Cancer Immunotherapy Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

2025, Molecular Therapy

expression of FGFR4 CAR on transduced T cells was measured using flow cytometry. The M410 and M412 FGFR4 CARs, both short and long constructs, were tested for cell-mediated cytotoxicity against RMS cell lines. M410-L showed higher cytotoxic activity compared to M412-L. M412-S showed greater cytotoxic activity compared to M412-L CAR. Thus, overall CAR structure format may be important for its functional activity. The remaining scFv will be further analyzed in various CAR formats for its functional activity including cytotoxicity and interferon-gamma production. In summary, the overexpression of FGFR4 protein in RMS versus normal cell lines demonstrates that FGFR4 may be a suitable target for immune-based therapy. FGFR4 CAR-T cell therapy offers the potential of a novel therapeutic intervention for high-risk, refractory and relapsed RMS.

2025, Jscholar

The standard treatment for ovarian cancer is surgical debulking followed by platinum-taxane-based chemotherapy. Although most patients are initially responsive to this therapy, patients in advanced stages eventually relapse and die. New therapeutic approaches using immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) have been less promising in ovarian cancer compared to other tumor types, resulting in durable tumor regression in only a small subset of ovarian cancer patients. Because previous studies showed immunomodulatory effects following co-treatment with cisplatin and the thrombin inhibitor dabigatran etexilate (C/D) in a preclinical animal model of ovarian cancer, we explored to what extent this co-treatment may enhance the anti-tumor efficacy of ICB in the ID8 tumor model that is resistant to ICB. Whereas cisplatin or dabigatran treatment alone or co-treatment with cisplatin and anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody (mAb) demonstrated little significant effect on tumor spread, co-treatment with C/D with or without anti-PD-1 mAb significantly reduced ID8 tumor burden and increased peritoneal INF-γ producing CD8 + T-cells after only 2 weeks of treatment. Moreover, C/D cotreatment with ICB conferred a durable survival advantage over C/D or ICB alone. The enhanced anti-tumor effect and survival with C/D co-treatment and ICB compared to that with C/D or ICB alone was accompanied by decreases in immunosuppressive M2-macrophages, decreases in pro-tumorigenic cytokines, and corresponding increases in tumor-infiltrating, IFN-γ-producing CD8 + T-cells. Our findings provide proof-of-concept evidence that the addition of ICB with thrombin inhibition in frontline platinum-based chemotherapy may be a potential new therapeutic treatment combination for advanced ovarian cancer.

2025, URF Publishers

Spontaneous remission, defined as the complete or partial regression of a malignant tumor without any treatment intervention, is a rare phenomenon in advanced metastatic carcinoma. We present a unique case of spontaneous remission in a patient with metastatic carcinoma, highlighting the potential role of the immune system in tumor control. This case report underscores the need for further investigation into the mechanisms underlying spontaneous remission and its implications for immunotherapy.

2025, Regular and Young Investigator Award Abstracts

2025, The Journal of clinical investigation

Tumor-associated myeloid cells maintain immunosuppressive microenvironments within tumors. Identification of myeloid-specific receptors to modulate tumor-associated macrophage and myeloid-derived suppressor cell (MDSC) functions remains challenging. The leukocyte immunoglobulin-like receptor B (LILRB) family members are negative regulators of myeloid cell activation. We investigated how LILRB targeting could modulate tumor-associated myeloid cell function. LILRB2 antagonism inhibited receptor-mediated activation of SHP1/2 and enhanced proinflammatory responses. LILRB2 antagonism also inhibited AKT and STAT6 activation in the presence of M-CSF and IL-4. Transcriptome analysis revealed that LILRB2 antagonism altered genes involved in cell cytoskeleton remodeling, lipid/cholesterol metabolism, and endosomal sorting pathways, as well as changed differentiation gene networks associated with inflammatory myeloid cells as opposed to their alternatively activated phenotype. LILRB2 blockade ...

