Scientists harness light therapy to target and kill cancer cells in world first – The Guardian

Scientists have successfully developed a revolutionary cancer treatment that lights up and wipes out microscopic cancer cells, in a breakthrough that could enable surgeons to more effectively target and destroy the disease in patients.

A European team of engineers, physicists, neurosurgeons, biologists and immunologists from the UK, Poland and Sweden joined forces to design the new form of photoimmunotherapy.

Experts believe it is destined to become the worlds fifth major cancer treatment after surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and immunotherapy.

The light-activated therapy forces cancer cells to glow in the dark, helping surgeons remove more of the tumours compared with existing techniques and then kills off remaining cells within minutes once the surgery is complete. In a world-first trial in mice with glioblastoma, one of the most common and aggressive types of brain cancer, scans revealed the novel treatment lit up even the tiniest cancer cells to help surgeons remove them and then wiped out those left over.

Trials of the new form of photoimmunotherapy, led by the Institute of Cancer Research, London, also showed the treatment triggered an immune response that could prime the immune system to target cancer cells in future, suggesting it could prevent glioblastoma coming back after surgery. Researchers are now also studying the new treatment for the childhood cancer neuroblastoma.

Brain cancers like glioblastoma can be hard to treat and, sadly, there are too few treatment options for patients, the study leader, Dr Gabriela Kramer-Marek, told the Guardian. Surgery is challenging due to the location of the tumours, and so new ways to see tumour cells to be removed during surgery, and to treat residual cancer cells that remain afterwards, could be of great benefit.

The ICRs team leader in preclinical molecular imaging added: Our study shows that a novel photoimmunotherapy treatment using a combination of a fluorescent marker, affibody protein and near-infrared light can both identify and treat leftover glioblastoma cells in mice. In the future, we hope this approach can be used to treat human glioblastoma and potentially other cancers, too.

The therapy combines a special fluorescent dye with a cancer-targeting compound. In the trial in mice, the combination was shown to dramatically improve the visibility of cancer cells during surgery and, when later activated by near-infrared light, to trigger an anti-tumour effect.

Scientists from the ICR, Imperial College London, the Medical University of Silesia, Poland, and the Swedish company AffibodyAB believe the novel treatment could help surgeons more easily and effectively remove particularly challenging tumours, such as those in the head and neck.

The joint effort was largely funded by the Cancer Research UK Convergence Science Centre at the ICR and Imperial College London a partnership that brings together international scientists from engineering, physical and life sciences specialisms to find innovative ways to tackle cancer.

Multidisciplinary working is critical to finding innovative solutions to address the challenges we face in cancer research, diagnosis and treatment and this study is a great example, said Prof Axel Behrens, the leader of the cancer stem cell team at the ICR and scientific director of the Cancer Research UK Convergence Science Centre.

This research demonstrates a novel approach to identifying and treating glioblastoma cells in the brain using light to turn an immunosuppressive environment into an immune-vulnerable one, and which has exciting potential as a therapy against this aggressive type of brain tumour.

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After decades of progress in treating cancer, the four main forms in existence today surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and immunotherapy mean more people who are diagnosed with the disease can be treated effectively, and large numbers can live healthily for many years.

However, the close proximity of some tumours to vital organs in the body means it is vital new ways to treat cancer are developed so doctors can overcome the risk of harming healthy parts of the body. Experts believe that photoimmunotherapy could be the answer.

When tumours grow in sensitive areas of the brain such as the motor cortex, which is involved in the planning and control of voluntary movements, glioblastoma surgery can leave behind tumour cells that can be very hard to treat and which mean the disease can come back more aggressively later.

The new treatment uses synthetic molecules called affibodies. These are tiny proteins engineered in the lab to bind with a specific target with high precision, in this case a protein called EGFR which is mutated in many cases of glioblastoma.

The affibodies were then combined with a fluorescent molecule called IR700, and administered to the mice before surgery. Shining light on the compounds caused the dye to glow, highlighting microscopic regions of tumours in the brain for surgeons to remove. The laser then switched to near-infrared light, which triggered anti-tumour activity, killing the remaining cells after surgery.

Photoimmunotherapies could help us to target the cancer cells that cant be removed during surgery, which may help people live longer after their treatment, said Dr Charles Evans, the research information manager at Cancer Research UK. He cautioned that there were still technical challenges to overcome, such as reaching all parts of a tumour with near-infrared light, but added that he was excited to see how this research will develop.

