Latest news with #Sinicrope
Mid East Info
12-08-2025
- Health
- Mid East Info
Immunotherapy boosts chemotherapy in combating stage 3 colon cancer - Middle East Business News and Information
Dubai, United Arab Emirates;August 2025 — Colon cancer is the third most common cancer in the world. While screening has helped detect and prevent colon cancer from spreading, major advancements in treating colon cancer have lagged. Now, new research led by Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center found that adding immunotherapy to chemotherapy after surgery for patients with stage 3 (node-positive) colon cancer — and with a specific genetic makeup called deficient DNA mismatch repair (dMMR) — was associated with a 50% reduction in cancer recurrence and death compared to chemotherapy alone. Approximately 15% of people diagnosed with colon cancer exhibit dMMR and, to date, these tumors appear less sensitive to chemotherapy. The results of the multi-center study were presented during a plenary session at the 2025 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting in Chicago. 'The findings from our study represent a major advance in the adjuvant treatment of dMMR stage 3 colon cancer and will now change the treatment for this type of cancer,' says oncologist Frank Sinicrope, M.D., who led the study. 'It's extremely rewarding to be able to offer our patients a new treatment regimen that can reduce the risk of recurrence and improve their chances of survival.' Until now, the standard treatment after surgery for any stage 3 colon cancer has been chemotherapy. However, the researchers note that approximately 30% of patients experience cancer recurrence despite this treatment. The clinical trial enrolled 712 patients with dMMR stage 3 colon cancer that had been surgically removed and who had cancer cells in their lymph nodes. The immunotherapy given in this study was an immune checkpoint inhibitor, known as atezolizumab, which activates one's immune system to attack and kill cancer cells, which are responsible for cancer recurrence and spread. The patients — who lived in the U.S. and Germany — received chemotherapy for six months along with immunotherapy and then continued with immunotherapy alone for another six months. Dr. Sinicrope and others previously studied patients with colon cancer whose cells are unable to repair errors during DNA replication that create a nucleotide mismatch, a condition called dMMR. They noted that these patients' tumors showed a striking increase in inflammatory cells within the tumor, including those that express the target of immune checkpoint inhibitors. This sparked the idea of using immune checkpoint inhibitors to make the immune cells more effective in attacking and killing the cancer cells. Based on the data from this study, Dr. Sinicrope recommends this combination of immunotherapy and chemotherapy treatment to be the new standard treatment for stage 3 deficient mismatch repair colon cancer. The research team plans to approach the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, a nonprofit organization consisting of 33 leading cancer centers, including Mayo Clinic, with this recommendation. The study included patients with Lynch syndrome, the most common form of hereditary colon cancer, as these patients can have tumors that show deficient mismatch repair (dMMR). 'We're changing the paradigm in colon cancer treatment. By using immunotherapy at earlier stages of disease, we are achieving meaningful benefits for our patients,' says Dr. Sinicrope.
