Cancer News and Discussions

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New study finds way to improve how radiotherapy is used for people with cancer that has spread to the brain

by Worldwide Cancer Research
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-04- ... brain.html
Researchers at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), led by Dr. Manuel Valiente, have uncovered how cancer cells that have spread to the brain (metastasis) are able to resist the effects of radiotherapy. The study reveals a new biomarker that could be detected in a simple blood test to indicate whether a patient will respond to radiotherapy. The researchers also discovered a specific type of drug, called a RAGE inhibitor, which can enter the brain and reverse the resistance to radiotherapy. Clinical studies are now being started by the team to validate their findings in people.

When cancer progresses, it often spreads to the brain, where it becomes much more difficult to treat. In patients with solid tumors such as lung cancer, breast cancer or melanoma, it eventually spreads to the central nervous system in 20-40% of cases. Unfortunately, most patients pass away within 12 months of finding out this has happened.
weatheriscool
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Cancer-fighting viruses soften up their victims before attacking
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-04- ... ctims.html
by University of Ottawa

A research team based at the University of Ottawa and The Ottawa Hospital has developed a virus that infects and kills cancer cells without harming normal cells, while also sending out signals to prepare nearby uninfected cancer cells for viral attack. Their new study, published in Nature Communications, shows that this novel strategy can shrink tumors and significantly prolong survival in several cancer models in mice.

The strategy relies on extracellular vesicles, tiny particles that pinch off from a cell and fuse with other cells. The research team created a virus that causes infected cells to produce extracellular vesicles filled with a specific RNA that blunts the antiviral defenses of nearby cancer cells. They found that this novel virus can work with other forms of immunotherapy, as well as with small-molecule drugs, to enhance cancer-killing even further.

"Cancer cells are constantly evolving new ways to evade our therapies, so we designed this therapy to target cancer on multiple fronts at the same time," said senior author Dr. Carolina Ilkow, Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Medicine and Senior Scientist at The Ottawa Hospital. "We believe these observations are transformative for the fields of oncolytic viruses, miRNA therapeutics and exosome-based therapies."

The researchers note that while many groups are investigating therapies based on RNA and extracellular vesicles, these therapies are much more difficult to manufacture and store than viral therapies. This new viral technology could have a broad impact, as it provides an easy and targeted way to "manufacture" and deliver RNA therapeutics and extracellular vesicles right inside the patient, rather than in a lab.
weatheriscool
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Pediatric cancer patients in lower-income countries faced significantly higher mortality risk during pandemic
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-04- ... tries.html
by American Association for Cancer Research

During the first nine months of the COVID-19 pandemic, pediatric cancer patients from lower- and middle-income countries faced a higher risk of all-cause mortality than those in high-income countries, according to data presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2022, held April 8-13.

This study was concurrently published in BMJ Open.

Pediatric cancer, while rare, is the world's second leading noncommunicable cause of death among children. Research has shown that survival rates from childhood cancers are dramatically different in lower- and middle-income countries (LMICs) compared with high-income countries (HICs), explained the study's presenter, Muhammed Elhadi, MBBCh, a medical doct
or at the University of Tripoli in Libya.
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New 'killer' immunotherapy shows early promise in range of solid tumors
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-04- ... solid.html
by Institute of Cancer Research
A new type of immunotherapy making use of the immune system's "natural killer cells" could offer potential against a range of cancers that can evade current treatments, early results from a phase I trial suggest.

Researchers found the new immunotherapy showed signs of effectiveness in a third of patients with a range of advanced cancers that had stopped responding to standard treatment, including bowel and lung cancers.

The immunotherapy, known as AFM24, redirects the body's own natural killer cells and engages them to kill tumor cells, without having to go through a complex process to re-engineer a patient's own cells, as happens with CAR-T cell therapy.

The researchers believe the new treatment has the potential to be safer and less complex than cell therapies like CAR-T, and might also work against a wider range of cancer types.

Ongoing phase I trial

An international team including researchers at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust assessed the new treatment in 24 patients initially in the ongoing phase I trial.
Early findings are being presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2022.
weatheriscool
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New method for detecting tumor cells with high specificity and sensitivity
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-04- ... icity.html
by Laurie Fickman, University of Houston
The Center for Nuclear Receptors and Cell Signaling at the University of Houston has developed a new way to detect very rare and highly heterogeneous circulating tumor cells with high specificity and sensitivity. The UniPro device is reported in the journal Molecular Therapy. UH's Office of Technology Transfer & Innovation is now working with industry partners to establish the best plan to commercialize the technology.

