Researcher led by Dr. Maziar Divangahi reveals a promising new way to improve treatment for bladder cancer by supercharging the immune system. The study builds on a 50-year-old treatment called BCG therapy, which uses weakened tuberculosis bacteria to help the body fight bladder cancer.
Although BCG has saved many lives, it doesn’t work for everyone, and the cancer often comes back. Now, researchers have discovered that adding a natural molecule called β-glucan, found in fungi, can make BCG therapy much more powerful.
In lab studies, this combination completely eliminated tumours in mice and helped their immune systems remember how to fight the cancer in the future. The key? β-glucan helps train special immune cells in the bone marrow to become better cancer fighters.
This exciting discovery may not only improve bladder cancer treatment but could also help treat other cancers like melanoma. A clinical trial is being planned to test this new approach in patients. This Canadian-led innovation has the potential to make cancer immunotherapy more effective—and longer-lasting for people around the world.
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New discovery remarkably improves immunotherapy in bladder cancer and beyond. A new preclinical study unveils a more powerful and effective immunotherapy for bladder cancer and other solid tumours. The Institute News. June 26, 2025.
A new preclinical study unveils a more powerful and effective immunotherapy for bladder cancer and other solid tumours. MUHC News. 2025
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A fungal-derived adjuvant amplifies the antitumoral potency of Bacillus Calmette-Guérin via reprogramming granulopoiesis. Jurado LF, Daman AW, Li Z, Ross VMS, Nikolaou K, Tran KA, Loutochin O, McPherson VA, Prével R, Tarancón R, Couto K, Pernet E, Khan N, Cheong JG, Ramaiah R, Ketavarapu M, Kaufmann E, Glickman MS, Thanabalasuriar A, Josefowicz SZ, Divangahi M. Immunity. 2025 Jun 19:S1074-7613(25)00247-X. doi: 10.1016/j.immuni.2025.05.026. Online ahead of print.