Targeted therapy increases survival in melanoma patients with brain metastases

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CANCER DIGEST – Sept. 24, 2016 – In a study comparing outcomes for patients whose melanoma skin cancer has spread to their brains, researchers have found that targeted immunological therapies halted the cancer progression and extended survival better than chemotherapy.

In a study published online Sept. 15,  in the journal Annals of Oncology, researchers at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, FL analyzed data from 96 patients with melanoma brain metastases who were treated with radiation therapy within three months of three different types of targeted immune therapies or chemotherapy.

Researchers hopeful for improved T cell therapy for non-Hodgkin lymphoma

Dr. Stan Riddell, is a senior researcher for the trial –
Fred Hutch file photo

CANCER DIGEST – Sept. 17, 2016 – In an early clinical trial designed to determine the optimal safe dose, researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, WA have seen promising results for an anti-cancer immune cell engineered from the patient’s own immune system. 

The early results of the engineered T cell, called JCAR014  were from what is called a dose-finding trial in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.