Immunotherapy

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, so they say. Scientists have now demonstrated a new potential cancer vaccine that involves injections of dormant tumor cells to stimulate the immune system and help prevent the onset of cancer.

Researchers have demonstrated a new technique to fight cancer by attaching immunotherapy drugs to a molecule that seeks out the acidic environment of cancer cells. In tests in mice, a single dose was enough to eradicate even advanced tumors.

Scientists have genetically modified a strain of the herpes virus to act as a cancer-killing agent in humans. Findings from an initial human trial are encouraging, with the experimental treatment proving safe and promisingly effective.

Scientists have reported that five patients undergoing an experimental treatment for lupus have all entered remission for up to 17 months. The promising breakthrough came from the use of CAR T cell immunotherapy, increasingly used to treat cancer.

Scientists at the University of California San Francisco have found a way to fight one of the most common cancer-causing mutations. The new drug puts up an “eat me” marker that can help the immune system or other drugs find and kill the cancer.

During long-term battles with cancer or infection, immune cells can become exhausted. Now, researchers have identified a specific molecule that helps certain T cells refresh themselves, which could unlock more effective immunotherapy.

By using advanced screening methods to tune into the communications taking place between individual cells, scientists have produced a full connectivity map of the human immune system, which may help develop new treatments for disease.

Scientists have developed a new light-activated “photoimmunotherapy” that could help treat brain cancer. The key is a compound that glows under light to guide surgeons to the tumor, while near-infrared light activates a cancer-killing mechanism.

Researchers have found that adding a booster protein can significantly improve the outcome of cancer immunotherapy. Tests in mice showed the protein produced 10,000 times more cancer-targeting immune cells, with all mice surviving the experiment.

A newly developed technology makes use of microbubbles and ultrasound to deliver immunotherapy drugs with great potency, significantly reducing primary and metastatic tumor growth in mouse models of breast cancer.

Type 1 diabetes can be a rare but serious side effect of a cancer treatment that use what are known as immune checkpoint inhibitors. In a new study in mice, researchers in Japan have shown that administering stem cell therapy could help prevent this.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most deadly forms of the disease, resistant to many treatments. Now, scientists have identified how the tumors protect themselves so well – and more importantly, found a way to potentially bust through those defenses.