In laboratory experiments, a metabolic inhibitor was able to kill a variety of human cancer cells of the skin, breast, lung, cervix and soft tissues through a non-apoptotic route—catastrophic macropinocytosis.

In mouse xenograft studies, the inhibitor acted synergistically with a common chemotherapy drug, cyclophosphamide, to reduce tumor growth. Thus macropinocytosis, a rarely described form of cell death, may aid in the treatment of cancer.

“Understanding the signaling pathways underlying macropinocytosis-associated cell death is an important step in developing additional effective strategies to treat neoplasms that are resistant to apoptosis induced by chemotherapy,” said Mohammad Athar, Ph.D., professor in the University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Dermatology.

Researchers at the University of Helsinki have discovered a novel system to generate an artificially enveloped oncolytic adenovirus to direct the immune response against cancer.

Virus-based cancer vaccines are nowadays considered an interesting approach in the field of cancer immunotherapy. Targeting tumor-associated antigens is proven to be effective. However, the identification of these antigens remains challenging.

Researchers at the Faculty of Pharmacy, Manlio Fusciello, from the research group led by Professor Vincenzo Cerullo, and Dr. Flavia Fontana, from the research group led by Professor Hélder Santos, and their co-workers, have developed ExtraCRAd, a novel cancer vaccine platform, consisting of an oncolytic adenovirus wrapped in an artificial envelope made of cancer-cell membrane. Oncolytic virus therapy uses modified viruses that can infect and destroy tumor cells but don’t harm normal cells.

It’s not often that a cancer patient is able to talk about “life after cancer,” especially when their disease is stage 4. But John Hagger is different. He has been living “life after cancer” for 25 years. While others consider him one of the lucky few, John believes his “luck” came from some good research and a lot of hard work.

John chose a healing path outside of what he calls “orthodox treatment,” and he was recently united with 21 other like-minded individuals who did the same and overcame the impossible: late-stage cancer.

All 22 of these patients utilized immunotherapy-based treatments to treat their cancer.

The search for an HIV vaccine may soon be over 😮 (Via @ Seeker)