Tag: new

The standard of care for kidney cancer patients continues to improve. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted approval to the combination of two immunotherapy drugs, ipilimumab and nivolumab, for the treatment of metastatic kidney cancer. The results of the large, international clinical trial leading to the approval were just published the prestigious New England

Following a heart attack, the parts of the heart muscle that die do not regenerate into new heart tissue and instead are replaced by scar tissue. Using rodent models, researchers at Baylor College of Medicine are looking for a means to genetically convert this scar tissue into muscle tissue at the cellular level, which could

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have developed a new disease model for neurodegenerative diseases such as ALS and MS that can be used to develop new immunotherapies. The model is described in a publication in the scientific journal Nature Immunology. All of the body’s organs contain macrophages, which, as part of the immune system,

Scientists at the University of Waterloo have developed a new tool to protect women from HIV infection. The tool, a vaginal implant, decreases the number of cells that the HIV virus can target in a woman’s genital tract. Unlike conventional methods of HIV prevention, such as condoms or anti-HIV drugs, the implant takes advantage of

A new view of a protein frequently mutated in pituitary tumors is overturning conventional wisdom and could point to novel targets for cancer drugs. The protein, a “G protein” called Gαs, initiates messages inside cells. But a single mutation alters Gαs action in a surprising way. The protein’s molecular “off switch” actually switches activity on,

Melanoma, a relatively rare but deadly skin cancer, has been shown to switch differentiation states—that is, to regress to an earlier stage of development—which can lead it to become resistant to treatment. Now, UCLA researchers have found that melanomas can be divided into four distinct subtypes according to their stages of differentiation. Cell subtypes that

Improved information before undergoing PET/CT scanning can improve patients’ experience of care, demonstrates radiology nurse Camilla Andersson in a recent dissertation at Uppsala University. PET/CT scanning is increasingly common for various oncological matters, but it also requires care recipients to understand and follow instructions. Unprepared patients may entail delayed exams and postponed treatment, which can

Adding the monoclonal antibody drug trastuzumab—already used to treat certain breast cancers—to the chemotherapy regimen of women with a rare form of uterine cancer lengthens the amount of time their tumors are kept from growing, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers conducting a small phase II trial of the regimen, testing its safety and value.

Researchers from the University of Leicester have shed new light on how neurons in the brain communicate with one another. This could potentially help in our understanding of how and why a range of neurodegenerative diseases occur. The team, led by Dr Joern Steinert from the MRC Toxicology Unit at the University of Leicester, has

Research led by a psychologist at the University of California, Riverside, shows that bilinguals regulate, or suppress, their native language when reading in a second language. Many in media and in science often assume that reading or speaking in a second language—one that has been learned later in life than the native or first language—is

With at least two in three Australians diagnosed with skin cancer before the age of 70, monitoring moles and skin is vital in detecting skin cancer early for a generation of people who spent much of their upbringing in the sun (often with little to no protection). To meet the massive unmet need in this

The sarcoma research group of the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), led by Dr. Òscar Martínez-Tirado, has identified a potential new therapeutic target for Ewing sarcoma, the second most frequent bone cancer in children and adolescents, and a tumor known for its aggressiveness and tendency to metastasize. The research is published in the International Journal

A new research-based point-of-care test has been developed in Finland for detecting the Lyme neuroborreliosis spread by ticks. The test makes rapid initiation of antibiotic treatment possible for patients with borreliosis, which reduces the post-treatment symptoms related to the disease. At the same time, unnecessary antibiotic treatments can be avoided. The diagnosis of Lyme neuroborreliosis,

Cysticercosis, an infection caused by larval cysts of a pork tapeworm, is a leading cause of seizures and epilepsy in many parts of the world. Now, researchers writing in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases have for the first time assessed the impact of cysticercosis hospitalizations in Spain. Cysticercosis is caused by larval cysts of the pork

Stroke and heart attack are the leading cause of death in the Western world. Würzburg scientists have used a special technique to get a clearer picture of the cells involved and their activity. Atherosclerosis is the most common cause of death and disease in the Western world. In Germany, about 300,000 people each year suffer

Your immune system never sleeps. Every moment of the day, immune cells monitor your body for disease, calling for backup when they detect a threat. It’s a system that works elegantly—most of the time. It’s not foolproof; if it were, we would never get cancer in the first place. “The immune system is supposed to

Say you are shown an apple, a banana and a fruit you have never seen before. Then you are asked to pick the “pifo.” Which fruit would you choose? Chances are you would select the novel fruit. Children often use the same strategy—leveraging their knowledge of familiar objects—to learn new words and connect them with

Researchers at the University of Calgary’s Cumming School of Medicine (CSM) have for the first time been able to observe—live and in real-time—how the human body responds to often lethal fungal blood infections in the lung. In the study, the fungal infection Candida albicans was introduced to mice or human models of the lung vasculature

A novel approach to treating fluid build-up around the lungs of cancer patients could deliver a more effective home-based treatment for thousands of people who might be approaching the end of their lives, according to a new study led by the University of Bristol and North Bristol NHS Trust. In patients with all types of

An advance by UCLA neuroscientists could lead to a better understanding of astrocytes, a star-shaped brain cell believed to play a key role in neurological disorders like Lou Gehrig’s, Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s disease. Reported in Neuron, the new method enables researchers to peer deep inside a mouse’s brain and watch astrocytes’ influence over nerve-cell communication