Oncology & Cancer

Pembrolizumab, an immune checkpoint inhibitor, has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of patients with resectable locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma whose tumors express PD-L1 [Combined Positive Score (CPS) ≥1] as determined by an FDA-approved test.

Immunotherapy has revolutionized cancer treatment by mobilizing the immune system to attack tumor cells. Major advances, such as immune checkpoint inhibitors (notably against the PD-1 protein), have produced impressive results against certain types of cancer, including melanoma and kidney cancer.

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cells are a promising cancer therapy that are made from the patient’s own T cells, which are reprogrammed to fight their cancer. One of the limitations of CAR-T cell therapy is the ability of these cells to survive long enough to target the entire tumor.

A novel immuno-PET/CT imaging technique has identified and validated a potent biomarker for nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC). The biomarker, CD70, is highly and constantly expressed in NPCs, and CD70-targeted immuno-PET/CT has proven effective in accurately detecting primary and metastatic NPC lesions.

Scientists from the A*STAR Genome Institute of Singapore (A*STAR GIS) have developed a new artificial intelligence (AI)-based method called “Fragle” that makes tracking cancer easier and faster using blood tests.

Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are a group of disorders that typically arise in adulthood, especially after the age of 70, and their five-year survival rate is around 30%. MDS are characterized by defective maturation of blood cells in the bone marrow, leading to a range of health problems such as fatigue and recurrent infections. Without appropriate treatment, they may progress to acute myeloid leukemia, a much more severe disease.

Women with breast cancer who were also carriers of the BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation and received textured breast implants as part of their reconstructive surgery after mastectomy were 16 times more likely to develop breast-implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma (BIA-ALCL), a rare T-cell lymphoma, compared to similar women without these genetic mutations, according to a study published today in Blood Advances.

A study conducted at the Botucatu School of Medicine at São Paulo State University (FMB-UNESP) in Brazil has shown that low-dose vitamin D supplementation can increase the effectiveness of chemotherapy treatment in women with breast cancer. The results suggest that the substance could be an alternative to hard-to-access drugs that also aim to increase the response to chemotherapy.

A combination therapy that adds a recently approved drug to the current standard of care for newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) showed high rates of complete remission in an early-phase clinical trial conducted at UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and 11 other sites nationwide.

A blood-based test has acceptable accuracy for colorectal cancer detection but not for advanced precancerous lesions in an average-risk colorectal cancer screening population, according to a study published online June 2 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.