A recent study published in Nature Genetics called “Tumor mutational load predicts survival after immunotherapy across multiple cancer types” revealed that tumors with more mutations had better results with immunotherapy treatment. The study looked at data from 1,662 metastatic cancer patients who received checkpoint inhibitor therapy, and data from over 5,000 patients who were not treated […]
Continue readingA research team from the University of Maryland is utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) to determine the most effective ways to treat cancer patients with immunotherapy. Immunotherapy takes advantage of the body’s own immune system to fight off cancer, and in the past decade, it has been very successful in treating patients with localized and advanced […]
Continue readingThe ORIENT-15 Phase 3 clinical trial evaluating Tyvyt (sintilimab injection) combined with chemotherapies Taxol (paclitaxel) and Platinol (cisplatin) as treatment for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma is now underway. Tyvyt was developed by Innovent Biologics and Eli Lilly and Company in China as an immune checkpoint inhibitor that will work against PD-1, a protein found on […]
Continue readingLast September, 22 people made history as they joined together to celebrate accomplishing the impossible: surviving late-stage cancer. Traveling back to the place where their healing journeys began — CHIPSA Hospital in Tijuana, Mexico — the cancer survivors had the chance to share their stories, meet other patients, and converse with world-renowned doctors, scientists, coaches, and […]
Continue reading2018 saw tremendous improvements in immunotherapy methods that led to positive results for cancer patients all around the United States. 2019 promises even more advancements, and new strategies aim to increase these effective responses. The key to garnering even better immunotherapy results in 2019 will be using combination therapies. Two methods in particular will be front […]
Continue readingAfter the FDA approved Opdivo to treat non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in March of 2015, it replaced cytotoxic chemotherapy as the main method of treatment for the disease. Immunotherapy has since become preferable to chemotherapy, as many new checkpoint inhibitors have also been FDA-approved. But because many immunotherapy treatments were introduced to the lab […]
Continue readingThe way we understand cancer treatment in the U.S. is changing. This year’s Nobel prizes in medicine honored new scientific breakthroughs that suggest we may be close to finding a cure for cancer. One of the Nobel-prize winners, Dr. James P. Allison, has made great strides in advancing cancer immunotherapy. Immunotherapy is a treatment […]
Continue readingTwo new cutting-edge cancer treatments, Vitravki and Xospata, have now been approved for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Both drugs were given Priority Review status, which means the FDA reviewed them in six months instead of ten. This status allows the FDA to quickly approve drugs that promise to make significant […]
Continue readingA recent study performed by AstraZeneca and MedImmue reveals, provisionally, that a Phase III trial with the drug Imfinzi, also known as durvalumab, gives longer life to patients with advanced, inoperable, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The trial, known as PACIFIC Phase 3, tests Imfinzi in comparison to placebo drugs in patients […]
Continue readingThe immune system is a collection of molecules in every living thing that protects its cells. It relies on the ability to tell the difference between its own body cells and foreign cells, called antigens, in order to protect the body from the harmful antigens. The immune system has a set of proteins commonly […]
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