It has long been known — thanks largely to work by Johns Hopkins’ own Bert Vogelstein — that cancer is a disease generally caused by an accumulation of genetic mutations. This is sometimes referred to as the somatic mutation theory.1 This hypothesis states that each time a cell divides and grows, there are opportunities for(...)
immunotherapy
Solving the CAR-T Conundrum
Posted by | Perspectives in ResearchThe development and commercialization of cancer immunotherapies, a class of treatments that fights cancer by fortifying the immune system, has advanced at a rapid pace. Prior to 2017, most cancer immunotherapies were composed of antibodies that selectively flag cancer cells for destruction by other cells in the immune system. In mid-2017, the FDA approved Kymriah(...)
The Link Between Metabolism and Anti-Tumor Immunity: Implications for Glioma Therapy
Posted by | Perspectives in ResearchAs a callow biochemistry student, I often grappled with the onerous task of memorizing metabolic pathways. Gradually, however, I came to appreciate the underlying simplicity: Complex macromolecules are broken down to the same simple molecule. Metabolism is the workhorse of the cell — efficiently mining nutrients for energy, shunting surplus nutrients to build cellular structures,(...)
A Novel Cancer Immunotherapy Unveiled: Y-Traps
Posted by | Perspectives in ResearchThe human immune system is composed of a diverse array of cells, which collectively work to exterminate pathogenic entities in the body. Yet this system is able to recognize host, or self, tissues as “friendly” through a variety of so-called immune checkpoint signals. Many cancer types — including melanomas and breast cancers — exploit this(...)
Success Follows When Biomedical Engineering and Immunology Collaborate
Posted by | Perspectives in ResearchKaitlyn Sadtler, a freshly minted Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins’ Cell and Molecular Medicine Graduate Program and Jennifer Elisseeff, Ph.D., recently had her thesis work published in Science, where she demonstrated the necessity of the adaptive immune system in fostering a pro-healing response following biomaterial implantation to provide scaffolding for cell growth and tissue repair. Extracellular(...)
Cancer Immunotherapy: The Next Breakthrough Gains Footing
Posted by | Perspectives in ResearchWhat do faulty brakes on a car and cancer cells have in common? For one, cancer cells have found ways to evade checkpoints that the body’s cells use as brakes to stop them from dividing out of control. By this same analogy, the accelerator in a cancer cell is always pushed to the floor, and(...)