▎Editor of WuXi AppTec content team

Recently, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) released the 2022 AACR Cancer Progress Report 2022
.

Founded in 1907, AACR is one of
the oldest and largest scientific organizations in the world dedicated to comprehensive, innovative and high-level cancer research.

This comprehensive 174-page report reviews the many advances
made on the road to cancer in the past year as of the end of July 2022.

It not only includes a summary of innovative anti-cancer therapies and the latest advances in cancer research, but also provides a detailed report
on cancer prevention and patient care.

Whether you're a drug developer, patient, caregiver, or just looking to improve your understanding of cancer, this report can give you useful information
.

Today, WuXi AppTec content team will share the highlights of this report with readers
.

Send the message "AACR" to WuXi AppTec WeChat to get a download link to download the PDF file of
this report.

Cancer: A major challenge to global health

Cancer is one of the leading causes of disease and death in the world, and as the population ages, the global burden of cancer will continue to increase, and the AACR report notes that by 2040, the total number of cancer patients worldwide will reach about 28 million, and an estimated 16.
2 million patients will die
as a result.

While most cancers occur in older adults, the AACR report also points to the burden
of cancer in young adults.

According to 2019 statistics, about 1.
19 million cancer cases appeared in the young adult population aged 15-39 years and caused 396,000 deaths
.

Image source: AACR website

How can I better prevent cancer?

Studies have shown that more than 40% of cancer cases are attributed to preventable factors, including tobacco use, an unhealthy diet, no physical activity, and obesity
.

In addition, vaccination against HPV and hepatitis B, as well as reduced exposure to ultraviolet light, can reduce the risk of specific types of
cancer.

Understanding these risk factors can enhance cancer prevention measures
.

Among them, smoking remains the primary preventable cause of cancer, and in addition to lung cancer, smoking is also associated
with 17 other cancer types.

Recent studies have shown that smoking adults have a 3 times higher
risk of dying from cancer than non-smokers.

The good news is that quitting smoking at any age can reduce cancer incidence and related deaths
.

In addition, nearly 20 percent of new cancer cases and 16 percent of cancer deaths in U.
S.
adults can be attributed to overweight, unhealthy diet, inactivity, and alcohol use
.

Adults who are overweight or obese have an increased risk of 15 types of cancer, while being diligent in exercising can reduce the risk of 9 types of
cancer.

▲Obesity-related cancer (red) and exercise-reduced risk of cancer (blue) type (Image source: AACR official website)

Innovative therapies change patients' lives

With the joint efforts of all members of the biomedical ecosystem, advances in clinical cancer care have not only extended the lives of patients around the world, but also improved their quality of
life.

The report highlights how from August 2021 to the end of July 2022, the U.
S.
FDA approved a total of eight innovative anti-cancer therapies and 10 approved anti-cancer therapies
that have been approved to expand the treatment of cancer types.

▲August 2021 - July 2022 FDA newly approved anti-cancer therapy (Source: AACR official website)

Among them, targeted therapies can more precisely target cancer cells in tumors, making the treatment more effective and reducing toxicity to healthy tissue.


Moreover, these targeted therapies provide a powerful means for treating rare cancers
.

Rare cancers, while not high in incidence, are diverse, and according to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), a quarter of cancer deaths in the U.
S.
are due to rare cancers, so they represent significant public health challenges
.

For example, Welireg (belzutifan), which was FDA approved in August 2021, is an oxygen-inducing factor inhibitor approved for the treatment of von Hippel-Lindau (VHL)-related cancers
.

VHL is a rare genetic disorder that abnormally activates hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF-2α)
in cancer patients.

HIF-2α factor thus accumulates in the patient and leads to the formation
of benign and malignant tumors.

Related reading: Targeting the Nobel Prize signaling pathway, "first-in-class" anti-cancer therapy has been approved by the FDA

In the treatment of blood cancers, in October 2021, the FDA-approved Scemblix (asciminib) was the first allosteric inhibitor to target the myristoyl pockets of ABL1 targets
.

Provides a powerful treatment option for patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) who carry BCR-ABL mutations
.

The treatment of CML also reflects the progress in the development of targeted therapies, and the approval of the first targeted therapy Gleevec in 2001 is the culmination
of several scientific breakthroughs by scientists for more than 40 years.