2025, Nature Communications

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) targeting PD-L1 and PD-1 have improved survival in a subset of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, only a minority of NSCLC patients respond to ICIs, highlighting the need for superior immunotherapy. Herein, we report on a nanoparticle-based immunotherapy termed ARAC (Antigen Release Agent and Checkpoint Inhibitor) designed to enhance the efficacy of PD-L1 inhibitor. ARAC is a nanoparticle co-delivering PLK1 inhibitor (volasertib) and PD-L1 antibody. PLK1 is a key mitotic kinase that is overexpressed in various cancers including NSCLC and drives cancer growth. Inhibition of PLK1 selectively kills cancer cells and upregulates PD-L1 expression in surviving cancer cells thereby providing opportunity for ARAC targeted delivery in a feedforward manner. ARAC reduces effective doses of volasertib and PD-L1 antibody by 5-fold in a metastatic lung tumor model (LLC-JSP) and the effect is mainly mediated by CD8+ T cells. ARAC ...

2025

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) targeting PD-L1 and PD-1 have improved survival in a subset of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, only a minority of NSCLC patients respond to ICIs, highlighting the need for superior immunotherapy. Herein, we developed a nanoparticle-based immunotherapy termed ARAC (Antigen Release Agent and Checkpoint Inhibitor) to enhance the efficacy of PD-L1 inhibitor. ARAC is nanoparticle co-delivering PLK1 inhibitor, volasertib, and PD-L1 antibody. PLK1 is a key mitotic kinase that is overexpressed in various cancers including NSCLC and drives cancer growth. Inhibition of PLK1 selectively kills cancer cells and upregulates PD-L1 expression in surviving cancer cells thereby providing opportunity for ARAC targeted delivery in a positive feedback manner. ARAC reduced effective doses of volasertib and PD-L1 antibody by 5-fold in a metastatic lung tumor model and the effect was mainly mediated by CD8 + T cells. We also observed a...

2025, Journal of Cancer

Bone cancer among adolescents and children exhibits varying survival outcomes based on disease state. While localized bone cancer cases have a survival rate exceeding 70%, metastatic, refractory, and recurrent forms are associated with significantly poorer prognoses. Initially believed to be mere vehicles for cellular waste disposal, exosomes are now recognized as extracellular vesicles facilitating intercellular communication. These vesicles influence cellular behaviors by transporting various biomolecules, such as proteins, DNA, RNA, and lipids, among cells. The role of exosomes in regulating the progression of bone cancer is increasingly evident, impacting critical processes like tumorigenesis, proliferation, metastasis, angiogenesis, immune evasion, and drug resistance. Current research underscores the substantial potential of exosomes in promoting the progression and development of bone cancer. This review delves into the complex process of exosome biogenesis, the variety of cell-derived exosome sources, and their applications in drug delivery and therapeutics. It also examines ongoing clinical trials focused on exosome cargo levels and discusses the challenges and future directions in exosome research. Unlike costly and invasive traditional diagnostic methods, exosomal biomarkers offer a non-invasive, cost-effective, and readily accessible routine screening through simple fluid collection that aims to inspire researchers to investigate the potential of exosomes for cancer theragnostic. Through comprehensive exploration of these areas, the review seeks to enhance understanding and foster innovative solutions to cancer biology in the near future.

2025, Cancer Cell International

2025, Biomarkers and Genomic Medicine

This study aimed to evaluate the anti-osteoporosis effect of CSN1S2 protein from goat milk and yoghurt on a complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA)-induced rheumatoid arthritis (RA) model in rats. Twenty-four rats were randomly divided into six groups: control (untreated) group (C), group treated with CSN1S2 (CM) protein from goat milk, group treated with CSN1S2 protein from goat yoghurt (CY), RA group, RA group treated with CSN1S2 protein from goat milk (RAM), and RA group treated with goat yoghurt (RAY). Mineral elements and mesostructure were analyzed using X-ray fluorescence and scanning electron microscopy. Bone histomorphometry was analyzed using the BoneJ software. One way analysis of variance and Tukey post hoc tests were used to analyze and compare the means of all variables between groups. The phosphorus levels were not significantly different between treatment groups relative to the control group (p > 0.05), but were significantly higher in the CM and RAY groups relative to that observed in the CY group (p < 0.05). CSN1S2 protein of goat milk repaired the collagen structure in the femur trabecular bone. The trabecular thickness and volume were significantly lower in CM and CY groups relative to the control group (p < 0.05). The trabecular volume also decreased significantly in the CM group relative to the control group (p < 0.05). The trabecular thickness was significantly lower in the CY group relative to the CM group (p < 0.05), but the

