UCSF scientists have developed a “molecular GPS” to guide immune cells into the brain and kill tumors without harming healthy tissue. 

When the immune system overreacts and starts attacking the body, the only option may be to shut the entire system down and risk developing infections or cancer.

A Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center researcher will share findings at the 2024 Society of Urologic Oncology Annual Meeting. The study demonstrated a potentially effective treatment for patients with bladder cancer who no longer respond to the common therapy, Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG). The novel treatment, cretostimogene grenadenorepvec, is an oncolytic immunotherapy, meaning it is a virus designed to selectively replicate in and break down cancer cells while simultaneously amplifying the immune response against bladder tumors.

Improvements in cancer prevention and screening have averted more deaths from five cancer types combined over the past 45 years than treatment advances, according to a modeling study led by researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The study, published Dec. 5, 2024, in JAMA Oncology, looked at deaths from breast, cervical, colorectal, lung, and prostate cancer that were averted by the combination of prevention, screening, and treatment advances. The researchers focused on these five cancers because they are among the most common causes of cancer deaths and strategies exist for their prevention, early detection, and/or treatment. In recent years, these five cancers have made up nearly half of all new cancer diagnoses and deaths.

 In this model-based study using population-level cancer mortality data, an estimated 5.94 million cancer deaths were averted for breast, cervical, colorectal, lung, and prostate cancers combined from 1975 to 2020. Prevention and screening accounted for 8 of every 10 averted deaths, and the contribution varied by cancer site. Despite progress, efforts to reduce the U.S. cancer burden will require increased dissemination of effective interventions and new technologies and discoveries. 

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers are leading three studies that yield new insights to help improve treatment for patients with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). The research teams will present their findings at the 66th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition in San Diego, Dec. 7 – 10, 2024. ASH is the is the world's largest and most comprehensive hematology event of the year.