News Feature Channel: Clinical Trials

Lower Blood Pressure May Offer Benefits Even for the Very Elderly

Yale School of Medicine — Fri, 02 May 2025 19:40:07 EST

Adults aged 80 and older experience the highest prevalence of cardiovascular disease, yet the optimal blood pressure targets for this group have been unclear in clinical guidelines. Now, a new study from Yale School of Medicine (YSM) suggests that intensive blood pressure management may offer important benefits for very elde...

ASCO 2025 Tip Sheet From Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center

Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center — Wed, 30 Apr 2025 20:10:10 EST

Research findings from Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center will be presented at ASCO 2025 May 30-June3. This tip sheet includes titles for nearly 70 sessions and presentations in which Sylvester researchers are involved.

Gene Therapy Restores Immune Function and Extends Lives of Children with Rare Immune Disorder

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Health Sciences — Wed, 30 Apr 2025 17:00:00 EST

Two years after receiving an investigational gene therapy as part of a clinical trial co-led by UCLA's Dr. Donald Kohn, nine children born with a life-threatening immune disorder are living free of disease symptoms.

Mindfulness Therapy Reduces Opioid Craving and Addiction, Study Finds

University of California San Diego — Wed, 30 Apr 2025 11:00:00 EST

Researchers from UC San Diego found that Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE) can help rewire the brain's response to natural healthy pleasure, leading to reduced opioid cravings. The findings suggest that MORE could be a promising tool in the fight against opioid use disorder.

AI-ECG Tools Can Help Clinicians Identify Heart Issues Early in Women Planning to Have Children

Mayo Clinic — Tue, 29 Apr 2025 21:30:28 EST

Every year, some mothers die after giving birth due to heart problems, and many of these deaths could be prevented. The ability to screen for heart weakness before pregnancy could play a crucial role in identifying women who may need additional care to improve pregnancy outcomes.

Differences in Survival Persist Despite Access to Cancer Clinical Trials

UT Southwestern Medical Center — Tue, 29 Apr 2025 20:15:48 EST

Black and Hispanic children with high-risk neuroblastoma experience worse survival outcomes than their white peers, even when treated in frontline clinical trials, according to a study led by a UT Southwestern Medical Center researcher. Published in JAMA Network Open, the study is believed to be the first to comprehensively evaluate survival by race and ethnicity in a national cohort of children with high-risk neuroblastoma enrolled in clinical trials.

AACR: New CAR T Cell Therapy Benefits Patients with Advanced Thyroid Cancers

University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center — Tue, 29 Apr 2025 11:15:00 EST

* Phase I trial demonstrates lasting responses and encouraging safety profile in two aggressive thyroid cancer subtypes, suggesting further progress for CAR T cell therapy in solid tumors * One patient experienced a complete response, and one patient had a partial response * This type of cancer has limited treatment options, and most patients have a poor prognosis of six months or less * AIC100 is a CAR T cell therapy that targets the ICAM-1 protein on tumor cells

Society for Clinical Trials Presents Blinatumomab in Childhood Standard-Risk B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia with Prestigious David Sackett Trial of the Year Award

Society for Clinical Trials — Tue, 29 Apr 2025 11:00:30 EST

The Society for Clinical Trials (SCT) is pleased to announce that the prestigious David Sackett Trial of the Year Award will be presented to "Blinatumomab in Childhood Standard-Risk B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia."

Penn Medicine Breaks Ground on Fourth Proton Therapy Center

Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania — Mon, 28 Apr 2025 15:30:00 EST

Today, Penn Medicine celebrated the groundbreaking of the Roberts Proton Therapy Center at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center in University City, which is expected to open for patient care in late 2027.

AACR: First-in-Class Covalent Werner Helicase Inhibitor Shows Clinical Proof-of-Concept in Phase I Trial

University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center — Sun, 27 Apr 2025 16:30:00 EST

* RO7589831, a new drug from Roche, is first in a new class of drugs called Werner helicase inhibitors * Drug works similarly to other DNA damage repair inhibitors, such as PARP inhibitors * This class of drugs is important because many solid tumor patients with microsatellite instability (MSI) do not benefit from currently approved immunotherapies * Encouraging early results in this first-in-human trial prompted additional trial cohorts to optimize recommended dose for future clinical development

AACR: Topical gel relieves painful skin rash side effect caused by targeted therapy for colorectal cancer

