Several studies have indicated that volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in exhaled breath can be altered by lung cancer and serve as identifiable biomarkers. A limitation of using these VOCs as clinical biomarkers has been the fact that hundreds of such molecules are present in exhaled breath and it is experimentally challenging to monitor the molecular concentration changes of all the VOCs and further use them in lung cancer detection.
In a study published on Nov. 30, 2022, in PLOS One, researchers at the University of Louisville, Kentucky, and Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi, analyzed the metabolic carbonyl compounds present in exhaled breath of the patients and developed a machine learning approach involving relevant VOC selection and use in cancer patient classification model training.
Microenvironmental factors originating from RAS-mutated cancer stem cells stimulated an angiogenic feedback loop with the surrounding environment causing the expression of leptin and TGF-β receptors on the cancer stem cells. Most significantly, leptin and TGF-β signaling were required for malignant transformation.
The findings, which were published in the Nov. 30, 2022 issue of Nature, raise “the intriguing possibility that many cancer mutations may function to lock into place, rather than set the course of, a path that is predetermined by aberrant crosstalk between a cancer stem cell and its microenvironment,” said senior author Elaine Fuchs, Rebecca C. Lancefield Professor and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator at Rockefeller University.
Kymera Therapeutics Inc. has divulged proteolysis targeting chimera (PROTAC) compounds comprising a cereblon (CRBN)-binding moiety covalently linked to interleukin-1 receptor-associated kinase 4 (IRAK-4)-targeting moiety reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer.
Biogen Inc. and C4 Therapeutics Inc. have disclosed proteolysis targeting chimera (PROTAC) compounds comprising a degradation signaling moiety such as E3 ubiquitin ligase-binding moiety covalently linked to a Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK)-targeting moiety through a linker reported to be useful for the treatment of leukemia and lymphoma, multiple sclerosis, atopic dermatitis, rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus.
Onxeo SA has expanded its pipeline of drug candidates with OX-425, an optimized new compound of the OX-400 series sourced from its proprietary Platon platform.
Investigators at West China Hospital, Sichuan University and affiliated organizations have discovered a novel c-Myc inhibitor being developed as a potential anticancer agent.
RSS
