Immune System News and Research

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Pneumococcal vaccine Prevnar13 effective in seniors

Pneumococcal disease kills millions worldwide and the largest affected groups are children and the elderly. Federal health scientists now assure that the popular pneumococcal vaccine Prevnar is at least as effective as a rival vaccine at protecting adults from the sometimes-deadly infection.

15 Nov 2011

Encouraging results from KAEL-GemVax GV1001 Phase II trial on NSCLC

KAEL-GemVax, a leading oncology biopharmaceutical company, today announced that results from a Phase II trial (CTN-2006) in Stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients vaccinated with the telomerase peptide GV1001 after chemoradiotherapy and an 8-year update from a phase I/II trial have been published in the November issue of Clinical Cancer, the journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

15 Nov 2011

HIV and syphilis on the rise among MSM

Rates of HIV and syphilis are very high and rising among men who have sex with men (MSM) in New York City, reports a study in the November issue of JAIDS: Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

15 Nov 2011

VOA News examines Foundation's efforts to treat MDR-TB patients in North Korea

VOA News examines the Eugene Bell Foundation's work in North Korea to detect and treat patients with multiple-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). The foundation is treating about 600 patients in North Korea, where "conditions ... are ideal for the spread of TB. The climate is cold. Most citizens live and work in small spaces, and lack proper nutrition to maintain a strong immune system," VOA writes.

15 Nov 2011

Mtb produces specific protein that allows it to defuse and bypass body's security system

Tuberculosis, which kills over 2 million people each year, is caused primarily by infectious bacteria known as Mycobacterium tuberculosis - or Mtb. Mtb targets human immune cells as part of its strategy to avoid detection, effectively neutralizing the body's immune response.

15 Nov 2011

Prox1 gene plays a critical role in formation and maintenance of lymphatic system

A century after the valves that link the lymphatic and blood systems were first described, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists have detailed how those valves form and identified a gene that is critical to the process.

15 Nov 2011

Scientists discover promising approaches for treatment of pain

Scientists are discovering promising approaches to treating pain, one of the most common and debilitating neurological complaints, according to research released today at Neuroscience 2011, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience and the world's largest source of emerging news about brain science and health.

15 Nov 2011

Possible link between norovirus and food allergies

Researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin have found a possible link between norovirus, a virus that causes "stomach flu" in humans, and food allergies.

15 Nov 2011

Fetal stem cells play an important role in inducing maternal cardiac repair

Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine have discovered the therapeutic benefit of fetal stem cells in helping the maternal heart recover after heart attack or other injury.

14 Nov 2011

Genzyme's alemtuzumab Phase lll trial on MS meets co-primary endpoints

Genzyme, a Sanofi company, reports today that the Phase lll CARE-MS ll trial met both of its co-primary endpoints. Relapse rate and sustained accumulation (worsening) of disability (SAD) were significantly reduced in multiple sclerosis patients receiving alemtuzumab as compared with Rebif.

14 Nov 2011

UCLA School of Nursing faculty members to present at AHA 2011

A failing heart's effect on the short-term memory. The impact of telephone interventions on behaviors in Latinos. Depression and heart disease. Risk factors contributing to premature coronary atherosclerosis in premenopausal women. These are just a few of the research findings that will be presented by faculty members of the UCLA School of Nursing at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions, being held November 12 - 16 in Orlando, FL.

14 Nov 2011

Researchers retrace evolution of unusual bacterial infection

Researchers at Harvard Medical School and Children's Hospital Boston have retraced the evolution of an unusual bacterial infection as it spread among cystic fibrosis patients by sequencing scores of samples collected during the outbreak, since contained.

14 Nov 2011

Cultivating cells in sealed, sterile plastic bags

Using plasmas, sealed plastic bags can be modified at atmospheric pressure so that human cells can adhere to and reproduce on their walls. Cell culture bags of this kind are an important aid for research and clinical purposes and may eventually replace the Petri dishes used today.

11 Nov 2011

NeoStem third quarter revenues increase to $17.8 million

NeoStem, Inc., an international biopharmaceutical company with a focus on cell based therapeutics development, today reported third quarter results and recent progress in its business.

11 Nov 2011

Link between physical activity, sedentary behavior and sleep in teens

Earlier research has had similar findings, but this is the first large, nationally representative study to connect physical activity, sedentary behavior and sleep in high school students, explained Kathryn Foti, M.P.H., a health scientist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Division of Adolescent and School Health and lead author of the paper.

11 Nov 2011

New potential target to slow breast cancer tumor progression and metastasis

A new potential target to slow breast cancer tumor progression and metastasis has been identified by a team of researchers led by Dr. Richard Kremer from the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre.

11 Nov 2011

Classical DCs associated with protection against atherosclerosis

Atherosclerosis, commonly referred to as "hardening of the arteries," is a major risk factor for heart attack and stroke. The cause of atherosclerosis is not well understood but, for some time, chronic inflammatory immune responses have been implicated in driving disease pathology. Now, a new study, published online on November 10th by Cell Press from the journal Immunity, identifies a type of immune cell that is not associated with promoting disease, but with protection against atherosclerosis.

11 Nov 2011

NYBC receives FDA approval for HEMACORD HPC-C cell therapy

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved HEMACORD, the first licensed hematopoietic progenitor cells-cord (HPC-C) cell therapy.

10 Nov 2011

New studies could fundamentally change medical treatment of liver cancer

Scientists at the Helmholtz Zentrum München have played a major role in two studies that could fundamentally change the medical treatment of liver cancer. Doctors are now able to determine the degree of aggressiveness of the tumour in the early stages and can thus devise an individualised treatment plan.

10 Nov 2011

PlusNews examines difficulties in diagnosing, treating MDR-TB in children

PlusNews examines the difficulties in diagnosing and treating multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) in children, writing, "With weaker immune systems, children who contract TB -- most often from parents -- progress to active disease in about a year. But just how many children are affected is not known as there is almost no research into children and MDR-TB -- and very little useful guidance on how to treat them."

10 Nov 2011