An artificial intelligence (AI) program that aims to make it easier to identify bone metastases in men with prostate cancer has been granted 501(k) clearance by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), its developer announced. The program uses a neural network — a type of AI — to identify hotspots on bone scans indicative of bone…
About Cancer
Cancer, also called malignancy, is an abnormal growth of cells with the potential to invade or spread to surrounding tissues and structures found within the body. There are more than 100 types of cancer. A few examples include breast cancer, skin cancer, lung cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer, and lymphoma. According to the American Cancer Society, 4 out of 10 people will be diagnosed with some form of cancer in their lifetime. Cancer prevalence has given rise to multiple medical specialties focused on symptom management and disease management. Current treatment options depending on the form of cancer include chemotherapy, radiation, blood or bone marrow transfusions, and/or surgery. Lifetime prognosis of cancer mortality is dependent on the type of cancer and is heavily conditional to early detection.
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Cancer News
ImmunoGen Teams Up With Huadong Medicine to Develop Mirvetuximab in China
ImmunoGen has announced a collaboration with Hangzhou Zhongmei Huadong Pharmaceutical Co, a subsidiary of Huadong Medicine, to develop and commercialize the ovarian cancer treatment mirvetuximab soravtansine to patients in China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. The partnership will combine ImmunoGen’s expertise in cancer medication development with Huadong Medicine’s familiarity with regulatory agencies and connections to…
Approval of Injection Darzalex Combo for Advanced Myeloma Sought in US, EU
Janssen is seeking to extend approval of its under-the-skin formulation of Darzalex (daratumumab) to include its use in combination with Pomalyst (pomalidomide) and dexamethasone to treat relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma patients who received at least one prior line of therapy. The company submitted applications for this combination therapy to regulatory agencies in the U.S. and the European Union. Darzalex…
Myeloma UK Calls for More Data Transparency to Safeguard Patients From COVID-19
Myeloma UK is calling for more data transparency in government efforts to safeguard myeloma patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. This comes after results were released from its COVID-19 survey that sought to examine the rate of COVID-19 infection among myeloma patients, changes to planned treatment due to the viral outbreak, and how the unfolding pandemic…
Allogene to Present Positive Phase 1 Data for Investigational CAR T-cell Therapy ALLO-715
ALLO-715, an investigational donor-derived CAR T-cell therapy by Allogene Therapeutics, has a manageable safety profile and promising preliminary efficacy results in people with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, a Phase 1 clinical trial has shown. The results will be presented at the 62nd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology, taking place virtually in…
Keytruda-Chemo Combo Improves Survival Outcomes in Advanced Lung Cancer
First-line treatment with a combination of Keytruda (pembrolizumab) plus chemotherapy significantly prolongs survival, and extends life without disease progression, in people with advanced non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), regardless of PD-L1 status, results from a Phase 1/2 trial show. Compared with platinum-based chemotherapy alone, the combo treatment also led to higher response rates in…
UK Study to Assess Causes of Greater Prostate Cancer Risk Among Black Men
Enrollment has resumed in a five-year U.K. study investigating genetic factors behind the higher risk of prostate cancer in men of African and Caribbean descent. The study involves researchers at The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, in London, who will run initial biopsy and genetic profiling tests. Black men…
CA125 Blood Test Useful in Diagnosing Ovarian Cancer in Routine Setting
A blood test measuring levels of the protein cancer antigen 125 (CA125) can help detect ovarian cancer in a primary care setting with considerable accuracy, a study reported. The research also showed for a first time that this test can also help in identifying other cancer types, particularly in women ages 50 and older. The…
Radiation Therapy Safe for Myeloma Patients Before CAR T-cell Infusion, Study Finds
Administering radiation therapy to people with relapsed or refractory (resistant) multiple myeloma waiting for CAR T-cells to be manufactured was found to be safe and did not impact CAR T-cell therapy, a small study reports. The study details were shared at the virtual 2020 American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Annual Meeting, in a presentation…
Breast Cancer Cell Sugars in Liquid Biopsies Could Be Key to Early Detection
The sugars that breast cancer cells shed into the bloodstream could provide an early cancer warning, according to a press release from GlycoNet, Canada’s national network of sugar science researchers. Karla Williams, PhD, Canada research chair in oncology at the University of British Columbia, discovered that certain glycans — long chains of sugars — are…
Post-surgery Opdivo Found to Reduce Risk of Recurrence in High-risk Bladder Cancer
Treatment with Opdivo (nivolumab) after surgery significantly reduces the risk of disease recurrence or death in people with high-risk, muscle-invasive urothelial cancer — a form of bladder cancer — an interim analysis from a Phase 3 trial shows. The CheckMate -274 (NCT02632409) met its primary goals of extended disease-free survival both in the overall population and…
European Commission OKs Lynparza for Metastatic CRPC With BRCA Mutations
The European Commission has approved Lynparza (olaparib) to treat people with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) who carry mutations in the DNA repair genes BRCA1 and BRCA2. The approval follows a positive opinion from the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP), an arm of the European Medicines Agency. “This approval in the EU is a landmark…