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Scientists harness light therapy to target and kill cancer cells in world first - The Guardian

Sernova to Participate in the Truist Securities Cell Therapy Symposium, Symposia-cel in June – StreetInsider.com

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LONDON, Ontario, June 15, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sernova Corp. (TSX: SVA) (OTCQB: SEOVF) (FSE/XETRA: PSH), a clinical-stage company and leader in regenerative medicine cell therapeutics, today announced that Dr. Philip Toleikis, President & CEO of Sernova Corp, will be participating in the Truist Securities Cell Therapy Symposium, Symposia-cel being held in person at the Lotte New York Palace on Tuesday, June 28, 2022. Company management will also be participating in 1x1 meetings during the event.

* Further details available on the Truist event website

If you are interested in arranging a 1x1 meeting request, please contact your Truist representative.

ABOUT SERNOVA CORP. AND THE CELL POUCH SYSTEM PLATFORM FOR CELL THERAPY

Sernova Corp is a clinical-stage biotechnology company that is developing regenerative medicine therapeutic technologies for chronic diseases, including insulin-dependent diabetes, thyroid disease, and blood disorders like hemophilia A. Sernova is currently focused on finding a functional cure for insulin-dependent diabetes with its lead asset, the Cell-Pouch SystemTM, a novel implantable and scalable medical device which forms a natural environment in the body for long-term survival and function of therapeutic cells that release necessary proteins or factors missing from the body to treat chronic diseases. Sernovas Cell Pouch System has already shown it can potentially provide a functional cure to people with type 1 diabetes in an ongoing Phase I/II study at the University of Chicago. Sernova is also working on technology with the University of Miami to cloak the implant from the immune system, to eliminate the need for immunosuppressives to protect the cells from immune system attack. In May 2022, Sernova and Evotec entered into a global strategic partnership to develop an implantable off-the-shelf iPSC-based (induced pluripotent stem cells) beta cell replacement therapy. This partnership provides Sernova an unlimited supply of insulin-producing cells to treat millions of patients with insulin-dependent diabetes (type 1 and type 2). Sernova is also gearing up to be in the clinic in two additional programs that utilize its Cell Pouch System an implantable cell therapy for benign thyroid disease resulting from thyroid gland removal and an ex-vivo lentiviral factor 8 gene therapy for hemophilia A.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Corporate: Christopher Barnes VP, Investor Relations Sernova Corp. [emailprotected] 519-902-7923 http://www.sernova.com

Investors: Corey Davis, Ph.D. LifeSci Advisors, LLC [emailprotected] 212-915-2577

Media: Elizabeth Miller, M.D. LifeSci Communications [emailprotected]

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Sernova to Participate in the Truist Securities Cell Therapy Symposium, Symposia-cel in June - StreetInsider.com

Novartis five-year Kymriah data show durable remission and long-term survival maintained in children and young adults with advanced B-cell ALL -…

Basel, June 12, 2022 Novartis today announced long-term results from the ELIANA pivotal clinical trial of Kymriah (tisagenlecleucel), the first-ever approved CAR-T cell therapy, in children and young adult patients with relapsed or refractory (r/r) B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), with a maximum survival follow-up of 5.9 years. For the 79 patients treated with Kymriah in this study, the five-year overall survival (OS) rate was 55% (95% CI, 43-66), while the median event-free survival (EFS) for patients in remission within three months of infusion (n=65) was 43.8 months. These findings demonstrate the curative potential of Kymriah, the only CAR-T cell therapy available for these patients who previously had limited treatment options. These data were presented as an oral presentation during the 2022 European Hematology Association (EHA) Hybrid Congress (Abstract #S112)1.

These data mark a moment of profound hope for children, young adults and their families with relapsed or refractory B-cell ALL, as relapse after five years is rare, said Stephan Grupp, MD, PhD, Section Chief of the Cellular Therapy and Transplant Section, and Inaugural Director of the Susan S. and Stephen P. Kelly Center for Cancer Immunotherapy at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). Since the approval of Kymriah nearly five years ago, we have been able to offer a truly game-changing option to patients who previously faced a five-year survival rate of less than 10 percent.

This long-term follow up of ELIANA demonstrated the potential for Kymriah to transform cancer treatment in pediatric and young adult patients with r/r B-cell ALL, significantly improving outcomes with durable responses and a consistent safety profile in this patient population1:

At Novartis, we strive for cures. With nearly six-year follow-up data in these pediatric and young adults treated for B-cell ALL, we have our strongest evidence yet that one-time treatment with Kymriah has curative potential, said Jeff Legos, Executive Vice President, Global Head of Oncology & Hematology Development. These results strengthen our confidence in CAR-T cell therapies as a truly transformative and paradigm-shifting advance in cancer care, as well as our commitment to continue developing this technology with next-generation platforms.