2025, Expert Opinion on Biological Therapy

2025, Nowotwory Journal of Oncology

Tebentafusp (IMCgp100) is a novel bispecific immunotherapy that contains a specifically engineered soluble T-cell receptor (TCR) capable of recognising the gp100 epitope on the surface of tumour cells presented by human leukocyte antigen-A*02:01 (HLA-A*02:01 (HLA-A2) is a specific allele within the HLA-A2 group). The HLA-A2 is then fused to the single-chain variable fragment of anti-CD3, which binds to T-cells and destroys them. Tebentafusp has been shown to cause a significant increase in pro-inflammatory cytokine levels that are detrimental to the tumour. The preliminary results of tebentafusp in solid tumours are encouraging, particularly in advanced/metastatic uveal melanoma (UM). In a randomised phase III study (IMCgp100-202; n = 378), patients with untreated HLA*02:01 positive metastatic UM (mUM), tebentafusp significantly improved overall survival (OS) with a hazard ratio (HR) of 0.51 compared to the investigator's choice, mainly pembrolizumab (82%). The one-year OS rate for tebentafusp was 73% compared to 59% for pembrolizumab. For comparison, the single-arm GEM1402 study (n = 52) reported a one-year OS rate of 52% for the combination of nivolumab and Ipilimumab in metastatic UM. The most common adverse reactions related to tebentafusp include cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and dermatological reactions such as rash. It is the first drug with OS benefit in advanced/metastatic UM patients. However, further research is needed to optimise its use, improve patient selection, develop combination therapies and identify predictive and prognostic biomarkers.

2025, Pharmacology & Therapeutics

Aging is characterized by a progressive loss of physiological integrity, while cancer represents one of the primary pathological factors that severely threaten human lifespan and healthspan. In clinical oncology, drug resistance limits the efficacy of most anticancer treatments, and identification of major mechanisms remains a key to solve this challenging issue. Here, we highlight the multifaceted senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP), which comprises numerous soluble factors including amphiregulin (AREG). Production of AREG is triggered by DNA damage to stromal cells, which passively enter senescence in the tumor microenvironment (TME), a process that remarkably enhances cancer malignancy including acquired resistance mediated by EGFR. Furthermore, paracrine AREG induces programmed cell death 1 ligand (PD-L1) expression in recipient cancer cells and creates an immunosuppressive TME via Department of Defense (DoD) Prostate

2025, Cancers

Dendritic cell-based and other vaccination strategies that use the patient’s own immune system for the treatment of cancer are gaining momentum. Most studies of therapeutic cancer vaccination have been performed in adults. However, since cancer is one of the leading causes of death among children past infancy in the Western world, the hope is that this form of active specific immunotherapy can play an important role in the pediatric population as well. Since children have more vigorous and adaptable immune systems than adults, therapeutic cancer vaccines are expected to have a better chance of creating protective immunity and preventing cancer recurrence in pediatric patients. Moreover, in contrast to conventional cancer treatments such as chemotherapy, therapeutic cancer vaccines are designed to specifically target tumor cells and not healthy cells or tissues. This reduces the likelihood of side effects, which is an important asset in this vulnerable patient population. In this rev...

2025, Nature Communications

Targeting the reprogramming and phagocytic capacities of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) has emerged as a therapeutic opportunity for cancer treatment. Here, we demonstrate that tumor cell phagocytosis drives the pro-inflammatory activation of TAMs and identify a key role for the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor CDKN1A (p21). Through the transcriptional repression of Signal-Regularity Protein α (SIRPα), p21 promotes leukemia cell phagocytosis and, subsequently, the pro-inflammatory reprogramming of phagocytic macrophages that extends to surrounding macrophages through Interferon γ. In mouse models of human T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL), infusion of human monocytes (Mos) engineered to overexpress p21 (p21TD-Mos) leads to Mo differentiation into phagocytosis-proficient TAMs that, after leukemia cell engulfment, undergo pro-inflammatory activation and trigger the reprogramming of bystander TAMs, reducing the leukemic burden and substantially prolonging survival in mi...

