immunotherapy
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October 22, 2018
Immunotherapy Effective Against Hereditary Melanoma Bookmark
Emma Shtivelman, PhDExcerpt:
“Individuals with an inherited form of skin cancer often have a poor prognosis. The type of immunotherapy that was awarded this year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is, however, particularly effective in this patient group, research from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden shows. The study is published in the Journal of Medical Genetics.
“Congenital mutations of the CDKN2A gene are the strongest known risk factors for inherited skin cancer. Individuals with melanoma who carry mutations in this gene also have poor prognosis, according to previous research.”
Go to full article published by Medical Xpress on Oct 8, 2018.
If you’re wondering whether this story applies to your own cancer case or a loved one’s, we invite you to get support from Cancer Commons.
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October 16, 2018
TLR and STING Agonists: A New Venture in Cancer Immunotherapy
Emma Shtivelman, PhDImmunotherapy includes a number of strategies that harness the immune system to help treat disease. Immunotherapy for cancer, as we know it, now relies on the activation of specific immune system cells known as T cells. Cancer drugs called immune checkpoint inhibitors act by removing the brakes imposed on T cells by tumors or by the body’s natural mechanisms for limiting their activation to… Read more »
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October 1, 2018
AstraZeneca Buoyed as Imfinzi Cuts Lung Cancer Deaths by a Third Bookmark
Emma Shtivelman, PhDExcerpt from Reuters:
“AstraZeneca’s immunotherapy drug Imfinzi cut the risk of death in patients with mid-stage lung cancer by nearly a third in a closely watched clinical study, reinforcing the case for using the drug in earlier disease.
“The encouraging overall survival data boosts prospects for a medicine that was approved this week in Europe and has already had a promising U.S. commercial launch, based on its ability to slow disease progression.”
Go to full article published by Reuters on Sep 25, 2018.
If you’re wondering whether this story applies to your own cancer case or a loved one’s, we invite you to get support from Cancer Commons.
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August 27, 2018
Dual Immunotherapy a Winner for Melanoma Brain Mets Bookmark
Emma Shtivelman, PhDExcerpt from Medscape:
“Combined immunotherapy with two checkpoint inhibitors — nivolumab (Opdivo, Bristol-Myers Squibb) and ipilimumab (Yervoy, Bristol-Myers Squibb) — has shown ‘clinically meaningful’ efficacy in patients with asymptomatic, untreated melanoma metastases to the brain, according to a report regarding new data from the CheckMate 204 open-label phase 2 study.
” ‘Although current practice is to start with surgery, stereotactic radiotherapy, or both followed by immunotherapy or targeted agents, our results support the initiation of immunotherapy to achieve prompt control of both extracranial and brain metastases,’ write the authors.”
Go to full article published by Medscape on Aug 22, 2018.
If you’re wondering whether this story applies to your own cancer case or a loved one’s, we invite you to get support from Cancer Commons.
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August 5, 2018
First Patient Dosed in Phase I/II Trial of Novel Immunotherapy Combination in Newly Diagnosed Glioblastoma Bookmark
Emma Shtivelman, PhDExcerpt from Targeted Oncology:
“The first patient has been dosed in a phase I/II open-label, multicenter trial investigating a novel immunotherapy combination in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma (GBM). Fifty patients have been accrued in the trial, as of May 31, 2018, which will be conducted at 25 sites across the nation.
“This study aims to investigate the efficacy of INO-5401, a T-cell activating immunotherapy agent encoding multiple antigens in GBM, and INO-9012, an immune activator encoding IL-12, in combination with the PD-1 inhibitor cemiplimab (REGN2810).”
Go to full article published by Targeted Oncology on July 9, 2018.
If you’re wondering whether this story applies to your own cancer case or a loved one’s, we invite you to get support from Cancer Commons.
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August 5, 2018
Immune-Based Therapy May Be Tool Against Melanoma in the Brain Bookmark
Emma Shtivelman, PhDExcerpt from UPI:
“A type of therapy that harnesses the immune system is giving new hope to people battling a once hopeless cancer — melanoma that’s spread to the brain.
“New research involving more than 2,700 U.S. patients is confirming what specialists in the field have long known — that “checkpoint blockade” treatment can beat back these devastating tumors.”
Go to full article published by UPI on July 12, 2018.
If you’re wondering whether this story applies to your own cancer case or a loved one’s, we invite you to get support from Cancer Commons.
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April 26, 2018
Predicting If an Immune Checkpoint Drug Will Work
Emma Shtivelman, PhDDrugs that activate the immune system to attack cancer in a process known as immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) are a focus of intense investigation. A number of them are already approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for various cancers; namely, the anti-CTLA4 antibody ipilimumab (Yervoy), two anti-PD-1 antibodies: pembrolizumab (Keytruda) and nivolumab (Opdivo), and three anti-PD-L1 drugs: atezolizumab (Tecentriq), avelumab (Bavencio)… Read more »
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May 4, 2016
Clinical Trial Versus Standard Protocol: Why and How to Enroll in a Trial
Emma Shtivelman, PhDI spend most of my time trying to match cancer patients with clinical trials. I consider this to be the most important service I can provide. I try to find trials that are suitable geographically, have the best treatment rationale, and are likely to accept the patient I am helping based on their personal health and treatment history. In this post, I share some of my thoughts about clinical trial enrollment and why it is so important for patients to consider getting treated through a trial.
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September 9, 2015
To PD-L1 or Not to PD-L1: That Is the Question
Emma Shtivelman, PhDThese days, it seems that I write mostly about immune checkpoint blockade drugs, or some other new immunotherapy treatment for cancer. This post is no different—it covers PD-L1, a protein that is at the center of clinical decisions for selecting patients who are likely to benefit from treatment with an anti-PD-1 or anti-PD-L1 drug.
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August 13, 2015
What Determines Whether a Melanoma Patient Will Respond to Checkpoint Blockade Drugs?
Emma Shtivelman, PhDOf all cancer types, melanoma is the most investigated in terms of its potential to be treated through immune system-based approaches. More immunotherapy drugs are approved for melanoma than for any other type of cancer, and more are in development. Recent additions to the immunotherapy arsenal are the ‘anti-PD-1’ immune checkpoint blockade drugs pembrolizumab (Keytruda) and nivolumab (Opdivo).