Category: Cancer

Categories : Cancer TransplantsTags :

Will the NHI Cover the Full Cost of Saving a Life?

On By ModernMedia

The public health sector serves roughly 84% of South Africans, yet per-person spending in private healthcare is around five times higher. The National Health Insurance (NHI) is designed to change that equation. As President Ramaphosa stated, the right to healthcare “cannot depend on where you were born, how much you earn or where you live.”

For patients with blood cancer and blood disorders, that promise could not be more urgent. On World Health Day 2026, Palesa Mokomele, Head of Community Engagement and Communication at DKMS Africa, says this is an opportunity to ask whether the NHI is being designed to reach them. “Blood cancer and blood disorder patients depend on highly specialised treatment pathways – exactly the kind the NHI has an opportunity to strengthen. They cannot be an afterthought in the benefit package conversation.”

The NHI Act was signed into law in May 2024 but has not yet commenced, with key constitutional challenges set to be heard in May 2026. Despite legal uncertainty, the government has been clear that foundational work will continue.

The Reality on the Ground

Stem cell transplantation is one of the most effective treatments for blood cancers and blood disorders, and among the most resource-intensive, requiring specialist physicians, trained nurses, dedicated infrastructure, and in 70% of cases, a matched unrelated donor (MUD).

The capacity to deliver these treatments is already under severe strain. Just 25% of South Africa’s oncologists serve more than 75% of the population. Long treatment delays, limited resources, high patient volumes, and advanced disease at presentation make for a deeply challenging environment.

“What we see is a system doing its best under enormous pressure,” says Mokomele. “The NHI has a real opportunity to address those structural gaps, but it requires deliberate investment where the need is greatest.”

What Universal Coverage Must Include

The NHI benefit packages for the treatment of blood cancer and disorders have yet to be finalised. With South Africa projected to see a 78% increase in cancer incidence by 2030, whether those packages cover the full cost of finding, matching, and transplanting an unrelated donor will be a test of whether universal health coverage means what it says.

“We are not here to debate the merits of the NHI,” shares Mokomele. “We are here to make sure that when it is implemented, it works for every patient. The full treatment pathway must be funded, and the clinical infrastructure to deliver it must be in place.”

President Ramaphosa has called for genuine partnerships between the public and private health sectors, academic institutions, NGOs, and communities. “That vision of cross-sector collaboration reflects exactly how we believe this challenge must be met,” notes Mokomele.

A Blueprint for Access

DKMS Africa’s Access to Transplant programme offers a practical example of barrier-free access in the public sector. Working across six provinces, it aims to invest in infrastructure upgrades at public hospitals, training for specialist nurses and mobilises its global network to collaborate with physicians, and patient support services addressing practical barriers, such as transport and housing, that often cause patients to abandon treatment.

“When you remove barriers systematically, outcomes improve,” points out Mokomele. “Each barrier removed is a patient who makes it to transplant. That is the model the NHI needs to learn from and scale.”

The organisation is also preparing for a more centralised system, ensuring its programmes can integrate into national frameworks while maintaining global standards – through early diagnosis education, donor registry diversification, stronger referral pathways, and local research capacity.

Your Health System, Your Voice

The decisions being made about the NHI benefit package today will shape healthcare for decades. Young South Africans will inherit both the growing burden of disease and the system designed to address it.

“World Health Day is a reminder that universal means everyone,” concludes Mokomele. “We are asking young South Africans to support us in uniting towards a healthcare system that works for everyone.”

Categories : CancerTags :

Vaping is Likely Carcinogenic, Finds New Review

On By ModernMedia
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Nicotine-based vapes (e-cigarettes) are likely to cause cancers of the lung and oral cavity, according to a new study led by UNSW Sydney and published in Carcinogenesis. The study is titled “The carcinogenicity of e-cigarettes: a qualitative risk assessment.”

