ALX Oncology Holdings Inc. has received FDA clearance for the IND application for ALX-2004, the company’s potential best- and first-in-class antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) for the treatment of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-expressing solid tumors.
Biomedical research seems like it should be the ultimate bipartisan issue. But under the Trump administration, unless and until Congress regains its will to make use of its constitutional powers, bipartisan support for research seems to be a thing of the past. On March 3, members of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine warned that the second Trump administration has been waging a “wholesale assault” on American research.
Moma Therapeutics Inc. has disclosed tricyclic derivatives acting as Werner syndrome ATP-dependent helicase (WRN; RECQ3; RECQL2) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer.
AT-rich interactive domain-containing protein 1A (ARID1A) encodes a switch/sucrose nonfermentable (SWI/SNF) complex and is mutated in around 10% of colorectal cancers. ARID1A deficiency damages DNA damage repair increasing tumor mutation burden in ovarian and gastrointestinal cancers.
The detection of metastases in Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) requires additional testing, such as pancytokeratin (panCK) or CK20, with no guarantee of success. Recent findings have identified transcription factor SOX11 and insulinoma-associated protein 1 (INSM1) as sensitive nuclear neuroendocrine markers, but their usefulness in MCC has not been proven.
Although the causes of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) are unclear, researchers know this condition leads to endometrial dysfunction in women who have hormonal imbalances, and insulin resistance. Now, a study led by scientists at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden has revealed the cellular and genetic differences that distinguish this disorder in the first atlas of the human endometrium during the proliferative phase of the menstrual cycle.
Scientists at Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research (MFMER) and Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute have described G-protein coupled bile acid receptor 1 (GPBAR1; TGR5; GPCR19; GPR131) antagonists reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer and polycystic liver.
City of Hope has disclosed proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) inhibitors acting as apoptosis inducers reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer.
Although CAR T-cell therapies have reached significant clinical success in hematological malignancies, their utility in solid tumors remains limited. One of the main challenges is the scarcity of truly cancer-specific antigens for precise targeting of solid tumors. The use of engineered small, specific antigen-binding domains, such as nanobodies, could be a potential strategy to improve the specificity and efficacy of CAR T cells against solid tumors.