Two recent studies have reported new insights into the role of the tumor-associated microbiome in both drug response and metastasis. Researchers working at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, reported in the Nov. 16, 2022, issue of Nature that bacteria can promote the spreading of cancer as single cells with recruitment of myeloid host cells. In a parallel publication, the same team reported in the Nov. 15, 2022, issue of Cell Reports that the primary chemotherapy used to treat colorectal cancer (CRC), 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), was less effective when the tumor included bacteria that were insensitive to 5-FU antimicrobial activity.

A new method for controlling naturally magnetized bacteria has improved the prospects of applying them as vehicles for intratumoral delivery of cancer drugs and in hyperthermia therapy. The advance will provide a better way of directing the movement of systemically administered bacteria, using external magnetic fields to target them to tumors sited deep in the body. It also points to a possible route for engineering existing bacteria-based anticancer constructs for better targeting.

Enhanc3D Genomics Ltd. has raised £10 million (US$11.3 million) in a series A round to advance development of its Genlink3D technology for directly linking gene regulators in non-coding DNA to their target protein coding genes.

Expanding its mandate to accelerate access to essential medicines to people in low- and middle-income countries, the Medicines Patent Pool signed its first voluntary licensing agreement for a cancer treatment, Novartis AG’s Tasigna (nilotinib). A twice-daily oral drug, Tasigna is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor included on the World Health Organization’s Model List of Essential Medicines as a second-line treatment for adult and pediatric chronic myeloid leukemia.

Cascination AG reported the first thermal ablation of liver tumors to be performed in France using its CT-guided stereotactic planning and navigation system, CAS-One IR. The technology was used at Dijon Bourgogne University Hospital, where a dozen procedures have been carried out in the Department of Diagnostic and Therapeutic Radiology.

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Radiopharm Theranostics Ltd. have launched Radiopharm Ventures LLC, a joint venture (JV) that will develop radiopharmaceutical therapies for cancer. Radiopharm Theranostics owns 51% of shares in the new entity, while MD Anderson owns 49%.

A new generation of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies with advanced functions could hold the answer to improved safety and efficacy for these effective but potentially dangerous cancer therapies, shows research led by Boston University. The scientists showed it is possible to add ‘on’ or ‘off’ switches to CAR T cells, which can be activated using oral drugs with a known safety profile.

For people with the grim diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, the news may have gotten just a shade brighter. Researchers at the Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center found that using 18-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) tracer with positron emission tomography (PET) provides a preoperative predictor of tumor response to chemotherapy and survival in patients with borderline resectable or locally advanced pancreatic cancer. The finding could change recommended practice for one of the deadliest forms of cancer and improve outcomes for patients.