The work analyses a wide body of global research and was led by UNSW cancer researcher Adjunct Professor Bernard Stewart AM, with investigators from The University of Queensland, Flinders University, The University of Sydney, as well as Royal North Shore, The Prince Charles and Sunshine Coast University hospitals.

The team brought together experts from multiple disciplines, including pharmacists, epidemiologists, thoracic surgeons, and public health researchers. Together, they examined the evidence from different scientific perspectives.

“To our knowledge, this review is the most definitive determination that those who vape are at increased risk of cancer compared to those who don’t,” Prof Stewart says.

This assessment of carcinogenicity review argues that while researchers have long focused on vaping as a gateway to smoking, less attention has been paid to whether the devices might cause cancer on their own.

It is one of the most detailed attempts yet to determine whether vaping itself may cause cancer, independent of tobacco smoking. The analysis draws together clinical studies, animal experiments, and laboratory research examining the chemicals produced by e-cigarettes.

“Considering all the findings—from clinical monitoring, animal studies and mechanistic data—e-cigarettes are likely to cause lung cancer and oral cancer,” Prof Stewart says.

He says that though the consistency of findings across those disciplines was striking, the exact number of attributable cancer cases remains unclear.

“Our assessment is qualitative and does not involve a numerical estimate of cancer risk or burden. We’ll only be able to determine the precise risk once longer-term studies are available.”

Growing public health concerns

E-cigarettes were first sold in the early 2000s. Early marketing framed them as a “safer” alternative to tobacco cigarettes, as well as a possible aid for quitting smoking.

But the colourful, flavoured devices of today have spread quickly and widely, particularly among young people.

“E-cigarettes are known to be a gateway to smoking and hence cancer,” says co-author UNSW Associate Professor Freddy Sitas. “But the extent to which they may cause cancer in their own right has not received as much attention in research. The evidence was remarkably consistent across fields. It dictated an unequivocal finding now, though human studies that estimate the risk will take decades to accumulate.”

A clear outcome

Smoking has been studied for more than a century. Though e-cigarettes are relatively new, inhaling nicotine-laced aerosols is already linked to addiction, poisoning, inhalation injuries, and burns.

While researchers wait for long-term population studies showing whether people who vape are more likely to develop cancer, they must rely on multiple other forms of evidence.

The team identified numerous carcinogenic compounds in e-cigarette aerosols, including volatile organic chemicals and metals released from heating coils.

They examined several types of evidence: biomarkers in people showing DNA damage, oxidative stress, and tissue inflammation; experiments in mice that caused lung tumours; and laboratory studies showing cellular damage and disrupted biological pathways linked to cancer.

Taking all the results together, the researchers say the evidence points strongly in one direction.

A compounding problem

There is also growing evidence that many smokers who switch to vaping don’t quit cigarettes.

“Most of those who use e-cigarettes to quit smoking end up in ‘dual-use limbo,’ unable to shake off either habit,” says A/Prof Sitas. “What we do know from recent epidemiological evidence from the U.S. is that those who both vape and smoke are at an additional four-fold increased risk of developing lung cancer.”

History repeating

A/Prof Sitas and Prof Stewart traced parallels between the early scientific evidence linking smoking to disease and emerging concerns about vaping.

It took nearly a century of scientific investigation—from the mid-1800s to the landmark US Surgeon General’s report in 1964—before smoking was officially recognised as a cause of lung cancer.

During that time, early warning signs were often dismissed or overlooked.

“Early reports linked smoking to infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, followed by cardiovascular disease, stroke and lung cancer,” A/Prof Sitas says.

He says the same pattern may now be unfolding with vaping, and that researchers should not repeat the delay that occurred with cigarettes.

“E-cigarettes were introduced about 20 years ago. We should not wait another 80 years to decide what to do.”

