Immune System News and Research

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New method harnesses the power of killer T cells to attack tumor cells, treat cancer

They've been called the "special forces" of the immune system: invariant natural killer T cells. Although there are relatively few of them in the body, they are more powerful than many other immune cells.

24 Sep 2019

As off-label use spreads, supplies of niche drugs and patients’ patience grow short

Medical treatment has knocked down tumors in 6-year-old Easton Daniels' brain, but the drug used also wiped out his immune system.

24 Sep 2019

Oldies who have sex happier and healthier, says new study

Who says sex is just for younger people? A new study gives this popular belief the lie, showing that while older people may have less frequent sex, it is still important for their happiness and physical health. Neither do they lack the motivation or physical capability, as many think.

24 Sep 2019

Onion and garlic may reduce risk of breast cancer

Onion and garlic are staple spices for many cuisines across the globe. There are numerous recipes requiring these two elements, and they may now be key ingredients in cutting the risk of breast cancer.

24 Sep 2019

Dogs can suffer from same autoimmune encephalitis as humans, research reveals

Researchers from North Carolina State University have found that dogs can suffer from the same type of autoimmune encephalitis that people do. The finding could lead to better screening methods for diagnosis and possibly more effective treatments for canine encephalitis.

24 Sep 2019

Advancing towards 100% effective herpes vaccine

Genital herpes, caused by the herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2) is a very common sexually transmitted infection (STI). It affects 14% of Americans aged 15-49 years. There is no herpes vaccine at present. Many failed attempts at vaccine production have centered around HSV proteins.

23 Sep 2019

New finding could become glioblastoma’s Achilles heel

Glioblastoma is the most frequent and aggressive brain cancer due to its ability to escape the immune system. However, the way in which this tumor manages to induce this immune tolerance was not known in detail.

23 Sep 2019

Scientists move one step closer to discovering the causes of immune diseases

Scientists are one step closer to discovering the causes of immune diseases such as asthma, multiple sclerosis and arthritis

23 Sep 2019

Tanzania keeping Ebola under wraps

Ebola could be already on the prowl in Tanzania, but the government is keeping it a secret. This is the official position of the World Health Organization (WHO), who says multiple cases have been secretly reported to it.

23 Sep 2019

African bacterium resists almost all drugs

It looks like it’s time to pay the piper. The first extensively drug-resistant (XDR) strain of Salmonella typhimurium, called ST313 sublineage II.1, has cropped up in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This fails to respond to any of the antibiotics that are commonly used in the DRC, except for ciprofloxacin. And to make things worse, one sample has been isolated that shows incomplete response even to this last drug.

22 Sep 2019

New clinical trial tests immunotherapy drug for prostate cancer patients on active surveillance

Stephenson Cancer Center Testing Drug for Prostate Cancer Patients on Active Surveillance OKLAHOMA CITY - Men who are diagnosed with low-risk prostate cancer usually opt for active surveillance - a monitoring of their cancer over time without undergoing treatments that would cause side effects.

20 Sep 2019

Mutations in specific protein make dengue virus resistant to vaccines and therapeutics

Dengue virus infects about 400 million people annually around the world, with a high prevalence in tropical and sub-tropical regions.

20 Sep 2019

Penn researchers develop novel vaccine to protect against genital herpes

Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have developed a vaccine to protect against genital herpes.

20 Sep 2019

NIH grants totaling $2.8 million focus on pinpointing male fertility genes

Pinpointing the genes responsible for male fertility is the focus of two National Institutes for Health grants totaling $2.8 million.

20 Sep 2019

Scientists identify pathway for treatment-resistant lung cancer

A big way chemotherapy works is by prompting cancer cells to commit suicide, and scientists have found a pathway the most common lung cancer walks to avoid death.

20 Sep 2019

Discovery of combination protein leads to first-in-human clinical trial for leukemia

The discovery of tri-specific natural killer engagers (TriKE™), a combination protein that bridges an immune cell and a tumor cell to drive tumor cell killing power exponentially, has led to a new Phase I, first-in-human study to treat leukemia.

20 Sep 2019

Types of food to avoid during flu symptoms

When you have the flu, it may seem like nothing can make you feel better (or worse). However, relief may come from an unexpected place. Oddly enough, some foods may make your flu symptoms worse – or better – without you ever realizing it.

20 Sep 2019

Targeting specific enzyme could combat Alzheimer’s disease on two fronts

UQ researchers have discovered a potential drug target for Alzheimer’s disease — an enzyme which has effects on both the immune and nervous systems.

19 Sep 2019

Circulating molecules in the blood may be new markers of type 1 diabetes

Researchers from the Turku Bioscience Centre in Finland have found changes in molecules in the blood that might be new markers of type 1 diabetes. New findings may help understand the early pathogenesis of the disease.

19 Sep 2019

Study uncovers new factor in the development of childhood lymphoma

A study recently published in the renowned journal Blood, led by Kaan Boztug, Scientific Director of the St. Anna Children's Cancer Research Institute, the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Rare and Undiagnosed Diseases, Adjunct Principal Investigator at the CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and Associate Professor at the Medical University of Vienna, together with scientists from Israel, Germany, Turkey, Colombia, Argentina and the USA, investigated four patients from independent families with malignancy, autoimmunity and immunodeficiency.

19 Sep 2019