Immunotherapy News and Research

Latest Immunotherapy News and Research

Combination of daclizumab and vaccine improves survival of breast cancer patients

A team from the Perelman School of Medicine and the Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute at the University of Pennsylvania found that the FDA-approved drug daclizumab improved the survival of breast cancer patients taking a cancer vaccine by 30 percent, compared to those patients not taking daclizumab.

17 May 2012

Age-adjusted melanoma on the rise

As the U.S. observes Skin Cancer Awareness Month in May, a report published in the April issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings has some sobering news for young adults: The incidence of melanoma increased eightfold among young women and fourfold among young men from 1970 through 2009.

16 May 2012

Combination of vaccine and letrozole effectively improves survival from breast cancer

A vaccine that targets cancer cells in combination with the drug letrozole, a standard hormonal therapy against breast cancer, significantly increased survival when tested in mice, a team of UC Davis investigators has found.

16 May 2012

Galectin Therapeutics commences Phase 1/2 trial of new treatment combination for advanced MM

Galectin Therapeutics, the leader in developing carbohydrate-based therapeutic compounds to inhibit galectin proteins for the therapy of liver fibrosis and cancer, today announced that the first patient has been dosed in a Phase 1/2 trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of a novel treatment combination for the treatment of advanced metastatic melanoma.

16 May 2012

Researchers identify new biomarker and therapeutic target for pancreatic cancer

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Moores Cancer Center have identified a new biomarker and therapeutic target for pancreatic cancer, an often-fatal disease for which there is currently no reliable method for early detection or therapeutic intervention. The paper will be published May 15 in Cancer Research.

15 May 2012

Biovest plans to file BiovaxID MAA with EMA for treatment of follicular NHL

Biovest International, Inc., a majority-owned subsidiary of Accentia Biopharmaceuticals, Inc., today announced that Biovest plans to file for marketing approval in the European Union (EU) for BiovaxID, its personalized cancer vaccine for the treatment of follicular non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, an incurable cancer of the immune system.

14 May 2012

Tips to help allergy sufferers survive the winds of spring and summer

Every spring and summer, millions of Americans dread the trip to the park or the playground and will do anything to avoid activities that trigger outdoor allergies.

14 May 2012

BioTrends tracks uptake of Yervoy and Zelboraf for advanced melanoma

BioTrends Research Group, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms for specialized biopharmaceutical issues, has released findings from the second wave of its LaunchTrends® Yervoy and Zelboraf report, in which 103 U.S.-based medical oncologists were surveyed about their current and expected treatment patterns in advanced melanoma.

11 May 2012

Treatment with IL-12 triggers T cell exhaustion in cancer patients

Rather than stimulating immune cells to more effectively battle cancerous tumors, treatment with the protein interleukin-12 (IL-12) has the opposite effect, driving these intracellular fighters to exhaustion, a Mayo Clinic study has found.

10 May 2012

Advaxis commences enrollment in ADXS-HPV Phase 1/2 study for head and neck cancer

Advaxis, Inc.,, a leader in developing the next generation of immunotherapies for cancer and infectious diseases, announced that two patients have been enrolled into REALISTIC, a Phase 1/2 study being sponsored by Cancer Research UK (CRUK) to investigate the use of ADXS-HPV for the treatment of HPV positive head and neck cancer. HPV is associated with 40-70% of head and neck cancers.

8 May 2012

Genesis Biopharma terminates previously announced proposed public offering

Genesis Biopharma, Inc., a biotechnology company developing targeted cancer immunotherapies, announced today that it is terminating its previously announced proposed public offering pursuant to a preliminary prospectus supplement and an effective shelf registration statement on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission due to market conditions.

8 May 2012

Data from Idera IMO-8400 preclinical studies for SLE and psoriasis presented at AAI meeting

Idera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced data from preclinical studies of IMO-8400, demonstrating a novel mechanism of action that may be applicable to the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and psoriasis. IMO-8400 is an inhibitor of specific Toll-like receptors (TLRs).

7 May 2012

New clues about why immune system fails to kill tumors in mice

A pioneering approach to imaging breast cancer in mice has revealed new clues about why the human immune system often fails to attack tumors and keep cancer in check. This observation, by scientists at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), may help to reveal new approaches to cancer immunotherapy.

3 May 2012

Topline, interim results from Celldex Phase 2b EMERGE study of CDX-011 for advanced breast cancer

Celldex Therapeutics, Inc. today announced that interim, topline results of the Phase 2b EMERGE study of CDX-011 in patients with advanced breast cancer will be presented in a webcast on May 23, 2012. Linda Vahdat, MD, Professor of Medicine, Chief of Solid Tumor Service and Director of the Breast Cancer Research Program at Weill Cornell Medical College and the lead investigator of the EMERGE study, will join Celldex on the webcast to discuss data from the study.

2 May 2012

Researchers use Moffitt's Total Cancer Care to create designer lymph nodes

Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center are in the first phase of creating "designer lymph nodes." Designer lymph nodes are built with specialized gene-modified cells that are injected into patients and produce a pre-planned immunologic response for cancer patients locally and then throughout their bodies. The researchers are examining a cancer vaccine "boosting" effect of the manufactured lymph nodes in patients with advanced melanoma.

30 Apr 2012

A melanoma cloaking protein

Johns Hopkins and Yale scientists have found that melanoma cells use a cloaking protein to hide from immune cells poised to attack the cancer. Nearly 40 percent of their sampling of melanoma tissues contained the B7-H1 protein, also called PD-L1, and scientists say it could be used as a target for new therapies.

26 Apr 2012

Melanomas express B7-H1 protein to hide from T-cells

26 Apr 2012

Elan first quarter total revenue increases 17% to $288.4 million

Elan Corporation, plc, today reported its first quarter 2012 financial results.

26 Apr 2012

OncoSec reports positive interim data from ElectroChemotherapy Phase IV head and neck cancer study

OncoSec Medical Inc., which is developing its advanced-stage OncoSec Medical System (OMS) ElectroOncology therapies to treat solid tumors, today announced positive interim analysis of data from 81 subjects in a Phase IV study of primary and locally recurrent squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (HNSCC) treated with OMS ElectroChemotherapy in Europe.

23 Apr 2012

New genetic signature may predict NSCLC patients at risk of relapse

A new genetic signature identified by Spanish researchers may provide doctors with robust and objective information about which patients with early stage lung cancer are at low or high risk of relapse following surgery, investigators report at the 3rd European Lung Cancer Conference in Geneva. Their work also opens new avenues for immunotherapy for lung cancer.

19 Apr 2012