Source: University of South Wales

Categories : Cancer Urology

Increased Bladder Cancer Survival with New Combination Treatment

On By ModernMedia
Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

A combination of immunotherapy and targeted cancer treatment given before and after surgery may reduce the risk of recurrence and improve survival in patients with muscle‑invasive bladder cancer who cannot tolerate conventional chemotherapy. The findings come from a new study from Karolinska Institutet, published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Muscle‑invasive bladder cancer is a serious disease with a high risk of recurrence. To lower the risk of recurrence, patients are often given cisplatin‑based chemotherapy before surgery, but around half of patients cannot receive this treatment, commonly due to impaired kidney function. In the phase 3 study, all participants underwent standard surgery, in which the bladder is removed. One of the groups also received a new combination treatment with the immunotherapy pembrolizumab and the targeted drug enfortumab vedotin before and after surgery.

Large differences between the groups

The results show that 75% of participants treated with the combination therapy were alive without recurrence two years after enrolment, compared with 39% in the control group. When the researchers looked at overall survival, a larger proportion of patients in the treatment group were also alive after two years. In addition, no tumour cells were found in the removed bladder tissue in 57% of patients in the treatment group, compared with 9% in the control group. In total, 344 participants from 27 countries took part in the study.

“These are very promising results for patients with few treatment options available before surgery. It is also reassuring that the treatment does not appear to affect the ability to proceed with surgery, which can otherwise be a concern when treatment is given beforehand,” says Anders Ullén, professor of oncology at the Department of Oncology‑Pathology at Karolinska Institutet and the study’s last author.

Side effects occurred in both groups

All patients who received the combination treatment experienced some form of side effect. Common side effects included itching and hair loss, and the most frequent serious side effect in both groups was urinary tract infection. Serious complications also occurred among those who underwent surgery alone, which the researchers note reflects the fact that many patients in this group are older and have other underlying health conditions.

“It is always important to balance the benefits of treatment against the risk of side effects. At the same time, the results indicate that the treatment may offer clinically meaningful improvements, reduce the risk of recurrence and improve survival for many patients. We hope that the findings can help inform future treatment practice,” says Anders Ullén.

Source: Karolinska Institutet

Categories : CancerTags :

Study of North Korean Defectors Reveals Cancer Risk Changes

On By ModernMedia

North Korean defectors who resettled in South Korea share genetics but markedly contrasting early-life exposures with South Korean residents. Research published in the Journal of Internal Medicine compared overall and site-specific cancer incidence rates between North Korean defectors and native South Koreans.

Breast cancer cells. Image by National Cancer Institute

Using the Korean National Health Insurance database, researchers matched 25 798 North Korean defectors and 1 276 601 South Korean residents. Defectors had higher risks of infection-related cancers (such as liver and cervical cancers) and lower risks of breast, colon, and prostate cancers (which are more prevalent in developed countries). Over time, though, their cancer profile changed, suggesting adaptation to South Korean society.

“The study provides a model for understanding how cancer epidemiology evolves in such transitions, offering lessons that may help guide prevention and health planning for other vulnerable groups in transition worldwide,” said corresponding author Sin Gon Kim, MD, PhD, of the Korea University College of Medicine.

Source: Wiley

Categories : CancerTags :

New Trial Tests Lower Dose Treatments for Prostate Cancer

On By ModernMedia
Credit: Darryl Leja National Human Genome Research Institute National Institutes Of Health

A major UK clinical trial co-led by researchers at UCL will test whether lower doses of common hormone therapies can treat advanced prostate cancer while reducing the severe side effects many patients experience.

The ENHANCE trial, jointly funded by Cancer Research UK and Prostate Cancer UK, will recruit 1,500 men with advanced prostate cancer from hospitals across the UK to compare standard and half-dose treatment using four commonly prescribed hormone drugs. UCL is sponsoring the trial and Professor Allan Hackshaw (Director of CRUK & UCL Cancer Trials Centre, UCL Cancer Institute) is joint-lead investigator, alongside Professors Ananya Choudhury and Peter Hoskin at the University of Manchester.

