A research team from the University of Cologne has identified a new approach for treating particularly aggressive pancreatic cancer. It makes use of a genetic mutation that allows the immune system to attack the cancer cells again / publication in ‘Nature Communications’ Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

Anti-T-lymphocyte globulin (ATLG) for the prevention of graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) reduces complications and infection-related mortality compared to post-transplant cyclophosphamide (PTCy) in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation from unrelated donors [1]. Although PTCy was associated with fewer cases of acute (Grade II–IV) and chronic GvHD, this did not result in a survival benefit for patients with blood cancer [1]. These initial results from the GRAPPA study were presented by DKMS as a late-breaking abstract at the European Hematology Association (EHA) Congress in Stockholm. Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

A newly developed “molecular eraser” destroys the blueprint of the NRAS cancer protein and triggers surprising changes in cancer cells Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

Researchers at Justus Liebig University Discover New Therapeutic Approach Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

In rare cases, cancer treatments can cause serious long-term effects. These include so-called secondary leukemias. This form of blood cancer can develop when chemotherapy or radiotherapy damages the genetic material of healthy cells. A research team led by a scientist from Ulm has now discovered a molecular protective mechanism against such genomic damage: a peptide that can inhibit breaks in the DNA without compromising the curative effect of the actual cancer therapy. These findings could potentially help to make cancer treatments safer. The study was published in the renowned journal Nature Communications. Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

Mit einem zusätzlichen Rezeptor lassen sich CAR-T-Zellen so modifizieren, dass sie leichter in die Lymphknoten eindringen und die dort vorhandenen Krebszellen abtöten. Der Ansatz könne die Therapie von Lymphomen verbessern, berichtet ein Team des Max Delbrück Center in „Cancer Immunology Research“. Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

Innovative mRNA-based therapeutics and vaccines offer hope in the fight against cancer, genetic disorders and infections. However, their development and production are complex, slow and difficult to scale. Seven Fraunhofer institutes are working to change this situation. In the RNAuto project, they have now developed an automated, digitally controlled production system that is fast, flexible and cost-effective. Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

With the publication of the long-term data from the RELAZA2 study, a research program developed over many years by Dresden University Medicine for the treatment of leukemia patients, has reached an important milestone. The results demonstrate the potential of early, minimal residual disease (MRD)-guided therapy to delay or possibly prevent relapses. RELAZA2 is considered the world’s first MRD-triggered prospective study in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft Hier jetzt das aktuell Außergewöhnliche auswählen …

Understanding and controlling how cancer cells transition between different states remains a critical challenge in tumor biology. In a recent publication in Advanced Materials, researchers from the Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden (IPF) present a data-driven strategy to guide these transitions using engineered biomaterials. Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft Hier jetzt das aktuell Außergewöhnliche auswählen …

Whether it’s new treatment options for cancer, rare diseases, or age-related conditions—leading researchers and experts from clinical practice and industry are gathering in Frankfurt am Main to share their knowledge on modern gene and cell therapies. JOINT PRESS RELEASE by the Berlin Institute of Health in der Charité (BIH) and ForTra gGmbH für Forschungstransfer der Else Kröner-Fresenius-Stiftung (ForTra) Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft Hier jetzt das aktuell Außergewöhnliche auswählen …

Stem-cell memory T (TSCM) cells are able to self-renew, persist long term, and mount potent anti-tumor responses. These properties make them attractive for next-generation CAR T-cell therapies. However, their clinical potential has not previously been demonstrated in humans. A team of researchers co-led by Professor Luca Gattinoni from the Leibniz Institute for Immunotherapy (LIT) and Dr. James Kochenderfer from the National Cancer Institute has published a new study in Cell reporting, for the first time, that CAR T cells designed to acquire a TSCM phenotype demonstrate a favorable safety profile and can induce complete remissions at remarkably low doses without…

T-Stammgedächtniszellen (TSCM) erneuern sich selbst, überleben langfristig und können starke Anti-Tumor-Reaktionen erzeugen. Deshalb sind sie vielversprechende Kandidaten für CAR T Zelltherapien der nächsten Generation. Bisher fehlte der Nachweis für die Wirksamkeit beim Menschen. Ein Team unter Leitung von Prof. Luca Gattinoni vom Leibniz-Institut für Immuntherapie (LIT) und Dr. James Kochenderfer vom National Cancer Institute berichtet in der Fachzeitschrift Cell, dass CAR T Zellen mit TSCM Phänotyp in einer frühen klinischen Studie sicher und verträglich waren. Zudem bewirkten sie in niedrigen Dosen komplette Tumorrückbildungen – und das ohne eine chemotherapeutische Vorbehandlung. Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft Hier jetzt das aktuell Außergewöhnliche auswählen…

Professor Daniela Lössner and her research team—Dr. Ali Nadernezhad, Dr. Sandra Hauser, and Dr. Verena Kast—have been presented with the 2025 Innovation Award by the Association of Supporters of the Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden (IPF). The award recognizes their use of biomaterials to model the tumor microenvironment. Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft Hier jetzt das aktuell Außergewöhnliche auswählen …

Researchers have discovered that a key protein, cFLIP, is essential for regulating programmed cell death in lymphoma cells. This discovery provides insights into the mechanisms of this cancer’s cell death evasion and could open up new therapeutic routes for patients who do not respond to therapies / publication in “Blood” Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft Hier jetzt das aktuell Außergewöhnliche auswählen …

