tumors

The energy needs of glioblastoma cells are met through the conversion of carbohydrates to fats. An investigational drug named YTX-7739 disrupts this process. In mice with glioblastoma, YTX-7739 was found to slow down tumor growth and enhance the susceptibility of glioblastoma cells to anticancer treatments.In mouse studies, the drug was found to delay the growth of tumors and enhance the sensitivity of glioblastoma cells to anticancer treatments.Due to its highly aggressive and lethal nature, glioblastoma, a type of brain…

After grad school, Zhang founded GeoTomo, a company that uses imaging technologies to search for energy resources underground. He soon realized that similar technology could be used on a smaller scale to examine the human body. In 1999, he founded Miles Medical, setting the stage for his dual career.  In 2011 he returned to China and founded the Geophysical Research Institute at the University of Science and Technology in Hefei, where he is a professor of geophysics. His connections there led to the launch of EARTHX, an…

Melanoma is a type of skin cancer that develops in the cells (melanocytes) that produce pigment in the skin. It is a more aggressive form of skin cancer and can spread (metastasize) to other parts of the body if not detected and treated early.A team of scientists from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine has found the missing puzzle piece in the mystery of how melanoma tumors control their mortality.In a paper published in Science, they describe how they identified the specific genetic changes that allow tumors…

Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital have found a way to use cancer cells to fight cancer. In a study published in Science Translational Medicine, the team led by Khalid Shah demonstrated that their cell therapy could eliminate established tumors and create long-term immunity in an advanced mouse model of glioblastoma, a type of brain cancer. The vaccine works by training the immune system to prevent cancer from returning. These results are encouraging and suggest that this approach may be effective in treating…

Scientists at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) have found a way to fight cancer with cancer. The team genetically engineered cancer cells to release anti-cancer drugs at the site of established tumors, as well as stimulating the immune system against the disease. Tests in mice proved promising as both a therapy and a preventative vaccine.Cancer vaccines are an emerging area of research, where patients are often administered inactive tumor cells or proteins expressed at high levels by cancer cells. This trains the immune…

Our bodies harbor countless microbes—and so do our tumors, it turns out. Over the past 5 years, researchers have shown cancer tissue contains entire communities of bacteria and fungi. Now, it appears some of the bacteria may be cancer’s accomplices. In a paper in Nature this week, a team led by Susan Bullman of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center reports that in oral and colorectal tumors, bacteria live inside cancer cells and boost their production of proteins…

Researchers at Columbia University and New York Presbyterian have developed an implantable pump that can continuously deliver chemotherapy drugs directly into the brain to fight hard-to-treat cancer. In a phase 1b trial, patients were able to undergo the therapy while going about their day-to-day activities.The blood vessels that feed the brain are very selective about what molecules get through. While this blood-brain barrier is important for keeping microbes and foreign material out of the brain, unfortunately most…

By University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center November 10, 2022In this series of illustrations, the immune cell does not initially recognize the cancer cell. After BiTN particles (red), which include the “eat me” signal (teal), are attached to the cancer cell, the immune cell recognizes the cell to ingest it. Credit: The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer CenterPreclinical study uses nanoparticles to attach immune-activating molecules to tumors, sensitizing them to immunotherapy.Scientists have developed a…

In a new step for Crispr, scientists have used the gene-editing tool to make personalized modifications to cancer patients’ immune cells to supercharge them against their tumors. In a small study published today in the journal Nature, a US team showed that the approach was feasible and safe, but was successful only in a handful of patients.Cancer arises when cells acquire genetic mutations and divide uncontrollably. Every cancer is driven by a unique set of mutations, and each person has immune cells with receptors that…

Researchers have managed to create a cancer-killing patch that turns light into heat and “cooks” cancer cells until they die. The patch, which researchers first detailed in a paper published in Advanced Functional Materials, can heat up melanoma cells and kill them. It’s a treatment that kills the cancerous cells but leaves the other cells around it unharmed. Finding new ways to treat cancer effectively has been at the top of scientists’ and medical professionals’ goals for the past decade. And we’ve come up…