Men diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer, where the disease has spread beyond the prostate, are typically treated with powerful hormone therapies that slow tumour growth. While these drugs can extend life, they can also cause debilitating side effects such as extreme fatigue, hot flushes and high blood pressure, which can make it difficult for some patients to remain on treatment.

Researchers hope the £3.2 million ENHANCE trial will show that lower doses of these drugs can be just as effective while improving patients’ quality of life. The trial has not yet been launched and is awaiting the relevant regulatory and ethics approvals.

Professor Allan Hackshaw said: “Although focus is often on cancer trials to improve survival, we also need to find more tolerable ways of treating cancer without compromising survival. Side effects of cancer therapies matter a lot to patients, especially when they are frequent.

“We believe that several modern cancer drugs can be given at a much lower dose than what they were licensed for. Not only would this improve patient’s quality of life, but healthcare costs would be lower allowing more access especially in countries that cannot afford these drugs at their current high dose. The ENHANCE study can therefore influence clinical practice worldwide.

“Furthermore, Black men are more likely to get prostate cancer, and they too suffer from the same side effects of hormone treatment. They are often under-represented in clinical trials, so the ENHANCE study is a good opportunity to show that they get the same benefits from lowering the treatment dose as other ethnic groups.”

ENHANCE will compare full and half-dose treatment across four hormone therapies widely used for advanced prostate cancer: abiraterone, enzalutamide, darolutamide and apalutamide. If successful, the findings could influence prostate cancer treatment guidelines in the UK and internationally as early as 2030, improving care for thousands of men and reducing costs for the NHS.

Dr Ian Walker, Executive Director of Policy at Cancer Research UK, said: “Thanks to research, there’s been huge progress in prostate cancer treatments. Today, more than 8 in 10 men diagnosed with the disease in the UK will survive for 10 years or more. There’s more that can be done to save even more lives though, and in addition to finding more effective treatments, we need to find kinder ones too. The ENHANCE trial is looking to do just that and could mean that men affected by prostate cancer live not just longer lives but have a better quality of life.”

Dr Matthew Hobbs, Director of Research at Prostate Cancer UK, said: “No man should be forced to compromise between survival and their day-to-day wellbeing. This is a crucial issue for men with prostate cancer. That’s why Prostate Cancer UK is thrilled to be working alongside Cancer Research UK, pooling our resources and expertise to deliver the impact men need by funding this bold new trial that puts men’s wellbeing at its centre.”

Prostate cancer is now the most common cancer in UK men. Around 55 900* men are diagnosed each year. While survival rates have tripled since the 1970s, many men still face difficult side effects from treatment.

Retired solicitor Jonathan Edwards, 80, from Cheshire, experienced severe side effects after starting the hormone-blocking drug enzalutamide following his prostate cancer diagnosis in 2024, but when his nurse reduced the dose, his cancer remained under control and his quality of life improved dramatically.

Jonathan said: “It was such a shock when I was diagnosed. I had several health issues and after many tests was eventually told that I was suffering from prostate cancer and that it had spread beyond the prostate wall to my bones. I was referred to The Christie Hospital for treatment and was prescribed hormone blockers. The side effects made me extremely tired; I was sleeping through the day on and off and I had frequent hot flushes and generally felt weak.

“When the nurse suggested lowering the dose I was not sure what to expect. The difference soon became apparent and I felt normal again. I know that I will stay on the medication for as long as it is effective but, in the meantime, I am able to live a pretty normal life. I now exercise more and do not usually need an afternoon sleep. Happily, my PSA level started to go down until, after a few months, it was undetectable and has so far remained undetectable.

“My life has been transformed by the medication, my energy levels are higher, and I can socialise as normal. Traveling was a problem but now I can plan trips as long as I work around the 12-week cycle of injections and consultations. I am delighted that this trial has the potential to help other men going through the same thing in the future by enabling them to be treated for prostate cancer with their quality of life still largely intact.”