Biology: Publication in Nature Communications Metastases, i.e. the secondary growths of cancer cells, are a key problem in many types of cancer. As descendants of the primary tumour, they can grow in other organs distant from the primary site and are often difficult to identify. A research team from the Institute of Genetics at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) has now identified molecular mechanisms, which can enable cancer cells to colonise other tissue. The team led by Dr Tobias Reiff has now published its findings in the scientific journal Nature Communications. Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft Hier jetzt das aktuell Außergewöhnliche…

Researchers at the University of Bayreuth have, for the first time, deciphered key steps in the biosynthetic mechanism of the potential anti-cancer agent fostriecin. The team led by Prof. Dr. Frank Hahn has succeeded in producing all enzymes involved in the process in the laboratory and examining them individually under controlled conditions. In the long term, the findings may pave the way for more efficient production of the compound and open up new avenues in cancer therapy. The researchers have reported their findings in the renowned journal Nature Communications. Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft Hier jetzt das aktuell Außergewöhnliche auswählen …

Muhammad A Shah, Emily L Denton, Cheryl H Arrowsmith, Mathieu Lupien and Matthieu Schapira Abstract Background The notion that epigenetic mechanisms may be central to cancer initiation and progression is supported by recent next-generation sequencing efforts revealing that genes involved in chromatin-mediated signaling are recurrently mutated in cancer patients. Results Here, we analyze mutational and transcriptional profiles from TCGA and the ICGC across a collection 441 chromatin factors and histones. Chromatin factors essential for rapid replication are frequently overexpressed, and those that maintain genome stability frequently mutated. We identify novel mutation hotspots such as K36M in histone H3.1, and uncover…

Cancer is a group of almost 200 diseases that involve variety of changes in cell structure, morphology, and physiology. Cancer phenotype is underlying several alterations in cellular dynamics with three most critical features, which includes self-sufficiency in growth signals and insensitivity to inhibitory signals, evasion of programmed cell death and limitless replicative potential with a potential for the invasion of other organs. Cancer disease is widespread among metazoans. Some properties of cancer cells such as uncontrolled cell proliferation, lack of apoptosis, hypoxia, fermentative metabolism and free cell motility, i.e. metastasis, resemble a prokaryotic lifestyle, which leads to the assumption of…

Most cancer cells utilize aerobic glycolysis irrespective of their tissue of origin. The alteration from oxidative phosphorylation to glycolysis – called the Warburg effect – is an universal phenomen and has now become a diagnostic tool for cancer detection. Warburg O, Posener K, Negelein E. (1924) Über den Stoffwechsel der Carcinomzelle. Biochem Z. 152, 309–344.

Progressive increase in mtDNA 3243A>G heteroplasmy causes abrupt transcriptional reprogramming Wallace hypothesized mitochondrial dysfunction as a central role in a wide range of age-related disorders and various forms of cancer. Steadily rising increases in mitochondrial DNA mutations cause abrupt shifts in diseases. Discrete changes in nuclear gene expression in response to small increases in DNA mutant level are analogous to the phase shifts that is well known in physics: As heat is added, the ice abruptly turns to water or with more heat abruptly to steam. Therefore, a quantitative change that is an increasing proportion of mitochondrial DNA mutation results…

Tomasetti and Vogelstein show that the lifetime risk of cancers of many different types is strongly correlated with the total number of divisions of the normal self-renewing cells maintaining that tissue’s homeostasis. These results suggest that only a third of the variation in cancer risk among tissues is attributable to environmental factors or inherited predispositions. The majority is due to bad luck, that is, random mutations arising during DNA replication in normal, noncancerous stem cells. Tomasetti C, Vogelstein B (2015): Variation in cancer risk among tissues can be explained by the number of stem cell divisions. Science 2 January 2015:…

Energy transfer in material solids is driven primarily by differences in intensive thermodynamic quantities such as pressure and temperature. The crucial observation  in quantum-theoretical models was the consideration of the heat capacity as associated with the vibrations of atoms in a crystalline solid. However, living organisms are essentially isothermal. Because of very little differences in temperature between different parts of a cell it is assumed that energy flow in living organisms is mediated by differences in the turnover time of various metabolic processes in the cell, which occur in cyclical fashion. It has been shown that the cycle time of…

Low non-specific, low intensity laser illumination (635, 670 or 830 nm) apparently enhances centriole replication and promotes cell division, what is the opposite of a desired cancer therapy. In the contrary, centrioles are sensitive to coherent light. Then higher intensity laser illumination – still below heating threshold – may selectively target centrioles, impair mitosis and be a beneficial therapy against malignancy. If centrioles utilize quantum photons for entanglement, properties of centrosomes/centrioles approached more specifically could be useful for therapy. Healthy centrioles for a given organism or tissue differentiation should then have specific quantum optical properties detectable through some type of…

Susanne Rittinghausen, Anja Hackbarth, Otto Creutzenberg, Heinrich Ernst, Uwe Heinrich, Albrecht Leonhardt and Dirk Schaudien Abstract Background Biological effects of tailor-made multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) without functionalization were investigated in vivo in a two-year carcinogenicity study. In the past, intraperitoneal carcinogenicity studies in rats using biopersistent granular dusts had always been negative, whereas a number of such studies with different asbestos fibers had shown tumor induction. The aim of this study was to identify possible carcinogenic effects of MWCNTs. We compared induced tumors with asbestos-induced mesotheliomas and evaluated their relevance for humans by immunohistochemical methods. Methods A total of 500…