Oncology

PerkinElmer (NYSE:PKI) is under federal scrutiny for alleged involvement in a scam to bill Medicare for tens of thousands of unnecessary genetic cancer tests, according to a report by Reuters. The news agency cited three unidentified sources and government documents linking the Waltham, Mass.-based diagnostic and scientific instrument company to the probe. PerkinElmer acknowledged that it…

Phase 3 cancer immunotherapy company Cel-Sci (NYSE:CVM) announced today that it priced an underwritten public offering of common stock with expected gross proceeds of $5.5 million. Vienna, Va.–based Cel-Sci is offering 606,395 shares of common stock at a price of $9.07 per share to total the $5.5 million before deducting underwriting discounts and other estimated expenses. The…

Retrogenix and Resonant Therapeutics recently announced a non-exclusive strategic partnership that will help identify the targets of Resonant antibodies that are targeting tumor microenvironment. Resonant uses its IMPaCT tumor microenvironment models and data platform to discover targets and functionally active anti-tumor antibodies to treat more difficult tumors. Through the agreement, Retrogenix will perform targeted screening…

ArQule, Inc. announced preliminary results from the company’s phase 1/2 study of its pan-AKT inhibitor, miransertib (ARQ 092), in patients with PIK3CA-related Overgrowth Spectrum (PROS) and Proteus syndrome (PS) in an oral presentation at the European Society of Human Genetics Conference in Gothenburg, Sweden. “The results presented from our ongoing phase 1/2 study highlight the potential…

An unhealthy, inflamed gut causes breast cancer to become much more invasive and spread more quickly to other parts of the body, new research from the University of Virginia Cancer Center suggests. Melanie Rutkowski, PhD, of UVA’s Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Cancer Biology, found that disrupting the microbiome of mice caused hormone receptor-positive breast…

A UCLA-led study has found that using a drug called ribociclib in combination with a common hormone therapy may help premenopausal women with the most common type of breast cancer live longer than if they only receive the hormone therapy. Ribociclib is considered a cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor that works by blocking the activity of proteins…

Canadian researchers have discovered a molecular indicator of a mechanism that drives cancer progression, giving doctors the possibility of using precision medicine, that is, choosing which patients will respond to a particular anticancer drug. In a study published in Cancer Research, a team of biochemists at Université de Montreal found that a group of enzymes…

Researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) have found a way to target drug-resistant esophageal cancer cells by exploiting the different energy needs of cancerous versus healthy cells. This breakthrough is now opening the doorway to new treatments for an otherwise lethal cancer. The findings of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded study…

EPFL researchers have discovered that cancer cells use exosomes to communicate with each other and send information through the bloodstream. This breakthrough opens up new possibilities for the use of cancer immunotherapy techniques. “It was a huge surprise, we didn’t expect to find so many melanoma cancer cell markers in blood exosomes,” explains Hubert Girault,…

Normal cells have a complex system of checks and balances that regulate cell division. In cancer, the balance is tipped in favor of cell proliferation. This imbalance arises from increased levels or activity of oncoproteins (proteins that promote cell growth) or decreased levels or activity of tumor suppressors (proteins that limit cell growth). For example,…

A research team led by investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has found that combining a specialized version of an antihypertension drug with immune checkpoint blockers could increase the effectiveness of cancer immunotherapies. As described in their report published in PNAS, the combination treatment significantly improved tumor response…

For many women who thought they had beaten breast cancer, the news that it has roared back years later comes as an especially cruel diagnosis with no clear answers for why or how it recurs. Now a team of Duke Cancer Institute researchers has filled in some critically unknown details that could lead to potential…

University of Texas at Dallas scientists have demonstrated that the growth rate of the majority of lung cancer cells relates directly to the availability of a crucial oxygen-metabolizing molecule. In a preclinical study, recently published in Cancer Research, biologist Dr. Li Zhang and her team showed that the expansion of lung tumors in mice slowed when…

Treating breast tumors with two cancer drugs simultaneously may prevent endocrine resistance by attacking the disease along two separate gene pathways, scientists at the University of Illinois found in a new study. The two drugs used in the study, selinexor and 4-OHT, caused the cancer cells to die and tumors to regress for prolonged periods,…