At least 10 per cent of trial participants will be Black men. Historically under-represented in clinical trials, Black men are often treated based on data that may be less applicable to them. Although data shows Black men are more likely to develop prostate cancer, more evidence is needed to understand their risk of aggressive disease and the role of overdiagnosis.

Alongside testing lower doses, the trial will collect tissue, blood and urine samples to identify biomarkers that could help determine which men are most suitable for reduced-dose treatment, shaping more personalised care in the future.

*Based on the average annual number of new cases of prostate cancer (ICD10 C61) diagnosed in the UK in the years 2018-2019, 2021.

Source: University College London

Categories : CancerTags :

Treatment Combo Benefits Patients with Leptomeningeal Metastasis

On By ModernMedia
Photo by Anna Shvets on Pexels

Patients with leptomeningeal metastasis (LM) have historically had few treatment options. Now, researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have found a combination of targeted therapies, tucatinib and trastuzumab, plus the  chemotherapy drug, capecitabine, may improve symptoms and extend survival in some breast cancer patients with LM. 

The Phase II study, published in Nature Cancer, included 17 female patients with newly diagnosed LM and HER2+ breast cancer. Median overall survival (OS) in those treated with the combination therapy increased from a historical average of 4.4 months to 10 months. At the 18-month mark, 41% of patients were still alive. Under the combination treatment, disease progression also stalled, with a median of seven months before central nervous system progression, and seven of 12 evaluable patients also had improved neurologic deficits.

“The combination achieved a clinically meaningful improvement in overall survival compared to historical controls,” said lead author Rashmi Murthy, MD, associate professor of Breast Medical Oncology. “For these patients, who often face limited treatment options, our results represent a step forward, offering new hope in how we treat and manage leptomeningeal metastasis.”

Why are there limited treatments for patients with leptomeningeal metastasis?

Leptomeningeal metastasis is difficult to treat primarily because the blood-brain barrier may block drugs from reaching the spinal fluid, where the metastatic cells are found. Additionally, LM is not a solid tumor but is made up of metastatic cells living in fluid, making them more difficult to target. Historically, there also are few studies about this specific disease. 

“In addition to encouraging survival outcomes, throughout this study we observed improvements in neurologic symptoms,” said co-lead author Barbara O’Brien, MD, associate professor of Neuro-Oncology. “Treatments for breast cancer leptomeningeal metastasis have historically focused on stabilising disease rather than improving symptoms, making these findings particularly meaningful and encouraging.” 

How do the treatments in this combination therapy work?

Tucatinib is a targeted therapy pill that blocks the HER2 protein, which helps some breast cancers grow. Trastuzumab is a targeted antibody that attaches to the HER2 protein on cancer cells and helps the immune system destroy them. Finally, capecitabine is a chemotherapy pill that turns into 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) in the body to eliminate fast-growing cancer cells.

The single arm, non-randomised, multi-phase study enrolled patients at four sites in the U.S., including UT MD Anderson. Eligible patients were at least 18 years old with histologically proven metastatic HER2+ breast carcinoma. These patients were treated with 21-day cycles of oral tucatinib (300 mg) twice daily, plus oral capecitabine (1000 mg/m2) twice daily on days 1-14 and intravenous trastuzumab (6 mg/kg) on day 21. 

What are other key findings of the study?

Side effects included diarrhoea, nausea, vomiting, hand-foot syndrome, and liver function test elevation. Most adverse effects improved or resolved with appropriate care and dose modifications. One patient saw alanine aminotransferase elevation after one cycle, which led to discontinuation of the combination, and symptoms resolved after one month.

Study limitations include early termination due to slow accrual following Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approval of the combination therapy. Additionally, LM from HER2+ metastatic breast cancer is rare, resulting in limited published data. As a result, the study design was informed by the small amount of available retrospective evidence.

