Cancer

Thousands of US lawsuits claiming that the heartburn drug Zantac caused cancer have been dismissed on the basis that they are not backed by sound science.  The ruling against around 50,000 claims was made by US District Judge Robin Rosenberg in West Palm Beach, Florida. The manufacturers have repeatedly asserted that Zantac does not cause […]

CAR-T therapy can be used to eliminate unwanted cells that cause autoimmunity, according to the results of a new study in mice with an autoimmune disease similar to multiple sclerosis (MS).  CAR-T, which uses genetically altered immune cells to destroy cancer cells, has revolutionised treatment of some blood cancers since it was introduced in 2017.  […]

Cancer Research UK’s innovation engine, Cancer Research Horizons, and Newcastle University, have agreed an extension of their strategic drug discovery alliance with Astex Pharmaceuticals.  The alliance will continue to focus on the discovery of potential new cancer drugs with associated biomarkers, with the aim of providing an innovative route to the development of more effective […]

Cancer is supported by complex ecosystems within the body which can be disrupted by cutting-edge new treatments and cures, cancer researchers have concluded.  The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust have revealed plans to direct research against the cells, signals and immune response in the tissue environment that nurtures […]

The latest episode of the DDW Highlights podcast is now available to listen to below. DDW’s Megan Thomas narrates five key stories of the week to keep DDW subscribers up-to-date on the latest industry updates.  This week started with World Diabetes Day on 14 November and concluded with the start of World Antimicrobial Awareness Week, which aims to […]

News round-up for 14-18 November by DDW Digital Content Editor Diana Spencer.  This week started with World Diabetes Day on 14 November and concluded with the start of World Antimicrobial Awareness Week, which aims to improve education and understanding of the growing issue of antimicrobial resistance.  There were also exciting developments in the field of […]

This is the latest episode of the free DDW podcast, “The next steps in the fight against cancer”. It covers two articles written for Volume 22, Issue 4 – Fall 2021 of DDW. They are called “Accelerating research: the path forward for treating rare cancers” and “Inside combination immunotherapies for cancer”. RareCan is a new […]

Triumvira Immunologics has revealed positive clinical data from its ongoing TACTIC‑2 Phase I/II trial of TAC01-HER2 in patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) positive solid tumours.  These interim data demonstrate that TAC01-HER2 is well-tolerated and clinical activity was observed in the two higher dosing cohorts, with a 67% disease control rate in cohort […]

DynamiCure has dosed the first patients in its Phase I clinical trial evaluating the first of the company’s two anti-CD93 monoclonal antibody candidates, DCBY02, in adults with a wide range of advanced cancers.  CD93 is a novel target downstream of VEGF-A (vascular endothelial growth factor) that has been shown to play a critical role in […]

An experimental therapeutic cancer vaccine induced immune system responses that led to significant tumour regression in mice, according to investigators from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.    The researchers found that intravenous (IV) administration of the vaccine SNAPvax boosted the number of cytotoxic T cells […]

The latest episode of the DDW Highlights podcast is now available to listen to below. DDW’s Megan Thomas narrates five key stories of the week to keep DDW subscribers up-to-date on the latest industry updates.  This week we learned the shocking statistic that a third of scientific researchers have, or know a close colleague who has, […]

New research about how cancer-related proteins bind copper ions opens up potential new drug targets to treat cancer.   Studies have shown that the level of copper in tumour cells and blood serum from cancer patients is elevated, and the conclusion is that cancer cells need more copper than healthy cells. Higher levels of copper also […]

News round-up for 7-11 November by DDW Digital Content Editor Diana Spencer  This week we learned the shocking statistic that a third of scientific researchers have, or know a close colleague who has, experienced abuse after posting research online.  It wasn’t all bad news, however, as top pharma CEOs committed to reducing the industry’s carbon emissions and a […]

Scientists have uncovered a critical feature that a promising new class of cancer drugs, known as CELMoDs, needs to be effective.  CELMoDs are designed to attack cancer by binding to a regulatory protein called cereblon, which then triggers the degradation of key cancer-driving proteins.   In the study, reported in Science, researchers discovered that these drugs, […]

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 […]

Cancers can evolve to become more aggressive without relying only on DNA mutations, two major studies have revealed.  The research characterises an extra level of control of cancer gene activity within tumours, which the researchers describe as cancer’s ‘dark matter’.  The two studies showed how a level of gene control called ‘epigenetics’ plays a central […]