CAR T, immunotherapy bring new hope for multiple myeloma patients
Two investigational immunotherapy approaches, including chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy, have shown encouraging results in the treatment of multiple myeloma patients who had relapsed and were resistant to other therapies. Both of these investigational approaches targeted a receptor called B-Cell Maturation Antigen (BCMA), which is highly expressed in myeloma and thus a promising target for treatment.
Source: https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-12/uops-cti120817.php
Landmark CAR-T cancer study published in the New England Journal of Medicine
Loyola University Medical Center is the only Chicago center that participated in the pivotal clinical trial of a groundbreaking cancer treatment that genetically engineers a patient's immune system to attack cancer cells.
Source: https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-12/luhs-lc120717.php
Global CAR T therapy trial shows high rates of durable remission for NHL
In a pair of clinical trials stretching from Philadelphia to Tokyo, the chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy Kymriah (formerly known as CTL019) demonstrated long-lasting remissions in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) patients. Results from a global, multisite trial will be presented today at the 59th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition in Atlanta (Abstract #577). Results from the single-site study, with follow-up extending past two years, will be published today in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Source: https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-12/uops-gct120717.php
Sequencing offers clues to progression toward multiple myeloma
Researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have carried out the largest genomic analysis of patients with smoldering multiple myeloma (SMM), a precursor to full-blown blood cancer that doesn't show outward symptoms. The next-generation sequencing project 'will help to explain the biology of the disease and how it unfolds through time from asymptomatic stages to symptomatic ones,' said Mark Bustoros, M.D., a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Irene Ghobrial, M.D.
Source: https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-12/dci-soc120717.php
Tracking how multiple myeloma evolves by sequencing DNA in the blood
Although people with multiple myeloma usually respond well to treatment, the blood cancer generally keeps coming back. Following genetic changes in how the disease evolves over time will help to understand the disease and, eventually, deliver more effective treatments. Researchers now have successfully demonstrated techniques to track these alterations over time by analyzing cell-free DNA (cfDNA) found in blood, according to Jens Lohr, M.D., Ph.D., a hematologist and oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
Source: https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-12/dci-thm120717.php
Study shows combining chemotherapy with targeted drug boosts response in chronic lymphocytic leukemia
Among younger patients newly diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), treatment with a combination of chemotherapy and a molecularly targeted drug significantly improves response over what is typically seen with chemotherapy alone, according to an investigator-initiated multi-center phase II clinical trial.
Source: https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-12/dci-ssc120717.php
Low-dose treatment with Il2 across studies shows benefits in chronic graft-versus host
Daily low doses of the immune signaling protein interleukin-2 (IL-2) can safely benefit patients who develop chronic graft-versus-host disease following stem cell transplants, including particular benefit in pediatric patients in one small study, report scientists from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
Source: https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-12/dci-lt120717.php
Rapid responses, few adverse effects in targeted agent in Phase1 trial in rare blood disorder
Clinical Activity in a Phase 1 Study of BLU-285, a Potent, Highly-Selective Inhibitor of KIT D816V in Advanced Systemic Mastocytosis. Study shows one of multiple ways in which novel targeted cancer therapies are now being deployed to improve outcomes and quality of life for patients with rare, advanced, or difficult-to-treat blood malignancies.
Source: https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-12/dci-rrf120717.php
Phase 2 CAR-T study reports significant remission rates at 15-month follow up
A study involving the recently approved CD19-targeting chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy shows that 42 percent of patients with aggressive large B-cell lymphoma remained in remission at 15 months following treatment with axi-cel (marketed as Yescarta).
Source: https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-12/uotm-p2120717.php
International team identifies genetic model for predicting primary myelofibrosis outcomes
A group of investigators from Mayo Clinic and multiple academic research centers in Italy have identified a genetic model for predicting outcomes in patients with primary myelofibrosis who are 70 years or younger and candidates for stem cell transplant to treat their disease. The group's findings were presented today at the 59th American Society of Hematology annual meeting in Atlanta by lead authors Alessandro Vannucchi, M.D., from the University of Florence and Ayalew Tefferi, M.D., a hematologist at Mayo Clinic.
Source: https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-12/mc-iti120817.php
St. Jude gene therapy improves immunity in babies with 'bubble boy' disease
Preliminary findings indicate gene therapy pioneered at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is safe and effective for babies with a devastating inherited disorder that leaves them with little or no immune protection.
Source: https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-12/sjcr-sjg120817.php
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/
