Cancer News and Discussions

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weatheriscool
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Cancer News and Discussions

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Cancer truly sucks so I am making a thread on the latest news on a cure for this evil disease.

https://www.cancer.net/sites/cancer.net ... meline.pdf

As a result of the nation’s investment in cancer research, more people are surviving cancer than ever before
• Two out of three people live at least five years after their diagnosis, up from roughly one out of two in the 1970s.
• The nation’s cancer death rate has dropped 16 percent since the early 1990s, reversing decades of increases.
• Today, highly tailored, more effective treatments target the genetics of each cancer, and each patient. • Better ways of managing nausea and other side effects are enabling patients to live better, more fulfilling lives.
•Revolutionary progress against some cancers shows what is possible. Five-year survival rates for breast cancer, testicular cancer and childhood leukemia are now over 90 percent

https://www.asco.org/research-guideline ... s-timeline
Image
https://www.cancer.gov/news-events/canc ... -to-nation
weatheriscool
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Novel form of immunotherapy could revolutionize cancer treatment
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-05- ... tment.html
by Noelle Toumey Reetz, Georgia State University
A novel form of macrophage-based immunotherapy is effective at treating a broad spectrum of cancers, including those at advanced stages, according to a groundbreaking study led by Georgia State immunology professor Yuan Liu.

Liu's treatment works by leveraging macrophages, specialized white blood cells involved in the detection and elimination of cancer cells and other pathogens. Macrophages also activate T-cells which then attack and destroy cancer cells. Under normal conditions, this system works well to limit the growth of abnormal cells. However, cancer cells are tricky. Macrophages are vulnerable to cancer cells masquerading as healthy cells by co-opting mechanisms normal cells rely on that evade immune surveillance and detection. These mechanisms can profoundly increase cancer's ability to grow and resist traditional treatment.
weatheriscool
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Exploring CAR T-cell therapy to treat breast cancer
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-05- ... reast.html
by Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre
Credit: NIH
Peter Mac researchers are developing a potential new way to make CAR T-cell therapy more effective against breast cancer and other solid cancers.

CAR T-cell therapy is a type of immunotherapy where a patient's own immune cells are collected and reengineered, before being infused back into the patient to fight their cancer.

But CAR T-cells also contain a gene that can suppress this immune response. A Peter Mac-led study into this phenomenon has just been published in the scientific journal Nature Communications.

"Cancer hijacks these pathways to shut off an immune response that would otherwise be beneficial," says Dr. Paul Beavis, one of the senior authors of the study.
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Yuli Ban
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Another reason I'm amazed and shocked by mRNA vaccines, which I wasn't paying attention and didn't realize were such a revolution as recently as a week ago

Can mRNA vaccines be used in cancer care? [Yes!]
A team of international researchers is working to test whether mRNA technology could prevent colorectal cancer from recurring.

The standard treatment for many colorectal cancer patients is surgery, but cancer cells can remain in the body after the tumor is removed. These remaining cancer cells shed DNA into the bloodstream, which is referred to as circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA).

A clinical trial led by Morris and Kopetz is following high-risk patients with stage II or stage III colorectal cancer who test positive for circulating tumor DNA after surgery.

The presence of circulating tumor DNA is checked with a blood test. “If there is ctDNA present, it can mean that a patient is at higher risk for the cancer coming back,” Morris says.

He says that the opposite can also be true: if there is not circulating tumor DNA present, the patient may have a lower risk of recurrence.

Personalizing an mRNA vaccine for mutations that cause cancer

In the Phase II clinical trial, enrolled patients start chemotherapy after the tumor is surgically removed. Tissue from the tumor is sent off to a specialized lab, where it’s tested to look for genetic mutations that fuel the cancer’s growth.

Morris says anywhere from five to 20 mutations specific to that patient’s tumor can be identified during testing. The mutations are then prioritized by the most common to the least common, and an mRNA vaccine is created based on that ranking. “Each patient on the trial receives a personalized mRNA vaccine based on their individual mutation test results from their tumor,” Morris says.

As with the COVID-19 vaccines, the mRNA instructs the patient’s cells to produce protein fragments based off tumor’s genetic mutations identified during testing. The immune system then searches for other cells with the mutated proteins and clears out any remaining circulating tumor cells.
“We’re hopeful that with the personalized vaccine, we’re priming the immune system to go after the residual tumor cells, clear them out and cure the patient,” says Morris.
And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future
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Yuli Ban
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Would be something if COVID-19 wound up leading to a cure for most cancers
In Conversation: Treating cancer with mRNA vaccines
Messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine technology has become almost a household name in the past year. Two COVID-19 vaccines, by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, employ this technology.

But mRNA vaccine research also has strong roots in the cancer field.

Dr. Kesari explained where he sees the potential for mRNA vaccines in cancer. “The great thing about mRNA [vaccines] are the manufacturing, scalability, and cost,” he said.