University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center — Sun, 27 Apr 2025 16:30:00 EST

(mid dot) LUT014, a topical BRAF inhibitor made by Lutris Pharma, is the first agent to treat the cause of the rash without interfering with the treatment itself (mid dot) Over two-thirds of patients had successful treatment with the higher dose of LUT014 compared to one-third with placebo

AACR: Topical Treatment Offers Relief From Painful Skin Rash Caused by Targeted Cancer Therapy

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Health Sciences — Sun, 27 Apr 2025 16:30:00 EST

UCLA researchers demonstrated that a novel topical BRAF inhibitor gel called LUT014 significantly reduces the severity of an acne-like rash, a common and painful side effect experienced by patients undergoing anti-EGFR therapies for colorectal cancer.

Immunotherapy Could Replace Surgery, Enabling Patients To Retain Their Organs and Enhance Their Quality of Life

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center — Sun, 27 Apr 2025 14:45:25 EST

New results from a clinical trial led by Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK), demonstrate how immunotherapy alone can allow people with MMRd cancers to avoid surgery and preserve their quality of life. The results, presented at the 2025 American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting and published simultaneously in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), found that 80 percent of patients did not require surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy after six months of treatment with immunotherapy alone.

AACR: Olaparib and Pembrolizumab Combination Shows Early Promise in Molecularly Selected, Tumor-Agnostic Trial

University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center — Sun, 27 Apr 2025 14:00:00 EST

* Combining Lynparza (olaparib) and Keytruda (pembrolizumab) showed antitumor activity in multiple cancer types, particularly those with BRCA1/2 mutations * Combination demonstrated complete responses and partial responses in different cancer types, including those beyond the currently approved indications for these therapies

Immunotherapy Improves Survival of Patients with Locally Advanced Head and Neck Cancer

Washington University in St. Louis — Sun, 27 Apr 2025 12:00:00 EST

An international phase 3 clinical trial led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Dana-Farber Brigham Cancer Center shows that patients with certain locally advanced head and neck cancers benefited from the addition of the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab (brand name Keytruda) to standard-of-care therapy. Patients who received pembrolizumab saw greater tumor shrinkage prior to surgery and, on average, survived cancer-free almost two years longer than did patients who only received standard-of-care therapy.

Managing Multiple Risk Factors Can Offset Hypertension Death Risk

Chinese Academy of Sciences — Sun, 27 Apr 2025 06:10:27 EST

New research has shown that hypertensive individuals who maintain optimal control of several key health risk factors--such as blood pressure, cholesterol, and lifestyle behaviors--can significantly reduce their risk of dying prematurely. The study found that with each additional risk factor brought under control, the risk of death from cancer, cardiovascular disease, and other causes dropped substantially. Most importantly, those who achieved high levels of joint risk factor control had no greater risk of early death than people without hypertension. This suggests that a comprehensive, multi-pronged approach to managing hypertension could effectively eliminate the excess mortality risk associated with the condition.

Evaluating the Efficacy of Stem Cells in Treating Severe Dry Eye Disease

World Journal of Stem Cells — Sat, 26 Apr 2025 12:00:11 EST

Dry eye disease (DED) is a multifactorial disorder that disturbs ocular surface equilibrium, considerably diminishing quality of life. Present therapies only offer symptomatic alleviation. Stem cell treatment, especially mesenchymal stem ce

Roswell Park Expert to Share Promising Results on New Immunotherapy Approach in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center — Fri, 25 Apr 2025 18:35:30 EST

Patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are often treated with immunotherapy drugs known as checkpoint inhibitors, which are designed to strengthen the immune system's ability to kill cancer cells -- but these drugs do not produce a lasting response in most patients with this cancer type.

AACR: Researchers share promising results from MD Anderson clinical trials

University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center — Fri, 25 Apr 2025 13:00:00 EST

Researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center will present promising results from clinical trials in three minisymposia abstracts at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2025. Findings include a personalized vaccine combination therapy for colorectal cancer, the use of radiotherapy to avoid the toxicities of systemic treatments for kidney cancer, and engineered exosomes to silence mutant KRAS in pancreatic cancer.

Study: Potential Therapy for Uncontrolled Hypertension

UC San Diego Health — Thu, 24 Apr 2025 19:15:03 EST

Researchers with UC San Diego Health identify a potential new treatment for uncontrolled high blood pressure.