Technology - Cancer Currents Blog
News and commentaries on technology used to conduct cancer research, deliver cancer treatment, improve patient care, and screen for cancer, as well as other topics.
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Study Identifies Hundreds of Potential Targets for Cancer DrugsResearchers have identified hundreds of promising targets for existing drugs or potential new cancer drugs. The findings relied heavily on proteogenomic data from more than 1,000 tumors representing 10 types of cancer released last year by NCI's CPTAC program.
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To Combat Cancer Treatment Resistance, Researchers Try Leveraging EvolutionScientists have developed a strategy for treating cancer that takes advantage of tumors’ ability to rapidly evolve and turns it against them. It involves intentionally making some tumor cells resistant to a specific treatment from the get-go.
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How Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tools WorkDrs. Ruth Pfeiffer and Peter Kraft of NCI’s Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics discuss how breast cancer risk assessment tools are created and how people can use them to understand and manage their risk.
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Experimental mRNA Vaccine Hints at Potential Against GlioblastomaRecent results from several small clinical trials have suggested it may be possible to develop an effective immunotherapy for glioblastoma. Among them are findings from a four-patient trial testing a unique type of mRNA cancer vaccine.
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Blood Test Accurately Detects Early-Stage Pancreatic CancerIn a new study involving nearly 1,000 people, a liquid biopsy accurately detected early- and late-stage pancreatic cancer. When paired with a test for the protein CA19-9, the combination accurately identified 97% of people with early-stage disease.
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First Cancer TIL Therapy Gets FDA Approval for Advanced MelanomaIn an event more than three decades in the making, FDA has approved lifileucel (Amtagvi), the first cancer treatment that uses immune cells called tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, or TILs.
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ctDNA May Guide Who Needs Chemo After Colorectal Cancer SurgeryResults from a new study suggest that the presence of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in blood samples can predict which patients with colorectal cancer should and shouldn’t get chemotherapy after surgery to remove their tumors.
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Pump Up the Volume: “Priming Agents” May Improve Cancer Liquid BiopsiesUsing two different techniques, researchers showed they could temporarily boost ctDNA levels in the blood of mice with tumors. With more ctDNA in collected blood draws, a liquid biopsy could better detect cancer, the research team found.
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FDA Authorizes Blood Test for Assessing Risk of Hereditary CancersThe Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the first time has granted marketing authorization for a blood test, the Invitae Common Hereditary Cancers Panel. The test detects inherited genetic changes that increase the risk of developing certain cancers.
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Oncolytic Virus Enables the Immune System to Attack TumorsA cancer-infecting virus engineered to tamp down a tumor’s ability to suppress the immune system shrank tumors in mice, a new study shows. The modified oncolytic virus worked even better when used along with an immune checkpoint inhibitor.
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Is AI Ready to Play a Leading Role in Colorectal Cancer Screening?Using computer-aided detection (CAD) during a colonoscopy doesn’t help doctors find the growths most likely to become colorectal cancer, two studies find. Researchers agreed that CAD, which is aided by artificial intelligence technology, needs further refinement.
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Can Artificial Intelligence–Driven Chatbots Correctly Answer Questions about Cancer?Can AI chatbots give people accurate information about cancer and its treatment? The answer appears to be: Not yet. Results from two studies have found that, although AI chatbots can gather cancer information from reputable sources, their responses to questions about treatment and other topics can include errors and omissions.
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Could Bacteria Help Find Cancer?Engineered bacteria can detect tumor DNA that has been shed into the gut by colorectal tumors, a new study in mice shows. The bacteria are programmed to seek and capture DNA containing a specific genetic change found in cancer.
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New Class of Compounds Rewires Cancer Cells to Self-DestructResearchers have created a molecule that, in cancer cells, hooks onto the protein BCL6 at one end and another protein that turns genes on at the other end. The result: self-destruct genes are turned up, causing the cancer cells to die.
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Can the New “Omics” on the Block Find Liver Cancer in Blood?Researchers have developed a blood test that, in a preliminary study, accurately detected liver cancer, including in people with early-stage disease. The test uses a new type of technology called fragmentomics to analyze bits of DNA in the blood.
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Coming Full Circle on Cancer and Extrachromosomal DNAA new study shows for the first time that a circular form of DNA, called ecDNA, is present in precancerous tissue and not just cancer cells. The study also suggested that when ecDNA is present in Barrett’s esophagus, that tissue is almost certain to become cancer.
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Multiple mRNA Vaccines Show Promise for Treating HPV-Related CancersA new study has compared three formulations of an mRNA vaccine designed to treat cancers caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) infections. All three vaccines showed promise in mice.
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Liquid Biopsies on the Horizon for Children with Solid CancersResults from a new study highlight the progress being made toward developing liquid biopsies specifically for use in children with solid cancers like Ewing sarcoma and Wilms tumor. The tests can help detect and diagnose cancer and monitor for response to treatment and recurrence.
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Telehealth Can Save People with Cancer Time, Travel, and MoneySince the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, many people with cancer have had telehealth visits with their doctors. According to an analysis of nearly 25,500 telemedicine visits to the Moffitt Cancer Center by more than 11,600 adults with cancer, the use of telehealth saved people with cancer time, travel, and money.
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Studies Test CAR T-Cell Therapies Designed to Overcome Key LimitationsTwo research teams have developed ways of overcoming barriers that have limited the effectiveness of CAR T-cell therapies, including engineering ways to potentially make them effective against solid tumors like pancreatic cancer and melanoma.