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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

Study reveals link between cancer relapse and body’s immune system

Results from a new study conducted at the Institute of Cancer Research, London, suggests cancer cells that remain in the body after treatment, utilize the immune system of the body to wake themselves up and boost their growth.

17 Oct 2017

First-ever treatment for Merkel cell carcinoma receives approval in Japan

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, and Pfizer Inc. today announced that the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare (MHLW) has approved BAVENCIO (avelumab, genetically recombinant Injection 200mg/mL for intravenous use) as the first and only treatment indicated for curatively unresectable Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC), a rare and aggressive cancer, in Japan.

27 Sep 2017

Novel assay shows potential to detect circulating cancer biomarkers in blood samples

Future Science Group today announced the publication of an article in Future Science OA presenting early data from a novel assay for the non-invasive detection of PD-L1 and other biomarkers in patient blood samples.

22 Sep 2017

Researchers explore new combination approach to treat high-risk soft-tissue sarcomas

University of Maryland School of Medicine researchers are investigating a new approach to treat high-risk soft-tissue sarcomas by combining two immunotherapy drugs with radiation therapy to stimulate the immune system to destroy the main tumor as well as leftover microscopic cancer cells that may seed other tumors.

20 Sep 2017

Combination immunotherapy as second or third line treatment of mesothelioma shows promising results

Combination immunotherapy as second or third line treatment extends overall survival to at least 15 months in patients with pleural malignant mesothelioma, according to late-breaking results from the MAPS2 trial presented today at the ESMO 2017 Congress in Madrid.

11 Sep 2017

Study: Immunotherapy shows promising response rate in patients with metastatic gastric cancer

Pembrolizumab has shown a promising response rate in patients with pretreated metastatic gastric cancer, according to late-breaking results from the KEYNOTE-059 trial presented today at the ESMO 2017 Congress in Madrid.

8 Sep 2017

New method of genetic testing leads to successful targeting of MET fusion in lung cancer

There are many ways a gene can be altered and there are many genes that, when altered, can cause cancer. Testing individually for each possible alteration in every cancer-related gene is not feasible as it would require hundreds of individual tests and many, many thousands of dollars.

31 Aug 2017

Review highlights significant progress in developing new biologic drugs to treat colorectal cancer

New biologic drugs, such as monoclonal antibodies and immunotherapies in clinical development, designed to target metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) and stimulate the immune system to destroy tumor cells are a significant advance in treatment over conventional chemotherapy.

29 Aug 2017

Scientists develop new chimeric antibody to treat malignant cancers in dogs

Scientists have developed a new chimeric antibody that suppresses malignant cancers in dogs, showing promise for safe and effective treatment of intractable cancers.

26 Aug 2017

Combination treatment effectively vaccinates mice against cancer

By combining an FDA-approved cancer immunotherapy with an emerging tumor-roasting nanotechnology, Duke University researchers improved the efficacy of both therapies in a proof-of-concept study using mice.

18 Aug 2017

Immunotherapy drug shows favorable safety profile in patients with advanced small cell lung cancer

The immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab has demonstrated a favorable safety profile and "promising durable clinical activity" in pretreated patients who exhibit high levels of the PD-L1 protein in advanced stages of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) – an aggressive form of the disease

16 Aug 2017

DKFZ scientists reveal how cancer cells suppress immune system to spread and multiply

The degenerated cells cause an inflammatory reaction and influence other blood cells with it so much, that the immune system is suppressed.

28 Jul 2017

Study: Response to combination immunotherapy in melanoma depends on proportion of immune cells

Whether a melanoma patient will better respond to a single immunotherapy drug or two in combination depends on the abundance of certain white blood cells within their tumors, according to a new study conducted by UC San Francisco researchers joined by physicians from UCSF Health.

20 Jul 2017

Scientists develop potential new therapy for targeting skin cancer metastases in the brain

Investigators from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute have a potential solution for how to kill tumor cells that have metastasized to the brain.

10 Jul 2017

Scientists create 'immunoswitch' particles that slow cancer growth in test animals

Scientists at Johns Hopkins have created a nanoparticle that carries two different antibodies capable of simultaneously switching off cancer cells' defensive properties while switching on a robust anticancer immune response in mice.

8 Jun 2017

Researchers find new way to improve T-cell therapy for treating cancer

Scientists have armed immune cells with a new surface molecule. This causes the cells to respond particularly aggressively when they encounter a protein that tumors actually use to camouflage themselves from the immune system.

8 Jun 2017

Two-pronged algorithm may prove to be accurate tool for predicting response to checkpoint inhibitors

The class of immunotherapies known as checkpoint inhibitors have proven to be a highly effective and advantageous treatment option for many cancer patients, but they don't work well for everyone, and oncologists have no reliable way to determine in advance which patients are likely to respond to these drugs.

7 Jun 2017

Novel vaccine therapy can generate immune responses in patients with HPV-related head and neck cancer

A novel vaccine therapy can generate immune responses in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCCa), according to researchers at the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania.

31 May 2017

FDA grants accelerated approval to cancer treatment based on common biomarker

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today granted accelerated approval to a treatment for patients whose cancers have a specific genetic feature (biomarker).

23 May 2017