CAR T-Cell Challenges; HIV and Cancer; Radiation and Cremation

Despite the enthusiasm for CAR T-cell therapy, its future as a cancer treatment faces some major hurdles — manufacturing logistics, potentially serious toxicities, and cost. (Global Data)

Speaking of the cost of CAR T-cell therapy, the $300,000-$500,000 price tag for the treatment does not include hospital costs, which can add another $80,000 to $250,000 to the total price of caring for one patient. (Transplantation & Cellular Therapy Meetings)

A patient’s HIV status should not interfere with providing optimal cancer care. (Cancer)

Dietary factors may influence the effectiveness of cancer immunotherapy. (American Association for Cancer Research)

Colorectal cancer in younger patients was often misdiagnosed initially, which contributed to a high rate of advanced-stage disease when the cancers were finally identified. (American Association for Cancer Research)

Operators of an Arizona crematory detected radioactive material in their machinery after cremating the remains of a man who received a form of radiation therapy for cancer — as well as unrelated radioactive material in the urine of an employee. (CNN, JAMA)

What an award-winning photographer shares what he learned when he put his camera down to spend more time with his father, who had advanced lung cancer. (Cancer Today)

Men’s sperm count and quality were not adversely affected by chemotherapy and radiation therapy for early-stage testicular cancer. (Annals of Oncology)

Breast imaging with positron emission tomography might help identify certain women with HER2-positive breast cancer who can safely avoid chemotherapy. (Johns Hopkins, Journal of Clinical Oncology)

Worldwide, almost half of childhood cancers go undiagnosed and untreated. (The Lancet Oncology)

The FDA issued a warning letter to California-based Total Thermal Imaging about illegal marketing and distribution of an unapproved thermal imaging device for breast cancer diagnosis.

Taiho Oncology announced that the FDA expanded indications for trifluridine/tipiracil (Lonsurf) to include certain patients with previously treated gastric and gastroesophageal juncture cancer.