Modulight Spotlights: LASER-SHARP RESEARCH – February 2023

February 23, 2023 by Modulight Content
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 Modulight Spotlights: LASER-SHARP RESEARCH – February 2023 The nomination for Laser-Sharp Research goes to Mäki-Mikola et al. at University of Helsinki for their development of a dynamic cell culturing platform for light-activation studies. The developed platform has a flow chamber connected to a peristaltic pump, which creates a flow that resembles the natural fluid flow at the cell surfaces. ML6500 laser was used to release calcein from liposomes to validate the suitability of the platform for light-triggered drug release. Compared to traditional static cell culture Continue reading →

Modulight Spotlights: LASER-SHARP RESEARCH – December 2022

December 28, 2022 by Modulight Content
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   Modulight Spotlights: LASER-SHARP RESEARCH – December 2022 This month’s research spotlight goes to H. Wakiyama, H. Kobayashi, et al. at National Cancer Institute, USA. Their study, published in Cancer Immunology Research journal, looked into immunological mechanisms behind hyperprogressive disease. Immune checkpoint inhibitors, despite being a major success story in the field of cancer therapy, unfortunately lead to this rapid progression of cancer in some patients, for yet poorly understood reasons. To study this, the research team partially depleted cytotoxic T cells by photoimmunotherapy, using CD8-targeted Continue reading →

Modulight Spotlights: LASER-SHARP RESEARCH – November 2022

November 16, 2022 by Modulight Content
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   Modulight Spotlights: LASER-SHARP RESEARCH – November 2022 This month’s Spotlight goes to Susumu Yamashita et al. for promising findings on novel light-based therapy for breast cancer treatment, published in a journal Cancer Medicine. Their teams at Olympus and Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology developed trastuzumab-conjugated photo-absorber (Tra-IR700) which targets HER2-positive breast cancer cells. This treatment strategy is particularly relevant, since HER2 biomarker is associated with poor survival of breast cancer patients and often has intrinsic or acquired resistance to standard trastuzumab therapy. Especially for these patients, Tra-IR700 activated with Continue reading →

Modulight Spotlights: LASER-SHARP RESEARCH – October 2022

October 18, 2022 by Modulight Content
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   Modulight Spotlights: LASER-SHARP RESEARCH – October 2022 This month’s laser sharp nomination goes to Takuya Osada‘s team at Duke University Medical Center. Their impressive results on novel immunotherapy combination strategy for breast cancer was published in the Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer. The team combined immune checkpoint blockage with HSP90-targeted light therapy using ML7710 medical laser. This combination resulted in strong activation of antitumor immunity and prolonged survival in syngeneic breast cancer models. Impressively, adding immune checkpoint blockers even resulted in an increased antitumor activity elsewhere, outside the local light-treated area, showing potential Continue reading →

Modulight Spotlights: LASER-SHARP RESEARCH – September 2022

September 8, 2022 by Modulight Content
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   Modulight Spotlights: LASER-SHARP RESEARCH – September 2022 Mesothelioma is a form of pleural cancer originating primarily from asbestos exposure. There is currently no curative treatment available for this cancer and its prevalence is on the rise, hence new treatment options are urgently needed. To answer this need, Professors Timothy C. Zhu and Keith Cengel with their teams at University of Pennsylvania have for several years studied intraoperative photodynamic therapy, where photosensitive drug is locally activated with laser light, as a potential new adjunctive treatment for this aggressive disease. Their most recent Continue reading →

Modulight Spotlights: LASER-SHARP RESEARCH – August 2022

August 10, 2022 by Modulight Content
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 Modulight Spotlights: LASER-SHARP RESEARCH – August 2022 Impressive research on head & neck cancer was published by Obaid Lab for molecular imaging and optical nanotherapeutics, at University of Texas, Dallas. The group used Modulight’s ML6500 for a subtherapeutic modulation of tumor microenvironment of H&N. This significantly improved delivery of molecular imaging agent to the tumors as well as improved diagnostic accuracy in detecting tumor tissue by fluorescence. Since incomplete resection and consequent recurrences are common problem with current H&N cancer treatment, this discovery answers unmet Continue reading →

Modulight Spotlights: LASER-SHARP RESEARCH – July 2022

July 11, 2022 by Modulight Content
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 Modulight Spotlights: LASER-SHARP RESEARCH – July 2022 Modulight congratulates Dr. Makoto Mitsunaga et al. Jikei University School of Medicine for publishing their promising results in Communications Biology journal. The team developed a next-generation light-based approach to tackle pathogens, called photoimmuno-antimicrobial strategy (PIAS). This technology was shown to eliminate a broad spectrum of different classes of pathogens, such as viruses, fungi, and bacteria. Unlike antibiotics, PIAS was also effective against drug-resistant pathogens and didn’t damage natural, beneficial microbiota in the host’s tissues. As COVID-19 pandemic and Continue reading →

Modulight Spotlights: LASER-SHARP RESEARCH – February 2022

March 2, 2022 by Modulight Content
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   Modulight Spotlights: LASER-SHARP RESEARCH – February 2022 Photocure’s blue light cystoscopy is a routine procedure in the management of bladder cancer as it results in better tumor visualization and removal. However, this study found that the positive effects of blue light cystoscopy could extend beyond visualization and result in the induction of systemic antitumor immunity, which can be further boosted with immune checkpoint inhibitors. Modulight nominated this study because bladder cancer is highly recurring and progressive disease with more than 200,000 deaths worldwide annually. Thus, Continue reading →

Modulight Spotlights: LASER-SHARP RESEARCH – November 2021

December 7, 2021 by Modulight Content
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     Modulight Spotlights: LASER-SHARP RESEARCH – November 2021 Dr. Aaron Sorrin and researchers at the University of Maryland found a new potential combination therapy for ovarian cancer. This combination includes a novel light-based technology, called photodynamic priming, and a targeted therapeutic against a specific cancer cell receptor, effectively suppressing invasion of cancer cells. Modulight’s scientific board wanted to highlight this research especially because novel therapeutic solutions are urgently needed against this aggressive disease, which despite the best possible current therapies, recurs in most patients leading to Continue reading →

Modulight Spotlights: LASER-SHARP RESEARCH – October 2021

November 1, 2021 by Modulight Content
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   Modulight Spotlights: LASER-SHARP RESEARCH – October 2021 This time we wanted to highlight Professor Tebello Nyokong’s team at Rhodes University, since their latest research tackles two big unmet needs in cancer therapy: tumor hypoxia and side effects of the drugs. The team designed multifunctional liposomes that can locally generate oxygen within tumors to alleviate hypoxia, which is a significant contributor to resistance to radio- and chemotherapies. These nanodrugs also hold the potential to reduce problematic side effects of standard cancer therapies as a result of Continue reading →