2025, INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES

Rare mitochondrial and peroxisomal disorders represent a group of devastating,
genetically inherited metabolic diseases characterized by organelle dysfunction,
disrupted cellular homeostasis, and profound clinical heterogeneity. Current treatment
strategies are largely palliative, with conventional pharmacotherapies demonstrating
limited efficacy due to poor intracellular targeting and systemic toxicity. Organelle-specific drug delivery has emerged as a
transformative approach in precision medicine, offering
enhanced therapeutic precision, reduced off-target effects,
and improved bioavailability at the subcellular level. This
review explores the pathophysiological landscape of
mitochondrial and peroxisomal disorders, highlighting the
molecular underpinnings and clinical manifestations of key
syndromes such as MELAS, Leigh syndrome, Zellweger
spectrum disorders, and X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy.
We systematically discuss organelle-targeting strategies,
including lipophilic cations, mitochondria-penetrating
peptides, peroxisomal targeting signals, and ligand
conjugated nanocarriers. Furthermore, we evaluate
nanocarrier platforms such as liposomes, dendrimers,
polymeric nanoparticles, and biomimetic systems that have
been engineered for organelle-directed therapies. Preclinical
and clinical progress in targeting these organelles using
antioxidant drugs, gene delivery vectors, and enzyme-loaded
nanoparticles is examined, along with existing translational
and regulatory challenges. Finally, the review delves into
emerging trends such as CRISPR/Cas-based genome editing,
artificial organelles, and AI-driven nanomedicine design,
outlining a forward-looking roadmap for organelle-specific
therapeutics in ultra-rare disease contexts.

2025, Regular and Young Investigator Award Abstracts

2025

OmicsVeu proudly announces the launch of an advanced portfolio of spatial biology solutions designed to accelerate and empower multiplex multi-omics research. This comprehensive suite features the fully automated NanoVip™ system, along with optimized protocols and ready-to-use reagents for high-throughput multiplex assays, including ImmunoVeu, RNAVeu, miRNAVeu, and integrated Transcriptomics & Phenomics workflows.

2025, Clinical and Translational Oncology

Immunology and immunotherapy of cancer is an expanding field in oncology, with recent great achievements obtained through the new successful approaches implemented to circumvent immune evasion, which is undoubtedly considered a novel hallmark of cancer. Translational research in this topic has revealed targets that can be modulated in the clinical setting with new compounds and strategies. Like most of the tumors, breast cancer is considered a complex and heterogeneous disease in which host immune responses have been also recently demonstrated of critical relevance. T infiltrating lymphocyte measurement is suggested as a powerful new tool necessary to predict early breast cancer evolution, especially for the her2-positive and triple-negative subtypes. Other biomarkers in tissue and peripheral blood are under intense scrutiny to ascertain their eventual role as prognostic and/or predictive factors. This background has fueled the interest in developing clinical research strategies to test activity of modern immunotherapy in breast cancer, which constitutes the main focus of this review.

2025, Anticancer Research

Background/Aim: Implementation of new anti-cancer treatments in rural healthcare might not always result in identical survival outcomes as those seen in the randomized trials leading to approval. Therefore, the survival of patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) in Nordland county was analyzed. Materials and Methods: Retrospective analysis of 199 patients, mainly treated in adjuvant or palliative settings, e.g. for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) or malignant melanoma (2018)(2019)(2020)(2021). Overall survival and death within 3 months from start of ICI were evaluated. Results: All patients who received (neo)adjuvant treatment were alive at the time of this analysis. Median survival was not reached for patients treated with consolidation durvalumab for NSCLC. Twenty-five patients died within 3 months [none after (neo)adjuvant or consolidation ICI]. Among these 25 patients, none had performance status (PS) 0 and only 7 had PS 1. Among 13 patients aged ≥80 years, 5 (38%) died within 3 months. Four of five patients treated on an individual basis outside of generally accepted indications died within 3 months. Conclusion: The overall survival outcomes observed after limited follow-up appear satisfactory. Death within 3 months was typically caused by cancer progression and mostly related to reduced PS (≥2) and/or advanced age (≥80 years).

