The South African coronavirus variant is better at “breaking through” the defences of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine than other forms of the virus, Israeli experts said Sunday.
Pubs, hairdressers set to reopen as UK eases virus lockdown
Millions of people in Britain will get their first chance in months for haircuts, casual shopping and restaurant meals on Monday, as the government takes the next step on its lockdown-lifting road map.
Mutant KRAS and p53 cooperate to drive pancreatic cancer metastasis
Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have discovered that mutant KRAS and p53, the most frequently mutated genes in pancreatic cancer, interact through the CREB1 protein to promote metastasis and tumor growth. Blocking CREB1 in preclinical models reversed these effects and reduced metastases, suggesting an important new therapeutic target for the …
Immune-stimulating drug before surgery shows promise in early-stage pancreatic cancer
Giving early-stage pancreatic cancer patients a CD40 immune-stimulating drug helped jumpstart a T cell attack to the notoriously stubborn tumor microenvironment before surgery and other treatments, according to a new study from researchers in the Abramson Cancer Center (ACC) at the University of Pennsylvania. Changing the microenvironment from so-called T cell “poor” to T cell …
Level of chromosomal abnormality in lung cancer may predict immunotherapy response
Patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose cancer cells have low levels of aneuploidy—an abnormal number of chromosomes—tend to respond better to immune checkpoint inhibitor drugs than patients with higher levels, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers will report at the virtual AACR Annual Meeting 2021.
Personalized cancer vaccine is safe, shows potential benefit against cancer
A personalized cancer vaccine developed with the help of a Mount Sinai computational platform raised no safety concerns and showed potential benefit in patients with different cancers, including lung and bladder, that have a high risk of recurrence, according to results from an investigator-initiated phase I clinical trial presented during the virtual American Association for …
New CAR T approach minimizes resistance, helps avoid relapse in non-Hodgkin’s B-cell lymphoma
Early results from a new, pioneering chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell immunotherapy trial led by researchers at the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center found using a bilateral attack instead of the conventional single-target approach helps minimizes treatment resistance, resulting in long-lasting remission for people with non-Hodgkin’s B-cell lymphoma that has come back or has …
Thailand hits new daily record with nearly 1,000 virus cases
Thailand’s Health Ministry warned Sunday that restrictions may need to be tightened to slow the spread of a fresh coronavirus wave, as the country hit a daily record for new cases.
Brazil’s virus outlook darkens amid vaccine supply snags
April is shaping up to be Brazil’s darkest month yet in the pandemic, with hospitals struggling with a crush of patients, deaths on track for record highs and few signs of a reprieve from a troubled vaccination program in Latin America’s largest nation.
The impact of chemotherapy on immune cells in the tumor microenvironment
Research from Queen Mary University of London has revealed novel insights into the effects of chemotherapy on the tumour microenvironment (TME). The study, published today in Cancer Immunology Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, found that chemotherapy enhances the anti-tumour actions of immune cells within the TME and their ability to …