White Blood Cell News and Research

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Band counts in infection diagnosis

Even when patients have normal white blood cell counts, elevated band counts may diagnose infection and prompt earlier initiation of antibiotics, report researchers.

8 Nov 2012

Regular blood test may help predict survival in patients with Merkel cell carcinoma

A routine blood test may help predict survival in patients with an aggressive form of skin cancer known as Merkel cell carcinoma, according to new findings by Fox Chase Cancer Center researchers. The results will be presented on Wednesday, October 31 at the American Society for Radiation Oncology's 54th Annual Meeting.

1 Nov 2012

Researchers decode software instructions that drive 3 different forms of acute lymphoblastic leukemia

30 Oct 2012

Scientists decode epigenetic programming of three virulent forms of acute lymphoblastic leukemia

A team of national and international researchers, led by Weill Cornell Medical College scientists, have decoded the key "software" instructions that drive three of the most virulent forms of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). They discovered ALL's "software" is encoded with epigenetic marks, chemical modifications of DNA and surrounding proteins, allowing the research team to identify new potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets.

29 Oct 2012

Pfizer receives FDA approval for Synribo to treat chronic myelogenous leukemia

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Synribo (omacetaxine mepesuccinate) to treat adults with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), a blood and bone marrow disease.

29 Oct 2012

Pleiotrophin protein may be long-sought growth factor for blood stem cells

Duke Medicine researchers studying the interaction of blood stem cells and the niche where they reside have identified a protein that may be a long-sought growth factor for blood stem cells.

24 Oct 2012

Study looks at DNA sequences for receptors in T lymphocytes

Our immune system must be tremendously complex to respond to the unending assault of viruses, bacteria and cancerous cells. One of the mechanisms used by the immune system to cope with the huge variety of possible threats is to randomly combine DNA segments for the production of receptors on lymphocytes - a type of white blood cell.

23 Oct 2012

Gravity changes affect immune system development

New research findings recently published in The FASEB Journal, show that immune system development is affected by gravity changes, as reported by researchers from the University of Lorraine and University of Luxembourg. Astronauts are exposed to stresses, during launch and landing, which disrupts their body's natural defenses against infection. Changes to the immune system need to be investigated before astronauts undergo longer space missions.

16 Oct 2012

White blood cell variation can help predict non-blood cancers

Postdoctoral Research Fellow Devin Koestler is a biostatistician in the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. He develops and applies statistical methods to large volumes of data, seeking new approaches for understanding disease, cancer in particular. Koestler and his colleagues are investigating the potential use of white blood cell variation as a diagnostic, predictive, and research tool in the study of non-blood cancers.

15 Oct 2012

High-fat Western diet could lead to development of atherosclerosis

Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) researchers have found that a diet high in saturated fat raises levels of endothelial lipase (EL), an enzyme associated with the development of atherosclerosis, and, conversely, that a diet high in omega-3 polyunsaturated fat lowers levels of this enzyme.

10 Oct 2012

Study sheds light on fundamental cellular process

Scientists at the Gladstone Institutes have mapped the precise frequency by which genes get turned on across the human genome, providing new insight into the most fundamental of cellular processes-and revealing new clues as to what happens when this process goes awry.

9 Oct 2012

Rare study highlights anal cancer prognosis risks

The presence of palpable, clinically involved inguinal lymph nodes and male gender are both independent risk factors for poor prognosis in anal cancer, confirm the results of a UK analysis.

3 Oct 2012

Prognosis still poor for EVB in cirrhosis

The current standard of care for esophageal variceal bleeding in liver cirrhosis is very effective at controlling bleeding but patient prognosis remains poor, say the authors of an Italian study.

1 Oct 2012

WBC counts in diabetes risk prediction

An elevated white blood cell count in young men is an independent predictor for the development of diabetes in later life, suggest study findings.

1 Oct 2012

UCSD receives NCI grant to continue research into chronic lymphocytic leukemia

An international consortium of scientists studying chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), based at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, has been awarded a 5-year, $20 million grant by the National Cancer Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health.

28 Sep 2012

Increasing doses of radium chloride effective, tolerated in prostate cancer

Radium chloride treatment has dose-dependent beneficial effects on health outcomes in patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer and bone metastases, report researchers.

26 Sep 2012

Novel method could help advance fight against persistent 'HIV latency'

Scientists at the Gladstone Institutes have gotten us one step closer to understanding and overcoming one of the least-understood mechanisms of HIV infection-by devising a method to precisely track the life cycle of individual cells infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

12 Sep 2012

Arsenic induces acute promyelocytic leukemia remission

Elderly patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia have a high rate of response to arsenic trioxide, say researchers who believe the drug should be a first-line treatment in this population.

5 Sep 2012

Research identifies new pathway to target with anti-inflammatory drugs

Scientists' discovery of an important step in the body's process for healing wounds may lead to a new way of treating inflammation.

31 Aug 2012

Researchers discover new immune response mechanism during infection

Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have discovered a new "first response" mechanism that the immune system uses to respond to infection. The findings challenge the current understanding of immunity and could lead to new strategies for boosting effectiveness of all vaccines. The study, conducted in mice, published online today in the journal Immunity.

31 Aug 2012