An update on the latest oncology developments by DDW Digital Content Editor Diana Spencer
The last month has seen huge strides forward in our understanding of cancers, particularly in how they develop resistance to therapies and how we can ‘outsmart’ them using gene editing or different therapeutic pathways, but also how we can better target drugs to individuals and accurately predict treatment outcomes.
Study reveals how stomach cancers develop drug resistance
Scientists have shown how stomach cancers can develop resistance to a new class of drugs called ATR inhibitors by switching off the activity of two key genes – raising the possibility of outsmarting cancer by predicting drug resistance in advance.
‘Click’ chemistry used to tag proteins made by cancer cells
A new method to study the proteins released by cells, which could lead to new biomarkers for diseases including cancer, has been developed by scientists at the Francis Crick Institute and Imperial College London.
Epigenetics vital in predicting cancer drug outcomes
Cancers can evolve to become more aggressive without relying only on DNA mutations, two major studies have revealed.
Targeted colon cancer treatment overcomes chemotherapy resistance
A team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) has found a way to overcome chemotherapy resistance in colorectal cancer.
Merck and Moderna to develop personalised cancer vaccine
Merck (MSD) and Moderna have revealed plans to work together on the development and commercialisation of an investigational personalised cancer vaccine.