Source: UT MD Anderson Cancer Center

Categories : Cancer UrologyTags :

Prostate Cancer Screening on Par with Breast Cancer Screening

On By ModernMedia
Credit: Darryl Leja National Human Genome Research Institute National Institutes Of Health

Prostate cancer screening compares favourably to screening for breast cancer in identifying significant cancers, reducing mortality and avoiding unnecessary harms, according to new research. The findings are presented on Sunday 15 March 2026 at the European Association of Urology Congress (EAU26) in London. The research is also accepted for publication in European Urology.

The researchers maintain that the similarities between the two forms of screening mean it is no longer rational to reject prostate cancer screening on one hand while endorsing screening for breast cancer on the other. Nevertheless, they recommend some caution given their research compares a trial with a population-based screening programme and across two different cancers. 

Although breast and prostate cancer are the most commonly diagnosed cancers in Europe amongst men and women respectively, screening for the diseases is vastly different. Organised breast cancer screening programmes have been established across Europe for more than three decades. Prostate cancer screening has lagged behind, primarily due to concerns around the effectiveness of the PSA blood test and the risks of overdiagnosis and overtreatment. Nevertheless, many men undergo variable, ‘opportunistic’ screening for the disease, mostly based on self-referral.

Several prostate cancer screening trials in Europe have now reported long-term outcomes, showing a reduced risk of death from prostate cancer [1]. This risk reduction is similar to that seen in breast screening programmes.

The new analysis compares the two types of cancer screening in terms of the effectiveness of the diagnostic tests and levels of overdiagnosis. The researchers, from the German Cancer Research Centre in Heidelberg, Germany, drew on data from the PROBASE prostate cancer screening trial in Germany and the country’s breast cancer screening programme.

They used data from 39,392 men who underwent an initial PSA blood test as part of the PROBASE trial at age 45 or 50. They compared this with data from just over 2.8 million women, aged 50–69, who had a mammography as part of Germany’s organised breast cancer screening programme. They found:

  • PSA blood testing followed by an MRI scan leads to a higher number of false positives than mammography (37-42% vs 10%).
  • A similar proportion of men and women were referred for biopsy (0.8-2.4% for men and 1.1% for women) as men in the PROBASE trial were triaged before referral using various factors to determine the likelihood of significant cancer (known as risk stratification)
  • Biopsies were far more likely to identify significant cancer in prostate screening than in breast screening (50-68% vs 10%), indicating that fewer men were referred for biopsy unnecessarily.
  • The percentages of invasive cancers identified were similar across both prostate and breast cancer screening (60-74% vs 73%).
  • Prostate cancer screening was more likely to identify non-aggressive cancers than breast cancer screening (26-31% vs. 22%). However, in prostate cancer the option of active surveillance is well-established, and the researchers maintain this would limit the risk of overtreatment. Active surveillance involves monitoring lower grade cancers and only starting treatment (radiotherapy or surgery) if they progress.

Dr Sigrid Carlsson, who leads Clinical Epidemiology of Early Cancer Detection at the German Cancer Research Centre (DKFZ) in Heidelberg, is lead author of the research. She said: “Until we have a population-based screening programme for prostate cancer, we can’t make an exact like-for-like comparison with breast cancer. But we can make some informed assumptions based on the data from our trial, which shows that if prostate cancer screening were extended to the wider population, then the outcomes are likely to be very similar to breast cancer. Although our study used German data, the findings are applicable to other countries. The final question we now need to answer is: what will this cost compared to what we are already paying for opportunistic screening? And that work is already underway.”

Tobias Nordström is a clinical urologist and Associate Professor at the Karolinska Institute, Sweden and a member of the EAU Scientific Congress Office. He said: “There is much that prostate cancer screening can learn from breast cancer screening and that is why this analysis is an important addition to our knowledge base. As these kinds of comparisons are very challenging, the results do need to be taken with a level of caution. That said, the clear overall similarities between the outcomes for breast and prostate cancer screening show that we are moving in the right direction, ensuring prostate cancer screening offers more benefits than harm.”

