South African-led research has revealed new molecular details about how cancer changes the MUC1 protein to evade the immune system. The findings could support the development of new cancer vaccines, biomarkers and precision therapies. MUC1 is found on epithelial cells lining organs including the breast, colon and lungs. In healthy tissue, it carries long, complex sugar chains that help protect…
Tag: Cancer Research
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Lower-Dose Immunotherapy Trials Expand Treatment Options
Ground-breaking new research suggests that dramatically lower doses or shorter courses of revolutionary immunotherapy drugs could be highly effective. This finding may eventually pave the way for wider global access to life-saving cancer treatments. Lower-dose immunotherapy trials are showing promising potential. Drugs like Merck & Co’s Keytruda and Bristol Myers Squibb Co’s Opdivo have transformed oncology. They boost survival rates…
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Nobel Prize Highlights Advances in Cancer Immunotherapy
American scientists Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell, alongside their Japanese colleague Shimon Sakaguchi, have been awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. The prestigious award recognises their pivotal discoveries concerning regulatory T cells. These discoveries have fundamentally changed our understanding of the immune system. Additionally, they have paved the way for novel treatments for cancer and autoimmune disorders.…
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African Cancer Study Reveals New Genetic Links
In a significant step for global health equity, researchers at the Sydney Brenner Institute for Molecular Bioscience (SBIMB) at the University of the Witwatersrand have uncovered two novel genetic variants. These variants increase susceptibility to breast cancer in Black South African women. This groundbreaking discovery, detailed in a study published in the journal Nature Communications, sheds new light on the…