Articles Tagged ‘vaccine’

Measles viruses genetically modified to treat ovarian cancer

Scientists prepare clinical lots of measles virus to use in clinical trials against cancer. Credit:  Mayo Clinic.

The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) is undertaking a large-scale review of cancer genes. The most recent study results were published June 30, 2011, in Nature. As part of this work, TCGA investigators searched for existing drugs that might inhibit genes that were suggested to play a role in ovarian cancer. The search identified 68 genes [...]

Studies Uncover Associations between Human Papillomavirus and Oral Cancer

Release of HPV genetic material in a cell’s nucleus.

NCI-supported research is contributing to the understanding of how the human papillomavirus (HPV) causes oral cancer. These research efforts are identifying factors and behaviors that may put some people at high risk for the disease. While oral cancer caused by tobacco use has declined over the past 30 years, oral cancers associated with HPV have [...]

Private-Public Partnerships in Cancer Vaccine Research

Taxol Molecule

With the cutting edge science developments that occur at NCI, things like combination therapies are coming into play. A significant barrier is that when one company owns a particular drug which works better with an experimental drug from another company (or when trying to test the effects of a combination of two drugs, when both drugs are owned by different companies)–issues may arise when having the two groups come together to make an agreement to be able to use them collectively. Other barriers – even though NCI has platforms to try to mend these issues – include intellectual property rights [which define] who has the rights to what type of discovery. These issues depend upon whether a drug has been given to NCI from an outside [organization] to work with or [if we are testing] something that is being licensed from within. These issues can raise legal concerns and can slow things down, hindering forward development.