Augmenix Inc. said today that long-term outcomes data from the company’s phase III clinical trial evaluating its hydrogel spacer, SpaceOAR, were published in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology and Physics. The spacer is designed to separate the rectum and prostate during prostate cancer radiotherapy, according to the Waltham, Mass.-based company. The newly published data were […]
Oncology
Provectus axes CEO Culpepper for expense account violations
Provectus Biopharmaceuticals Inc. (OTCQB:PVCT) said this week that its board of directors voted unanimously to terminate CEO and chief operating officer Peter Culpepper, after an internal investigation revealed that Culpepper violated the company’s expense account reimbursement policy. The Knoxville, Tenn.-based company said it has established a search committee and is actively seeking a new CEO. […]
Researchers develop nanodiscs to deliver personalized cancer therapy
Researchers from the University of Michigan have developed nanodiscs that deliver a customized therapeutic vaccine to treat colon and melanoma cancer in mice. The team’s work was published in Nature Materials. “We are basically educating the immune system with these nanodiscs so that immune cells can attack cancer cells in a personalized manner,” senior author James Moon said […]
Bristol-Myers, PsiOxus land licensing agreement
Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) said today that it landed an exclusive licensing agreement for PsiOxus Therapeutics‘ ‘armed’ oncolytic virus, NG-348, for the treatment of solid tumors. According to the agreement, Bristol-Myers will pay PsiOxus $50 million upfront and will assume responsibility for global clinical development and commercialization. PsiOxus will be eligible for $886 million in development, regulatory and […]
Study: Laser-activated deep-sea drug kills prostate cancer
Researchers from the Weizmann Institute of Science and Steba Biotech have reportedly developed a light-sensitive drug derived from deep-sea bacteria that has been shown to kill cancer cells in low-risk prostate cancer patients without affecting healthy tissue. The team’s work was published in Lancet Oncology. Vascular-targeted photodynamic therapy, VTP, utilizes a drug called WST11 which was […]
Japan approves Novocure’s Optune brain cancer treatment
Novocure (NSDQ:NVCR) said today that the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has approved its tumor treating fields delivery system, Optune, for adult patients with supra-tentorial glioblastoma following surgery and radiation therapy. The St. Helier, N.J.-based company is expected to submit an application for public reimbursement of the device in Japan for newly diagnosed […]
Researchers use nanoparticles to overcome treatment-resistant breast cancer
Researchers from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine have developed RNA nanoparticles that show promise in overcoming treatment-resistant breast cancer. The team’s work was published in ACS Nano. The researchers used a nanocarrier to target HER2-positive breast cancer and stop the production of a specific protein to prevent metastasis and render the cancer cells vulnerable to tamoxifen, […]
Rewired immune cells respond as targeted cancer therapy
Researchers from Northwestern University have developed a method to rewire immune cells by genetically modifying the cells to sense molecules secreted by tumors and respond by activating the immune system. The team’s work is described in a study published this month in Nature Chemical Biology. Although immunotherapy is growing in popularity among cancer researchers, tumors secrete […]
National cancer group recommends Sirtex’s microspheres for metastatic colorectal cancer
Sirtex Medical (ASX:SRX) said yesterday that the National Comprehensive Cancer Network has recommended the company’s radioactive microspheres in its Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology for colon cancer and rectal cancer. The NCCN panel uniformly agreed that selective internal radiation therapy with yttrium-90 microspheres is an option for patients with metastatic, chemotherapy resistant colorectal cancer. The recommendation was […]
Novocure touts positive TTFields data for pancreatic, ovarian cancer
Novocure (NSDQ:NVCR) shares were up 6% after hours yesterday after the company released positive data for its “tumor treating fields” combined with chemotherapy for pancreatic and ovarian cancer. The St. Helier, N.J.-based company’s TTFields are low-intensity, alternating electric fields meant to inhibit cancer cell replication and cause cell death. Novocure presented data from its phase II […]