Targeted therapy venetoclax improving acute myeloid leukemia treatment options
Targeted therapies are designed to work against specific vulnerabilities in a cancer cell.
The targeted therapy drug venetoclax is designed to block the function of the B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2) protein, which normally works to prevent cell death.
Venetoclax was first approved in 2016 for treating certain patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, which has high levels of Bcl-2. More recently, venetoclax has begun to show...
New class of immunotherapy targets found in pancreatic and other cancers
For patients with pancreatic cancer, the benefits from immunotherapy treatments with immune checkpoint inhibitors or cell therapies have been...
Colorectal cancer researchers focus on minimal residual disease to guide treatment
Minimal residual disease (MRD) is a term commonly used with blood cancers that describes a small fraction of cancer cells that remain or come...
Epigenetic protein plays key role in lung cancer and melanoma development
Layered on top of our genes is an additional set of information -- the epigenome, which is important for many cellular activities. Disruption of the epigenome is a major hallmark of cancer development. MD Anderson researcher Kunal Rai, Ph.D., is focused on better understanding the epigenome’s role in cancer.
Rai’s team has recently published studies in Cancer Cell and Cell Reports that report a key role for the epigenetic regulator...
How diversity within a cancer can influence a patient’s response to treatment
Although a tumor may start from a single cancer cell, it can eventually become millions of cells with unique characteristics. This diversity...
How telomere defects can cause inflammatory diseases
All of the DNA in our cells is organized into complex structures called chromosomes, which consist of our genetic material coiled around many...
Why doesn’t immunotherapy work for everyone?
In the last decade, immunotherapy has become a viable treatment option for many cancer patients. Unlike radiation and chemotherapy, immunotherapy...
Progress in treating medullary thyroid cancer
Medullary thyroid cancer is a rare cancer diagnosed in about 1,200 patients annually in the U.S. Because it’s often a silent disease, many...
New targeted therapy and immunotherapy approaches: Phase I clinical trial developments at ESMO Virtual Congress 2020
Studying new cancer therapies through clinical trials is essential for progress in cancer care. Phase I clinical trials are designed to evaluate...
Chromosomal instability study yields possible cancer treatment approach
In cancer, there are often large-scale deletions, rearrangements or other disruptions to our genetic information, which lead to a phenomenon...
Study challenges conventional understanding of signal from new diagnostic imaging technique
Diagnostic imaging is a powerful tool for clinicians and researchers to see cancer in the body, enabling them to distinguish between benign...
Does social distancing help prevent COVID-19?
Does social distancing effectively prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19?
New research from MD Anderson...
What is minimal residual disease (MRD)?
After completing a course of treatment, there are few words that sound better to a patient than “complete remission.” It’s an indication that...