To honor Prostate Cancer Awareness Month this September, the Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) has launched its “Eat It to Beat It” challenge with the endorsement of celebrity ambassador Harry Lennix, an actor currently starring in NBC’s The Blacklist. The challenge asks participants to eat 30 healthy foods during the month to raise awareness about how…
The Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance (OCRA) is hoping to raise $200,000 in this year’s awareness month campaign to help fund research and support those with the disease, the organization announced. OCRA, the largest non-government funder of ovarian cancer research, is urging people worldwide to make single or monthly donations, which can be dedicated in memory…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is reviewing a new drug application from Athenex seeking approval of oral paclitaxel and encequidar (Oral Paclitaxel) for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer. The application has been granted priority review, and the FDA is expected to make a decision no later than Feb. 28, 2021. The FDA,…
The first patient has been dosed in a Phase 1/2a trial investigating Precision BioSciences‘ new CAR T-cell therapy candidate, PBCAR269A, for people with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. The dose-escalation trial (NCT04171843) is expected to recruit 48 participants at five clinical sites in the U.S. Enrollment is now active at City of Hope, in California, and…
The European Commission has approved a combination of Imfinzi (durvalumab) plus standard chemotherapy as a first-line treatment for people with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC). Findings from the CASPIAN Phase 3 trial (NCT03043872) supported the decision. There, newly diagnosed patients with extensive-stage (widely spread) SCLC who received the combination lived significantly longer than those…
To help accelerate the development of treatments for Alzheimer’s disease, the Alzheimer’s Association’s Part the Cloud research grant program is investing $24 million in clinical trials investigating 16 potential therapies. Scientists from around the world will use the funds to conduct Phase 1 and 2 trials testing a variety of experimental medications and devices. The studies…
To communicate with platelets and start the process of cancer spread, ovarian cancer cells are able to break the barriers of blood vessels and let platelets inside the tumor environment, according to a study that used microfluidic organ-in-a-chip technology. Atorvastatin, a medication belonging to cholesterol-lowering statins, is able to maintain blood vessel integrity and prevent…
Legend Biotech and Janssen’s investigational CAR T-cell therapy ciltacabtagene autoleucel (cilta-cel) has been given breakthrough therapy designation in China as a potential treatment of relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. Cilta-cel refers to both LCAR-B38M, the name given to the therapy in China, and JNJ-4528, the name by which it is known outside of China. The…
A new non-invasive technique that can temporarily “open” the blood-brain barrier may make it easier for promising therapies to enter the brain of people with Alzheimer’s disease, a study reports. The study, “Noninvasive hippocampal blood−brain barrier opening in Alzheimer’s disease with focused ultrasound,” was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. …
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved FoundationOne Liquid CDx, a blood test that can be used to identify cancer patients who may benefit from certain targeted therapies, including the FDA-approved prostate cancer therapy Rubraca (rucaparib). The test became commercially available on Aug. 28, and is covered by Medicare and Medicare Advantage for qualifying individuals…
