Specially equipped natural killer cells show effectiveness against the most common form of ovarian cancer
2024-07-12
(Press-News.org)
RESEARCH SUMMARY
Study Title: CAR memory-like NK cells targeting the membrane proximal domain of mesothelin demonstrate promising activity in ovarian cancer
Publication: Science Advances
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute authors include: Rizwan Romee, MD, senior author; and Mubin Tarannum, PhD, KhanhLinh Dinh, and Juliana Vergara, MD, MMSc, co-first authors
Summary: Natural killer, or NK, cells endowed with memory-like abilities and armed with a novel chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) have generated encouraging results in experiments in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) cells. Compared to earlier studies, which targetted the far end of the mesothelin protein on EOC cells, the new CIML NK cells, whose CAR targets the portion of mesothelin closer to the membrane, produced superior antitumor activity in laboratory lines of EOC cells and in human EOC cells grafted onto animal models. Importantly, researchers observed that the new CAR CIML NK cells maintained their activity after being exposed to ascitic fluid from patients – a fluid that builds up in the abdomen and has a suppressive effect on the immune system. When researchers tested the new cells in an animal model of peritoneal cancer, the cells not only caused the cancer to recede but prevented it from spreading to major organs.
Impact: Based on their effectiveness against epithelial ovarian cancer in the lab and in animal models, the new version of memory-like CAR NK cells should be evaluated in patients with advanced forms of the disease who have few other options, researchers say.
Funding: The work was supported by Dana Farber/Harvard Cancer Center Ovarian Cancer SPORE grant (1P50CA240243-01A1), the Ted and Eileen Pasquarello Research Fund, Expert Miracles Foundation, the Robert A. and Renée E. Belfer Family Foundation, and philanthropic support to Senior Author Rizwan Romee, MD.
END
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2024-07-12
“We are optimistic that the incorporation of ADCs into the treatment of aggressive tumors and treatment refractory gynecologic cancers will improve quality of life and survival outcomes in our patients.”
BUFFALO, NY- July 12, 2024 – A new editorial paper was published in Oncoscience (Volume 11) on May 20, 2024, entitled, “Entering the golden age for antibody-drug conjugates in gynecologic cancer.”
In this new editorial, researchers Michelle Greenman, Blair McNamara, Levent Mutlu, and Alessandro D. Santin from Yale University School of Medicine discuss gynecologic cancers. Biologically aggressive ...
2024-07-12
SAN ANGELO, Texas —Tom Green County District Court Judge Barbara L. Walther ruled Thursday, July 11, 2024, that Angelo State University must release public records relating to an experiment conducted on dozens of mice that resulted in the animals’ unnecessary suffering and death, reportedly to study the impact of the foster care system on human children.
The ruling overturns Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s Nov. 17, 2022 decision to side with the university in denying the records.
On July 13, 2023, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a Washington, D.C. based health advocacy group of more than 17,000 doctor members that encourages higher standards ...
2024-07-12
One of the challenges of creating realistic-looking and delectable plant-based meat is mimicking the marbled effect of animal fat that many carnivores expect and enjoy.
A University of Massachusetts Amherst food scientist has a plan to tackle this quandary by developing new technology supported by a $250,000 grant from the Good Food Institute. The not-for-profit think tank promotes plant-based alternatives to meat, dairy and eggs, as well as cultivated “clean meat” grown from animal cells in a facility.
The technology proposed ...
2024-07-12
In a revelation that highlights the fragile balance of our planet's atmosphere, scientists from China, Germany, and the USA have uncovered an unexpected link between massive wildfire events and the chemistry of the ozone layer. Published in Science Advances, this study reveals how wildfires, such as the catastrophic 2019/20 Australian bushfires, impact the stratosphere in previously unseen ways.
The ozone layer, a crucial shield protecting life on Earth from harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation, has been on a path to ...
2024-07-12
Infections and neurodegenerative diseases cause inflammation in the brain. But for unknown reasons, patients with brain inflammation often develop muscle problems that seem to be independent of the central nervous system. Now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have revealed how brain inflammation releases a specific protein that travels from the brain to the muscles and causes a loss of muscle function.
The study, in fruit flies and mice, also identified ways to block this process, which could have ...
2024-07-12
Researchers from University of California San Diego have found that two of the most frequently administered stem cell therapies, which are often used interchangeably, actually contain completely different types of cells. The results challenge the current “one-cell-cures-all” paradigm in orthopedic stem cell therapeutics and highlight the need for more informed and rigorous characterization of injectable stem cell therapies before they are marketed for use in patients.
The researchers analyzed cell populations of autologous bone marrow aspirate concentrate (BMAC) and adipose-derived ...
2024-07-12
The ozone layer, a crucial shield protecting life on Earth from harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation, has been on a path to recovery thanks to the Montreal Protocol. This landmark international treaty, adopted in 1987, successfully led to phasing out the production of numerous substances responsible for ozone depletion. Over the past decades, the ozone layer has shown significant signs of healing, a testament to global cooperation and environmental policy.
However, the stability of this vital atmospheric layer is now facing a new and unexpected challenge. During the 2019/20 Australian wildfires, ...
2024-07-12
Stories written with AI assistance have been deemed to be more creative, better written and more enjoyable.
A new study published in the journal Science Advances finds that AI enhances creativity by boosting the novelty of story ideas as well as the ‘usefulness’ of stories – their ability to engage the target audience and potential for publication.
It finds that AI “professionalizes” stories, making them more enjoyable, more likely to have plot twists, better written and less boring.
In ...
2024-07-12
Researchers at the Texas A&M School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (VMBS) have uncovered how natural selection “rewilds” domestic rabbits.
The study, published in Nature Ecology and Evolution, helps answer the question of how normally tame rabbits — which have many natural predators — can become a force of ecological destruction when purposefully or accidentally reintroduced to the wild.
Here Comes Peter Cottontail
Every gardener knows how much of a nuisance rabbits can be, but ...
2024-07-12
By Leah Shaffer
You can think of our atmosphere as a big chemistry set, a global churn of gaseous molecules and particles that constantly bounce off and change each other in complicated ways. While the particles are very small, often less than 1% of the thickness of human hair, they have outsized impacts. For example, particles are the seeds of cloud droplets, and the abundance of the particles changes the reflectivity and the amount of clouds, rainfall and climate.
Now, researchers at Washington University in St. ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] Specially equipped natural killer cells show effectiveness against the most common form of ovarian cancer
