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Glutamine Deprivation Synergizes the Anticancer Effects of Cold Atmospheric Plasma on Esophageal Cancer Cells

Esophageal cancer is a highly aggressive malignancy with a low response to standard anti-cancer therapies. There is an unmet need to develop new therapeutic strategies to improve the clinical outcomes of current treatments. Cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) is a promising approach for cancer treatment, and has displayed anticancer efficacy in multiple preclinical models. Recent studies have shown that the efficacy of CAP is positively correlated with intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels.

Preclinical efficacy of azacitidine and venetoclax for infant KMT2A-rearranged acute lymphoblastic leukemia reveals a new therapeutic strategy

Infants with KMT2A-rearranged B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) have a dismal prognosis. Survival outcomes have remained static in recent decades despite treatment intensification and novel therapies are urgently required.

RaScALL: Rapid (Ra) screening (Sc) of RNA-seq data for prognostically significant genomic alterations in acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL)

RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) efforts in acute lymphoblastic leukaemia have identified numerous prognostically significant genomic alterations which can guide diagnostic risk stratification and treatment choices when detected early.

Type I interferon subtypes differentially activate the anti-leukaemic function of natural killer cells

Natural killer (NK) cells have an intrinsic ability to detect and eliminate leukaemic cells. Cellular therapies using cytokine-activated NK cells have emerged as promising treatments for patients with advanced leukaemia. However, not all patients respond to current NK cell therapies, and thus improvements in efficacy are required.

From signalling pathways to targeted therapies: unravelling glioblastoma’s secrets and harnessing two decades of progress

Glioblastoma, a rare, and highly lethal form of brain cancer, poses significant challenges in terms of therapeutic resistance, and poor survival rates for both adult and paediatric patients alike. Despite advancements in brain cancer research driven by a technological revolution, translating our understanding of glioblastoma pathogenesis into improved clinical outcomes remains a critical unmet need.

Verschlimmbesserung: Craniospinal Radiotherapy Is Essential in WNT Medulloblastoma Patients

Standard-risk WNT medulloblastoma patients have an excellent prognosis using the combination of standard dose craniospinal radiotherapy (CSI) followed by platinum and alkylator based chemotherapy. A recent pilot study that attempted to completely omit radiotherapy was terminated early as all patients relapsed rapidly. The study highlights that therapy is the most important prognostic factor, with CSI still required to cure even the most favorable subgroup of medulloblastoma patients. 

Reproducible Bioinformatics Analysis Workflows for Detecting IGH Gene Fusions in B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia Patients

B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (B-ALL) is characterised by diverse genomic alterations, the most frequent being gene fusions detected via transcriptomic analysis (mRNA-seq). Due to its hypervariable nature, gene fusions involving the Immunoglobulin Heavy Chain (IGH) locus can be difficult to detect with standard gene fusion calling algorithms and significant computational resources and analysis times are required. We aimed to optimize a gene fusion calling workflow to achieve best-case sensitivity for IGH gene fusion detection.

A biobank of pediatric patient-derived-xenograft models in cancer precision medicine trial MAPPYACTS for relapsed and refractory tumors

Pediatric patients with recurrent and refractory cancers are in most need for new treatments. This study developed patient-derived-xenograft (PDX) models within the European MAPPYACTS cancer precision medicine trial.

Pharmacokinetics of PEGasparaginase in Infants with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

PEGasparaginase is known to be a critical drug for treating pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), however, there is insufficient evidence to determine the optimal dose for infants who are less than one year of age at diagnosis. This international study was conducted to identify the pharmacokinetics of PEGasparaginase in infants with newly diagnosed ALL and gather insight into the clearance and dosing of this population.

The critical role of the bone marrow stromal microenvironment for the development of drug screening platforms in leukemia

Extensive research over the past 50 years has resulted in significant improvements in survival for patients diagnosed with leukemia. Despite this, a subgroup of patients harboring high-risk genetic alterations still suffer from poor outcomes. There is a desperate need for new treatments to improve survival, yet consistent failure exists in the translation of in vitro drug development to clinical application.