PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Pancreatic cancer vaccine plus immunotherapy and antibody spark immune system response in pancreatic cancers

2023-07-17
(Press-News.org) Giving patients with operable pancreatic cancers a three-pronged combination immunotherapy treatment consisting of the pancreatic cancer vaccine GVAX, the immune checkpoint therapy nivolumab and urelemab, an anti-CD137 agonist antibody treatment, is safe, it increases the amount of cancer-killing immune system T cells in the tumors and it appears effective when given two weeks prior to cancer-removal surgery, according to new research directed by Johns Hopkins investigators. A description of the work was published online June 20 in the journal Nature Communications.

This study, led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, the Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, is the latest from an ongoing platform trial formed in 2015 to study immunotherapy treatments before surgery (neoadjuvant) and after surgery (adjuvant) for patients with pancreatic cancer. This format enables researchers to use data generated by the trial to advance development of immunotherapies for pancreatic cancer within the same study.

            In this most recent part of the trial, 10 participants received the combination treatment. The median disease-free survival — the amount of time after treatment during which no cancer is found — was 33.51 months, and the median overall survival — time to death — was 35.5 months. These were higher than found in previous arms of the trial that tested the pancreatic cancer vaccine alone and in combination with nivolumab, but because of the small number of patients, the results did not have statistical significance.

The tumor specimens studied in the recent arm also had much higher amounts of cancer-killing immune cells than specimens from patients given only the vaccine or the vaccine plus nivolumab.

The results suggest that this therapy combination warrants further study in a larger clinical trial, says senior study author Lei Zheng, M.D., Ph.D., co-director of the Pancreatic Cancer Precision Medicine Center of Excellence and professor of oncology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

The platform trial has two purposes regarding pancreatic cancer treatments given during the two-week “window of opportunity” prior to surgery, Zheng says. First, it allows the immunotherapies to teach the patient’s immune cells how to respond to tumors, so they can continue surveillance later if the cancer recurs. Second, it enables investigators to see, by evaluating the tumors removed during surgery, how well the tumors respond to the treatment. A fourth arm of the trial, studying anti-interleukin-8 neutrophil-blocking antibodies in pancreatic tumors, is ongoing.

Zheng is available for comment. To schedule an interview, contact Valerie Mehl at mehlva@jhmi.edu or Amy Mone at amone1@jh.edu.

END


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Call for proposals: PhRMA Foundation seeks equity-focused research on digital health tools

2023-07-17
The nonprofit PhRMA Foundation launched a new grant program to provide more than $1 million in funding for research on the use of digital health technologies (DHTs) in underrepresented populations in clinical trials to advance regulatory decision-making.  Based on applicants’ letters of intent, the Foundation will award up to eight $25,000 planning grants to support the development of detailed research proposals to compete for two $500,000 grants. Planning grant award recipients will also be offered a $5,000 promotional credit from ...

In determining what’s true, Americans consider the intentions of the information source

2023-07-17
Chestnut Hill, Mass. (7/17/2023)  – Putting truth to the test in the “post-truth era”, Boston College psychologists conducted experiments that show when Americans decide whether a claim of fact should qualify as true or false, they consider the intentions of the information source, the team reported recently in Nature’s Scientific Reports. That confidence is based on what individuals think the source is trying to do – in this case either informing or deceiving their audience. “Even when people know precisely how accurate or inaccurate a claim of fact is, whether they consider that claim to be true or false hinges on the intentions ...

Broad-scope plant science journal publishes focus issue on critical biosecurity gap

Broad-scope plant science journal publishes focus issue on critical biosecurity gap
2023-07-17
The vast scale of global trade presents a constant threat of introducing new plant diseases, which is challenging to the United States system of biosecurity. Plant health professionals often must respond quickly to a newly introduced or emerging plant disease outbreak even before a well-validated diagnostic test is available. Additionally, thousands of plant pathogens that already exist have been routinely diagnosed with assays that were not fully or consistently validated, which can lead to inaccurate diagnoses, delays in proper disease management, and significant consequences for growers and the public. Growing awareness of this gap in coordination and resources for plant disease ...

Political apathy spreads from parents to adolescent children

Political apathy spreads from parents to adolescent children
2023-07-17
Political apathy is growing in democracies around the world. Political apathy, also known as political alienation, describes feelings of separation and disaffection, a sense of powerlessness and an indifference to politics and political institutions. A hallmark of political alienation is a refusal to vote or participate in political activities. Adolescents and young adults are no exception to these trends. In many countries in Europe and North America, the youngest voters have the lowest participation rates. Why are new voters so apathetic about politics? Many factors are ...

Ambitious global $1 billion per year ‘mission science’ model needed to win on sustainable development in time, warns experts

2023-07-17
Ambitious global $1 billion per year ‘mission science’ model needed to win on sustainable development in time, warns experts   From the climate emergency and global health to the energy transition and water security, new report argues the global science and science funding efforts must be fundamentally redesigned and scaled up to meet complex needs of humanity and the planet.    July 17, 2023, NEW YORK – The current sustainability science model requires a fundamental redesign to keep up with the pace and complexity of the challenges facing the planet, argues the high-level ...

