that individually have only a small effect on risk, but are more common in the population. The research was carried out by researchers at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, US — and is published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The study received funding from The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), Breakthrough Breast Cancer and the National Cancer Institute. Researchers stressed that their study was a computer modelling analysis and would need to be confirmed by further research aimed at validating the models they used and assessing real-life prevention approaches…