The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center announced it has acquired certain assets from Bellicum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. related to the CaspaCIDe® switch platform and the GoCAR® platform. The transaction also includes clinical-grade stocks of rimiducid, an agent used to trigger the switches.   As a result of this acquisition, MD Anderson may incorporate these platforms into its own cell therapy programs. The institution also intends to make the technology widely available via non-exclusive licenses to other academic institutions and to biopharmaceutical...

Patients with relapsed or refractory (R/R) acute myeloid leukemia (AML) marked by high expression of CD123 have few effective treatment options. In a new multicenter Phase I/II trial, researchers led by Naval Daver, M.D., and Hagop Kantarjian, M.D., evaluated pivekimab sunirine, a novel CD123-targeting antibody-drug conjugate, in 91 patients with CD123+ R/R AML. This first-in-human dose-escalation and expansion study had a primary endpoint to determine the maximum tolerated dose and the recommended Phase II dose....

SMARCA4, which normally functions as a tumor suppressor, is one of the most commonly mutated genes in human cancers, including roughly 30% of germinal center (GC)-derived Burkitt lymphomas. Germinal centers are temporarily formed zones where B cells expand, but the role of SMARCA4 in promoting lymphoma development is unclear. To provide further insights, researchers led by Michael Green, Ph.D., examined the normal role of SMARCA4in GC B cells and how altering its function via mutation contributes to...

Interferon gamma (IFNγ) plays several roles in immune system regulation, inflammation and tumor surveillance. However, recent research led by Hussein Abbas, M.D., Ph.D., found that patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) have elevated levels of IFNγ, leading to an immunosuppressed bone marrow microenvironment. In a new study from the Abbas laboratory, researchers sought to characterize the role of IFNγ in the AML microenvironment. They discovered that T and NK cells are the main producers of IFNγ, suggesting that AML cells exploit this...

Patients with soft-tissue sarcoma treated with neoadjuvant, or pre-surgical, immunotherapy had very little residual tumor at the time of surgery and promising long-term survival, according to Phase II trial results by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. After treatment with a combination of immunotherapy and radiation followed by surgical removal of the residual mass, 90% of patients with undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma (UPS) had less than 15% viable tumor cells remaining, better than what has historically been seen...

Though opioid overdose remedies are approved for over-the-counter usage, many Houston pharmacies have not made the life-saving medication available.   Narcan, a naloxone nasal spray that reverses an opioid overdose, and its generic equivalent were both approved for over-the-counter (OTC) sale last year by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Making naloxone available this way is meant to increase accessibility and even encourage potential bystanders to carry this life-saving medication.   In the Houston area,...

Patients with IDH1-mutated relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) usually are treated with the IDH1 inhibitor ivosidenib. However, patients with AML and myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are at increased risk of fungal infections and are frequently given triazole antifungal medications, such as posaconazole and voriconazole. To study possible drug-drug interactions, researchers led by Caitlin Rausch, Pharm.D., and Ashley Dinh, Pharm.D., evaluated serum triazole levels in 78 samples from 31 patients receiving ivosidenib-containing therapy in combination with posaconazole and voriconazole. They discovered median triazole...