t’s been more than 30 years since Sid Seagull first urged us to slip, slop and slap while out in the sun. But while we’ve made enormous progress fighting skin cancer, melanomas are still the fourth most common cancer in Australia and one of the most deadly. Add to the the huge burden of non-melanoma skin cancer.
MRV Research
Growth and metastasis of B16-F10 melanoma cells is not critically dependent on host CD73 expression in mice
Recent studies have suggested that adenosine generated by ecto-5[prime]-nucleotidase (CD73) in the tumor microenvironment plays a major role in promoting tumor growth by suppressing the immune response and stimulating angiogenesis via A2A and A2B receptors. However, adenosine has also been reported to inhibit tumor growth acting via A1 and A3 receptors.
PD-1 Checkpoint Inhibitor Opdivo First to Demonstrate Survival Benefit in Phase III
A study comparing Opdivo to dacarbazine chemotherapy in treatment naïve advanced melanoma patients marks first PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitor to demonstrate a survival benefit in a phase III trial.
The trial, CheckMate-066, met its primary endpoint of overall survival, with median OS not reached in the Opdivo (nivolumab) arm, compared to 10.8 months in patients receiving dacarbazine chemotherapy.
Experimental drug works best when patients’ immune cells surrounding tumors express PD-L1
A promising experimental immunotherapy drug works best in patients whose immune defenses initially rally to attack the cancer but then are stymied by a molecular brake that shuts down the response, according to a new study led by researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Yale University School of Medicine.