A recent study at the University of Texas Medical Branch has shown that an mRNA vaccine developed by UTMB scientists protects against Andes virus in an animal model. Andes virus is a prominent rodent-borne virus in South America and has human fatality rates up to 30 percent.   “In 2019-2020, Andes virus caused an outbreak in Argentina with 34 confirmed human infections, 11 of which were fatal,” said Dr. Alex Bukreyev, principal investigator on the...

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Summit Therapeutics, Inc. announced a strategic five-year collaboration agreement for the purpose of accelerating the development of ivonescimab.   Leveraging MD Anderson’s clinical infrastructure and research expertise together with Summit’s innovative, investigational, potential first-in-class PD-1/VEGF bispecific antibody, the collaboration is designed to quickly discover additional opportunities for ivonescimab, including several tumors outside of its current development plan. MD Anderson will lead multiple clinical trials in several tumor types to...

Researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch recently discovered a significant advancement in the fight against neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. The study introduces an innovative nasal spray treatment that has shown promising results in clearing harmful tau protein build-up and improving cognitive functions in aged mice models with neurodegenerative diseases.   “This nasal spray approach opens new avenues for non-invasive delivery of tau therapeutic antibodies directly to the brain, and...

A particular area of interest in uncovering the earliest mechanisms driving cancer is a stress response cell state called senescence, in which cells stop growing but continue to function. Senescence has a known role in preventing cancer, but its underlying mechanisms are largely unknown. In a study led by Rugang Zhang, Ph.D., researchers uncovered some of these mechanisms by investigating the role of METTL3, a methyltransferase enzyme that helps regulate gene expression. They found that METTL3...

Adolescents and young adults with Ewing’s sarcoma (ES), a highly aggressive bone cancer, have few treatment options and a poor prognosis for recurrence. A multi-center Phase I/II clinical trial co-led by Joseph Ludwig, M.D., investigated the ability of the novel small molecule TK216 to disrupt the oncogenic fusion protein EWS-FLI1 in previously treated, relapsed/recurrent ES. In the study, 85 ES patients between the ages of 11 and 77 received TK216 by a continuous intravenous infusion. Researchers observed...

Resistance to certain KRAS G12C inhibitors can result from the buildup of active, GTP-bound RAS, which can increase tumor growth in cancer patients. Therefore, effectively blocking active RAS becomes crucial. In a recent study, researchers led by Ferdinandos Skoulidis, M.D., Ph.D., and Haniel Araujo, M.D., evaluated the antitumor effects of a new class of inhibitors that target the active form of RAS proteins: RMC-7977, a pan-RAS inhibitor of KRAS/HRAS/NRAS, and RMC-4998, a RAS G12C-selective inhibitor. Active RAS...

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Replay announced that the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a ‘safe to proceed’ for the Investigational New Drug (IND) application for PRAME TCR/IL-15 NK (SY-307), an engineered T cell receptor natural killer (TCR NK) cell therapy for relapsed/refractory myeloid malignancies. MD Anderson is the IND sponsor.   PRAME TCR/IL-15 NK (SY-307) is being developed by Syena, an oncology-focused product company launched by Replay and MD Anderson based on the...

Rare cancers are difficult to study in a clinical trial setting due to the relatively small number of patients. Two studies recently published in The Lancet Oncology examined the use of cabozantinib, an antiangiogenic multi-tyrosine kinase inhibitor, on two rare cancers: adrenocortical carcinoma, an endocrine cancer, and metastatic phaeochromocytomas and paragangliomas (MPPGs), both neuroendocrine tumors. Notably, these two cancers have just one FDA approved treatment each. The studies highlight the therapeutic potential of cabozantinib in combination with other therapies...

One of the most frequently mutated epigenetic factors in cancer is a large protein complex called SWI/SNF, which regulates gene transcription and is crucial for proper cell differentiation. An important question has been how SWI/SNF is recruited to cell-type-specific regions of DNA, called enhancers. Researchers led by Blaine Bartholomew, Ph.D., found a special class of non-coding enhancer RNA (eRNA) that recruits SWI/SNF to cell-type specific enhancers involved in the switch from undifferentiated to differentiated cells. By...

Pancreatic cancer is notoriously aggressive and difficult to treat, underscoring the need for more effective therapeutic targets. Research led by Jie Fu, Ph.D., Jianhua Ling, Ph.D., and Paul Chiao, Ph.D., previously showed that apoptosis, or cell death, resistance in KRAS G12D-mutant pancreatic cancer was accelerated by deleting the Plk3 tumor suppressor, but the regulatory mechanism of Plk3 activation remains unknown.   To provide further insights, the researchers examined the role of Plk3 in KRAS G12D-mutant pancreatic cancer models. They...