▲The development process of CML targeted therapy (Source: AACR official website)

Related reading: The Birth of Gleevec: The Anti-Cancer Miracle That Is Hard to Replicate

In immunotherapy, decades of scientific breakthroughs have made immunotherapy one
of the pillars of anti-cancer treatment.

As of July 2022, nine immune checkpoint inhibitors have been approved by the FDA to treat multiple cancer types
.

In 2022, the first LAG-3-targeting immune checkpoint inhibitor, relatlimab, was approved by the FDA, the first innovative immunotherapy
approved for a new immune checkpoint protein in nearly 10 years.

▲Milestones in the development of immune checkpoint inhibitors (Source: AACR official website)

In particular, the AACR report points to the potential
for the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors in the early stages of cancer.

For example, in some patients with early-stage lung cancer, PD-1 antibody nivolumab was used in combination with chemotherapy before surgical resection, increasing the proportion of patients with no signs of cancer in the excision tissue by an 11-fold increase
compared with a control group of chemotherapy and placebo.

In a small Phase 2 clinical trial, 12 patients with locally advanced rectal cancer who mismatched repair functional defects (dMMR) achieved complete remission after receiving PD-1 antibody dostarlimab and maintained a cancer-free state for more than 2 years
without surgical resection or subsequent chemoradiotherapy.

It's worth mentioning that not all patients benefit from immune checkpoint inhibitors, so scientists continue to develop innovative immunotherapies that use other methods to stimulate the anti-cancer response
of immune cells.

For example, Kimmtrak (tebentafusp), which was approved earlier this year, is the first approved T-cell receptor (TCR) therapy
.

It is a bispecific fusion protein capable of mimicking the function of TCR, identifying the gp100 antigen on the tumor surface and activating the anticancer response
of T cells by binding to CD3 receptors on the surface of T cells.

▲Kimmtrak's mode of action (Source: AACR official website)

CAR-T therapy works by modifying the body's T cells into cell therapies
that recognize and kill tumors.

As of July 2022, the U.
S.
FDA has approved six CAR-T therapies, of which Abecma, approved in 2021, and Carvykti, approved in 2022, are CAR-T therapies
approved for the treatment of multiple myeloma.

New technologies driving future advances in the fight against cancer

Future progress in the fight against cancer will require cooperation
at the national and international levels, the report said.

Scientific and technological innovations driven by interdisciplinary collaborations promise to revolutionize patient care
.

New technologies that are expected to further advance cancer science research include:

CRISPR-Cas9 System: This revolutionary gene-editing method not only helps researchers precisely modify the genome and study the impact on cell function, but also has broad prospects in modifying cell therapy

Related reading: CRISPR gene editing meets anti-cancer cell therapy, what breakthroughs will be brought about by joining forces?

Targeted protein degradation therapy: This type of therapy can help researchers degrade disease-related proteins, and in the field of cancer, it can be used to target targets that traditional small molecule drugs are difficult to target, such as p53, STAT3, RAS, MYC and other proteins
.

Spatial transcriptomics: This technique allows the analysis of gene expression profiles of tissue samples at the level of single cells to depict tumor heterogeneity
in detail.

It can be used to predict the evolution of tumors and discover the complex interactions of tumors with other cells
.

Deconvolutional phenotypic screening: This strategy allows researchers to discover and design new anticancer therapies
based on a comprehensive assessment of changes in the entire biological pathway, rather than a single target.

Single-molecule imaging technology: This technique can help detect a single biomarker protein in a patient's body fluid early in the cancer, allowing for earlier detection of cancer
.

▲New technologies driving the progress of anti-cancer (Source: AACR official website)

AACR's 174-page anti-cancer report also elaborates on issues such as early cancer screening and patient care
.

The download address can be obtained in WuXi AppTec's WeChat reply "AACR" (as shown below) and the full report is downloaded
.

WuXi AppTec provides integrated, end-to-end new drug development and manufacturing services to the global biopharmaceutical industry, covering the fields
of chemical drug development and production, biological research, preclinical testing and clinical trial development, cell and gene therapy development, testing and production.

If you have relevant business needs, please click on the picture below to fill in the specific information
.

▲If you have any business needs, please long press to scan the QR code above, or