Tag Archives: cancer treatment

Results from first 59 leukemia patients who received investigational, personalized cellular therapy

Two of the first three chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients who participated in the study, which started in the summer of 2010, remain in remission, with tests revealing reprogrammed cells still circulating in their bodies, on guard to combat tumor cells that may reappear in the future. Additional highlights of the new research results include an 89 percent complete response rate among adult and pediatric patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). "In a very short time, we’ve learned so much about how CTL019 works and how powerful it can be," said the research team’s leader, Carl H…

Malignant cells adopt different pathway for genome duplication

For one of our cells to give birth to two daughter cells, it must first replicate its DNA which consists of around 6.4 billion pairs of nucleotides. The double-stranded DNA opens up like a zipper, producing a ‘replication fork’ upon which a group of enzymes move about. Present in different regions in the DNA, the forks move with the progression of the replication. Cell proliferation is controlled in particular by specific genes known as proto-oncogenes…

Approaches to pain assessment in cancer clinical trials

A new paper published by Cancer External Site describes approaches to pain measurement used in oncology clinical trials submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that are consistent with current FDA guidance principles. The purpose of the paper is to assist drug developers to include meaningful pain endpoints when designing cancer trials. "Measurement of pain and other symptoms is an essential part of cancer trials…

MR-guided ultrasound offers noninvasive treatment for breast cancer

MR-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) ablation is a noninvasive technique that requires no incision or puncture to perform. Instead, it uses the acoustic energy from high-intensity focused ultrasound to remove, or ablate, diseased tissue. Continuous MRI is used to locate the lesions and monitor the temperature change during the ablation process. …

Carbon monoxide may help shrink tumors, amplify effectiveness of chemotherapy

The surprising new findings, described in the December issue of the journal Cancer Research, show that in cell culture and animal models carbon monoxide (CO) can both prevent tumor growth in prostate and lung cancers and can amplify the effectiveness of chemotherapy 1,000-fold — while sparing noncancerous tissue from chemo’s sometimes debilitating side effects. "We found that in small, carefully controlled doses, CO not only mimicked the effects of chemotherapy agents by blocking proliferation of cancer cells, but also amplified the toxic effects of the chemotherapy drugs doxorubicin and camptothecin to accelerate cancer cell death," says senior author Leo Otterbein, PhD, an investigator in the Transplant Institute in BIDMC’s Department of Surgery and Associate Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School. "Importantly and rather unique is that CO also helped to protect normal tissue from chemotherapy, which is an unfortunate side effect of the treatments." The new discovery appears to hinge on CO’s ability to switch the metabolic state of cancer cells so that tumors essentially work themselves to death…

New family of proteins linked to major role in cancer

A major new study in the journal Nature sets out the structure of the new family, called glutamate intramembrane proteases – the founding member of which plays a critical role in transforming healthy cells into cancer cells. The research, funded by Cancer Research UK and conducted by scientists at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, defined the structure of a protein called Rce1, and established it as the first known member of a whole new protein family. …

Leukemia cells exploit ‘enhancer’ DNA elements to cause lethal disease

The research, appearing today in Genes & Development and led by CSHL Assistant Professor Chris Vakoc, centers on the way a cancer-promoting gene is controlled. When this oncogene, called Myc, is robustly expressed, it instructs cells to manufacture proteins that contribute to the uncontrolled growth that is cancer’s hallmark. The Myc oncogene is also implicated in many other cancer types, adding to the significance of the new finding…

Using microRNA fit to a T (Cell)

The achievement in mice studies, published in this week’s online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, may be the first step toward using genetically modified miRNA for therapeutic purposes, perhaps most notably in vaccines and cancer treatments, said principal investigator Maurizio Zanetti, MD, professor in the Department of Medicine and director of the Laboratory of Immunology at UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center. "From a practical standpoint, short non-coding RNA can be used for replacement therapy to introduce miRNA or miRNA mimetics into tissues to restore normal levels that have been reduced by a disease process or to inhibit other miRNA to increase levels of therapeutic proteins," said Zanetti. "However, the explosive rate at which science has discovered miRNAs to be involved in regulating biological processes has not been matched by progress in the translational arena," Zinetti added. "Very few clinical trials have been launched to date…

Mouse study finds gut microorganisms may determine cancer treatment outcome

NCI scientists found that tumors of germ-free mice (mice completely lacking these microorganisms), or mice treated with antibiotics to deplete the gut of bacteria, were largely impaired in their ability to respond to immunotherapy that slows cancer growth and prolongs survival. The mice were also impaired in their ability to respond to mainstay chemotherapy drugs such as oxaliplatin and cisplatin. These findings in mice may underscore the importance of microorganisms in optimal cancer treatment outcomes in humans. …