Web Release
12-08-2025
- Health
- Web Release
Immunotherapy boosts chemotherapy in combating stage 3 colon cancer
Colon cancer is the third most common cancer in the world. While screening has helped detect and prevent colon cancer from spreading, major advancements in treating colon cancer have lagged. Now, new research led by Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center found that adding immunotherapy to chemotherapy after surgery for patients with stage 3 (node-positive) colon cancer — and with a specific genetic makeup called deficient DNA mismatch repair (dMMR) — was associated with a 50% reduction in cancer recurrence and death compared to chemotherapy alone. Approximately 15% of people diagnosed with colon cancer exhibit dMMR and, to date, these tumors appear less sensitive to chemotherapy. The results of the multi-center study were presented during a plenary session at the 2025 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting in Chicago. 'The findings from our study represent a major advance in the adjuvant treatment of dMMR stage 3 colon cancer and will now change the treatment for this type of cancer,' says oncologist Frank Sinicrope, M.D., who led the study. 'It's extremely rewarding to be able to offer our patients a new treatment regimen that can reduce the risk of recurrence and improve their chances of survival.' Until now, the standard treatment after surgery for any stage 3 colon cancer has been chemotherapy. However, the researchers note that approximately 30% of patients experience cancer recurrence despite this treatment. The clinical trial enrolled 712 patients with dMMR stage 3 colon cancer that had been surgically removed and who had cancer cells in their lymph nodes. The immunotherapy given in this study was an immune checkpoint inhibitor, known as atezolizumab, which activates one's immune system to attack and kill cancer cells, which are responsible for cancer recurrence and spread. The patients — who lived in the U.S. and Germany — received chemotherapy for six months along with immunotherapy and then continued with immunotherapy alone for another six months. Dr. Sinicrope and others previously studied patients with colon cancer whose cells are unable to repair errors during DNA replication that create a nucleotide mismatch, a condition called dMMR. They noted that these patients' tumors showed a striking increase in inflammatory cells within the tumor, including those that express the target of immune checkpoint inhibitors. This sparked the idea of using immune checkpoint inhibitors to make the immune cells more effective in attacking and killing the cancer cells. Based on the data from this study, Dr. Sinicrope recommends this combination of immunotherapy and chemotherapy treatment to be the new standard treatment for stage 3 deficient mismatch repair colon cancer. The research team plans to approach the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, a nonprofit organization consisting of 33 leading cancer centers, including Mayo Clinic, with this recommendation. The study included patients with Lynch syndrome, the most common form of hereditary colon cancer, as these patients can have tumors that show deficient mismatch repair (dMMR). 'We're changing the paradigm in colon cancer treatment. By using immunotherapy at earlier stages of disease, we are achieving meaningful benefits for our patients,' says Dr. Sinicrope.
Reuters
06-06-2025
- Health
- Reuters
Health Rounds: Roche's Tecentriq reduces recurrence, deaths for certain colon cancer patients
June 6 (Reuters) - (This is an excerpt of the Health Rounds newsletter, where we present latest medical studies on Tuesdays and Thursdays. To receive the full newsletter in your inbox for free sign up here.) Adding Roche's (ROG.S), opens new tab immunotherapy drug Tecentriq to chemotherapy after surgery in certain patients whose colon cancer had spread to the lymph nodes led to a 50% reduction in cancer recurrence and death compared to chemotherapy alone, according to trial data presented at recent medical meeting. Patients in the study had tumors with a genetic defect known as deficient DNA mismatch repair, or dMMR. About 15% of colon cancer patients have dMMR tumors, which do not respond well to chemotherapy. "The findings from our study represent a major advance in the adjuvant treatment of dMMR stage 3 colon cancer and will now change the treatment for this type of cancer," study leader Dr. Frank Sinicrope of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota said in a statement. The data, opens new tab were presented at the ASCO meeting that concluded earlier this week. The trial enrolled 712 patients with dMMR stage 3 colon cancer that had been surgically removed and who had cancer cells in their lymph nodes. Half of the study participants received chemotherapy along with Tecentriq, which activates the immune system to attack and kill cancer cells, for six months, followed by the immunotherapy alone for another six months. The other half of the patients received chemotherapy for 12 months. The benefit of Tecentriq was seen