The Society of Cancer Management
  • Home
    • An After Life
    • News Archive
  • About
    • Terms & Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Copyright Notice
  • Contact

. . . supporting research that improves cancer survival.

 
Please contact us if you would like to contribute a news item. We are keen to publish more articles from UK-based research and findings that relate to microbial infections during therapy.

High doses of vitamin C to improve cancer treatment passes human safety trial

9/4/2017

0 Comments

 
Clinical trials found that it is safe to regularly infuse brain and lung cancer patients with 800-1000 times the daily recommended amount of vitamin C as a potential strategy to improve outcomes of standard cancer treatments. In a work presented March 30, 2017 in Cancer Cell, University of Iowa researchers also show pathways by which altered iron metabolism in cancer cells, and not normal cells, lead to increased sensitivity to cancer cell death caused by high dose vitamin C
Picture
This image shows differential susceptibility of normal cells (left) and cancer cells (right) to vtamin C.
Credit: Schoenfeld, et al.
"This paper reveals a metabolic frailty in cancer cells that is based on their own production of oxidizing agents that allows us to utilize existing redox active compounds, like vitamin C, to sensitize cancer cells to radiation and chemotherapy," says co-author Garry Buettner, who was one of the first to propose that cancer cells might have a vulnerability to redox active compounds over 40 years ago. Buettner, along with study senior authors Bryan Allen and Douglas Spitz, are faculty members at the University of Iowa's Department of Radiation Oncology, Free Radical and Radiation Biology Program, in the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The 11 evaluable patients enrolled in the brain cancer safety trial received three infusions of vitamin C a week for 2 months followed by two infusions per week for 7 months while receiving standard care radiation and chemotherapy. The goal of each infusion was to raise the concentration of vitamin C in a patient's blood to 20,000 μM, as compared to a blood level of about 70 μM found in most adults. The high dose is necessary because vitamin C has a half-life of about two hours in the circulation of humans. The treatment was generally well tolerated; with modest side effects including frequent trips to the bathroom and dry mouth. Rarely, some patients developed high blood pressure that subsided quickly following infusion.

Why is this approach safe? Vitamin C, even at high levels, isn't toxic to normal cells. The research group at Iowa found, however, that tumor tissue's abnormally high levels of redox active iron molecules (a by-product of abnormal mitochondrial metabolism) react with vitamin C to form hydrogen peroxide and free radicals derived from hydrogen peroxide. These free radicals are believed to cause DNA damage selectively in cancer cells (versus normal cells) leading to enhanced cancer cell death as well as sensitization to radiation and chemotherapy in cancer cells.

Read More
0 Comments

Patients' immune system may influence effectiveness of cancer immunotherapy

9/4/2017

0 Comments

 
Higher or lower levels of certain immune cells in cancer patients may be associated with how well they respond to immunotherapy, according to preliminary results of a study conducted by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI).

The findings will be presented today at the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., by Robert Ferris, M.D., Ph.D., UPMC Endowed Professor, chief of the Division of Head and Neck Surgery, and co-leader of the Cancer Immunology Program at UPCI.
The research was an extension of the recently completed CheckMate 141 Phase III clinical trial co-chaired by Dr. Ferris, which showed that the immunotherapy nivolumab significantly increases survival and causes fewer adverse side effects in patients with recurrent head and neck cancer.
However, the treatment was not equally effective in all the patients so Dr. Ferris and his team aimed to find out whether differences in the patients' immune system profiles could be associated with better response to immunotherapy.

The researchers found that higher levels of tumor-associated immune cells (TAICs) expressing the PD-L1 protein were associated with longer overall survival and greater likelihood of response to the drug nivolumab. TAICs are immune cells that have infiltrated the tumor and are thought to play an important role in tumor growth.
​
In blood samples taken prior to the start of immunotherapy, the researchers also found that patients with higher levels of circulating CD8, or cytotoxic, T cells -- also known as killer T cells -- and lower levels of regulatory T cells were associated with better response to treatment.
"Our study shows that immune cells in the microenvironment around the tumor could play a critical role in how patients respond to immunotherapy. By determining the nature of these cells and how they are affected by treatments, we may be able to significantly improve the effectiveness of current therapies and help a greater number of patients," said Dr. Ferris.

​
0 Comments

    Cancer Therapy & Palliative Care News

    This feed features recent developments in cancer therapy and palliative care. Views in these articles do not necessarily represent those of the Cancer Management Society.

    Archives

    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013

    Categories

    All
    General
    Presentation
    Research
    Review

    RSS Feed

Home

About

Contact Us

Terms & Conditions

Privacy Policy

Copyright Notice

RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
© The Society of Cancer Management 2017