Researchers from Johns Hopkins University have developed an “artificial lymph node” to help multiply antigen-specific T cells to fight cancer. They used a hydrogel that contains immunostimulatory antigen-presenting nanoparticles to encourage T cells to proliferate, and have increased activity against specific antigens. Current T-cell based therapies for cancer involve extraction and expansion of T cells. […]
Tag: Oncology
Microbial Signature for Colorectal Cancer Identified Using Machine Learning
Researchers from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, the University of Trento in Italy, and other international collaborators leveraged a machine learning algorithm to identify a subset of gut bacteria associated with colorectal cancer, the third most common cancer worldwide. They performed a meta-analysis of eight studies of gut bacteria and colorectal […]
Wearable Device Samples User’s Blood to Spot Cancer Cells
Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) cause metastases of cancer, but they might have a redeeming quality if we could use them as biomarkers for those very cancers. For most neoplasms, biopsies are performed to definitively diagnose the disease, but circulating tumor cells offer the possibility of “liquid biopsies” that only require the sampling of blood. Researchers […]
Wearable Device Samples User’s Blood to Spot Cancer Cells
Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) cause metastases of cancer, but they might have a redeeming quality if we could use them as biomarkers for those very cancers. For most neoplasms, biopsies are performed to definitively diagnose the disease, but circulating tumor cells offer the possibility of “liquid biopsies” that only require the sampling of blood. Researchers […]
Wearable Device Samples User’s Blood to Spot Cancer Cells
Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) cause metastases of cancer, but they might have a redeeming quality if we could use them as biomarkers for those very cancers. For most neoplasms, biopsies are performed to definitively diagnose the disease, but circulating tumor cells offer the possibility of “liquid biopsies” that only require the sampling of blood. Researchers […]
Bioengineered Gel to Reduce Risk of Bone Marrow Transplants
Bone marrow transplantation is a potentially life-saving treatment for leukemia, multiple myeloma, and HIV. The procedure involves depleting the patient’s immune system, then infusing blood stem cells from a donor, which develop into a new immune system. Unfortunately, during the transplant process, patients are susceptible to disease and infection, making it risky and not recommended […]
Handheld Melanoma Sensor Checks Suspect Lesions for Polarization Properties
Melanoma is usually a readily accessible cancer, being on the skin and in full view, but it can be hard to differentiate from benign moles. Researchers at the University of British Columbia have developed and tested a new device that uses a laser to spot the telltale signs of a melanoma tumor as its light […]
Hyperspectral Imaging Helps Spot Tumor Marking Tags Deep Within Body
Visualizing tumors deep within the body is difficult because light can only penetrate so far through tissues without losing most of the data it carries. Fluorescent markers that can highlight the existence of tumor cells have to be visible in order for them to help with diagnosis, while radioactive markers can be dangerous. MRIs and CT […]
Fenwal Amicus Red Blood Cell Exchange System
Fresenius Kabi, a company based in Bad Homburg, Germany, announced that its Fenwal Amicus Red Blood Cell Exchange (RBCx) system won clearance from the FDA. The device can automatically remove patient’s blood cells and replace them with another fluid, particularly useful when treating sickle cell disease. The system can perform exchange, depletion/exchange, and depletion procedures, depending […]
Focused Ultrasound and Microbubbles Push Drugs Across Blood-Brain Barrier
The blood-brain barrier is an important defense mechanism that prevents infections and contamination within the brain. It is also responsible for making it extremely difficult to get therapeutic drugs, including chemo agents, into the brain. Now researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have developed an innovative method for pushing drugs across the blood-brain barrier. […]
Blood Test for Early Stage Cancer Diagnosis: Interview with Dr. Van Etten, CMO of Laboratory for Advanced Medicine
The Laboratory for Advanced Medicine (LAM), a biotechnology company headquartered in the US, offers non-invasive, early stage cancer detection tests that will use the IvyGene Platform. These IvyGene tests are based on detecting genomic DNA shed by cancer cells into the blood stream. By assessing cell-free DNA found in blood samples, the company can measure […]
Microfluidic Device Pulls Exosomes from Blood to Test for Cancer
Exosomes are tiny vesicles that seemingly all the cells in our bodies produce. Initially, exosomes were thought to be a way for cells to expunge built-up trash, but over the past decade or so scientists have discovered that they seem to play an important role in regulating a variety of biochemical processes. One thing that […]
Microfluidic Device Separates Circulating Tumor Cells by Size to Help Spot Cancer
Tumors tend to shed cells that travel down the bloodstream, spreading the disease wherever they end up landing. Though these circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are the reason that cancers metastasize to distant places in the body, they’re also a great biomarker for spotting the existence of tumors. The extreme rarity of CTCs, though, makes detecting these […]
Tumor Monorail Lures Brain Tumor Cells Toward Death, Now FDA Breakthrough Device
Brain tumors are extremely difficult to treat due to their hard-to-access location and because the blood-brain barrier prevents most drugs from reaching their targets. A new device called “Tumor Monorail,” which cajoles tumors to crawl into a container, just received the FDA’s “breakthrough” designation. The new designation will speed the device through the rest of the […]
Philips HealthWorks Supports Startups Using AI for Radiology, Ultrasound, and Oncology: Interview
In Philips innovation hubs located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Eindhover, Netherlands, Bangalore, India, and Shanghai, China, 19 startups out of 750 applicants are taking part in an intensive, 12-week Philips HealthWorks program to accelerate their innovations. The focus of this program is leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare with the goal to improve patient outcomes and […]
Contrast Agent for Optical Coherence Tomography Improves Imaging of Tissues, Vessels
Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an imaging technique that allows ophthalmologists to view the eye’s blood vessels, to study the structure of tissues in various clinical and scientific applications. Though this technology is already widely used, there’s been a constant demand to improve its imaging resolution. Researchers at Stanford have just added an interesting ingredient, […]
New Sensor Detects HER-2 Breast Cancer Biomarker in 15 Minutes
A few years ago researchers identified the Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 (HER-2) protein as a biomarker for the presence of certain types of breast cancer. Tests for it, though, are expensive and take much time to produce results. Researchers at the University of Connecticut and University of Hartford have now developed a cheap biosensor that […]
Fluorescent Molecular Sensor to Detect Metastatic Cancer Cells
Researchers at UC San Diego School of Medicine have developed a molecular sensor that can spot metastatic cancer cells and measure how likely they’re to spread through the body. “Although there are many ways to detect metastasis once it has occurred, there has been nothing available to ‘see’ or ‘measure’ the potential of a tumor […]
Self Forming Injectable Gel for Cervical Brachytherapy Procedures
A Virginia Tech polymer chemist and a University of Virginia clinical oncologist, have teamed up to create a special gel to reduce the pain associated with cervical cancer brachytherapy. This kind of therapy involves placing radioactive sources near the location of tumors, which essentially kill the cancer cells. Gauze is placed within the vagina to help […]
First Images from EXPLORER Total-Body Positron Emission Tomography Scanner
An amazing new PET/CT scanner has produced its first images of human subjects, giving scientists and clinicians new opportunities to treat cancer and other diseases. The EXPLORER is a high sensitivity total-body positron emission tomography scanner developed by a collaboration of many different scientists. It is capable of imaging the entire human body in less […]