even in the oldest patients and those at particularly high-risk. "It's extremely rewarding to be able to offer our patients a new treatment regimen that can reduce the risk of recurrence and improve their chances of survival," Sinicrope said. As patients recover after a minimally invasive heart procedure, they might be better off continuing to take a certain type of blood-thinning drug to help prevent a heart attack or stroke, instead of continuing with the traditional aspirin, a new study suggests. Early after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) - a procedure to prop open blocked arteries either after a heart attack, or to prevent one - patients often receive dual anti-clotting therapy with both a P2Y12 inhibitor such as clopidogrel, the generic version of Plavix, or AstraZeneca's (AZN.L), opens new tab Brilinta (ticagrelor), and aspirin. After several months, patients are usually switched from dual therapy to lifelong daily aspirin use. But pooled data looking at patients who took part in five earlier clinical trials found that continuing to prescribe the P2Y12 inhibitors and stopping the aspirin was associated with lower rates of death, heart attack and stroke compared with continuing the aspirin, with no increased risk of major bleeding, researchers reported in The BMJ, opens new tab. Overall, the trials involved 16,117 patients who received either a P2Y12 inhibitor or aspirin after completing dual therapy following PCI. After an average follow-up period of around 4 years, P2Y12 inhibitor therapy was associated with a 23% lower risk of a composite of heart-related death, heart attack, or stroke, compared with aspirin, with no significant difference in major bleeding. That translates into one prevented cardiovascular death, heart attack, or stroke for every 46 patients taking a P2Y12 inhibitor instead of aspirin after dual therapy. Overall, the findings suggest that P2Y12 inhibitor drugs should be preferred over aspirin 'due to reductions in major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events without increasing major bleeding in the medium term,' according to an editorial published with the study. But the editorial said that since patients are advised to continue the post-PCI therapy for life, large trials directly comparing the different strategies with longer follow up are needed. Some diabetes and weight-loss drugs from the class known as GLP-1 agonists were linked with a small but elevated risk for an age-related eye disease in patients with diabetes, according to a study published on Thursday in JAMA Ophthalmology, opens new tab. In 139,000 patients with diabetes, including 46,334 who had been using the GLP-1 drugs semaglutide or lixisenatide, researchers identified 181 new cases of neovascular age-related macular degeneration, also known as wet AMD. Wet AMD is a degenerative eye disease marked by the abnormal growth of blood vessels under the retina that leak fluid or blood and can lead to blindness. The risk of developing AMD during up to three years of follow-up was low, at 0.2% in GLP-1 users versus 0.1% in non-users. Still, the researchers point out, after accounting for patients' individual risk factors, the odds of AMD were doubled with at least six months of GLP-1 use and tripled in patients with the longest duration of use. Semaglutide is the active ingredient in the widely used Novo Nordisk ( opens new tab drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, while lixisenatide is the main ingredient in Sanofi's ( opens new tab discontinued Adlyxin. GLP-1 drugs have also been associated with higher risks for an eye condition known as nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy, or NAION. Researchers did not have information about the dose, route of administration, or frequency of administration of the medications used in the study. Even with that information, the study could not have proved cause and effect. At least one earlier study with longer follow up reported that GLP-1 use was linked with a lower, rather than higher, risk for AMD. 'Our findings are not directly contradictory' with that earlier report, said study leader Dr. Reut Shor of the University of Toronto. 'Factors such as timing and duration of exposure, disease stage, and patient characteristics may all influence outcomes," Shor said. "Our results add another layer to the emerging understanding of this complex relationship and emphasize the need for further research to clarify these trends.' (To receive the full newsletter in your inbox for free sign up here)
Medscape
03-06-2025
- Health
- Medscape
Atezolizumab + Chemo Improves Colon Cancer Survival
