Fecal transplant improves checkpoint inhibitor response in Phase I; plus Secarna’s antitumor antisense oligos, a blood-based mRNA test for Alzheimer’s and more

Gut microbiome transplants overcome resistance to PD-1 inhibition
Sheba Medical Center and Tel Aviv University researchers showed in Science that fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) converted metastatic melanoma patients refractory to anti-PD-1 treatment into responders. In 10 patients previously treated with mAbs against PD-1, treatment with Opdivo nivolumab after FMT resulted in two partial responses and one complete response. Research on gut microbiome manipulation to improve cancer immunotherapy response ignited in 2015 after a pair of preclinical studies linked specific bacterial species with CTLA-4 or PD-L1 blockade.

Secarna’s antisense oligo prevents tumor progression
Secarna Pharmaceuticals GmbH reported that its MTDH-targeting nucleic acid-modified antisense oligonucleotide therapy blocked tumor progression and metastasis in mouse models of colorectal, lung and breast cancer. The data from the study, done in collaboration with researchers from Princeton University and Firebrand Therapeutics Inc., were published in Cancer Research...