Researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Researcher Center have reportedly engineered biodegradable nanoparticles that can genetically reprogram immune cells to recognize and destroy cancer cells, without taking the immune cells out to manipulate them. The team demonstrated their idea in a proof-of-principle study published in Nature Nanotechnology. They showed that reprogrammed immune cells, or T cells, help […]
Immunotherapy
Study: Nanoparticles could improve efficacy of cancer immunotherapy
Researchers from the University of North Carolina have discovered that they can potentially improve cancer immunotherapy drugs by binding 2 compounds to a single nanoparticle. The team’s work was presented this week at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research. “Our data shows that 2 compounds on a single nanoparticle will make […]
Study: Why even targeted lung cancer therapies eventually fail
Even when patients are treated with targeted cancer therapies, many lung cancer patients suffer a recurrence. Researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory wanted to uncover how some cancers escape the power of targeted treatment. Their work was published in the journal eLife this week. The team of scientists, lead by Raffaella Sordella, found that a tiny subset […]
Study: Tethered nanoparticles help trigger cell death in cancerous tumor cells
Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a way to amplify certain types of cancer treatment by tethering nanoparticles to cancerous tumor cells. The team’s work was published in Nature Communications. The researchers found that tethered nanoparticles increase the forces exerted on the cells by phenomena such as blood flow, therefore making the cells […]
Stem cell transplants could improve insulin independence in T1D
Researchers from the City of Hope demonstrated that some patients with Type I diabetes can be cured, at least temporarily, with a stem cell transplant. The team’s work was published in Frontiers in Immunology. The trial enrolled 21 patients and found that autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation increased C-peptide levels and induced insulin independence in patients with […]
Researchers develop cargo-carrying red blood cells to improve MS and T1D in mice
Researchers from the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research modified red blood cells with disease-specific antigens to prevent and alleviate multiple sclerosis and Type I diabetes in early stage mouse models. The team’s work was published this week in PNAS. Conventional therapies for autoimmune diseases include immunosuppressants, but these drugs can desensitize the immune system’s response to pathogens. […]
Children’s National Health System highlights novel approach for cell therapy
Children’s National Health System touted data today from a Phase I dose-ranging study evaluating a cell therapy approach in patients with blood and bone marrow cancers for whom stem cell transplantation hasn’t worked. Results from the Resolve trial showed that 78% of patients responded to multi-tumor-associated antigen specific lymphocytes (TAA-L) treatment and 44% of patients […]
Genetically engineered T-cells treat leukemia in babies
Researchers in London have successfully treated leukemia in two babies, in what they are touting as the world’s first treatment of cancer using genetically engineered immune cells from donors. Two British infants, who were 11 and 16 months old, were treated using Cellectis’ CAR T-cell product, UCART19, which is an allogeneic CAR T-cell product candidate […]
Researchers develop immune cells that infiltrate tumors
Researchers from the Okayama University have developed a group of immune cells that can infiltrate tumors and deliver viral vectors, destroying them from the inside out. The team’s work was published in the journal Scientific Reports. The team developed the tumor-targeting technique using a human T-cell line known as HOZOT, which naturally targets human cancer cells. HOZOT cell […]
NantKwest launches clinical trial for natural killer cells
NantKwest Inc. (NSDQ:NK) said yesterday that the FDA approved an Investigational New Drug Application for its natural killer cell therapy phase I clinical study. The company is evaluating its genetically engineered, allogenic natural killer cell therapy in patients with cancer. The study, which NantKwest touts as the 1st of its kind, will determine the safety […]