As the Nobel Laureate Bob Dylan wrote, “The times they are a-changin’.” Heather Cheng, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, University of Washington, Associate Member, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and Director, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, Prostate Cancer Genetics Clinic, quoted this line in regard to biomarkers for molecularly driven therapy for prostate and other genitourinary cancers, emphasizing the progress that has been made, during…
Cyrus Biotechnology, Inc., and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard have embarked on a scientific collaboration to optimize CRISPR for use in developing novel human therapeutics. CRISPR allows for the highly specific and rapid modification of DNA in a genome, which can dramatically accelerate the drug discovery process. Feng Zhang will be the principal investigator for the Broad for…
With any addiction in which a user has successfully resisted a chemical, activity or substance, relapse is vexing. And with opioids, it’s often deadly. Fatal overdoses following relapse from an opioid addiction is reaching epidemic proportions. In 2017, more than 70,000 people died from drug overdoses, making it a leading cause of injury-related death in the United States, according to…
Flu viruses are mutating masters, always on the move to outwit scientists and their vaccines. This ability to adapt quickly, and the range of flu-virus strains, requires a new vaccine every flu season to match what’s circulating that year. When we recently asked readers for your questions about the flu, many of you wondered how public-health officials make sure each year’s…
As people around the globe prepare to mark World AIDS Day this Sunday, nearly 38 million men, women and children are living with HIV/AIDS, a disease that still has no cure. Thankfully, at least 24 million of them, in nations rich and poor, are keeping the AIDS virus at bay with anti-HIV drugs; but the pills must be taken daily, for a lifetime. If…
New funding: Concure Oncology is raising investment for its Breast Microseed treatment, which helps to prevent breast cancer from recurring. A new SEC filing reveals a $3 million cash infusion for the Mercer Island, Wash.-based company. Concure didn’t respond to requests for comment on the financing. The startup previously raised a $5 million round in 2017. Company background: Here’s how the treatment works: After a tumor is…
On a lazy summer day, a child crashes her bike and sustains a surface wound – perhaps a nasty gash on her lower leg that may require a few stiches. Not far away, an older man suffers a non-fatal heart attack, an internal trauma that will have less visible, but more profound implications. The gravity is quite different, but what…
Prostate cancer researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have received a five-year, $6.7 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to support the infrastructure and ongoing growth of the multicenter Canary Prostate Active Surveillance Study, or PASS. PASS was established in 2008 with funding from the Canary Foundation, a nonprofit that focuses on early detection, particularly in prostate, pancreatic, ovarian, breast and lung…
With a shortage of new tuberculosis drugs in the pipeline, a software tool from the University of Michigan can predict how current drugs—including unlikely candidates—can be combined in new ways to create more effective treatments. “This could replace our traditional trial-and-error system for drug development that is comparatively slow and expensive,” said Sriram Chandrasekaran, U-M assistant professor of biomedical engineering,…
Matthew Trunnell is stepping down from his post as chief data officer at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. It’s the second major leadership loss for Fred Hutch in recent months following president Gary Gilliland’s decision to leave the institution next year. During his time at Fred Hutch, Trunnell was at the vanguard of a new fight against cancer in which cloud computing and big…