Cancer Immunotherapy News and Research

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Higher ‘mutational burden’ of tumors predicts success rate with cancer immunotherapies

The "mutational burden," or the number of mutations present in a tumor's DNA, is a good predictor of whether that cancer type will respond to a class of cancer immunotherapy drugs known as checkpoint inhibitors, a new study led by Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center researchers shows.

21 Dec 2017

Study findings could lead to less expensive and more effective cancer treatments

The latest generation of cancer treatments spring from the discovery that the human immune system is able to beat the disease. Like Dorothy in "The Wizard of Oz," what research teams around the world have spent decades searching for was right in their own backyard all along.

20 Dec 2017

Research uncovers mechanism implicated in defective function of tumor-associated dendritic cells

A new study from The Wistar Institute revealed the mechanism implicated in the defective function of tumor-associated dendritic cells (DCs), a specialized type of immune cells that expose the antigens on their surface to activate the T cells.

15 Dec 2017

Researchers discover potential regulator essential for killer T cells to reside in tumors

Researchers report the discovery that a protein called "Runx3" programs killer T cells to establish residence in tumors and infection sites.

11 Dec 2017

CAR T cell therapy shows long-lasting remissions in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patients

In a pair of clinical trials stretching from Philadelphia to Tokyo, the chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy Kymriah (formerly known as CTL019) demonstrated long-lasting remissions in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) patients.

11 Dec 2017

Immune-boosting drug combination may hold promise for treating ovarian cancer

Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center researchers demonstrated that mice with ovarian cancer that received drugs to reactivate dormant genes along with other drugs that activate the immune system had a greater reduction of tumor burden and significantly longer survival than those that received any of the drugs alone.

5 Dec 2017

New treatment aims to target abnormally shaped protein in deadly childhood brain cancer

Children with an extremely deadly form of brain cancer might benefit from a new treatment that aims to direct an immune response against an abnormally shaped protein found exclusively on cancer cells, according to a new study led by UC San Francisco researchers.

4 Dec 2017

SITC releases first consensus recommendations on managing immunotherapy side effects

The first consensus recommendations on recognition and clinical management of immune-related side effects from cancer immunotherapy are published today in the Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer.

22 Nov 2017

Researchers find new way to boost cancer-destroying ability of T-cells

Researchers at Cardiff University have found a way to boost the cancer-destroying ability of the immune system's T-cells, offering new hope in the fight against a wide range of cancers.

20 Nov 2017

Study shows how naïve T-cells may affect tumor immunity and immunotherapy

The immune cells that are trained to fight off the body's invaders can become defective. It's what allows cancer to develop. So most research has targeted these co-called effector T-cells.

17 Nov 2017

CHLA receives more than $1 million from St. Baldrick's Foundation for cancer research

Three physician-researchers with the Children's Center for Cancer and Blood Diseases at Children's Hospital Los Angeles have been awarded more than $1 million in grants from the St. Baldrick's Foundation, the largest private funder of childhood cancer research.

14 Nov 2017

Study identifies novel mechanism by which tumors can resist cancer immunotherapy

A Ludwig Cancer Research study led by Benoit Van den Eynde, Director of Ludwig Brussels, has identified a novel mechanism by which tumors of the aggressive skin cancer melanoma can resist cancer immunotherapy.

10 Nov 2017

Novel mathematical model can predict how cancer patient will benefit from immunotherapies

Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have created the first mathematical model that can predict how a cancer patient will benefit from certain immunotherapies, according to a study published in Nature.

9 Nov 2017

Researchers find way to improve immunotherapy drugs’ impact while limiting side effects

By connecting highly effective cancer immunotherapy drugs such as anti-CTLA4 (ipilimumab) and anti-PD-L1 (atezolizumab) to peptides that bind to tissues in and around tumors, a research team based at the University of Chicago found a way to improve the drugs' impact while limiting treatment-related side effects.

9 Nov 2017

Scientists uncover mechanism that prevents tumor growth in melanoma

Natural Killer (NK) cells, lymphocytes of the innate immune system with strong cytotoxic activity, play a major role in the immune response against tumors.

8 Nov 2017

Chronic liver inflammation promotes cancer by suppressing immunosurveillance, study finds

Chronic inflammation is known to drive many cancers, especially liver cancer. Researchers have long thought that's because inflammation directly affects cancer cells, stimulating their division and protecting them from cell death.

8 Nov 2017

New category of immunotherapy appears safe to use in patients with both cancer and HIV

A new category of immunotherapies called checkpoint inhibitors that has been highly effective against many different cancers appears safe to use in patients with both advanced malignancies and HIV, a population excluded from earlier trials of such therapies, according to an early-phase trial.

7 Nov 2017

Gut bacteria can influence how cancer responds to immunotherapy

Bacteria that live in the human digestive tract can influence how cancer responds to immunotherapy, opening a new avenue for research to improve treatment, a team led by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reports in the journal Science.

2 Nov 2017

Researchers uncover surprising immune cell activity that may explain limitations of immunotherapy

Researchers have uncovered a surprising process within a key immune cell that may help explain the limitations of immunotherapy as a cancer treatment.

31 Oct 2017

Canadian and Israeli researchers join forces for new research program

The Joint Canada-Israel Health Research Program is a seven-year, CA$35 million partnership between the Azrieli Foundation, Canada's International Development Research Centre, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and the Israel Science Foundation that draws on the scientific strengths of Canadian and Israeli researchers in the broad field of biomedicine.

30 Oct 2017