Archive for immunotherapy
Building better antibodies, curbing autoimmunity: New insights on B cells
When we’re vaccinated or exposed to an infection, our B cells spring into action, churning out antibodies that are increasingly potent, specific, and protective. This happens through an iterative process known as affinity maturation. Two labs at Boston Children’s Hospital have come up with different ways to enhance affinity maturation and help B cells make ... Read More about Building better antibodies, curbing autoimmunity: New insights on B cells
Exposing a tumor’s antigens to enhance immunotherapy
Successful immunotherapy for cancer involves activating a person’s own T cells to attack the tumor. But some tumors have a trick: They hide themselves from the immune system by preventing their antigens from being displayed, a necessary step in activating T cells. In new work published in Science, researchers in the Program in Cellular and ... Read More about Exposing a tumor’s antigens to enhance immunotherapy
Making immunotherapy safe for AML
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML), the second most common leukemia in children, is hard to treat and has a five-year survival rate of just 65 to 70 percent, according to the American Cancer Society. While immunotherapies like monoclonal antibodies or CAR T-cell therapy are effective for certain blood cancers, they have not been possible in AML ... Read More about Making immunotherapy safe for AML
Nanobodies from alpacas could steer immune attacks on influenza
While conventional flu vaccines are designed to anticipate the influenza strains projected to dominate in the next flu season, they’re only partially effective. And while antiviral drugs are available to treat active flu cases, the body quickly clears them, requiring high, frequent doses. Coupling one existing flu drug with a special ingredient from alpacas, the ... Read More about Nanobodies from alpacas could steer immune attacks on influenza
An unexpected journey reveals a potent way to attack tumors
Research on the effects of prenatal exposure to the Zika virus has yielded an unexpected dividend: a potentially promising way to trigger natural killer (NK) cells to fight cancer. NK cells are first-responder immune cells. When enough of their activating receptors are triggered, they mobilize to kill infected, stressed, or cancerous cells at an early ... Read More about An unexpected journey reveals a potent way to attack tumors
Going out of the box to tackle pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancers are deadly and hard to treat, in part because they are so often detected at an advanced stage; overall five-year survival rates are about 11 percent. Two separate labs at Boston Children’s Hospital took out-of-the-box approaches to this difficult cancer, and both uncovered some very promising leads. Wiping out pancreatic tumors’ immune defense ... Read More about Going out of the box to tackle pancreatic cancer
Making ready-made CAR T cells for cancer immunotherapy
In CAR T-cell immunotherapy, T cells from a patient’s own blood are engineered to carry so-called chimeric antigen receptors (CAR) that enable the T cells to attack and kill tumor cells. While CAR-T therapy is a powerful approach for certain leukemias and lymphomas, it’s not available for many patients who need it. It can be ... Read More about Making ready-made CAR T cells for cancer immunotherapy
Immunotherapy for kids: An option for childhood liver cancer?
You may have seen ads for immunotherapy drugs, or even know someone whose cancer has been treated with them. These medications, which use a patient’s own immune system to help fight cancer, are increasingly popular for treating solid tumors in adults. However, immunotherapy has been less successful in treating cancer in kids. The reason for ... Read More about Immunotherapy for kids: An option for childhood liver cancer?
Children with severe MIS-C do better with IVIG and steroids as initial therapy
When children started getting sick with multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C) in the wake of COVID-19, clinicians largely turned to two treatments. Many used immunoglobulin (IVIG) because of MIS-C’s similarities with Kawasaki disease. And many used steroids such as methylprednisolone because of MIS-C’s inflammatory features. Key takeawayIn this large, rigorous national study, initial treatment of MIS-C ... Read More about Children with severe MIS-C do better with IVIG and steroids as initial therapy
Diversifying therapeutic antibodies: From one, come many with potential different uses
A new method for producing antibodies against disease could result in a wider variety of drugs for infectious diseases, immune disease, and even cancer. The immune system naturally produces enormous varieties of antibodies to fight diseases. Therapeutic antibodies — antibodies created against specific therapeutic targets — have been used for decades to either rev up ... Read More about Diversifying therapeutic antibodies: From one, come many with potential different uses