THIS BLOG IS ALSO AVAILABLE AS AN AUDIO CAST People often complain about how long it can take to turn a scientific discovery into an approved therapy for patients. And they’re right. It can take years, decades even. But for Immune-Onc Therapeutics the path to FDA approval may just have been shortened. Back in April … Continue reading CIRM-supported therapy for blood cancers gets FDA fast track
THIS BLOG IS ALSO AVAILABLE AS AN AUDIO CAST Hematologic malignancies are cancers that affect the blood, bone marrow and lymph nodes and include different forms of leukemia and lymphoma. Current treatments can be effective, but in those patients that do not respond, there are few treatment options. Today, the governing Board of the California … Continue reading Stem Cell Agency Board Invests in Therapy Targeting Deadly Blood Cancers
THIS BLOG IS ALSO AVAILABLE AS AN AUDIO CAST Oncternal Therapeutics, Inc. is celebrating an encouraging milestone at the start of the new year following a successful End-of-Phase 2 meeting with the FDA. Specifically, the FDA agreed on key elements of the company’s potentially pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial of zilovertamab, which offers potential treatment advantages to patients suffering from relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). Zilovertamab (previously called cirmtuzumab because … Continue reading A CIRM-funded therapy for a deadly blood cancer gets approval for Phase 3 clinical trial
Adult acute myelogenous leukemia—also known as acute myeloid leukemia (AML)—is a blood cancer in which the bone marrow makes a large number of abnormal blood cells. About 20,000 new cases of AML are diagnosed each year in the US with a 5-year survival rate of around 29%. In 2022, there were nearly 12,000 deaths from … Continue reading Funding development of a vaccine for acute myelogenous leukemia (AML)
THIS BLOG IS ALSO AVAILABLE AS AN AUDIO CAST Virtual reality may soon be used to treat cancer patients who are recovering from stem cell procedures. Healthcare technology company Rocket VR Health—in partnership with Massachusetts General Hospital—is developing a virtual reality (VR) therapy that intends to enhance the quality of life of cancer patients who … Continue reading How a health tech company is using virtual reality to treat stem cell patients
Today the governing Board of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) awarded $14.4 million for two new clinical trials for blood cancer and pediatric brain tumors. These awards bring the total number of CIRM-funded clinical trials to 70. $6.0 million was awarded to Immune-Onc Therapeutics to conduct a clinical trial for patients with acute … Continue reading CIRM Board Approves Clinical Trials for Blood Cancer and Pediatric Brain Tumors
Blood stem cell transplantation following high dose chemotherapy is standard of care and potentially curative for aggressive forms of lymphoma. However, this treatment regimen is limited by severe toxicity and life-threatening complications due to delayed recovery of the blood system and vascular related damage of multiple organs. Today the governing Board of the California Institute … Continue reading CIRM funds clinical trial to make cancer therapy safer, less toxic
Multiple myeloma is the second most common blood cancer in the United States, with more than 32,000 new cases predicted in 2020. Unfortunately, many patients with this type of blood cancer eventually develop resistance to multiple types of treatments. This phenomenon is partially due to the fact that cancer stem cells, which have the ability … Continue reading DNA therapeutic treats blood cancer in mice and begins human clinical trial
South San Francisco, CA – The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), the world’s largest institution dedicated to regenerative medicine, has awarded $17.5 million to fund clinical-stage research projects aimed at advancing stem cell and gene therapy treatments for a variety of conditions ranging from neurodegenerative diseases to blood cancers. The awards will support three … Continue reading CIRM invests $17.5 million in clinical-stage research, including Phase 2 spina bifida trial
When Lili Yang was studying for her PhD she approached her mentor, the Nobel Laureate Dr. David Baltimore, and told him she was thinking about writing her thesis on a combination of gene therapy, immunotherapy and stem cell therapy. She says he looked at her and told her that all three of those approaches had … Continue reading Developing a natural killer for cancer
The Stem Cellar 