Evolution of targeted cancer therapies: a radiation oncologist ’ s perspective
On July 1, 1987, I started treating cancer patients as a full-time radiation oncologist – a cancer specialist who uses radiation therapy to help cancer patients beat their disease. Now, nearly 37 years later, I have the privilege of caring for cancer patients at a cancer center. Nearly every type of cancer is treated differently; Read more… Evolution of targeted cancer therapies: a radiation oncologist’s perspective originally appeared in KevinMD.com. (Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog)
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - April 2, 2024 Category: General Medicine Authors: Tags: Conditions Oncology/Hematology Source Type: blogs

Fight Aging! Newsletter, March 11th 2024
In conclusion, this Mendelian randomization study found that Streptococcus was causally associated with Bioage acceleration. Further randomized controlled trials are needed to investigate its role in the aging process. « Back to Top Considering the Mechanisms of Vascular Calcification https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2024/03/considering-the-mechanisms-of-vascular-calcification/ Harmful calcification of structures in the cardiovascular system proceeds alongside the development of the fatty lesions of atherosclerosis. Both disease processes are accelerated by chronic inflammation, but d...
Source: Fight Aging! - March 10, 2024 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs

Request for Startups in the Rejuvenation Biotechnology Space, 2024 Edition
Investors focused on funding biotechnology startups tend to exhibit herd behavior, much like investors everywhere these days. Funding is primarily deployed towards fads and popular trends, not necessarily towards what makes the most sense, even if sometimes the sensible manages to align with the popular. These days that means drug discovery platforms with a strong computational component and partial epigenetic reprogramming. But even in this environment, the path to true success is to work on important projects that few other people are touching. Be the champion for a potential solution to a tough, high-value, comparativel...
Source: Fight Aging! - March 8, 2024 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Investment Source Type: blogs

Human Data on Epigenetic Age Following Senolytic Treatment
This study aimed to assess the effects of Dasatinib and Quercetin (DQ) senolytic treatment on DNA methylation (DNAm), epigenetic age, and immune cell subsets. In a Phase I pilot study, 19 participants received DQ for 6 months, with DNAm measured at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months. The age range of these individuals that were considered in the first study analyses were between 43.0 and 86.6. Significant increases in epigenetic age acceleration were observed in first-generation epigenetic clocks and mitotic clocks at 3 and 6 months, along with a notable decrease in telomere length. However, no significant differences...
Source: Fight Aging! - March 4, 2024 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs

Turquoise Health Raises $30M Series B Financing, Expanding Healthcare Pricing Platform Offerings
Price Transparency is the Foundation for Eliminating the Financial Complexity of Healthcare Turquoise Health, an end-to-end healthcare pricing platform, today announced a $30M Series B investment led by Adams Street Partners, with participation from Yosemite, as well as existing investors Andreessen Horowitz and BoxGroup. Turquoise will use the funding to further support transparent pricing workflows across its customer base of over 160 healthcare organizations. “Healthcare pricing remains frustratingly opaque for many industry stakeholders, including patients,” says Tom Bremner, Partner at Adams Street, who wi...
Source: EMR and HIPAA - January 31, 2024 Category: Information Technology Authors: Healthcare IT News Tags: Health IT Company Healthcare IT Adams Street Partners Andreessen Horowitz BoxGroup Chris Severn Health IT Funding Health IT Fundings Health IT Investment Matt Bettonville Niyum Gandhi The Mass General Brigham Health System Tom Brem Source Type: blogs

Drug prices continued: Innovation?
Pharmaceutical manufacturers claim that they need patent protection and marketing exclusivity so they can charge high prices to recoup the costs of drug development and clinical trials. There are a few things wrong with this argument, but they add up to the general fact that the system does not serve the public interest. Drug companies care about one thing only, that is profit. And the pursuit of profit does not serve the interests of public health or social welfare.One obvious mismatch between the goal of public health and the goal of profit is that a relatively cheap drug that you can take once or for a week or so, that ...
Source: Stayin' Alive - January 23, 2024 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs

Fight Aging! Newsletter, January 15th 2024
In conclusion, FMD cycles have high potential to be effective in increasing the toxicity of a range of therapies against ALL and other blood cancers and should be tested in randomized clinical trials, especially in combination with immunotherapy and low toxicity cancer therapies. In summary, we present a new strategy for improving leukemia treatment by combining FMD with chemotherapy to promote the killing of ALL cells in part by an immune-dependent mechanism. Fasting/FMD has been shown to reduce chemotherapy-associated toxicity in pre-clinical and clinical studies and thus represents a safe and potentially effectiv...
Source: Fight Aging! - January 14, 2024 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs

