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Founded in 1944, the American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science develops philanthropic support for the Weizmann Institute in Israel, and advances its mission of science for the benefit of humanity.
Sep 12, 2019...
Prof. Yardena Samuels
REHOVOT, ISRAEL—September 12, 2019—Diversity – at least among cancer cells – is not a good thing. Now, research from the Weizmann Institute of Science shows that in melanoma, tumors with cells that have differentiated into more diverse subtypes are less likely to be affected by the immune system, thus reducing the chance that immunotherapy will be effective. The findings of this research, which were published in Cell, may provide better tools for designing personalized protocols for cancer patients, as well as pointing toward new avenues of research into anti-cancer vaccines.
Jul 16, 2019... Summer is here! But more fun in the sun also increases our risk for skin cancer, including its deadliest form, melanoma. In the seventh episode of Weizmann in Focus, CEO Dave Doneson highlights a melanoma research breakthrough by Prof. Yardena Samuels, which could lead to “the ultimate personalized cancer therapy.”
https://weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/predicting-immunotherapy-success/
Feb 18, 2020... REHOVOT, ISRAEL—February 18, 2020—One of the frustrations with anti-cancer therapy is that no one drug fits all: Most work well in some people but have little effect in other patients with the same type of cancer. This is as true of the newer immunotherapy treatments as it is of older types of chemotherapy. Weizmann Institute of Science researchers have now identified new markers that can help predict which patients have a better chance for a positive response to immunotherapy treatments. Their findings were reported in Nature Communications.
Sep 13, 2019...
Illustrative photo of a doctor with a cancer patient (via Shutterstock)
Researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science have found that diversity in cancer cells causes the cancers to be less responsive to immunotherapies — treatments that harness the immune system to tackle the devastating disease.
The Weizmann researchers say their findings indicate that heterogeneity of the cancer cells should be taken into account when trying to understand whether a patient will benefit from immunotherapies.
Aug 14, 2020...
A research group headed by Professor Ido Amit has developed new technology that enables them to look at the internal functions of cells.
This could be a powerful tool in the development of new immunotherapy treatments for cancer, according to the Weizmann Institute.
The new technique, called INs-seq (intracellular staining and sequencing) enables scientists to measure proteins, processes and biochemical pathways occurring inside cells.
https://weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/making-cancer-immunotherapy-more-accessible/
Oct 15, 2021... REHOVOT, ISRAEL—October 15, 2021—Immunotherapy has sparked new hope for people with cancer, but for it to work, the patient’s immune system must be able to “see” the tumor. There are ways of enhancing this recognition in individual cases, yet such solutions are, by definition, personalized, which greatly limits their use. Prof. Yardena Samuels and her PhD student Dr. Aviyah Peri of the Weizmann Institute of Science, together with their colleagues, have now developed a method for identifying cancer “hotspots,” features that are common to many tumors and can therefore be used to develop effective immunotherapy for entire groups of patients. The researchers have already used the method to identify a hotspot characteristic of a particularly aggressive form of melanoma in one major subset of patients. The study is being published today in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
https://weizmann-usa.org/news-media/feature-stories/spotting-hotspots-for-cancer-immunotherapy/
Nov 18, 2021...
Immunotherapy has a great deal of potential for cancer patients, but for it to work, the immune system must be able to spot the tumor. Fortunately, new research by Weizmann’s own Prof. Yardena Samuels and her team is helping to do just that, and it could lead to off-the-shelf therapies being developed for entire groups of patients.
Prof. Samuels, her PhD student Dr. Aviyah Peri and their colleagues have now developed a method for identifying cancer “hotspots,” which are features that are common to many tumors and can therefore be used to develop effective immunotherapy for entire groups of patients. The researchers have already used the method to identify a hotspot characteristic of a particularly aggressive form of melanoma in one major subset of patients.
https://weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/antibodies-fight-cancer-too/
Mar 23, 2022...
REHOVOT, ISRAEL—March 23, 2022—Immunotherapies for cancer rely on recruiting the patient’s immune system, but they still fall far short of tapping into the entire arsenal of the body’s natural defenses. In fact, most such therapies draw on one type of immune defense: the ability of T cells to battle the tumor.
A new study at the Weizmann Institute of Science, published in Cell, paves the way toward an immunotherapy that will exploit a different, previously unused immune system weapon: naturally produced antibodies.
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