Carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecule 1 (CEACAM1) is an inhibitory factor on natural killer (NK) and T cells and is expressed in several cancer types and immune cells such as macrophages and neutrophils. Researchers from Suzhou Neologics Bioscience Co. Ltd. have investigated CEACAM1 as a potential target for cancer immunotherapy.
PHI-501 is a novel pan-RAF inhibitor being developed for acute myeloid leukemia. Big data, an artificial intelligence (AI)-based drug discovery platform and cell-based investigation identified PHI-501 as potentially useful against melanoma, and researchers from Pharos Ibio Co. Ltd. presented preclinical evaluation of the drug for this new indication.
Kinnate Biopharma Inc. has added two new internally developed next-generation development candidates to its targeted oncology pipeline, a brain-penetrant mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (MEK) inhibitor and a highly selective hepatocyte growth factor receptor gene (c-Met) inhibitor.
Thetis Pharmaceuticals LLC and Harvard Medical School have presented data on the stable salt chelate of Resolvin E1, TP-317, for the potential treatment of immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI)-resistant and sensitive tumors. TP-315 is an activator of ChemR23, a receptor expressed on immune cells in the tumor microenvironment. In vivo murine models of lung, melanoma (B16F10) and pancreatic (Panc2-H7) tumors were used to investigate TP-317 monotherapy and in combination with ICI.
It is known that in melanoma, transformed melanocytic cells acquire stem cell-like features; these cells have multilineage differentiation potential, thus allowing them to morph into cell states with neural crest cell (NCC)-like, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition-like features, promoting its metastatic potential.
The mTORC2 complex plays an important role in the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway, allowing activation of AKT and contributing to the development of BRAF-mutated (BRAFm) melanomas and their resistance to treatments. Researchers from Inserm aimed to identify new candidates for targeting the mTORC2 complex in melanoma, with focus on one principal protein of this complex, MAPKAP1 (also known as SIN1).
Researchers from Medical University Vienna presented data from a study that aimed to identify possible synergism between the novel son of sevenless (SOS) inhibitor BAY-293 and B-Raf or/and MEK1/2 inhibitors as a potential therapeutic strategy for the treatment of melanoma.
Ocean Biomedical Inc. has discovered bispecific antibodies that target Chitinase 3-like-1 (CHI3L1) and immune checkpoint inhibitors, killing glioblastoma cells and melanoma cells, and blocking the metastasis of malignant melanoma cells to the lung by over 90%.
Atreca Inc. and Xencor Inc. have mutually selected the first program from their strategic collaboration combining an Atreca-discovered antibody with Xencor's Xmab bispecific Fc domain and a cytotoxic T-cell binding domain (CD3).
