Researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reported promising results in a Phase I/II trial of 37 patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell malignancies who were treated with cord blood-derived chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) natural killer (NK) cell therapy targeting CD19.   The findings reveal an overall response (OR) rate of 48.6% at 100 days post treatment, with one-year progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) rates of 32% & 68%, respectively. The trial reported an...

Renowned Houston philanthropist Elaine Finger has made a generous $2 million gift for an endowed chair to advance education, research and innovation in business and health care at the University of Houston. The Elaine W. Finger Endowed Chair in Health Care Business Innovation will be a joint appointment in the C.T. Bauer College of Business and the Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine, catalyzing groundbreaking advancements and further propelling the university into a leading...

Interleukin-17 (IL-17) signaling in the intestines maintains a healthy balance of gut microbes but also has been linked to several types of diseases, including cancer. However, IL-17 inhibition can interfere with the body’s ability to fight tumors, highlighting a need for further insights into this potential therapeutic target. In this study, researchers including Florencia McAllister, M.D., and Vidhi Chandra, Ph.D., found that deleting the IL-17 receptor specifically in the gut of lab models led to an imbalance of gut bacteria, or dysbiosis,...

The Normal Risk Ovarian Screening Study (NROSS) is a two-phase screening strategy for postmenopausal women who are considered at normal risk for ovarian cancer. The first phase uses a cancer antigen 125 (CA125) blood test and a Risk of Ovarian Cancer Algorithm (ROCA) to determine whether the second phase, a transvaginal sonography, is needed. Patients with an abnormal transvaginal sonogram would then be referred for surgery. A new analysis published by Robert Bast, M.D., Karen Lu, M.D., and...

Inherited mutations in BRCA genes cause defects in DNA damage repair pathways. Targeted therapy with PARP inhibitors – which block a DNA repair protein – is known to extend progression-free survival in patients with BRCA-mutant cancers, but many patients eventually develop resistance and have poor overall survival, underscoring a need to identify combination strategies that improve outcomes. Protein arginine methyltransferases (PRMTs), which regulate gene transcription and RNA splicing, are involved in many cancer-associated processes, leading Nidhi Sahni, Ph.D., and colleagues to...

Mutations in DNA repair genes are known drivers of hereditary cancers. However, only a small fraction of patients with hereditary breast or ovarian cancers has BRCA1/2 mutations, which are involved in homologous recombination (HR) DNA repair. Researchers led by Nidhi Sahni, Ph.D., calculated scores across tumors from The Cancer Genome Atlas to comprehensively identify tumors that were either positive or negative for HR defects. Around 75% of tumors with a positive HR score did not have defects in known HR genes,...

The immune checkpoint inhibitor avelumab has been approved for multiple cancer types, but has thus far had mixed results in gynecologic patients. A study led by Aung Naing, M.D., was designed to evaluate whether combining avelumab with a 4-1BB agonist (utomilumab), an OX40 agonist (PF-04518600) or radiotherapy would increase efficacy. Although the combinations proved to be safe, they did not produce significant responses in this heavily pretreated population. In 35 patients evaluated, the overall response rate (ORR) was 2.9% and...

The human genome contains thousands of non-canonical open reading frames (ORFs) with the potential to encode functional proteins, including microproteins. These unannotated, cryptic proteins are not easily detected by conventional approaches and are considered part of the “dark” proteome. Previous studies have highlighted the tumor-suppressive function of some microproteins in colorectal cancer (CRC), but their role in cancer remains largely unknown. To provide further insights, researchers led by Yiwen Chen, Ph.D., used an integrated multiomic approach combining ribosome...

Incorporating navy beans into the diet of colorectal cancer (CRC) survivors has the potential to positively impact both gut and host health by modulating markers linked to obesity and disease, according to new research from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Findings revealed that BE GONE trial participants who added a cup of navy beans daily to their regular meals saw positive changes in their gut microbiome, which is associated with cancer prevention and improved treatment...

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc announced a five-year strategic research collaboration agreement to evaluate zanidatamab, Jazz’s investigational HER2-targeted bispecific antibody, in multiple HER2-expressing cancers.   The collaboration will combine MD Anderson’s translational medicine and clinical research expertise with Jazz’s expanding oncology drug development capabilities to investigate the potential of zanidatamab as monotherapy and in combination with other treatments for patients with different tumor types and stages. This includes its possible...