Transforming immunotherapy design
Grant and Award Announcement
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 8-Jul-2025 16:10 ET (8-Jul-2025 20:10 GMT/UTC)
Miskov-Zivanov's novel approach and the development of an automated system that leverages AI and knowledge graphs to design more effective lymphocytes, she hopes to transform the design of life-saving immunotherapies.
A new study by investigators from Mass General Brigham showed that a new app they created can help improve the quality of life for caregivers of patients undergoing bone marrow transplant (BMT). The researchers conducted a randomized clinical trial and found that caregivers assigned to use the app showed significantly greater improvements in quality of life, burden, and mood symptoms compared to those who did not have the app. They detailed their findings in a presentation at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting and a paper simultaneously published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
The BREAKWATER open-label, randomized phase 3 study was designed to evaluate first-line treatment with targeted therapies encorafenib and cetuximab plus a mFOLFOX6 chemotherapy regimen compared to standard therapy in patients with previously untreated BRAF V600E-mutant metastatic colorectal cancer.
Results from second interim analysis, presented at the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting, show that the investigational combination doubled overall survival compared with standard-of-care (30.3 months versus 15.1 months). It also reduced the risk of death by half in patients who received the new combination.
A newly identified centromeric structure, the CENP-A–H4 octasome, may reveal how chromosomes segregate properly during cell division, report researchers from Japan. Using cryo-electron microscopy, they visualized this complex formed only of histones CENP-A and H4, wrapped around 120 base pairs of DNA, revealing unique features important for mitosis. These findings may provide a novel perspective for understanding diseases caused by abnormal cell division, including cancer.