Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have revolutionized the landscape of cancer management. However, acquired resistance and response variability point to rational combination strategies as the goal to achieve significant improvements in the field. Investigators at the National Cancer Center of Japan have found that stimulators of the innate immune response unexpectedly activated suppressive cells of the innate immune system.
Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd. has described proteolysis targeting chimera (PROTAC) compounds comprising an E3 ubiquitin ligase binding moiety covalently linked to an interleukin-1 receptor-associated kinase 3 (IRAK-3; IRAK-M) targeting moiety via linker reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer.
The tumor microenvironment plays a crucial role in the resistance of solid tumors to immunotherapy. In particular, fibroblast activation protein (FAP)-expressing cancer-associated fibroblasts have been shown to contribute to immune evasion.
Glucocorticoid-induced tumor necrosis factor receptor (GITR) and its ligand, GITRL, are involved in immune response regulation. GITR is mainly expressed in activated T cells while GITRL is primarily found in antigen-presenting cells.
Researchers from Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, The University of Melbourne and affiliated organizations presented the development of a new reporter mouse model designed to study the role of MDM2 and its transcriptional regulation in p53-mediated tumor suppression.
Stimulating the body’s immune defenses against a tumor can reduce or eliminate it. However, in cancer immunotherapy, when immune checkpoint inhibitors unleash the immune system, severe autoimmunity can result. A hematological technique, extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP), could offer a solution. It reduces the therapy-induced inflammation without altering antitumor immunity. According to scientists at the Universities of Basel and Freiburg, the key lies in adiponectin, a hormone produced by fatty tissue.
Corbus Pharmaceuticals Inc. has placed its chips on “bets where somebody else is ahead of us,” CEO Yuval Cohen said. “The idea is to have a de-risked asset” that proves better in the clinic. At the 2025 American Society of Clinical Oncology Genitourinary (ASCO GU) Cancers Symposium in San Francisco, Corbus offered data from the U.S. and U.K. first-in-human dose-escalation study – the Western trial – with Nectin-4-targeting antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) CRB-701 (SYS-6002).
After withdrawing plans for an IPO last year, Orum Therapeutics Inc. made its debut on the Korea Exchange in 2025 with a ₩50 billion (US$34.7 million) raise as South Korea’s first biopharma IPO of the year.
Shanghai Microport Medbot (Group) Co. Ltd. won China National Medical Products Administration approval of its self-developed Toumai single-arm and single-port laparoscopic surgical robot.
New research has uncovered a complex interplay between extracellular matrix (ECM) structure and the transcriptional responses of cancer cells, showing how they alter their gene expression to ‘escape’ from ECM. The findings will make it easier to identify tumors that are likely to metastasize at an early stage.
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