Additional updates on the Novartis CAR-T program presented at the 2022 EHA Congress include new data from more patients and longer follow-up from the first-in-human dose-escalation trials with YTB323 in adults with r/r diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and PHE885 in adults with r/r multiple myeloma, the first Novartis CAR-T cell therapies developed using the Novartis T-Charge platform2,3,4. Visit https://www.hcp.novartis.com/virtual-congress/eha-2022/ to learn more about these data and our ongoing commitment to reimagining cancer care with CAR-T cell therapies.

About Kymriah Kymriah is the first-ever FDA-approved CAR-T cell therapy. It is a one-time treatment designed to empower patients immune systems to fight their cancer. Kymriah is currently approved for the treatment of r/r pediatric and young adult (up to and including 25 years of age) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), r/r adult diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and r/r adult follicular lymphoma1.

About the ELIANA Trial ELIANA was the first pediatric global CAR-T cell therapy registration trial, examining patients in 25 centers in 11 countries across the US, Canada, Australia, Japan and the EU, including: Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Norway and Spain. The trial was an open-label, multicenter, single-arm, global Phase II trial investigating the efficacy and safety of Kymriah in pediatric and young adult patients in r/r B-cell ALL who were primary refractory, chemorefractory, relapsed after, or were not eligible for allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT). The primary endpoint was overall remission rate (ORR), defined as best overall response of CR or CR with incomplete blood count recovery (CRi) within 3 months and maintained for 28 day. The secondary endpoints include CR/CRi with undetectable minimal residual disease (MRD), duration of remission, event-free survival, overall survival, cellular kinetics and safety5.

About T-Charge T-Charge is a next-generation CAR-T platform, innovated at the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR), that will serve as the foundation for various new investigational CAR-T cell therapies in the Novartis pipeline. By implementing the T-Charge platform, we aim to revolutionize CAR-T cell therapy with new products that have the potential to offer patients a higher likelihood of better and more durable responses, improved long-term outcomes and a reduced risk of severe adverse events. The T-Charge platform preserves T cell stemness (T cell ability to self-renew and mature), an important T cell characteristic closely tied to its therapeutic potential, which results in a product containing greater proliferative potential and fewer exhausted T cells. With T-Charge, CAR-T cell expansion occurs primarily within the patients body (in-vivo), eliminating the need for an extended culture time outside of the body (ex-vivo). The T-Charge platform, which implements important process efficiencies, will be rapid, compared with traditional CAR-T, and reliable, through simplified processes and streamlined quality control. Multiple CAR-T therapies, including YTB323 and PHE885, are being developed using the Novartis T-Charge platform.

About Novartis commitment to Oncology Cell Therapy As part of the unique Novartis strategy to pursue four cancer treatment platforms radioligand therapy, targeted therapy, immunotherapy and cell and gene therapy we strive for cures through cell therapies in order to enable more patients to live cancer-free. We will continue to pioneer the science and invest in our manufacturing and supply chain process to further advance transformative innovation.

Novartis was the first pharmaceutical company to significantly invest in pioneering CAR-T research and initiate global CAR-T trials. Kymriah, the first approved CAR-T cell therapy, developed in collaboration with the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, is the foundation of the Novartis commitment to CAR-T cell therapy.

We have made strong progress in broadening our delivery of Kymriah, which is currently available for use in at least one indication in 30 countries and at more than 370 certified treatment centers, with clinical and real-world experience from administration to more than6,900 patients. We continue to pioneer in cell therapy, leveraging our vast experience to develop next-generation CAR-T cell therapies. These therapies will utilize our new T-Charge platform being evaluated to expand across hematological malignancies and bring hope for a cure to patients with other cancer types.

Disclaimer This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by words such as potential, can, will, plan, may, could, would, expect, anticipate, seek, look forward, believe, committed, investigational, pipeline, launch, or similar terms, or by express or implied discussions regarding potential marketing approvals, new indications or labeling for the investigational or approved products described in this press release, or regarding potential future revenues from such products. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on our current beliefs and expectations regarding future events, and are subject to significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. There can be no guarantee that the investigational or approved products described in this press release will be submitted or approved for sale or for any additional indications or labeling in any market, or at any particular time. Nor can there be any guarantee that such products will be commercially successful in the future. In particular, our expectations regarding such products could be affected by, among other things, the uncertainties inherent in research and development, including clinical trial results and additional analysis of existing clinical data; regulatory actions or delays or government regulation generally; global trends toward health care cost containment, including government, payor and general public pricing and reimbursement pressures and requirements for increased pricing transparency; our ability to obtain or maintain proprietary intellectual property protection; the particular prescribing preferences of physicians and patients; general political, economic and business conditions, including the effects of and efforts to mitigate pandemic diseases such as COVID-19; safety, quality, data integrity or manufacturing issues; potential or actual data security and data privacy breaches, or disruptions of our information technology systems, and other risks and factors referred to in Novartis AGs current Form 20-F on file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Novartis is providing the information in this press release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

About Novartis Novartis is reimagining medicine to improve and extend peoples lives. As a leading global medicines company, we use innovative science and digital technologies to create transformative treatments in areas of great medical need. In our quest to find new medicines, we consistently rank among the worlds top companies investing in research and development. Novartis products reach nearly 800 million people globally and we are finding innovative ways to expand access to our latest treatments. About 108,000 people of more than 140 nationalities work at Novartis around the world. Find out more athttps://www.novartis.com.

