Atención sanitaria en Stanford
Los investigadores creen que la aplicación local de cantidades muy pequeñas de los agentes podría servir como una terapia contra el cáncer rápida y relativamente barata que probablemente no cause los efectos secundarios adversos que suelen observarse con la estimulación inmunológica en todo el cuerpo.
«Cuando utilizamos estos dos agentes juntos, vemos que se eliminan los tumores en todo el cuerpo», dijo el doctor Ronald Levy, profesor de oncología. «Este enfoque evita la necesidad de identificar objetivos inmunitarios específicos del tumor y no requiere la activación total del sistema inmunitario ni la personalización de las células inmunitarias del paciente».
Uno de los agentes ya está aprobado para su uso en humanos; el otro se ha probado para uso humano en varios ensayos clínicos no relacionados. En enero se puso en marcha un ensayo clínico para comprobar el efecto del tratamiento en pacientes con linfoma. (La información sobre el ensayo está disponible en Internet).
Levy, titular de la cátedra Robert K. y Helen K. Summy de la Facultad de Medicina, es el autor principal del estudio, que se publicó el 31 de enero en Science Translational Medicine. El profesor de medicina Idit Sagiv-Barfi, PhD, es el autor principal.
Stanford university
INPACT, «Innovative peptides against cancer and pathogenic bacteria, with advances in science, biopharmaceutical drug development, product market targeting, training, and communication», has as its main objective the preclinical development of innovative drugs with specific formulations against certain types of cancer, such as prostate cancer, and certain pathogenic bacteria, such as Staphylococcus aureus.
Its main objective is to develop synthetic cell-penetrating peptides, such as those derived from dengue virus proteins, as well as ultra-resistant cyclic peptides, with the aim of transferring them to industrial partners with expertise in proprietary technologies for peptide-based and cancer drugs.
It is expected that, from this exchange of knowledge and skills, new resistant peptides that allow the transbarrier release of drugs and antibiotics can be made available to society.
Stanford medicine research
The scientists tested their new technique on liver tissue samples from 307 patients enrolled in clinical trials in four different countries. The scientists used sophisticated microarray technology to examine RNA from stored liver tissue samples. Their studies identified a genetic profile that indicated whether liver cancer would recur.
Because the test was done using tissue samples from patients whose clinical outcomes were known, the researchers were able to associate «gene expression characteristics» with the likelihood of tumor recurrence.
Liver cancer is the third leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Most primary liver cancers begin in liver cells called hepatocytes. This type of cancer is called hepatocellular carcinoma or malignant hepatoma. Although liver cancer is often detected at an early stage, it can recur despite early diagnosis and treatment. If the cancer recurs, it is often fatal.
Stanford university cancer study 2021
«Instead of typically detecting these cancers at a very late stage, detecting them at an early stage would be important to save lives,» says Brown, who is at Stanford University School of Medicine. He adds that early detection would allow surgeons to remove a tumor before it spreads.
«Almost as with anything cancer-related . . the closer you look at it, the harder the problem looks,» Brown says. «Which is not to say that I think it’s unsolvable. It’s just that it’s difficult.»
The researchers are extensively sequencing all the messenger RNA molecules (which carry the information for the production of specific proteins) in ovarian cancer cells, looking for evidence of proteins in these cells that would never be found in noncancer cells. These variant molecules could be produced as a result of chromosomal rearrangements-when the genome is cut and spliced in unusual ways-in ovarian cancers. «It’s a long shot,» Brown says, «but it’s important enough to try.»