The addition of postsurgical atezolizumab immunotherapy to standard-of-care chemotherapy in patients with stage III deficient DNA mismatch repair (dMMR) colon cancer significantly improved survival in the phase 3 ATOMIC trial. 'These data established this combination as a new standard treatment for patients with stage III colon cancer and deficient mismatch repair,' said study author Frank A. Sinicrope, MD, during a press conference at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2025 annual meeting. 'We regard this as a highly impactful study that will change clinical practice, and it actually represents the first immunotherapy adjuvant study in colon cancer.' The standard treatment for stage III colon cancer, regardless of dMMR status, is surgical resection followed by fluoropyrimidine-oxaliplatin chemotherapy (FOLFOX), but about 15% of patients have dMMR and display resistance to chemotherapy, he explained during a press conference at the meeting. 'These tumors are unable to repair their DNA and therefore accumulate mutations that trigger an immune response that is ineffective due to immune checkpoint proteins. Therefore, the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors is very attractive in this setting,' noted Sinicrope, who is professor of medicine and oncology and co-leader of the GI Cancer Program at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. While approved for dMMR metastatic cancers, it was unknown if an immune checkpoint inhibition would improve outcomes in stage III disease, he added. Study Methods and Results ATOMIC included 712 patients at least 12 years of age, who had resected stage III dMMR colon cancer without prior chemotherapy or radiation. They were randomized within 10 weeks of surgery to FOLFOX chemotherapy alone for 6 months (n = 357) or combined with atezolizumab, which was continued for an additional 6 months (n = 355). For the primary endpoint of disease-free survival, the 3-year rate was 86.4% vs 76.6% in the chemo-immunotherapy arm vs FOLFOX alone arm. 'This corresponds to a hazard ratio of 0.5, which is a 50% reduction in recurrence and death related to the treatment, so a very substantial survival benefit was achieved here,' Sinicrope said. This benefit held up across all subgroup analysis, showing that 'no matter what their age, their sex, their race, their tumor location, their T-stage, or N-stage, they are doing better with the addition of immunotherapy to chemotherapy,' he added. The safety profile 'was in line with the known safety profiles of each drug,' he noted, with an expected but manageable increase in nonfebrile neutropenia in the immunotherapy-containing arm (43% vs 36% for grade 3/4). Regarding immune-related adverse events, there were no clinically significant differences between groups in grade 4 or greater events, but there were notable increases in grades 1 and 2 events in the immunotherapy arm, specifically, hyperglycemia (17.9% vs 9%), hypothyroidism (20.5% vs 3.6%), and maculopapular rash (13.3% vs 6%), he reported. Calling the results 'dramatic,' Joel Saltzman, MD, a hematologist/oncologist and vice chair of Regional Oncology at Taussig Cancer Center, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, and an ASCO expert in gastrointestinal cancers, agreed that the study was practice-changing. 'The most important thing is that this is a real population that I'll see this coming week in clinic. We have had patients for years that we've known immunotherapy would likely be helpful, but we just weren't sure if we could integrate that into their care,' he said during the press conference. Discussant Touts Benefits of Neoadjuvant Immunotherapy The discussant for the study, Myriam Chalabi, MD, PhD, a medical oncologist at the Netherlands Cancer Institute in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, suggested that while the FOLFOX-atezolizumab combo 'is an option to consider' for patients who undergo upfront surgery, neoadjuvant immunotherapy 'is generally more effective and allows for de-escalation of chemotherapy, and of surgery, and also of the duration of immunotherapy.' Additionally, 'it would be important to investigate what the added benefit is of neoadjuvant immunotherapy in this patient population compared to surgery alone, and how that balances against the adverse events,' she suggested. Is Chemotherapy Helpful? In the adjuvant setting, Chalabi questioned whether chemotherapy might be abandoned altogether. 'What we haven't talked about is whether chemotherapy could even be blunting the T-cell response,' she said, suggesting a third arm of the study might have evaluated atezolizumab alone. Echoing Chalabi's comments, Anwaar Saeed, MD, emphasized that ATOMIC's results 'should not be viewed as the endpoint, but a launchpad,' and agreed that a critical unanswered question is whether chemotherapy even remains necessary with immunotherapy in this setting. 'Does oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy meaningfully enhance survival when paired with immune checkpoint blockade, or could it be modified — or even omitted — without compromising outcomes? As the field moves forward, future trials must interrogate whether reduced-intensity or chemo-free regimens could offer comparable efficacy with fewer toxicities,' said the associate professor of medicine and the chief of the Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology Program at the University of Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), and UPMC Hillman Cancer Center in Pittsburgh, in an interview with Medscape Medical News . 