Reading time: 3 minutes Susan Egbert Pediatric cancer is a broad term that refers to cancers originating in children younger than 18. There are different types of pediatric cancer, but they all fall into one of two categories: solid tumors and leukemia. Solid tumors are cancers arising from cells in the body's tissues. These tumors... Continue Reading →
Reading time: 4 minutes Indiwari Gopallawa Cancer is the second leading cause of death after cardiovascular diseases in the United States and has a major impact on society. Lung cancer is the second most common cancer type and is associated with lower survival rates and higher cancer-related deaths, accounting for 25% of all cancer-related deaths... Continue Reading →
Colette Bilynsky CAR-T cell therapy is widely available in the United States, with 6 FDA-approved formulations, and has been previously discussed on Oncobites. However, a new clinical trial using the CAR (chimeric antigen receptor) technology is underway, but using macrophages instead of T-Cells in the hope of treating more types of cancer. But let’s take... Continue Reading →
Reading time: 4 minutes Hema Saranya Ilamathi Beep! Beep! There goes the metal scanner in the airport. Oops! I realized that I forgot to take out the key chain from my pocket. Similar to the metal detection system, our body has a highly vigilant surveillance system called immune cells that constantly scan for the presence... Continue Reading →
Reading time: 5 minutes Christina Niavi Our human body has amazing defense mechanisms. The organism defense is like the army, with a first line of defense against any kind of threat and, a second defense, more specialized to each threat. Specialized defense soldiers, called CD8 T cells, are equipped with killing machineries to eradicate tumors... Continue Reading →
Reading time: 7 minutes Felicites Rapon Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is the causative agent of hepatitis C, an infectious disease of the liver causing inflammation and necrosis. HCV infection can be either acute (which can be cleared without any medicines) or chronic. The latter can be due to environmental factors such as alcohol usage but... Continue Reading →
Reading time: 5 minutes Deanna MacNeil One goal in cancer therapy is to strike a balance between treatment efficacy and toxicity. While treatments such as surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation are meant to kill cancer cells, healthy tissues can be adversely affected in the process. Common side effects of systemic cancer treatment occur because treatments work... Continue Reading →
Reading time: 4 minutes Kate Secombe You may have read previously on OncoBites about immunotherapies, and the great promise they hold in treating a wide range of cancers. Commonly used immunotherapies include checkpoint inhibitors such as PD-1 or CTLA-4 inhibitors. Here I will be looking at an emerging subset of immunotherapies known as immune agonist... Continue Reading →
Reading time: 5 minutes Mahrukh Fatima Our bodies are quite spectacular and are well-equipped to protect us from most dangers we encounter, both internal and external. The tools our bodies use to protect us against microscopic threats are collectively known as the immune system, and just like tools in a toolbox, the different types of... Continue Reading →
Reading time: 7 minutes Aishat Motolani You have most likely heard of several branded FDA-approved drugs during TV commercials and sighed, “Ah! not again with this rhythmic list of symptoms.” Well, some of those symptoms may have included immune-related adverse events (IRAEs). iRAEs are composed of an array of side effects that are reminiscent of... Continue Reading →
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes Payal Yokota One of the main differences between a rapidly dividing cancer cell and a normal cell is that the cancer cells rely on glycolysis followed by lactic acid fermentation, rather than oxidative phosphorylation. This effect is called the Warburg effect, one we have previously discussed in the context of... Continue Reading →
Reading time: 4 minutes Aileen I Fernandez When a foreign substance such as a cancer cell presents itself in the human body, it is able to communicate with cells of the human immune system. The cancer cell signals the immune system, telling it “Hey! Pump the brakes!”, thus instructing the immune system to not kill... Continue Reading →
Sara Musetti Estimated reading time: 5 minutes It seems talking about the immune system and how it can fight cancer is all the rage these days, especially here at OncoBites. But talking about it can be tricky, especially because most people seldom think about their immune system. It’s a part of your body, but… which... Continue Reading →
Reading time: 3 minutes Natasha Vinod In 2018, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to the inventors of immune checkpoint blockade therapy, a “game-changing” technology that initiated a paradigm shift in cancer management. Checkpoint blockade therapy works by unleashing the immune surveillance against cancer by blocking the “natural brakes” (checkpoints) in the... Continue Reading →
Reading time: 4 minutes Aishwarya Subramanian At Oncobites we've covered the exciting emerging field of immunotherapy to treat cancer, some of which include PROTACs and BiTE molecules . Recently, significant advances have been made when trying to come up with cutting edge ideas for cancer treatment. With the recent changes in the landscape of cancer... Continue Reading →