2025, Cancer Immunology, Immunotherapy

Breast cancer is the leading malignancy in women worldwide, both in terms of incidence and mortality. Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the type with the worst clinical outcomes and with fewer therapeutic options than other types of breast cancer. GK-1 is a peptide that in the experimental model of the metastatic 4T1 breast cancer has demonstrated anti-tumor and anti-metastatic properties. Herein, GK-1 (5 mg/kg, i.v.) weekly administrated not only decreases tumor growth and the number of lung macro-metastases but also lung and lymph nodes micro-metastases. Histological analysis reveals that GK-1 reduced 57% of the intra-tumor vascular areas, diminished the leukemoid reaction's progression, and the spleens' weight and length. A significant reduction in VEGF-C, SDF-1, angiopoietin-2, and endothelin-1 angiogenic factors was induced. Moreover, GK-1 prevents T cell exhaustion in the tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) decreasing PD-1 expression. It also increased IFN-γ an...

2025, The Journal of experimental medicine

Tumor-promoted constraints negatively affect cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) trafficking to the tumor core and, as a result, inhibit tumor killing. The production of reactive nitrogen species (RNS) within the tumor microenvironment has been reported in mouse and human cancers. We describe a novel RNS-dependent posttranslational modification of chemokines that has a profound impact on leukocyte recruitment to mouse and human tumors. Intratumoral RNS production induces CCL2 chemokine nitration and hinders T cell infiltration, resulting in the trapping of tumor-specific T cells in the stroma that surrounds cancer cells. Preconditioning of the tumor microenvironment with novel drugs that inhibit CCL2 modification facilitates CTL invasion of the tumor, suggesting that these drugs may be effective in cancer immunotherapy. Our results unveil an unexpected mechanism of tumor evasion and introduce new avenues for cancer immunotherapy.

2025

Combination therapy has shown to improve success for cancer treatment. Oncolytic virotherapy is cancer treatment that uses engineered viruses to specifically infect and kill cancer cells, without harming healthy cells. Immunotherapy boosts the body’s natural defenses towards cancer. The combination of oncolytic virotherapy and immunotherapy is explored through deterministic systems of nonlinear differential equations, constructed to match experimental data for murine melanoma. Mathematical analysis was done in order to gain insight on the relationship between cancer, viruses and immune response. One extension of the model focuses on clinical needs, with the underlying goal to seek optimal treatment regimens; for both frequency and dose quantity. The models in this work were first used to estimate parameters from preclinical experimental data, to identify biologically realistic parameter values. Insight gained from the mathematical analysis in the first model, allowed for numerical a...

2025, Food Sciences & Applied Microbiology Reports

Nanoparticles are substances with general dimensions in the nanoscale, for example, below 100nm. In recent years, these substances have risen as significant competitors in present-day medication, with clinical uses running from distinct agents in imaging to carriers for drug delivery into tumors. Indeed, in a few cases where nanoparticles empower exploration and treatments that basically cannot performed otherwise. Nanotechnology has been generally misused lately in different applications. Different types of nanoparticles are produced for curing of various diseases. Various sections of medication and therapy have additionally concentrated on the utilization of nanoproducts. Nanomedicine refers to the utilization of nanoparticles for both diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. Nanomaterials with functionalized nanoparticles and nano technology associated methods of detection, vaccine drugs and production of nanodrugs have shown great potential in restricting the entrance of cells and for preventing of pathogenic viruses or infections. NPs also help in preventing respiratory disorders, for example, SARS which become the leading cause of respiratory infection in young or adults.

2025, Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Although treatment methods in surgery, irradiation, and chemotherapy have improved, prognosis remains unsatisfactory and developing new therapeutic strategies is still an urgent demand. Immunotherapy is a novel therapeutic approach wherein activated immune cells can specifically kill tumor cells by recognition of tumor-associated antigens without damage to normal cells. Several lung cancer vaccines have demonstrated prolonged survival time in phase II and phase III trials, and several clinical trials are under investigation. However, many clinical trials involving cancer vaccination with defined tumor antigens work in only a small number of patients. Cancer immunotherapy is not completely effective in eradicating tumor cells because tumor cells escape from host immune scrutiny. Understanding of the mechanism of immune evasion regulated by tumor cells is required for the development of more effective immunotherapeut...