New study uncovers taxonomic breakthrough in the common ophiuroid Ophiothrix angulata (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea)

New study uncovers taxonomic breakthrough in the common ophiuroid Ophiothrix angulata (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea)
2023-07-17
Ophiothrix angulata, a widely recognized and prevalent ophiuroid species in the Western Atlantic, has long been the subject of taxonomic debate due to its remarkable morphological diversity. A new study just published in PeerJ Life & Environment has shed light on the species' taxonomy, revealing a significant scientific breakthrough.  Led by a team of researchers from Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Universidad Católica del Maule and Florida Natural History Museum,  the comprehensive study aimed to assess species delimitation ...

Sergio Amancio receives 2023 Yoshiaki Arata Award

Sergio Amancio receives 2023 Yoshiaki Arata Award
2023-07-17
On the occasion of its annual general assembly in Singapore on 16 July 2023, the International Institute of Welding presented Sergio Amancio, from the Institute of Materials Science, Joining and Forming at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz), with this year’s Yoshiaki Arata Award in recognition of his scientific achievements. This award, consisting of a medal and a certificate, is considered one of the world’s most important awards for research in welding and additive manufacturing and usually goes to veteran researchers who are recognised for their life’s work. For ...

Current evidence identifies health risks of e-cigarette use; long-term research needed

2023-07-17
Statement Highlights: The number of people who use electronic nicotine delivery systems, typically referred to as e-cigarettes, has grown exponentially, especially among youth and young adults. E-cigarette use more than doubled from 2017 to 2019 among middle and high school students. Ingredients of e-cigarettes, including nicotine, flavoring agents, sweeteners and propylene glycol and vegetable glycerol, may each independently pose dangerous health risks. More clinical studies on the long-term impact of e-cigarettes on the heart, blood vessels and lungs are needed, and experts emphasize additional molecular and laboratory research ...

Developing new materials to accelerate the arrival of 'air taxis'

Developing new materials to accelerate the arrival of air taxis
2023-07-17
In order for future mobility, such as urban air mobility (UAM), to become a reality, it must be fuel efficient and reduce carbon emissions, which requires the development of new materials with excellent physical properties and recyclability. Self-reinforced composites (SRCs) are inexpensive, lightweight, and have advantages in terms of disposal and recycling as the reinforcement and the base material are composed of the same material. For this reason, it is attracting attention as a next-generation composite material to replace carbon fiber-reinforced composites used in aircraft. Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST, President ...

New findings suggest historical infanticide in Europe likely more widespread than estimated

2023-07-17
‘Routine’ infanticide of newborns by married parents in early modern Europe was a much more widespread practice than previously thought, a new book posits. This fresh insight sits at the heart of a new book, Death Control in the West 1500–1800: Sex Ratios at Baptism in Italy, France and England, by Gregory Hanlon and contributors. The French-trained behavioural historian explains: “In most cases, infanticide was a crime leaving no aggrieved party seeking revenge if it was committed right away. It could be overlooked and forgotten with the passage of time.” Widespread infanticide Hanlon, who is Distinguished Research Professor at Dalhousie University in ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Older teens who start vaping post-high school risk rapid progress to frequent use

Corpse flowers are threatened by spotty recordkeeping

Riding the AI wave toward rapid, precise ocean simulations

Are lifetimes of big appliances really shrinking?

Pink skies

Monkeys are world’s best yodellers - new research

Key differences between visual- and memory-led Alzheimer’s discovered

% weight loss targets in obesity management – is this the wrong objective?

An app can change how you see yourself at work

NYC speed cameras take six months to change driver behavior, effects vary by neighborhood, new study reveals

New research shows that propaganda is on the rise in China

Even the richest Americans face shorter lifespans than their European counterparts, study finds

Novel genes linked to rare childhood diarrhea

New computer model reveals how Bronze Age Scandinavians could have crossed the sea

Novel point-of-care technology delivers accurate HIV results in minutes

Researchers reveal key brain differences to explain why Ritalin helps improve focus in some more than others

Study finds nearly five-fold increase in hospitalizations for common cause of stroke

Study reveals how alcohol abuse damages cognition

Medicinal cannabis is linked to long-term benefits in health-related quality of life

Microplastics detected in cat placentas and fetuses during early pregnancy

Ancient amphibians as big as alligators died in mass mortality event in Triassic Wyoming

Scientists uncover the first clear evidence of air sacs in the fossilized bones of alvarezsaurian dinosaurs: the "hollow bones" which help modern day birds to fly

Alcohol makes male flies sexy

TB patients globally often incur "catastrophic costs" of up to $11,329 USD, despite many countries offering free treatment, with predominant drivers of cost being hospitalization and loss of income

Study links teen girls’ screen time to sleep disruptions and depression

Scientists unveil starfish-inspired wearable tech for heart monitoring

Footprints reveal prehistoric Scottish lagoons were stomping grounds for giant Jurassic dinosaurs

AI effectively predicts dementia risk in American Indian/Alaska Native elders

First guideline on newborn screening for cystic fibrosis calls for changes in practice to improve outcomes

Existing international law can help secure peace and security in outer space, study shows

[Press-News.org] Pancreatic cancer vaccine plus immunotherapy and antibody spark immune system response in pancreatic cancers