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Immunology
Algorithm personalizes which cancer mutations are best targets for immunotherapy
A new model developed by researchers in the Abramson Cancer Center hand-picks cancer cells to target for more effective, customized cancer vaccines.
CAR T cell therapy may be harnessed to treat heart disease
Penn Med researchers used genetically modified T cells to improve heart function in an animal model after cardiac injury, a step forward in expanding the use of the technology to treating, or even reversing, heart failure.
Balance of ‘stop’ and ‘go’ signaling could be key to cancer immunotherapy
A Penn study shows potential of the interferon pathway as a biomarker to help predict which patients are likely to respond to immunotherapies.
Elderly patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma benefit from targeted therapies
A Penn study of Medicare patients who are often underrepresented in medical trials finds overall survival benefits from treatment with targeted therapies.
How to reinvigorate exhausted immune cells to stop cancer
A Penn study has identified a protein called TOX that regulates exhausted T-cells, and could be a key to new immunotherapies.
For melanoma patients, one dose of immunotherapy before surgery can lead to remission
An Abramson Cancer Center study finds that with a single dose of a PD-1 inhibitor, immune responses can peak in just one week.
Immune profiling: A new opportunity for drug development
Immunologists, oncologists, and infectious disease specialists are thinking about the immune system in a new way based on its integral and ubiquitous ties to human health, amassing data on its role in gastroenterology, neurology, cardiovascular disease, and metabolic disease.
The ‘immunorevolution’ has begun
Penn Medicine experts gathered for a panel discussion about their innovative new approach to harness the body’s own immune system to fight cancer.
Abramson Cancer Center receives $10.7 million to study CAR T cells in solid tumors
A new program project grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) will fund research by the Translational Center of Excellence for Lung Cancer Immunology for experimental approaches in lung cancer and mesothelioma.
Discovering a single cell that leads to relapse
Research from the Abramson Cancer Center identified a single leukemic cell, engineered for CAR T therapy, that caused a deadly recurrence of pediatric B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
In the News
The mRNA miracle workers
Nobel laureates Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman of the Perelman School of Medicine appear on “Sunday Morning” to discuss their careers, their mRNA research, and the COVID-19 vaccines.
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Blood tests can help diagnose Alzheimer’s—if they’re accurate enough. Not all are
Virginia Man-Yee Lee of the Perelman School of Medicine says it’s likely in the future that anyone older than 60 will get an Alzheimer’s test.
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AI detects cancers and immunotherapy biomarker
Daiwei Zhang and Mingyao Li of the Perelman School of Medicine and colleagues have developed an AI tool called iStar that can automatically spot tumors and types of cancer that are difficult for clinicians to see or identify and can predict candidates for immunotherapy.
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Godfather of mRNA vaccines reveals plans to immunize people against cancer years before tumors strike to ‘the disease from ever appearing’
Drew Weissman of the Perelman School of Medicine, who won the Nobel Prize for mRNA vaccines along with Katalin Karikó, is researching an mRNA vaccine against cancer.
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Is the flu shot market a slam dunk for mRNA vaccines? Experts aren’t so sure
Scott Hensley of the Perelman School of Medicine is working on a flu vaccine to provide protection against 20 subtypes of flu that may pose a pandemic threat in the future.
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Trial results offer hope to Kiwis with ‘incurable’ blood cancer
Carl June of the Perelman School of Medicine praises New Zealand research into a new CAR T-cell cancer treatment for patients with blood cancer.
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