A combination of two immunotherapy drugs showed encouraging activity when added to standard chemotherapy given prior to surgery for patients with high-risk, early-stage HER2-negative breast cancer, according to phase 2 clinical trial results from the ongoing I-SPY2 clinical trial platform. This exact treatment regimen will not advance for further study in other patients, as researchers found excess toxicities when combining the two immunotherapies. However, the outcome demonstrates the promise of improved outcomes with novel immunotherapy combinations.

Transgender and gender diverse (TGD) individuals experience significant healthcare disparities across the oncology spectrum of care. Systemic barriers, past harmful healthcare experiences and sociopolitical climate, and other impediments to accessing health care among others, combine to influence these disparities. TGD individuals undergoing gender-affirming mastectomy (‘top surgery’) face unique challenges related to breast cancer risk assessment and screening. Currently, a patient can undergo top surgery without understanding how that procedure will affect their lifelong breast and chest cancer risk – and critically, without knowing if they carry predispositions that could fundamentally reshape their surgical decisions.

 

A new study by researchers at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine has identified critical barriers that influence healthcare professionals' integration of cancer risk evaluation, within the context of gender-affirming mastectomy and pre-surgical planning. They include clear institutional accountability, harmonized evidence-based guidelines, standardized care pathways and embedded genetic counseling in multidisciplinary gender-affirming care teams. These findings mirror what patients reported in a previous companion study – that they lack clear information before and after surgery.

An international research team led by the Medical University of Vienna reports on a new treatment strategy that has made a kidney transplant possible for a patient with no realistic chance of receiving a suitable donor organ. As the case study demonstrates for the first time, the use of a new drug from the field of cancer medicine can achieve a substantial and sustained reduction in antibodies against potential transplants, a level not previously attained. This significantly improves the prospects of a successful organ transplant even in cases with a particularly unfavourable initial immunological profile. The results have recently been published in the highly respected New England Journal of Medicine and could open up new perspectives in transplant medicine.

University of Maryland researchers discovered a new approach to treating venomous snake bites—using the same toxin-blocking proteins that snakes evolved to protect themselves.

The team, led by UMD Distinguished University Professor of Biology Sean B. Carroll, found that specific combinations of blood proteins from western diamondback rattlesnakes provided unprecedented neutralizing power against the venom of multiple dangerous snake species. It's a giant step toward a new and more effective approach to antivenom design and production.