[1] See the 23-year follow-up from the European Randomised Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC) in the New England Journal of Medicine: European Study of Prostate Cancer Screening — 23-Year Follow-up | New England Journal of Medicine

Source: European Association of Urology

Categories : CancerTags :

Internal Y90 Radiotherapy for Liver Cancer does not Increase Toxicity

On By ModernMedia
Human liver. Credit: NIH

New research from a University of Cincinnati Cancer Center study found external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) is safe to administer to patients with liver cancer even after they undergo a targeted internal radiation therapy with Yttrium-90 (Y90).

Led by first author Sarah Feldkamp, MD, and senior author Jordan Kharofa, MD, the research was published in the American Journal of Clinical Oncology.  Feldkamp explained that while traditional EBRT delivers radiation from a machine outside the body, Y90 provides carefully aimed treatment for liver cancer through microscopic beads injected into the blood supply. 

The location and size of each tumour help clinicians decide which radiation approach to take with each patient. But following Y90, doctors questioned whether the treatment exhausted the liver’s radiation tolerance, meaning additional EBRT could lead to toxicity.

In the study, the team reviewed 94 patients with liver cancer treated with EBRT from 2016 to 2024, including 15 who were additionally treated with Y90.

“EBRT can be delivered after Y90 without an increase in toxicity,” said Feldkamp, a resident in the Department of Radiation Oncology in UC’s College of Medicine. “These results, though not particularly surprising to our team given collective personal experience, do contradict commonly held assumptions by others in the field.” 

Kharofa said the study offers “meaningful reassurance” that EBRT can be offered after Y90 when treatment is carefully individualized to each patient.

“That expands the options we can offer patients with residual or recurrent disease, and I think it will change how some clinicians approach this sequencing question,” said Kharofa, senior advisor and chair of the Protocol Review and Monitoring System at the Cancer Center and professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology in UC’s College of Medicine.

“This research suggests that having had Y90 in the past doesn’t automatically close the door on radiation as a next step,” he continued. “The key is working with a team experienced in individualizing treatment plans, and that’s exactly the kind of care we aim to provide.”

Feldkamp noted that the relatively small size of this patient population makes a follow-up study or larger clinical trial more difficult. However, other institutions conducting similar single- or multisite reviews could provide more clarity on liver toxicity following radiation treatment for liver cancer.

By Tim Tedeschi

Source: University of Cincinatti

Categories : CancerTags :

One Africa, One Cure: Making CAR-T Cell Therapy Accessible Across Africa

On By ModernMedia

Cipla recently brought together doctors and blood cancer experts for an academic summit to talk about an advanced cancer treatment called CAR‑T cell therapy, and what it could mean for people in Africa in the future.

CAR‑T cell therapy is a form of personalised medicine in which a person’s own immune cells are collected and modified in a specialised laboratory so they can better recognise and attack certain blood cancers. It is used in some countries for patients with specific types of lymphoma and leukaemia when other treatments have not worked. It is only available in a few highly specialised hospitals around the world.

The cost challenge

In the same way that quality, affordable antiretrovirals changed HIV from a fatal disease to a chronic condition in the early 2000s, one of the biggest challenges now is to make CAR-T cell therapy more widely accessible as costs are prohibitively expensive.

CAR‑T cell therapy remains complex and expensive to deliver, and the cost of treatment is a major barrier to access worldwide. In many high‑income countries, the cost of a single CAR‑T treatment can reach the equivalent of hundreds of thousands of US dollars per patient. In South Africa, high‑complexity cellular and stem cell procedures can cost in the order of millions of rand per patient, which means such therapies are beyond the reach of most people in both public and private sectors.

Paul Miller, CEO of Cipla Africa, said: “Treatment costs are a major hurdle for patients. Efforts to develop scientifically rigorous, clinically validated CAR‑T therapies at more sustainable costs could, in future, be very important for patients across Africa.”

Miller added: “Globally, there is increasing focus on making cutting‑edge therapies more accessible. By developing local expertise and manufacturing capabilities, countries can reduce reliance on expensive imports and work toward lowering costs over time.”

