Ultrasound guides supercharged immune cells to only attack cancer

CAR T cell therapy is a promising new potential treatment for cancer, but it can trigger dangerous side effects in healthy tissue. Now, researchers at the University of California San Diego have found a way to focus the treatment more precisely, by engineering CAR T cells to only work at elevated temperatures, then heating tumors with ultrasound.

More at: https://newatlas.com/medical/car-t-cell-cancer-immunotherapy-ultrasound-ucsd/

Bacteria blasting cancer treatment shows promise

The bacterial-based immunotherapy is simple, if a little unconventional.

"It involves injecting a slow-release solution of dead mycobacteria directly into the cancer. The idea is this will bring immune cells into the cancer to attack the bacteria, even though they're dead, and as a side effect cause the immune cells to attack the cancer as well," Associate Professor Fahrer said.

More at: https://www.anu.edu.au/news/all-news/bacteria...r-treatment-shows-promise

Smart microscope slides detect cancer

A study published today in Nature demonstrates that by modifying the surface of conventional microscope slides at the nanoscale, biological structures and cells take on a striking colour contrast which can be used to instantly detect disease.

“When I first looked at a tissue under the microscope on the NanoMslide, I was incredibly excited,” said Associate Professor Parker, who is also an adjunct associate professor at La Trobe. “For the first time I saw cancer cells just popping up at me. They were a different colour from the surrounding tissue, and it was very easy to distinguish them from surrounding cells.”

More at: https://www.latrobe.edu.au/news/articles/2021...cope-slides-detect-cancer

CDC/ClinGen collaboration results in a significant new genetic resource

A list of 564 expert curated pathogenic variants in 84 genes will allow clinical laboratories to identify important variants to help ensure optimal clinical validity and utility of next generation sequencing tests, report researchers in The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics

https://www.elsevier.com/about/press-releases...-genetic-variant-resource

The injury response to DNA damage in live tumor cells promotes antitumor immunity

[MIT researchers] novel approach involves removing tumor cells from the body, treating [injuring] them with chemotherapy drugs, and then placing them back in the tumor. When delivered along with drugs that activate T cells, these injured cancer cells appear to act as a distress signal that spurs the T cells into action. [Drugs that damage the cancer cell's DNA seem most effective.]

In mouse studies, the researchers found that this treatment could completely eliminate tumors in nearly half of the mice.

Much more at: https://news.mit.edu/2021/new-cancer-treatment-may-reawaken-immune-system-1019