The chemotherapy-free regimen of ponatinib and blinatumomab achieved high response rates and reduced the need for an allogeneic stem cell transplant for patients with recently diagnosed Philadelphia chromosome-positive (Ph+) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), according to results from a Phase II trial. One of the lead investigators, Nicholas Short, M.D., assistant professor of Leukemia, presented the findings recently.   “Traditionally, Ph+ ALL responds poorly to standard chemotherapy and is high-risk for relapse, so these survival results and reduced...

A Rice University laboratory, with a boost from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, will develop a once-a-year treatment for patients infected with HIV and other infectious diseases. The Rice lab of bioengineer Omid Veiseh has received a $3 million foundation grant to develop implants that produce and deliver monoclonal anti-HIV antibody (mAb) therapeutics for at least a year. Michael Diehl, an associate professor of bioengineering and chemistry at Rice, is co-investigator on the grant.   The project joins Veiseh’s other implantable...

Using a novel response-adapted ultra-low dose radiation therapy strategy, researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center observed a 90% complete response rate in patients with orbital indolent B-cell lymphoma.   This study, led by Chelsea C. Pinnix, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of Radiation Oncology, is the first to prospectively examine the use of a response-adapted strategy in this setting, allowing patients who have a complete response to ultra-low radiation doses — 4 Gray (Gy) in two fractions — to forego...

The cells in your body are pretty good at monitoring themselves, but they don’t always signal what’s going on to the outside world. A Rice University bioengineer has plans to enhance their ability to communicate. Jerzy Szablowski, an assistant professor of bioengineering at Rice’s George R. Brown School of Engineering, is developing technology to measure gene expression in deep tissues, particularly in the brain. His noninvasive, site-specific reporters will be secreted by cells to report on...

Researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch have developed a way to study gestational disease thanks to a breakthrough that mimics pregnancy using miniature organ models made up of human cells embedded onto silicon surfaces.   The team, led by Dr. Ramkumar Menon, a professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, used these devices to successfully test drugs for conditions like preterm birth and pre-eclampsia during pregnancy. This breakthrough in preclinical research is...

Everybody could use a third arm sometimes, but for some, it would be particularly helpful. Mechanical engineers at the University’s George R. Brown School of Engineering have built a handy extra limb able to grasp objects and go, powered only by compressed air. It’s one of several ideas they’ve implemented with a textile-based energy harvesting system.   The proof-of-principle robotic devices designed and built by Daniel Preston, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering, lead authors Rachel...

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Radiopharm Theranostics announced the launch of Radiopharm Ventures, LLC, a joint venture created to develop novel radiopharmaceutical therapeutic products for cancer.   Radiopharm Ventures brings together MD Anderson’s innovative and proprietary technologies in antigen discovery and molecular imaging with Radiopharm’s expertise in developing radiopharmaceutical products. The joint venture will focus initially on developing at least four therapeutic products based on MD Anderson intellectual property.   “Radiopharmaceuticals continue to...

Patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC) have limited therapeutic options and a poor prognosis. Alkylating-based chemotherapy — which causes DNA damage to prevent cell division — initially improves survival in SCLC but has toxic side effects and cancers eventually develop resistance. Newer platinum-based chemotherapy has lower toxicity, but cancers still become resistant. In a new study, Pawel Mazur, Ph.D., and colleagues performed pharmacologic and proteomics screens to identify the protein methyltransferase SMYD3 and its new substrate RNF113A as previously unrecognized mediators...

Advanced gastric adenocarcinoma (GAC) often metastasizes in the peritoneal cavity, and peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC) treatments are mostly ineffective. Understanding the molecular signaling pathways that affect immune response in the tumor microenvironment could help improve therapeutic strategies. SOX9, a highly expressed gene in GAC and PC, is a known downstream target of oncogenic signaling pathways, but its influence on the immune system has been poorly understood. Researchers led by Shumei Song, M.D., Ph.D., used bulk RNA sequencing as well...

Current colorectal cancer (CRC) guidelines recommend surveillance colonoscopies at one year and 48 months after surgical resection, but these guidelines do not account for age at diagnosis. As the incidence of young-onset (diagnosed at or before age 50) CRC has risen worldwide, researchers have hypothesized that patients with spontaneous (non-hereditary) young-onset CRC could have an elevated risk for multiple, independent malignancies, known as metachronous colorectal pathology. This retrospective, single-institution study, led by Oliver Peacock, B.M.B.S.,...