'This question is especially relevant in light of the accumulating data from early-phase neoadjuvant studies, many of which suggest that immunotherapy alone may induce profound pathological responses in resectable dMMR [colorectal cancer] CRC. How these findings in the neoadjuvant setting harmonize with ATOMIC's adjuvant strategy remains to be seen, but the direction is clear: Immunotherapy should now be considered foundational in the treatment of resectable dMMR colon cancer,' Saeed said. Saeed also expressed enthusiasm about the study, during the interview. 'The ATOMIC trial represents a watershed moment in the treatment of stage III dMMR colon cancer,' she said. 'This trial effectively redefines the standard of care for this patient population, with definitive phase 3 validation that immunotherapy has earned a place in the adjuvant treatment of dMMR colon cancer. But more importantly, it opens the door to deeper questions that must now guide the next generation of clinical investigation.' The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health, the National Cancer Institute, Genentech, Inc., and the Alliance Foundation. Sinicrope disclosed employment from MedVal, stock, and other ownership interests with Eli Lilly and Company; a consulting or advisory role with Guardant Health and Roche; and research funding from Ventana Medical Systems. He also disclosed patent royalties related to immune markers in colon cancer and a patent jointly held with Roche/Ventana Medical Systems. Saltzman disclosed stock and other ownership interests with Eli Lilly and Company, GoodRx, and Sana Biotechnology. Chalabi disclosed a consulting or advisory role with Bristol Myers Squibb/Celgene, MSD, and Roche/Genentech; research funding from Agenus, Bristol Myers Squibb, MSD, and Roche/Genentech; and travel, accommodations, and expenses from Bristol Myers Squibb. Saeed disclosed a consulting or advisory rolewith Arcus Therapeutics, Astellas Pharma, AstraZeneca, Autem Therapeutics, Bristol Myers Squibb, Exelixis, Pfizer, Regeneron, Replimune, Taiho Pharmaceutical, and Xilio Therapeutics.
Mid East Info
13-05-2025
- Health
- Mid East Info
Mayo Clinic researchers identify proteins linked to immunotherapy resistance in metastatic colorectal cancer
Dubai, United Arab Emirates; May, 2025 — A discovery by Mayo Clinic researchers may help explain why immunotherapy hasn't been helpful for many patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. In findings published in Clinical Cancer Research, the team identified specific proteins — fibronectin and smooth muscle actin — within colorectal cancer tissues that are associated with resistance to immunotherapy treatment. Immunotherapy is a major advance in treating cancer, but many patients, including those with metastatic colorectal cancer, do not respond to it. Until now, researchers have not known why. 'We need predictive biomarkers to guide the selection of immunotherapy for patients,' says medical oncologist and gastroenterologist Frank Sinicrope, M.D. , the senior author of the study. 'Identifying those who may have resistance to treatment can be useful because then we can spare them from receiving treatment that may not be beneficial and could produce significant toxicities.' The research team used digital spatial profiling, an advanced technology that simultaneously analyzes the expression of multiple proteins and where they are located within tissues. This approach allowed researchers to zoom in to get a bird's eye view of a tumor that includes proteins both within and surrounding the tumor cells and how they interact. Dr. Sinicrope compares the spatial tools to an aerial view of a neighborhood where one can see relationships between driveways, houses, yards and neighboring structures. Similarly, this detailed view provides physicians and researchers with critical information about the proteins in and around a patient's cancer, potentially informing the best treatment for the patient. 'We wanted to learn more about the patients who did not respond to immunotherapy. We investigated the leading edge of the tumor where cancer cells are invading and where the immune system is attempting to fight the cancer,' says Dr. Sinicrope. 'It's like a battle going on here and we're getting a snapshot into who is in attendance.' The researchers focused on 10 regions at the invasive margin of a tumor. They applied digital spatial profiling to investigate 71 distinct proteins in both the tumor's epithelial compartment and the surrounding stromal compartment. Fibronectin and smooth muscle actin are two extracellular matrix proteins that were found in the epithelial region of the tumor and were associated with resistance to immunotherapy and shorter time before disease progression. Upon further analysis, the researchers observed that cancer-associated fibroblasts were producing these proteins. The evidence, they say, suggests that these proteins can contribute to suppression of the anti-tumor immune response. The discovery offers a step toward more personalized and effective colorectal cancer treatments.