Novartis is on Twitter. Sign up to follow @Novartis at https://twitter.com/novartisnews For Novartis multimedia content, please visit https://www.novartis.com/news/media-library For questions about the site or required registration, please contact [emailprotected]

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Novartis five-year Kymriah data show durable remission and long-term survival maintained in children and young adults with advanced B-cell ALL -...

These are the non-surgical facelift treatments to consider for glowing skin – VOGUE India

As eerily relevant as 1992s Death Becomes Her is in 2022, there is an unexpected difference. Unlike Madeline (Meryl Streep) and Helen (Goldie Hawn), we arent hiding our facelifts. Instead, some of us are live streaming the whole experience. Dermal fillers and Botox are getting as common as getting a facial in your local salon.

"There has been a shift of mindset and increased acceptability of these procedures, says Dr Madhuri Agarwal of Yavana Aesthetics, Mumbai. In the next few years, the trend is going to be more innovations and better delivery mechanisms of these minimally invasive procedures that deliver long term, healthy skin.

What you want to do to look and feel good is not up for discussion. While lasers and acids are wonderful for skin texture and even tightening, a non-surgical facelift involving needles can be more effective for the latter. For example, filler that is more natural looking, because a laser isnt doing anything to make up for the lost volume.

Our bodies are dynamic and need maintenance as we age. Even, and especially, our facial skin. But with so many options of non-surgical face lifts available, it can be overwhelming to make a choice. We spoke to a few dermatologists to help break down the details of the best non-surgical facelift treatments involving needles.

Botox involves injecting a very safe neurotoxin called Botulinum to freeze muscles, and relax them, ironing out wrinkles. Wary but curious first timers can choose to start with very minute unitsthey wont erase all wrinkles but will smoothen them out enough to look a little more natural. I suggest this only when fine lines form, says Dr Kiran Sethi, a dermatologist based in Delhi and author of Skin Sense. It lasts 3-6 months, and there isnt much downtime. Its great when combined with fillers or skin boosters. Theres also been a focus on preventive Botox. If you get it done before the lines set in, you will have fewer lines as you age, explains Dr Geetika Mittal Gupta of ISAAC Luxe Clinic in Mumbai and Delhi. You will need less and less Botox as you age, because those muscles are not contracting as much. And by early I mean, when you see certain lines of ageing.

Fillers are usually injections of hyaluronic acid that add back lost volume to parts of your face. The Indian bone structure is such that our cheekbone is a little flat on the centre part of the face, explains Dr. Chytra V Anand, founder, Kosmoderma located in Chennai and Bengaluru. So most Indians, even teenagers, get dark circles and hollows. Its a loss of volume. So you have to put a filler in there. And people are accepting of that. Its not because they want to look like someone else, or they want to look younger. They just want to maintain their body and skin. The down time for fillers is usually 2-7 days, depending on how easily you bruise. And a good treatment can last anywhere between 1 and 2 years.

The vampire facial might have shocked people a few years ago, but today its one of the most popular treatments in India. Platelet-rich plasma is extracted from your blood, rich in growth hormones that renews blood flow and tissue regeneration wherever it is injected back, including your scalp. Its usually a course of 3-4 sessions, monthly, says Dr Sethi. It treats melasma, dehydration, has a mild filler effect too. And when used on the scalp, new hair growth can show in 6 months.

Theres also stem cell therapy for hair and skin rejuvenation. We take a small biopsy of the skin, splice the cells, and use the extract for regenerative therapy, says Dr Anand. It takes less time and commitment than PRP and is great for scar healing.

Its good to remember that these treatments are addictive too, says Dr Akber Aimer, Director of Aesthetic Medicine, Maya Medi Spa. You need to understand your limit. Always look for a good doctor who is experienced and talk about your problems and ask their opinions. Understand everything clearly. Your decision-making is a multi-step procedure. You need to have done proper research on the materials used and the treatment. Understand the technology. Trust your gut. And dont forget to ask for before and after pictures!

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These are the non-surgical facelift treatments to consider for glowing skin - VOGUE India