A new diagnostic tool that can predict whether a cancer patient would respond to immunotherapy treatment has been developed by scientists at the University of Bath.
An international team of UK and US scientists has discovered that the activity of macrophages – a type of white blood cell that engulf pathogens and cancer cells – can be used to predict whether or not a melanoma patient will respond to immunotherapy.
Lauren Coyle, Commissioning Editor, Immuno-Oncology Insights, speaks with Banafshé Larijani, Director of the Centre for Therapeutic Innovation, University of Bath, about the devel- opment and application of a novel spatial mapping technology designed to improve cancer diagnostics and personalize treat- ment planning.
FuncOmap directly maps the functional states of oncoproteins in patients’ tumour sections, so that clinicians can predict which treatments will work best.
Scientists have developed a 3D-printed implant to help patients suffering osteoarthritis in their knee.
IMPRISONED ABSENCE
Research validates an imaging platform co-developed at CTI-Bath which predicts if a cancer patient would respond well to immunotherapy.
CTH publications span a wide range of research areas. The figure below uses Scopus/SciVal’s broad subject categories to show the areas current CTH staff have published in since 2014.
Neural networks could improve patient outcomes and reduce care costs
Tumour heterogeneity at the protein level has been associated with poor prognosis in several human carcinomas. Current approaches for assessing protein function rely on intensity-based methods, which are limited by their subjectivity and specificity.
It is possible to modify the properties of semicrystalline polymers using diffusion to introduce additional functionality.
Many cancers are termed immunoevasive due to expression of immunomodulatory ligands. Programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) and cluster of differentiation 80/86 (CD80/86) interact with their receptors, programmed death receptor-1 (PD-1) and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte associated protein-4 (CTLA-4) respectively, on tumor-infiltrating leukocytes eliciting immunosuppression.