Circulating tumor cells (CTC), which are detached from primary tumors to enter the bloodstream, are particularly hard to detect. Only a few of these rare malignant cells are typically found among millions of white blood cells and billions of red blood cells per milliliter of blood.
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Study reveals male sex hormones are new targets for cancer immunotherapy
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-04- ... ancer.html
by Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center

Patients with cancers stemming from non-reproductive organs, such as bladder and liver cancer, have striking discrepancies in incidence, progression, response to treatment and survival outcomes depending on their sex. In almost all cases, male patients have worse prognoses and outcomes. This phenomenon has puzzled the scientific community for decades.

A study published today in Science Immunology and led by researchers in the Pelotonia Institute for Immuno-Oncology (PIIO) at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center—Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC—James) examined the differences in intratumoral immune responses between male and female cancers of non-reproductive origin
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Learning which genetic changes predict greatest risk of cancer death
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-04- ... death.html
by Isabella Backman, Yale University
In the face of cancer, oncologists face a dual epidemic of overtreatment and undertreatment. Treating the disease often involves harsh chemotherapies and other interventions with extensive side effects. As a result, clinicians might delay treating a growth that looks harmless until it becomes life threatening and too late to treat. Or, they might overly treat a less aggressive cancer with harsh therapies that cause more harm to the patient than benefit.

Now, two researchers, including Yale's Jason Sheltzer, Ph.D., assistant professor of surgery (oncology), have conducted a study analyzing the molecular features of 33 different human cancers in an effort to find a way to differentiate between non-threatening and aggressive forms of the disease and found surprising results. They published their findings in Cell Reports on March 29.
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Newly developed nanoparticles show promise for locating, removing endometriosis lesions
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-04- ... sions.html
by Steve Lundeberg, Oregon State University
Scientists have developed a new nanotechnology approach for locating and removing the painful and dangerous lesions associated with endometriosis, a common gynecological condition in women of childbearing age.

The research led by Oleh Taratula of the Oregon State University College of Pharmacy and Ov Slayden of the Oregon National Primate Research Center at Oregon Health & Science University involves magnetic nanoparticles—tiny pieces of matter as small as one-billionth of a meter.

The animal-model study, published today in the journal Small, shows that the iron oxide nanoparticles, injected intravenously, act as a contrast agent—they accumulate in the lesions, making them easier to see by advanced imaging such as MRI.
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Scientists discover gene mutation that signals aggressive melanoma
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-04- ... anoma.html
by The Mount Sinai Hospital
Mutation of a gene called ARID2 plays a role in increasing the chance that melanoma, a deadly skin cancer, will turn dangerously metastatic, Mount Sinai researchers report.

The findings suggest that patients whose melanoma tumors have an ARID2 mutation may have a more aggressive cancer and may need to be treated differently, according to a study published in Cell Reports in April.

"Our study is the first to characterize the tumor-suppressive functions of ARID2 in melanoma," said the study's lead author Emily Bernstein, Ph.D., Professor of Oncological Sciences at The Tisch Cancer Institute at Mount Sinai. "We modeled ARID2 mutations by removing the ARID2 protein completely from melanoma cells and studied the consequences in the petri dish and in animal models. Recreating actual mutations that patients harbor is challenging, but now possible by genome editing, and would further provide a more accurate model; such studies are ongoing in the lab."
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New insights about 'bad news' breast cancer mutation point to treatment opportunities
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-04- ... ancer.html
by University of Pittsburgh

A mutated gene found in more than 20% to 30% of breast cancer recurrences may help tumors become more aggressive and promote metastasis, according to a pair of new studies that uncover mechanisms behind these processes and point to new therapy targets.

"We're excited about this research because it addresses an important clinical problem: A huge number of deaths in breast cancer patients are the result of mutations in estrogen receptor genes," said senior author Steffi Oesterreich, Ph.D., co-leader of the Cancer Biology Program at UPMC Hillman Cancer Center and professor in the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Department of Pharmacology & Chemical Biology. "Our study provides a deeper understanding of how these mutations contribute to disease progression and also identifies potential vulnerabilities, which we hope will lead to development of personalized treatment approaches."
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