Blog | HemaCare

A new treatment has been approved by the FDA to treat breast cancer that combines chemotherapy with immunotherapy.

The war against cancer is ongoing and consists of both winning and losing battles. There are several cancers that have been successfully treated with immunotherapy. However, one type of cancer has been a challenge for the application of immunotherapy is breast cancer. There are various subtypes of breast cancer, and each requires a different treatment approach due to the distinct biology associated with these cancer types and the specific mechanisms involved in breast tumor development.

An independent publication cites using HemaCare primary T-cells to investigate a novel cancer therapy based on blocking immune suppression while simultaneously promoting T-cell activity. ^[1]

Newly approved T-cell therapies have been eliciting enthusiastic discussion across the medical field for their unparalleled success rate in treating aggressive blood cancers. This success has unfortunately not extended to the treatment of brain tumors, where upregulation of the “immune checkpoint” molecule PDL-1 interferes with normal immune response. Now a research group based at the University of Alabama’s Medical School may have found a way to outsmart brain cancer cells that evade the body’s immune system.

Immunotherapy is becoming a promising treatment approach for cancer patients with recurring tumors, and more studies will help to further develop the treatment options.

Surgical resection is still the first-line treatment for solid tumors despite the rate of tumor recurrence with this approach. Surgery to remove tumors provokes wound healing processes that promote local immunosuppressive environments and metastasis. Surgical resection of tumors can also remove beneficial immune cells and factors that could promote targeting and killing of tumor cells. Radio- or chemotherapy as an adjunct to surgery has some limited effects on distant metastasis, but these treatments are associated with significant systemic adverse effects. 

Researchers find that modulating cholesterol metabolism makes CD8 T cells better at fighting cancer.

We all know that too much cholesterol is bad for our health. However, our CD8 T cells beg to differ. If they accumulate more cholesterol inside their plasma membrane, they become better at fighting cancer. This is what the latest research published in the journal Nature shows.

Researchers discover a missing link in the progression of B cell lymphoma.

Diffuse large B cell lymphoma is the most common form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), contributing to about 30% of the cases in the United States. It is an aggressive form of NHL that usually presents itself with severe swelling of the lymph nodes at the sites being affected. The most common therapy for the disease is a combined immunotherapy with rituximab and radiotherapy. Secondary therapies are also used for patients who do not respond to the initial therapy, or who relapse after a period of remission.¹