Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) lacks hormone receptors and HER2 amplification, limiting the effectiveness of targeted therapies and contributing to its aggressive clinical behavior. As aberrant activation of STAT3 is a key driver of TNBC growth, strategies aimed at suppressing STAT3 signaling are emerging as a potential treatment approach.
GT Biopharma Inc. has filed an IND application with the FDA for GTB-5550 TriKE, a B7-H3-targeted natural killer (NK) cell engager for the treatment of B7-H3-expressing solid tumor cancers. Pending approval, the planned phase I basket trial will evaluate GTB-5550 administered subcutaneously in solid tumors.
Medicenna Therapeutics Corp. is advancing MDNA-113, a first-in-class, IL-13-directed and conditionally activated PD-1 x IL-2 bifunctional superkine, through preclinical development toward a planned IND filing in the second half of this year.
Early data of Waldenström’s non-Hodgkin lymphoma patients enrolled in a trial testing Immunitybio Inc.’s off-the-shelf allogeneic CD19 chimeric antigen receptor natural killer cell therapy (CAR-NK), used in combination with anti-CD20 drug rituximab, led to durable complete responses without lymphodepletion.
The sea anemone Stichodactyla helianthus, which carpets the Caribbean seafloor, may hold the key to eliminating the senescent cells that survive cancer therapy. A collaboration led by Spanish scientists across several international research centers has discovered a new type of toxin that selectively eliminates senescent cancer cells.
Gan & Lee Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. has prepared and tested proteolysis targeting chimera (PROTAC) compounds comprising an E3 ubiquitin ligase binding moiety covalently linked to an estrogen receptor α(ER-α; ESR1) targeting moiety via a linker reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer.
Medulloblastoma is one of the most common pediatric brain malignancies. A deeper understanding of the mechanisms underlying tumor cell fate determination is crucial to develop novel, effective and safe therapeutic strategies. With this aim, researchers from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences and collaborating institutions recently conducted a study integrating whole-genome bisulfite sequencing and bulk RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) data from 189 human medulloblastoma samples.
CAR T cells have made headlines for their ability to fight hematological cancers, but they have proven largely ineffective against solid tumors. To fight such tumors, many groups have engineered T cells to carry T-cell receptors (TCRs) that target cancer antigens, but this approach requires using T cells taken from the patient and it is ineffective against parts of the tumor that have lost expression of the target antigen. As an alternative strategy, researchers at Zelluna ASA in Norway have engineered natural killer (NK) cells to express TCRs against solid tumor antigens.
Immunofoco Biotechnology Co. Ltd. reported encouraging early clinical data for its CLDN18.2-targeted CAR T therapy, IMC-002, in heavily pretreated gastric and gastroesophageal junction cancer, adding momentum to the push to extend cellular immunotherapy into solid tumors.