Immunotherapy News and Research

Latest Immunotherapy News and Research

Chemotherapy for brain tumors is boosted after vaccine targets resistance-related TRP-2 antigen

In the August issue of the journal Oncogene, researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center's Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute describe a molecular mechanism that appears to make malignant brain tumors more vulnerable to chemotherapy after they have been treated with the dendritic cell vaccine.

13 Jun 2005

Dendritic cell vaccination can dramatically speed up the immunization process

Parents often wonder why it takes a year or more and multiple shots to fully immunize their children against diseases like diphtheria and pertussis.

12 Jun 2005

Targepeutics issued new U.S patent

Targepeutics has announced the issuance of U.S. Patent No. 6,884,603 for its genetically modified, mutated Interleukin 13 (IL-13) technology platform for the treatment of malignant glioma, a brain tumor (17,500 people annually; $200 million annual market).

31 May 2005

Intralesional immunotherapy for common warts is effective and safe

Injection of skin test antigens (preparations used in skin tests for immunity) into warts appears to stimulate the immune system and successfully treat the injected wart and also helps to treat distant non-injected warts, according to a study in the May issue of Archives of Dermatology.

16 May 2005

Discovery may pave way for immunotherapies for prostate cancer

Using a common chemotherapy agent, researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center and the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine found a way to move an important biomarker expressed in prostate cancer, shaking it loose from one location in a cell – where it could not be accessed by blood – to another, easier to target area.

11 May 2005

Vaccine developed at Rockefeller University boosts natural killer T cells in patients with cancer

A new vaccine designed at The Rockefeller University boosted a type of fast-responding immune system cell called the natural killer T (NKT) cell in patients with advanced cancer. The study surprised researchers by revealing the ability of these NKT cells to spur other, slower-responding immune cells to go to work.

4 May 2005

Scientists use tobacco plants to create antibodies against tumor cells

Scientists at Jefferson Medical College are using tobacco plants to produce monoclonal antibodies – tiny guided protein missiles – that can target and hunt down cancer cells. The plants promise to provide a cheaper, faster method of producing anticancer antibodies, raising hopes that the technology can one day be used in humans.

3 May 2005

Generex begins testing new vaccine for breast cancer patients

Generex Biotechnology Corporation announced today that the first patients had received a novel therapeutic vaccine developed by its wholly owned subsidiary, Antigen Express as part of the Company's Phase I Trial. The Trial will include between 16 and 24 patients.

28 Apr 2005

Australian researchers develop West Nile virus treatment

A University of Queensland researcher has developed the world's first specific immunotherapy product using monoclonal antibodies for the potentially lethal West Nile virus, which causes seasonal epidemics around the globe.

26 Apr 2005

Cancer patients may one day benefit from treatment with mixtures of customized antibodies

In a study published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA), a team of Weizmann Institute scientists have demonstrated how the right combination might form a web that destroys the cancer cell's communication network, ultimately demobilizing the cell.

22 Apr 2005

Cells that might be able to suppres cat allergies

In a paper in this month's premier open-access medical journal PLoS Medicine, Mark Larche and colleagues from Imperial College London describe a subset of cells that might be able to suppress cells that cause cat allergy.

29 Mar 2005

Progress toward development of a breast cancer vaccine

Progress toward development of a breast cancer vaccine has been reported by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine and the Siteman Cancer Center in St. Louis.

8 Mar 2005

Nuclear reactor as a cancer cure

Despite the millions of dollars that have been invested into research to improve methods of treatments for various types of cancer, oncological diseases continue to have a high mortality rate, remaining one of the main causes of death globally. Traditional cancer treatment methods, such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and radiotherapy are effective in approximately only half of all patients.

3 Mar 2005

Radiopharmaceuticals and lasers produce sound to treat and detect cancerous moles

When treating skin cancer, differentiating between melanoma and healthy moles can be difficult. Doctors must know the shape of the cancer and how deep it is before treating the problem. Now, a skin care specialist at the University of Missouri-Columbia has teamed with MU engineering and internal medicine professors to develop a better identification and treatment process.

1 Mar 2005

Some immune cells are smarter than others killing more cancer

In efforts to educate the body to fight off cancer, researchers have found that some immune cells are "smarter" than others. Working with collections of human cells, Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center scientists tested kill-rates of two kinds of T-cells "primed" to home in on myeloma, a cancer of the bone marrow. Those that live in the bone marrow outperformed their counterparts circulating in the blood by more than 90 percent.

1 Mar 2005

Benitec announces AIDS collaboration

Benitec today announced a collaboration with City of Hope (based in Duarte California) to develop a novel T-cell based therapy for AIDS patients.

22 Feb 2005

Solbec announces pre-clinical study to confirm findings into the effect of Coramsine combined with CpG in the treatment of murine mesothelioma

Solbec Pharmaceuticals Ltd has announced the commencement of a pre-clinical study to confirm and extend the findings of an earlier investigation into the effect of Coramsine™ combined with CpG in the treatment of murine mesothelioma.

3 Feb 2005

Research may provide the basis for development of a new, extensive immunotherapy for human tumors

Scientists have made significant progress towards understanding how the immune system can be more specifically and efficiently targeted against cancer cells. The research, published in the January issue of Immunity, may provide the basis for development of a new, extensive immunotherapy for human tumors.

26 Jan 2005

Why the Mediterranean diet appers to protect against breast cancer

U.S. researchers have uncovered reasons why the Mediterranean diet, with its high intake of oleic acid-rich olive oil, seems to protect against breast cancer. They have also found evidence that oleic acid may have a future role in treatment. The findings are reported (Monday 10 January) in Annals of Oncology.

9 Jan 2005

Key molecule helps identify renal cell carcinoma

Mayo Clinic researchers have discovered a key molecule that lets doctors identify one of the most aggressive types of kidney cancer. Patients with renal cell carcinoma who have higher levels of a molecule known as B7-H1 in their tumors are nearly five times more likely to die from the disease than patients with low levels or an absence of the molecule.

30 Nov 2004