2025, Assessment of Some Immunological Markers in Patients and Vaccinated Individuals with COVID-19 in Kirkuk city

Background: Infection with coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) can trigger both innate and adaptive immune responses, resulting in large inflammatory reactions later in the disease. The initiation of immunological responses entails a complicated interaction between innate immune components, which quickly respond in a nonspecific manner, and specialized components of the immune system can recognize specific epitopes of antigens. Objective: The objective of this study was to assess some co-stimulating molecules in patients with COVID-19 (hospitalized and nonhospitalized) and vaccinated individuals compared with a control group in Kirkuk city. Materials and Methods: The immunological markers under study in which our methods tried to estimate them are CD28, CD80, and CD86. From 90 individuals of patients with COVID-19, vaccinated persons, and control group blood samples were collected and centrifuged to get the serum to carry out the immunological analysis. Through using nasopharyngeal swabs that were collected from non-hospitalized patients (patients out of the hospital), coronavirus infection was confirmed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Additionally, PCR tests were run on the control group to make sure they were not infected with COVID-19. Results: For the vaccinated group especially in comparison to COVID-19 patients, the revealed significant differences in the immunological markers among tested groups with respect to the CD28 test with (P value > 0.0001) and CD80 test with (P value > 0.0001), as well as the CD86 test appears to show a significant difference with (P value > 0.0001). Conclusion: This study revealed that, compared to patients with COVID-19 who were not given the vaccine, the vaccine had a role on those who received it and significantly increased some immunological markers..

2025, Cell reports

In light of increased cancer prevalence and cancer-specific deaths in patients with infections, we investigated whether infections alter anti-tumor immune responses. We report that acute influenza infection of the lung promotes distal melanoma growth in the dermis and leads to accelerated cancer-specific host death. Furthermore, we show that during influenza infection, anti-melanoma CD8(+) T cells are shunted from the tumor to the infection site, where they express high levels of the inhibitory receptor programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1). Immunotherapy to block PD-1 reverses this loss of anti-tumor CD8(+) T cells from the tumor and decreases infection-induced tumor growth. Our findings show that acute non-oncogenic infection can promote cancer growth, raising concerns regarding acute viral illness sequelae. They also suggest an unexpected role for PD-1 blockade in cancer immunotherapy and provide insight into the immune response when faced with concomitant challenges.

2025, Biomaterials Research

Background Immunogenic cell death (ICD) induced by different cancer treatments has been widely evaluated to recruit immune cells and trigger the specific antitumor immunity. However, cancer associated fibroblasts (CAFs) can hinder the invasion of immune cells and polarize the recruited monocytes to M2-type macrophages, which greatly restrict the efficacy of immunotherapy (IT). Methods In this study, an injectable hydrogel induced by copper (Cu) has been designed to contain antibody of PD-L1 and nitric oxide (NO) donor. The therapeutic efficacy of hydrogel was studied in 4T1 cells and CAFs in vitro and 4T1 tumor-bearing mice in vivo. The immune effects on cytotoxic T lymphocytes, dendritic cells (DCs) and macrophages were analyzed by flow cytometry. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, immunofluorescence and transcriptome analyses were also performed to evaluate the underlying mechanism. Results Due to the absorbance of Cu with the near-infrared laser irradiation, the injectable hydrog...

2025, Bioorganic & medicinal chemistry

Immunotherapy is one of the most promising strategies for the treatment of cancer. Human papillomavirus (HPV) is responsible for virtually all cases of cervical cancer. The main purpose of a therapeutic HPV vaccine is to stimulate CD8(+) cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) that can eradicate HPV infected cells. HPV oncoproteins E6 and E7 are continuously expressed and are essential for maintaining the growth of HPV-associated tumor cells. We designed polymer-based multi-antigenic formulations/constructs that were comprised of the E6 and E7 peptide epitopes. We developed an N-terminus-based epitope conjugation to conjugate two unprotected peptides to poly tert-butyl acrylate. This method allowed for the incorporation of the two antigens into a polymeric dendrimer in a strictly equimolar ratio. The most effective formulations eliminated tumors in up to 50% of treated mice. Tumor recurrence was not observed up to 3months post initial challenge.

