Cancer Currents: An NCI Cancer Research Blog
A blog featuring news and research updates from the National Cancer Institute.
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Progress has been made on developing noninvasive tests that may be able to find many cancers early. But, as NCI’s Dr. Phil Castle explains, there’s still much to learn about these multi-cancer early detection tests before they become widely used.
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After surgery for early-stage, low-risk testicular cancer, it’s safe to monitor for a recurrence using MRI scans or fewer CT scans than are currently used, according to results from a large clinical trial.
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Researchers have developed tiny “drug factories” that produce an immune-boosting molecule and can be implanted near tumors. The pinhead-sized beads eliminated tumors in mice with ovarian and colorectal cancer and will soon be tested in human studies.
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The immunotherapy treatment, which combines the LAG-3 inhibitor relatlimab and PD-1 inhibitor nivolumab, becomes the first new immune checkpoint inhibitor approved in 8 years. Both drugs are given to patients via a single infusion to treat advanced melanoma.
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Melanoma cells that travel to the brain produce their own amyloid beta, helping the cells survive and form metastases, a new study in mice shows. The Alzheimer’s-linked proteins appear to tamp down the brain’s immune response to the cancer cells.
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People with advanced multiple myeloma now have another option for CAR T-cell therapy with the recent approval of ciltacabtagene autoleucel (Carvykti). Like the first approved CAR T-cell therapy, Carvykti targets the BCMA protein on myeloma cells.
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Adding darolutamide (Nubeqa) to ADT and docetaxel (Taxotere) can improve how long men with hormone-sensitive metastatic prostate cancer live without causing more side effects, results from the ARASENS trial show.
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Researchers have been developing artificial intelligence (AI) tools that could make cancer imaging faster, more accurate, and more informative. But there are also questions about whether these tools are ready for doctors’ offices, whether they will actually help people, and whether that benefit will reach all—or only some—patients.
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Women are more likely than men to experience severe side effects from cancer treatments such as chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy, a new study finds. Researchers hope the findings will increase awareness of the problem and help guide patient care.
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New results from a large study show that trametinib (Mekinist) is an effective treatment for low-grade serous ovarian cancer. The findings are the first strong evidence that this rare type of ovarian cancer should be treated differently from other forms of the disease.