Cancer therapies can eliminate specific tumors based on their genetic content. However, some cancer cells survive. How do they do it? Part of the answer lies in extrachromosomal DNA (ecDNA), an ace up the tumors’ sleeve to adapt and evade attack. Three simultaneous studies in the journal Nature lay all the cards on the table, revealing ecDNAs’ content, their origin, their inheritance, their influence in cancer, and a way to combat them.
Six main cell types form glioblastomas, the most aggressive brain cancer due to its high rate of recurrence. Of these six, quiescent cancer stem cells are responsible for resistance to therapy and the reappearance of the tumor, according to a study that identified the six groups and highlighted the importance of these stem cells for the design of more effective therapies.
Flare Therapeutics Inc. will receive $70 million in cash up front from Roche Holding AG, and the deal could ultimately bring the company about $1.8 billion plus royalties. Flare will search for small molecules that can be used to treat undruggable transcription factors to treat cancer. Also, Novartis AG will pay computational-chemistry expert Schrödinger Inc. $150 million up front and as much as $2.3 billion in milestones to develop several candidates along with up to $892 million in R&D and milestone payments.
CK1α serves as an upstream regulator of the p53 pathway, and its degradation may facilitate cell death by preventing MDM2 and/or MDMX mediated inactivation of p53.
Cstone Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. presented preclinical data of CS-2009, a trispecific antibody targeting PD-1, CTLA-4 and VEGF-A, for cancer immunotherapy.
Antelope Surgical Solutions Inc. has received commercial IND approval from the FDA for its novel prostate cancer technology, AS-1986NS. AS1986NS, a fluorescent and lutetium-175 bearing drug, will be evaluated in trials with the aim of addressing prostate cancer identification and surgical margin delineation.
Alentis Therapeutics SA is poised to expand its reach in Claudin-1 biology, after closing a $181.4 million series D that will fund phase I/II trials of two antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) targeting the transmembrane protein, which is overexpressed on a number of squamous cell tumors.
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