2025, Augmenting antibody response to EGF-depleting immunotherapy: Findings from a phase I trial of CIMAvax-EGF in combination with nivolumab in advanced stage NSCLC

Background: CIMAvax-EGF is an epidermal growth factor (EGF)-depleting immunotherapy that has shown survival benefit as a switch maintenance treatment after platinum-based chemotherapy in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The primary objective of this trial is to establish the safety and recommended phase II dose (RP2D) of CIMAvax-EGF in combination with nivolumab as second-line therapy for NSCLC. Methods: Patients with immune checkpoint inhibitor-naive metastatic NSCLC were enrolled using a "3+3" dose-escalation design. Toxicities were graded according to CTCAE V4.03. Thirteen patients (one unevaluable), the majority with PD-L1 0%, were enrolled into two dose levels of CIMAvax-EGF. Findings: The combination was determined to be safe and tolerable. The recommended phase 2 dose of CIMAvax-EGF was 2.4 mg. Humoral response to CIMAvax-EGF was achieved earlier and in a greater number of patients with the combination compared to historical control. Four out of 12 evaluable patients had an objective response.

2025, Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer

2025, Translational Oncology

2025, Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology

Purpose Cancer cells, despite stemming from the own cells of their host, usually elicit an immune response. This response usually enables elimination of cancer at its earliest stages. However, some tumors develop mechanisms of escaping immune destruction and even profiting from tumor-derived inflammation. Methods We summarized the roles of different immune cell populations in various processes associated with cancer progression and possible methods of reshaping tumor-associated inflammation to increase the efficacy of cancer therapy. Results Changes in various signaling pathways result in attraction of immunosuppressive, pro-tumorigenic cells, such as myeloid-derived suppressor cells, tumor-associated macrophages, and neutrophils, while at the same time suppressing the activity of lymphocytes, which have the potential of destroying cancer cells. These changes promote tumor progression by increasing angiogenesis and growth, accelerating metastasis, and impairing drug delivery to the ...

2025, Cancers

Cancer immunotherapy has been enabled by immune checkpoint blockade, but is ineffective in many patients, mainly due to the high complexity of the immune-suppressive tumour microenvironment (TME). Here, with a murine transplantable tumour model, we demonstrate that host-defence caerin 1.1/1.9 peptides can alter the macrophages in the TME from immunosuppressive to immune active phenotypes, which appeared consistent with the macrophages observed at earlystage cervical cancer patients. The modulated macrophages by caerin 1.1/1.9 show significant activation of Type I interferons response and Stat1 signalling, rendering animals resistant to further tumour challenges. Our results indicate that caerin 1.1 and 1.9 treatment may enhance the efficacy of current immunotherapy modalities.

2025, Cancers

Macrophages are one of the essential components of the tumour microenvironment (TME) of many cancers and show complex heterogeneity and functions. More recent research has been focusing on the characterisation of tumour-associated macrophages (TAMs). Previously, our study demonstrated that caerin 1.1/1.9 peptides significantly improve the therapeutic efficacy of combined specific immunotherapy and immune checkpoint blockade in a murine transplantable tumour model (TC-1). In this study, the mice inoculated with TC-1 tumour were immunised differently. The TAMs were isolated using flow cytometry and characterised by cytokine ELISA. The survival rates of mice with different treatments containing caerin 1.1/19 were assessed comparatively, including those with/without macrophage depletion. The single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data of previous studies were integrated to further reveal the functions of TAMs with the treatments containing caerin 1.1/1.9. As a comparison, the TAMs of st...

2025, Clinical and Translational Radiation Oncology

The revival of cancer immunotherapy has taken place with the clinical success of immune checkpoint inhibition. However, the spectrum of immunotherapeutic approaches is much broader encompassing T cell engaging strategies, tumour-specific vaccination, antibodies or immunocytokines. This review focuses on the immunological effects of irradiation and the evidence available on combination strategies with immunotherapy. The available data suggest great potential of combined treatments, yet also poses questions about dose, fractionation, timing and most promising multimodal strategies.

