With age, senescent cells become detrimental to tissues. Mayo Clinic scientists have observed this phenomenon in the lung alveoli, where senescent macrophages accumulated in aging tissue and in early stages of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) driven by the Kras oncogene. “We found that the macrophages were present in the earliest stages of the disease. Strategies targeting these cells for elimination or preventing their accumulation would be worthwhile to test in other conditions (assuming we find they occur),” Darren Baker, a Mayo Clinic senescent cell biologist and senior author of the study, told BioWorld.
Ranok Therapeutics (Hangzhou) Co. Ltd. has divulged proteolysis targeting chimeras (PROTACs) comprising an E3 ubiquitin ligase binding moiety covalently coupled to a GTPase KRAS (G12D mutant) targeting moiety through a linker reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer.
It was previously shown that AXL overexpression is associated with poor prognosis, metastasis, as well as drug resistance in various hematological and solid tumors, and that inhibition of AXL phosphorylation could overcome drug resistance to FLT3 inhibitors. CTS-2016 is an AXL/FLT3 inhibitor being developed by Cytosinlab Therapeutics Co. Ltd. as a novel tyrosine kinase inhibitor for cancer.
Researchers at 1200 Pharma LLC have undertaken preclinical analysis of KRAS G12C inhibitors in clinical phases with the aim of finding an explanation for the differences observed in therapeutic efficacy in tumor sites other than lung, including lung-derived metastases. Results pointed to potency and pharmacokinetics as key drivers of efficacy.
Differences in the immune reactions between smokers and nonsmokers may explain why only 20% of patients with lung cancer respond to immunotherapy treatment. Understanding these differences in the evolution of lung cancer between smokers and nonsmokers could be the key to unlocking new treatments.
Alterations in hepatocyte growth factor receptor (c-Met) can be oncogenic in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) as well as other cancer types. Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) that target c-Met have been developed to treat c-Met-expressing tumors.
Compared to recent fundraising rounds in the med-tech space, Noah Medical Inc. was veritably deluged with cash in its series B. Softbank Vision Fund and Prosperity7 Ventures led the round, which rained down $150 million on the medical robotics company. Other participants included Hillhouse, Sequoia China, Shangbay Capital, Uphonest Capital, Sunmed Capital, Lyfe Capital, 1955 Capital, AME Cloud Ventures and undisclosed strategic investors.
