Cancer immunotherapy, and in particular the so-called checkpoint inhibitors, have improved the prognosis of several types of tumours. However, they are not effective in everyone. Two early-stage clinical trials have tested the addition of a type of immunomodulator to this therapy in patients with lung cancer and Hodgkin's lymphoma, with apparent good results. The results are published in the journal Science.
CAR-T cell therapies may, in some cases, produce tumours secondary to treatment. A few months ago, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it was assessing this risk. Now, a study conducted at Stanford University Medical Center (USA) has tracked 724 patients who received this type of treatment since 2016. Of these, 14 developed another blood tumour, but only one was a T-cell lymphoma that could be a direct consequence of the therapy. Further analysis ruled out this link. The results are published in the journal NEJM.
The classical view describes most cancers as the result of mutations that happen by chance and accumulate over a lifetime. Now, a study claims to break that paradigm. A team of researchers from Stanford University (USA) has described that the genetics we inherit influences the surveillance that our defences do of these mutations, conditioning the type of tumour that can develop and its prognosis. The results, which for the moment refer to breast cancer, are published in the journal Science.
Vitamin D enhances the response to cancer immunotherapy in mice via the gut microbiome, according to a study published in Science. The role of vitamin D in cancer immune modulation had already been studied in previous studies. Now, the authors suggest that this nutrient acts on intestinal epithelial cells, altering the composition of the microbiome and favoring a species of bacteria called Bacteroides fragilis, which regulates immunity against cancer.
Although breast cancer mortality has reduced by more than 40% in most high-income countries, a Lancet commission warns that one million people will die from the disease by 2040, especially in low- and middle-income countries. The authors highlight some of the knowledge gaps that persist about the disease, such as the lack of knowledge about the number of patients living with metastatic breast cancer and their needs, or the costs associated with breast cancer - including physical, psychological, social and economic costs - which, according to the authors, are immense but underestimated, and not adequately reflected in global health indicators.
A French study involving more than 100,000 women has found a link between long-term use of some progesterone hormone analogues - used for contraception or hormone replacement therapy - and an increased risk of developing meningioma, a generally benign type of brain tumour. The results are published in The BMJ.
An international team of researchers has examined the epigenetic effects of tobacco and e-cigarettes over time in more than 3,500 samples. Their results indicate that e-cigarettes can also cause changes associated with an increased risk of cancer even shortly after starting to use them. They publish the study in the journal Cancer Research.
Two studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine evaluate colorectal cancer screening tests that could be alternatives to the existing faecal immunochemical test (FIT), which detects occult blood in stool. The first study uses a new generation test that detects DNA in stool and has a higher sensitivity than FIT, 93.9% for colorectal cancer and 90.6% for advanced neoplasia (tumour formation). The second uses a blood-based DNA detection test with a sensitivity of 83% for colorectal cancer and 90% for advanced neoplasia.
A treatment using lights and sound pulses can protect mice from cognitive decline associated with chemotherapy, according to a research team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US. The benefits are greatest when the therapy is used early and preventively at the same time as chemotherapy, says the study, published in Science Translational Medicine. The use of this non-invasive sensory stimulation therapy to alleviate other pathologies has already been studied.
US research has analysed data from more than 300,000 people and found that both men with fertility problems and their family members have an increased risk of developing various types of cancer and at an earlier age. The results are published in the journal Human Reproduction.