CAR T-cell therapy works by engineering a patient’s T cells to express synthetic receptors that recognize and kill cancer cells without relying on HLA presentation. This approach has shown remarkable success in relapsed or refractory B-cell cancers and multiple myeloma, resulting in several approved treatments. However, no CAR T therapy is currently approved for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL).

Osteoarthritis arises from breakdown of cartilage covering bone joints, which leads to chronic inflammation, and current therapies provide only short-term relief with risk of side effects. In an effort to identify next-generation treatments, researchers at Chang Gung University and Chang Gung Memorial Hospital have identified a potential novel therapeutic target, platelet-derived growth factor receptor-like protein (PDGFRL).

The discovery of the ‘Warburg effect’ more than 80 years ago implied that inhibiting tumor cells’ ability to consume abnormally large amounts of glucose could prevent them from growing. Taking advantage of the fact that hexokinase-2 catalyzes the first step of glucose metabolism, researchers at Yıldız Teknik Üniversitesi and collaborators identified novel derivatives of the hexokinase-2 inhibitor lonidamine and identified at least one that was potentially more potent and less toxic.

At last week’s American Chemical Society meeting, Novartis AG presented the discovery of IID-432, a highly efficacious and safe inhibitor of Trypanosoma cruzi topoisomerase 2 (Top2), offering a short-duration curative treatment for Chagas disease.

Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) and some other cancers involve dysregulation of the transcription factor E2F, and apoptosis can be induced in those cells by blocking the interaction of the RxL sequence motif in E2F with cyclin A, which leads to hyperactivation of E2F. Researchers from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and collaborators have developed macrocyclic peptides that inhibit this interaction and thereby hyperactivate E2F, leading to anticancer activity in various preclinical systems.

Despite having lower smoking habits than other groups in the U.S., Black Americans are more likely to develop lung cancer, and their survival rates are significantly worse. What explains this disparity? Scientists at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have analyzed the genetics of their African ancestry in search of risk genes related to the disease and tobacco use. The results reveal new risk factors and confirm the presence of genetic variants that may contribute to the greater impact of lung cancer in this population.

An investigation of the epidemiology and clinical characteristics of neuropathic pain in the UK Biobank has led to the discovery of a new pain gene and potential analgesic drug target in the peripheral nervous system. The gene, SLC45A4 (solute carrier 45A4), codes for a transporter that is involved in trafficking polyamines known to be involved in pain, across the cell membrane.