Reading time: 4 minutes Manisit Das From the early days of OncoBites, we are trying to share with you the reasons we get cancer. Cancer arises when the DNA in our cells is altered due to irreparable mistakes in the cellular machinery or environmental effects. If a mistake happens in the proteins that help repair... Continue Reading →
Reading time: 5 minutes Payal Yokota Can viruses be heroes? It is well-known that some viruses can cause severe infections in the body. However, when modified in the correct way, these small molecular entities can be used as an additional arsenal in the immune tool bag, to kill even bigger and scarier enemies… such as... Continue Reading →
Reading time: 4 minutes Alex S. Woodell In my previous article, we weathered the cytokine storm, a deadly immune response that can occur following chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR-T) therapy. Despite this risk, CAR-T therapy is quite effective in treating blood cancers such as acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Unfortunately, not all patients respond favorably... Continue Reading →
Reading time- 4 minutes Sara Musetti The overwhelming majority of cancer “breakthroughs” that get reported on are expensive, state-of-the-art therapies that rely more and more on deeper and deeper knowledge of tumors. And those are extremely important therapies. However, these shiny discoveries tend to hide an interesting fact: our best cancer treatment is also our... Continue Reading →
Reading time: 4 minutes Taylor B. Poston, Ph.D., M.P.H. Most tumors do not respond to T-cell based immunotherapies, but the explanation for this phenomenon has been unclear. Researchers have speculated that there could be insufficient priming of anti-tumor T cells, or if T cells are primed, they are unable to recognize and eradicate the tumor.... Continue Reading →
Reading time: 5 minutes Varshit Dusad A cancer diagnosis is generally perceived to be a death sentence. With millions of people dying of cancer every year, this does not seem to be at all outrageous. However, researchers all over the world, in academia and industry alike, have been relentlessly pursuing novel therapies and drugs to... Continue Reading →
Reading time: 4 minutes Manisit Das In the past, we have discussed checkpoint inhibitors - therapies that block communication between cancer and immune cells, preventing cancer cells from evading the immune system. Dr. James Allison and Dr. Tasuku Honjo, who won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2018 for their pioneering work in cancer immunotherapy... Continue Reading →
Reading time: 3 minutes Alex S. Woodell A warm breeze whips by as you notice a peculiar set of clouds forming in the distance. These cumulus clouds are tall with bumpy protrusions that flatten out near the top to form a silhouette of a giant anvil. As condensation builds in these behemoths, the bright sunlight... Continue Reading →
Reading time: 4 minutes Sara Musetti Cancer immunotherapy has been a very hot topic here at OncoBites (because it’s a hot topic right now among cancer researchers too), but let me be super clear ⎯ it is COMPLICATED. Your immune system is balanced extremely delicately to avoid sending you into shock each time you are... Continue Reading →
Reading time: 4 minutes Alex S. Woodell Marathon runners are an interesting breed. In order to complete the grueling 26.2 mile circuit, they must push their mental and physical boundaries to the limit. Seasoned runners possess great strength, focus, resilience, and determination. Each of these qualities is a testament to the intense training schedules they... Continue Reading →
Reading time: 6 minutes Payal Yokota Despite the advent and access to a variety of targeted immunotherapy approaches, the current paradigm for solid tumors still remains if you can cut it out – you do! Depending on the grade of tumor and degree of metastasis, there’s a substantial risk of tumor resurgence. In those cases,... Continue Reading →
Reading time: 4 minutes Bekah Schulz Many people are excited about checkpoint inhibitors in cancer immunotherapy. In fact, the 2018 Nobel Prize in medicine was awarded for the development of two checkpoint inhibitors PD-1/L1 (Opdivo/Keytruda) and CTLA-4 (Yervoy). However, cancer immunotherapy is not a new concept. In fact, in 1986, recombinant interferon (IFN) alpha was... Continue Reading →
Rachel Cherney Cancer is a complex set of diseases, characterized by uncontrolled growth and metastasis, destroying important organs and bodily systems. It can occur in almost any part of the body, and in most cases, it is impossible to determine how or when it will develop, certain genetically linked cancers perhaps being an exception. Because... Continue Reading →
Sara Musetti and Manisit Das Early October is an exciting time of the year when people all over the world turn their eyes to Stockholm to see the winners of the Nobel Prize. Yesterday, James Allison and Tasuku Honjo jointly won the 2018 Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology for their work discovering the function... Continue Reading →
Jason Tetro If you’ve ever traveled internationally, you know you need a passport. This document is your access pass to the world. What you might not know is that this rather plain looking document is filled with a variety of different checkpoints to ensure authenticity. Some passports have biometric chips, others have incorporated images only... Continue Reading →
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