Breast cancer

Immunotherapy is a promising avenue for cancer treatment, but it has trouble against solid tumors without triggering major side effects. Now, researchers have developed a new form of the treatment that supercharges a different type of immune cell.

A simple home test for breast cancer and a UV energy-harvesting window made of recycled materials are the big winners of this year’s James Dyson Awards. The annual competition encourages university students to develop innovative solutions to problems.

Researchers in Germany have developed a new drug that can act like a shredder for proteins implicated in causing cancer. In tests on lab-grown cancer cells, the drug worked to kill the tumors, suggesting a new pathway to a treatment for the disease.

A groundbreaking discovery made by scientists in Australia has demonstrated how an ingredient in honeybee venom can be used as an “extremely potent” weapon against breast cancer, with a synthetic version found to be similarly effective.

The long-term results of a massive international trial, spanning almost two decades, has shown a single session of a novel form of radiotherapy is as effective in treating most breast cancers as a conventional radiotherapy plan lasting several weeks.

“Synthetic lethality” is where genetic mutations that normally don’t harm a cell become deadly when paired up. Now, scientists have found a way to use this to selectively kill off cancer caused by genetic mutations, without harming healthy cells.

University of Pennsylvania scientists have demonstrated how a glowing dye can be used to light up cancer cells in tumors and the lymph nodes of dogs, which they say offers hope for improved surgical outcomes in humans.

Adding to the burgeoning potential of ultrasound to treat cancer is a new study that combines the technology with microbubbles, which can be blasted apart like a “targeted warhead” to destroy the majority of tumor cells in breast cancer models.

Part of what makes cancer so deadly is its ability to rapidly spread to other parts of the body. Now, researchers at Tulane University have identified a pair of genes that helps triple negative breast cancer spread – and found how to switch them off.

Scientists at Harvard have come up with a new way to supercharge immune cells that are one of our key defenses against cancerous cells, equipping them with a type of “backpack” that slows tumor growth in mice with an aggressive form of breast cancer.

The FDA has approved two new kinds of breast cancer treatments, one targeting HER2-positive cancers and a second for metastatic triple-negative breast cancer. The approval for both treatments was expedited due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

A new study has shown that an experimental class of cancer drugs has wider potential than previously thought. Researchers have found a new type of BET inhibitor that, in mouse tests, can target solid tumors more effectively and safely than others.