2025, Cancers

With over 1 million incidence cases and more than 780,000 deaths in 2018, gastric cancer (GC) was ranked as the 5th most common cancer and the 3rd leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide. Though several biomarkers, including carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), cancer antigen 19-9 (CA19-9), and cancer antigen 72-4 (CA72-4), have been identified, their diagnostic accuracies were modest. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs), cells derived from tumors and present in body fluids, have recently emerged as promising biomarkers, diagnostically and prognostically, of cancers, including GC. In this review, we present the landscape of CTCs from migration, to the presence in circulation, biologic properties, and morphologic heterogeneities. We evaluated clinical implications of CTCs in GC patients, including diagnosis, prognosis, and therapeutic management, as well as their application in immunotherapy. On the one hand, major challenges in using CTCs in GC were analyzed, from the differences of cut-off ...

2025, European Thyroid Journal

Anaplastic thyroid cancer is one of the rarest subtypes of thyroid cancer, accounting for only 1-2% of all thyroid cancer cases. It is also one of the most aggressive: prognosis remains dismal and the disease-specific mortality rate is close to 100%. This rarity has markedly limited the availability of prospective trial results, and no standard chemotherapeutic option for unresectable or metastatic anaplastic thyroid cancer has yet been established. Nevertheless, combination therapy with a BRAF inhibitor and MEK inhibitor has shown encouraging efficacy in patients with BRAF V600E-mutated anaplastic thyroid cancer. Other novel treatments such as immune checkpoint inhibitors have also shown promising results. Owing to these therapeutic advances, the prognosis of anaplastic thyroid cancer appears to be gradually improving. However, further development of novel treatments for this rare malignancy requires the development of substantial infrastructure for international collaborative study.

2025, Review article

Crisper cas 9 is a genome editing technology that can be used to modify Leuconostoc lactis to improve its ability and can also be of used for the production of other lactic acid bacteria to stop the production of lactic acid in a metabolic pathway and can also knock out the other products ' metabolic pathways such as lactate dehydrogenase. This process is done to increase the probiotic function of L. Lactis. For example, the C-T base editor. CBE and A-G b.e A.B.E can be used to inactivate multiple genes. Similarly, IdhD gene knocking and sdh4 introduced genes can be used to produce high optical purity l-lactic acid that has much importance in food , biopharmaceuticals, cosmetics and textiles. It can also be used to produce biodegradable products.

2025, Japanese Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology

The fibrous stroma (FS) in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma develops due to chronic injury during tumor invasion, yet emerging evidence indicates its crucial role in tumor invasion.

2025, Japanese Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology

The fibrous stroma (FS) in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma develops due to chronic injury during tumor invasion, yet emerging evidence indicates its crucial role in tumor invasion

2025, Bioscientia medicina

2025, Bioscientia Medicina : Journal of Biomedicine and Translational Research

Lung cancer is the most common cause of death from cancer in both men and women worldwide. Cancers with low immunogenicity often do not present antigens, so immune responses can be avoided. Uncontrolled growth of tumor cells occurs due to various factors such as activation of immunosuppressive mechanisms, induction of various immunosuppressive cells, and expression of immune checkpoint molecules. The development of lung cancer management has progressed since the discovery of molecular-based target therapy and immunotherapy. The high expression of tumor mutational burden in lung cancer indicates high immunogenicity in lung cancer. Various immunological mechanisms involving programmed death-1 (PD-1) and programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) have been developed for the treatment of lung cancer by utilizing immune system modulation. Nivolumab is the first approved immunotherapy for lung cancer, followed by pembrolizumab, atezolizumab, and durvalumab. The use of immunotherapy involving immun...

2025

Title: A Smarter Perspective for Cancer Treatment Abstract / Summary: This paper introduces a theoretical approach to cancer treatment that combines the immunological properties of T lymphocytes, particularly helper T cells, with... more

2025

Cancer remains one of the most complex diseases faced by modern medicine. Although many therapies exist, including chemotherapy, radiation, and immunotherapy, they often fall short due to cancer's ability to mutate and evade the immune system. This paper proposes a novel, multi-faceted approach that synergizes three biological elements: the tumor-suppressor gene TP53 (as found in elephants), genetically engineered T lymphocytes (both cytotoxic and helper), and stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood. The hypothesis explores how enhancing immune response while controlling apoptosis-related side effects could create a more effective and sustainable cancer therapy.

2025, Vaccines

The term “Exosomes” defines small extracellular vesicles, ranging from 30 to 150 nm in diameter, secreted by most eukaryotic cells into surrounding body fluids including blood, saliva, urine, bile and breast milk [...]