Immunotherapy is one of the most promising recent developments in cancer treatment. To design successful immunotherapy strategies, knowledge of the way the immune system recognizes and deals with cancer cells is invaluable. Most of the work around immunotherapy focuses on immune cells called CD8+ T cells. Ton Schumacher from the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI) has now shown that CD4+ T-cells can also recognize cancer cells and can help trigger the immune response, at least in melanomas. His work was published on December 22 in Nature Medicine.
MRV Research
IBM Developing Intelligent Skin Lesion Analysis Diagnostic Technology
Multinational technology and consulting corporation, International Business Machines Corporation (IBM), has partnered with Memorial Sloan Kettering to explore the potential application of cognitive computing in examining images of skin lesions, in the hope of aiding physicians in identifying varying states of cancer.
Pivotal trial of Elios melanoma vaccine to be conducted at top U.S. cancer hospitals
Elios Therapeutics, LLC recently received FDA approval of its Investigational New Drug (IND) application and its randomized phase IIb trial planned to enroll 120 stage III and IV (resected) melanoma patients to assess the ability of a personalized vaccine to prevent recurrence. The trial will be conducted at a dozen leading academic cancer research hospitals in the United States.
FDA Approves Second PD-1 Inhibitor, Nivolumab, for Melanoma
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted nivolumab (Opdivo), a PD-1 pathway inhibitor, accelerated approval for the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma who no longer respond to other treatments. The drug has been granted breakthrough designation, priority review and orphan product designation.