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INDIANAPOLIS Researchers at the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center have identified how breast cancer cells hide from immune cells to stay alive. The discovery could lead to better immunotherapy treatment for patients.
Xinna Zhang, PhD, and colleagues found that when breast cancer cells have an increased level of a protein called MAL2 on the cell surface, the cancer cells can evade immune attacks and continue to grow. The findings are published this month in
The Journal of Clinical Investigation and featured on the journal s cover.
The lead author of the study, Zhang is a member of the IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center and assistant professor of medical and molecular genetics at IU School of Medicine.
Columbia Daily Tribune
Under a new agreement, the University of Missouri Research Reactor will supply a radioisotope that serves as a key ingredient in a cancer therapy.
The multi-year agreement is with Advanced Accelerator Applications International, a Novartis pharmaceutical manufacturing company.
Since 2017, the research reactor has produced the radioisotope Lutetium-177 for the company under the name Lutathera. It is used to treat some tumors of the gastrointestinal tract and pancreas.
The new version of the radioisotope contains no trace of the long-lived isotope. That s a real benefit because hospitals won t have the same regulations for use, storage and disposal they have with the current version, said David Robertson, research reactor director.