Laura Cowen

1 week ago | insideprecisionmedicine.com | Laura Cowen

Researchers have used spatial transcriptomics to identify subpopulations of glioblastomas that carry specific genetic alterations in different regions of the tumor, including in extrachromosomal DNA (ecDNA), which may contribute to the tumor’s ability to adapt and become more aggressive.

2 weeks ago | insideprecisionmedicine.com | Laura Cowen

A transcriptomic analysis of data from patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) has identified several novel genes that are differentially expressed in patients with documented asbestos exposure relative to those with no such exposure. This allows researchers to characterize a distinct gene expression profile for these patients.

2 weeks ago | insideprecisionmedicine.com | Laura Cowen |Kathy Vuksanaj

In a world of increasingly precise therapies, companion diagnostics (CDx) are gaining importance. Yet the need for a CDx is often unclear, particularly for emerging cell and gene therapies (CGT) where patient eligibility may not simply depend on the presence or absence of a targetable mutation. A CDx is defined by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a medical device that provides essential information for the safe and effective use of a corresponding drug or biological product.

3 weeks ago | insideprecisionmedicine.com | Laura Cowen

The first-ever randomized controlled trial (RCT) evaluating chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy in solid tumors has shown that the treatment significantly delays disease progression and death versus standard care in patients with gastric or gastroesophageal junction cancer.

1 month ago | insideprecisionmedicine.com | Laura Cowen

Swiss researchers have shown that chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy becomes less effective with age due to increasing mitochondrial dysfunction. Importantly, they found that this can be overcome by targeting falling levels of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD), a co-enzyme that plays a key role in metabolism.