Continued Assessment of the Fasting Mimicking Diet as an Adjuvant Cancer Therapy
In conclusion, FMD cycles have high potential to be effective in increasing the toxicity of a range of therapies against ALL and other blood cancers and should be tested in randomized clinical trials, especially in combination with immunotherapy and low toxicity cancer therapies. In summary, we present a new strategy for improving leukemia treatment by combining FMD with chemotherapy to promote the killing of ALL cells in part by an immune-dependent mechanism. Fasting/FMD has been shown to reduce chemotherapy-associated toxicity in pre-clinical and clinical studies and thus represents a safe and potentially effectiv...
Source: Fight Aging! - January 12, 2024 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs

Lung Chip Mimics Radiation Injury
Researchers at the Wyss Institute at Harvard University have developed a microfluidic chip that can recreate some of the features of radiation-induced lung injury. The lungs are very sensitive to radiation, and this can limit the application of radiotherapy to treat cancer. Accurately modeling radiation-induced lung injury could assist in developing new methods to prevent and treat the phenomenon, but it has been difficult to study this before the advent of advanced organ-on-a-chip models. The lung chip presented here contains human lung alveolar epithelial cells interfacing with lung capillary cells. The goal is to recrea...
Source: Medgadget - November 1, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Oncology Radiation Oncology harvard wyssinstitute Source Type: blogs

Fight Aging! Newsletter, October 2nd 2023
In conclusion, we identified several candidate genes that may confer cancer resistance in cetaceans, providing a new avenue for further research into the mechanisms of lifespan extension. « Back to Top A Relationship Between the Gut Microbiome and Bone Density https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2023/09/a-relationship-between-the-gut-microbiome-and-bone-density/ Changes in the gut microbiome take place with advancing age, an increase in populations that provoke chronic inflammation, a reduction in the populations producing beneficial metabolites. Even only considering rising levels of in...
Source: Fight Aging! - October 1, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs

In Search of Cancer Resistance Strategies in Large Cetaceans
In conclusion, we identified several candidate genes that may confer cancer resistance in cetaceans, providing a new avenue for further research into the mechanisms of lifespan extension. Link: https://doi.org/10.24272/j.issn.2095-8137.2023.058 (Source: Fight Aging!)
Source: Fight Aging! - September 28, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs

Enzyme Treatment Strips Mucins from Cancer Cells
Researchers at Stanford University have developed a new type of cancer therapy. The technology targets mucins, sugar-coated proteins that help cancer cells to metastasize and avoid the immune system. In particular, mucins enable cancer cells to survive free-floating as they travel through the blood during metastasis and can also trick immune cells into assuming that the cancer cell is not a threat. The new treatment involves combining an enzyme called mucinase with a cancer-specific nanobody that can bind to the cell surface, allowing the mucinase to destroy any mucins present. In tests with mice with simulated breast and ...
Source: Medgadget - September 12, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Medicine Oncology Source Type: blogs

Strategic Use of Patent Opposition Safeguard to Improve Equitable Access to Innovative Health Technologies: A Case Study of CAR T-Cell Therapy Kymriah
Muhammad Zaheer Abbas (Queensland University), Strategic Use of Patent Opposition Safeguard to Improve Equitable Access to Innovative Health Technologies: A Case Study of CAR T-Cell Therapy Kymriah (2023): Kymriah is an innovative cancer therapy which works by removing disease fighting... (Source: HealthLawProf Blog)
Source: HealthLawProf Blog - September 2, 2023 Category: Medical Law Authors: Katharine Van Tassel Source Type: blogs

mRNA Immunotherapy Targets Cancer
Researchers at the Mount Sinai Hospital have developed an mRNA-based treatment for cancer. The approach combines the delivery of mRNA therapy in lipid nanoparticles and also involves co-delivering dendritic cells that have also been primed through treatment with lipid-encased mRNA. The technology aims to overcome some of the immune evasive tricks that tumors use to circumvent the immune system, some of which can hamper more traditional immunotherapies. In contrast, this treatment, which the researchers have called CATCH, aims to progress the cancer immunity cycle by modulating the tumor microenvironment to support an anti-...
Source: Medgadget - August 25, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Genetics Medicine Oncology immunotherapy MountSinaiNYC mRNA Immunotherapy Source Type: blogs

Magnetic Tentacle Robots for Minimally Invasive Procedures
Researchers at the University of Leeds in the UK have developed a magnetic tentacle robot that is intended for use in minimally invasive medical procedures, such as the treatment of tumors in the lungs. The soft tentacles are made from silicone. They are unlikely to cause tissue damage, and contain a series of magnets that can be influenced by external magnetic robots. The researchers hope that the technology will pave the way for minimally invasive procedures for lung cancer patients. In tests so far, the soft tentacles, which are just 2 mm in diameter, could travel 37% further into the lungs than conventional equipment. ...
Source: Medgadget - August 22, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Materials Oncology Surgery universityleeds Source Type: blogs