STRO-002, Sutro Biopharma’s experimental antibody-drug conjugate, continues to be safe and elicit promising responses in heavily pretreated patients with advanced ovarian cancer, according to the latest data from a Phase 1 clinical trial. Updated interim findings from the ongoing open-label study (NCT03748186) showed that 32% of women who were eligible for response analyses responded to…
BrickBio’s antibody-drug conjugate BRKB-28 showed preclinical effectiveness in eradicating breast cancer cells while leaving healthy cells unharmed, the company announced. BRKB-28 combines an antibody against a cancer protein with a toxic payload, using a linker molecule that connects the two. Once bound to its target, BRKB-28 releases its toxic compound into cancer cells, triggering their…
Researchers have developed a new technology that can be used to deliver the gene-editing tool CRISPR/Cas9 into prostate cancer cells without the need for viral vectors, a proof-of-concept study demonstrates. The study, “ZIF-C for targeted RNA interference and CRISPR/Cas9 based gene editing in prostate cancer,” was published in Chemical Communications. Cancer cells harbor genetic changes that…
A European Medicines Agency (EMA) committee has adopted a positive opinion on Bavencio (avelumab), recommending its approval as a first-line maintenance treatment for adults with locally advanced or metastatic bladder cancer (urothelial carcinoma) who have not progressed after platinum-based chemotherapy. The opinion, from the EMA’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP), will now…
A $3.2-million grant from the National Institutes of Health has been awarded to the collaborative work between Northeastern University’s Spring Lab and Cellaria into a new method of eliminating the microscopic cancerous tumors left behind by standard therapies. The approach uses antibody-photosensitizer molecules that make cancer cells susceptible to light-induced destruction. Researchers will mainly focus…
The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF) has joined forces with the Dana Farber Cancer Institute to develop new biomarkers and treatments for people with smoldering multiple myeloma (SMM) — a precursor condition to multiple myeloma. The collaboration will take advantage of MMRF’s data hub CureCloud and at-home genetic test program and Dana Farber’s expertise in SMM to build “the most…
Keytruda (pembrolizumab) has been recommended for approval in the European Union (EU) as a first-line treatment for adults with inoperable or metastatic colorectal cancer with certain genetic features. These include high microsatellite instability (MSI-H) or deficient mismatch repair (dMMR) — both good indicators of impaired DNA repair, which increase the number of mutations in a…
The distinctive organization of enzymes in early breast ductal cancer can be used to correctly predict recurrences in 91% of cases, with 4% false negatives, a new study has found. The diagnostic tool may assist with the early identification of patients at high risk of cancer recurrence while reducing overdiagnosis and treatment of low-risk patients.…
Cevostamab (BFCR4350A), a bispecific antibody developed by Roche, induces durable and deep responses in heavily pre-treated patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, according to early data from a Phase 1 trial. Preliminary data from the trial, called GO39775 (NCT03275103), also showed cevostamab had a manageable safety and toxicity profile when given in a single…
Yescarta (axicabtagene ciloleucel), Kite Pharma’s CAR T-cell therapy, leads to a high rate of strong and sustained responses in adults with relapsed or refractory (resistant) follicular lymphoma, known as FL, or marginal zone lymphoma, called MZL, who received at least two prior therapy lines, according to interim data from a Phase 2 trial. Both FL and MZL are…