How CAR-T cell therapy works

If a patient is eligible, CAR‑T treatment usually starts with collecting some of their white blood cells through a process similar to donating blood. In a special laboratory, these cells are genetically modified so that they can better recognise and target cancer cells. The cells are then multiplied and later given back to the patient in a single infusion.

Studies in other countries have shown that CAR‑T therapy can help some patients with difficult‑to‑treat blood cancers achieve long‑lasting remissions. However, it does not work for everyone and can cause serious side effects, so patients must be treated and monitored in experienced centres.

CAR‑T cell therapy has evolved over several decades, and current research focuses on improving precision, safety, scalability and global accessibility, with the aim of making these treatments available to more patients across more cancer types in future.

Equitable access

Africa carries a heavy burden of both infections and cancer. South Africa, for example, has one of the largest populations of people living with HIV in the world, and these patients have a higher risk of certain blood cancers. This makes access to good‑quality, proven cancer care especially important.

People living with HIV face an increased risk of B‑cell malignancies, including aggressive lymphomas, making the need for effective and equitable cancer care all the more pressing.

Even though cancer treatment has improved a lot in Europe, North America and Asia, most patients in low‑ and middle‑income countries still do not have access to the newest therapies. The main barriers are high cost, the need for advanced laboratories and equipment.

Medical experts with deep clinical experience in environments from South Africa, Morocco and India contributed to the academic programme, bringing a global perspective to an African challenge and sharing important lessons learned.

The promise of CAR-T cell therapy

CAR‑T cell therapy has shown encouraging results in certain relapsed or refractory blood cancers, with some patients achieving deep and durable responses. Internationally, thousands of patients have now received CAR‑T treatment in approved centres.

Gene and cell therapies are subject to strict regulations and rigorous quality standards in many countries. In addition to cost, logistics and the “vein‑to‑vein” traceability chain are important factors that health systems must be equipped to manage.

“Cipla is committed to partnering with healthcare professionals, policymakers and institutions to chart a clear and equitable path for CAR-T therapy access across Africa, ensuring that the most vulnerable patients are not left behind in the next chapter of cancer care,” said Miller.

Categories : CancerTags :

Pinpointing New Biomarkers for Cancer Wasting Syndrome

On By ModernMedia
Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko on Pexels

An analysis of biomarkers in patient blood samples could help with early detection of cachexia, or cancer wasting syndrome, according to new research published in Cancers. The study by Cedars-Sinai Health Sciences University investigators, explores biologic signals detectable in the blood that could be used to design future strategies for assessing patient risk and developing therapies aimed at mitigating fatigue and muscle and fat loss experienced by many patients with cancer.

“We found that in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer, cachexia biomarkers change over time,” said Kamya Sankar, MD, co-medical director of the Thoracic Disease Research Group at Cedars-Sinai Cancer and corresponding author of the study. “And treatments targeting one of the early cachexia biomarkers we identified, an inflammatory protein called GDF-15, are already under evaluation in clinical trials.”

Investigators measured the blood of 27 patients with non-small cell lung cancer at two different time points. In patients with early cachexia, they found higher levels of inflammatory proteins such as GDF-15. In patients with later-stage cachexia, they found increased mitochondrial DNA, which comes from the parts of cells that convert food into energy.

Larger, prospective studies are required to validate the clinical benefit of these biomarkers, but they could serve as the basis for risk assessment of patients and may inform design of future clinical trials of therapies for cancer-associated cachexia, Sankar said.

Additional Cedars-Sinai authors include Elham Kazemian, Nicole Lorona, Carlos D. Cruz-Hernández, Mitra Mastali, Akil A. Merchant, Jennifer Van Eyk, Karen L. Reckamp, Neil A. Bhowmick, and Jane C. Figueiredo.

Other authors include Alex K. Bryant and Puneeth Iyenga

Source: Cedars-Sinai Medical Center