He used COVID-19 as an example. Scientists from China published the molecular code for the SARS-CoV-2 virus in January 2020. This allowed scientists and pharmaceutical companies with mRNA vaccine development expertise to initiate work on creating novel mRNA vaccines specifically designed to match the virus.

“It’s really built upon decades of research and informatics because understanding what’s a good vaccine [and] what’s not a good vaccine at the protein level, and then translating to the mRNA level has been built over many decades,” Dr. Kesari explained.

He drew a parallel between COVID-19 and the challenges he faces when treating patients with brain cancer.
“Brain tumors to me is COVID every day [and] has been for 20 years, meaning there’s such an urgent need; these patients die rapidly. There are no good treatments. Obviously, COVID is a pandemic, but on a daily basis to the individual patient — we deal with those sorts of life threatening issues all the time.”
Dr. Kesari sees great potential in mRNA vaccines as part of a wider arsenal to treat his patients. The speed and ease of manufacturing make this particular vaccine platform an attractive candidate for novel treatments.
And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future
weatheriscool
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Drug acts as Trojan horse to kill cancer cells
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-06- ... cells.html
by University of Edinburgh
A light-activated drug that can enter and kill cancer and bacterial cells without harming nearby healthy cells has been tested successfully in zebrafish and cells.

Scientists found that combining the tiny cancer-killing molecule with a chemical food compound can trick cancer cells into ingesting the drug.

The molecule—called SeNBD—is smaller than existing light-sensitive treatments, which means it can pass through the cell's defenses much easier.

Researchers say further tests are needed to show if the drug is a safe and quick method of treating early stage cancers and drug-resistant bacteria. This study was carried out in zebrafish and human cells.
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'Next big wave': Radiation drugs track and kill cancer cells
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-06- ... cells.html
by Carla K. Johnson
Doctors are reporting improved survival in men with advanced prostate cancer from an experimental drug that delivers radiation directly to tumor cells.

Few such drugs are approved now, but the approach may become a new way to treat patients with other hard-to-reach or inoperable cancers.

The study tested an emerging class of medicine called radiopharmaceuticals, drugs that deliver radiation directly to cancer cells. The drug in this case is a molecule that contains two parts: a tracker and a cancer-killing payload.

Trillions of these molecules hunt down cancer cells, latching onto protein receptors on the cell membrane. The payload emits radiation, which hits the tumor cells within its range.
weatheriscool
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Pill shows benefit in certain hard-to-treat breast cancers
Source: AP

By CARLA K. JOHNSON

A pill has been shown to help keep certain early-stage, hard-to-treat breast cancers at bay after initial treatment in findings being reported early because they are so promising.

Study results were released Thursday by the American Society of Clinical Oncology ahead of its annual meeting and published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The pill, called Lynparza, was found to help breast cancer patients with harmful mutations live longer without disease after their cancers had been treated with standard surgery and chemotherapy.

It was studied in patients with mutations in genes known as BRCA1 and BRCA2 that can predispose people to breast cancer if they don’t work properly, but who did not have a gene flaw that can be targeted by the drug Herceptin.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/science-brea ... 63ef89bfe1
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Yuli Ban
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Technology used to make COVID vaccines tested to treat HIV, cancer, more
When the final Phase 3 data came out last November showing the mRNA vaccines made by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna were more than 90% effective, Dr. Anthony Fauci had no words. He texted smiley face emojis to a journalist seeking his reaction.

This astonishing efficacy has held up in real-world studies in the US, Israel and elsewhere. The mRNA technology -- developed for its speed and flexibility as opposed to expectations it would provide strong protection against an infectious disease -- has pleased and astonished even those who already advocated for it.
Another amazing article about the promise of mRNA vaccines, probably one of the biggest sci-tech/biomedical innovations of the past 30 years.
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weatheriscool
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Tuberculosis drug causes "power failure" in ultra-fit cancer cells
By Nick Lavars
June 02, 2021
https://newatlas.com/medical/tuberculos ... cer-cells/
Leveraging a newfound ability to identify the "fittest" metastatic cancer cells, scientists at the UK's University of Salford have discovered that an already approved drug can be deployed to cut off their fuel supply, while leaving normal healthy cells unharmed.

Metastatic cancer cells are dangerous, fast-moving cells cancer cells that have spread away from the primary site to other parts of the body where they can give rise to new tumors. These cells have often already survived chemotherapy and radiation treatments which makes tackling them difficult, though scientists continue to learn more about their behavior and how they might be targeted for better outcomes.

Research has shown that part of the reason these cells are able to resist treatments and spread throughout the body is because they are the fittest cancer cells, and therefore require relatively large amounts of energy. Building on this, the University of Salford scientists used an advanced biosensor to measure energy-carrying molecules in cells called ATP which, for the first time, enabled them to identify which of these cells are the "fittest."
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