Immune System News and Research

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Combination treatment provides positive results for people with advanced melanoma

In a two-year UCLA-led study, nearly two-thirds of people with advanced melanoma responded positively to a treatment that combines the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab with a herpes virus called talimogene laherpareovec, or T-VEC.

8 Sep 2017

CWRU professor wins $3.9 million NIH grant to identify countermeasures against chemical hazards

Kurt Lu, MD, assistant professor of dermatology at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, has received a five year, $3.9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to expand countermeasures against chemical threats, including mustard gas and mustard-related compounds.

7 Sep 2017

Generic drug used to increase blood flow may improve effectiveness of cancer immunotherapy

Cancer immunotherapy drugs only work for a minority of patients, but a generic drug now used to increase blood flow may be able to improve those odds, a study by Columbia University Medical Center researchers suggests.

7 Sep 2017

Differentiating sepsis and systemic inflammatory response syndrome using biomarkers

Firstly, it is necessary to make a distinction between systemic inflammation and Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (SIRS). SIRS consists of changes in clinical signs including an abnormal body temperature, increased heart rate, increased respiratory rate, an abnormal white cell count (either decreased or elevated), or an increase in band neutrophils.

7 Sep 2017

Discovery of sugar 'warehouse' provides new metabolic target to regulate immune activity

A surprising discovery that immune cells possess an internal warehouse of glycogen used to activate immune responses could help to increase immune activity in vaccines or suppress immune reactions in autoimmune disease or hyper-inflammatory conditions.

6 Sep 2017

Combined PET/CT scanning could identify melanoma patients' response to ICI therapy

Advanced melanoma, a type of skin cancer that has spread to other areas of the body, has a poor prognosis, but immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy can be effective for some patients. Research highlighted in the featured article of the September issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine demonstrates that combined positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) scanning early in treatment could identify whether the therapy will benefit a particular patient.

6 Sep 2017

Another way for anti-vaxxers to skip shots for schoolkids: A doctor’s note

Dr. Tara Zandvliet was inundated with calls and emails from parents last year, after California passed a law nixing personal beliefs as an exemption from school vaccinations. Suddenly, many parents sought exemptions for medical reasons.

5 Sep 2017

MIT study offers new approach to evaluate risk of preterm birth

Up to 18 percent of babies born worldwide arrive before they are full-term, defined as 37 weeks of gestation. About 1 million of those babies do not survive, and those who do can face developmental problems such as impaired vision or hearing, defects in the heart or lungs, or cognitive impairments.

5 Sep 2017

Research provides novel insights into bacterial toxins

A toxin produced by a bacterium that causes urinary tract infections is related to, yet different in key ways from, the toxin that causes whooping cough, according to new research.

5 Sep 2017

STING signaling pathway induces apoptosis in T cells

EPFL scientists show that the STING signaling pathway, which helps coordinate the innate immune system, causes cell death in T cells of the adaptive immune system. This “killing” effect includes cancerous T cells, and has implications for treating T cell-derived cancers.

5 Sep 2017

Zika virus may one day be effective treatment for deadly brain cancer

While Zika virus causes devastating damage to the brains of developing fetuses, it one day may be an effective treatment for glioblastoma, a deadly form of brain cancer.

5 Sep 2017

University and pediatric hospital work together to improve lives of children with epilepsy

Since 2010, investigators and clinicians at Aston University and Birmingham Children's Hospital have worked together to try and improve the lives of children with difficult to treat forms of epilepsy.

5 Sep 2017

Breastfeeding may protect children from asthma exacerbations later in life

In a Pediatric Allergy and Immunology analysis of children with asthma, those who had been breastfed had a 45% lower risk of asthma exacerbations later in life compared with children who had not been breastfed.

1 Sep 2017

Link found between fetal genes and risk of preeclampsia in mother

For the first time, a relationship has been found between fetal genes and the risk of preeclampsia in the mother.

31 Aug 2017

New research shows estrogen synthesis may fight off infection-induced neuroinflammation

The chemical best-known as a female reproductive hormone--estrogen--could help fight off neurodegenerative conditions and diseases in the future.

31 Aug 2017

Beta blockers capable of reducing stress signaling may enhance effectiveness of immunotherapy

While the development of therapies designed to block "checkpoints" within the immune system has been one of the most exciting and noteworthy advances in cancer research in recent years, it's also been one of the most puzzling, leaving researchers to ask: Why don't these new therapies work for more patients, and why is their efficacy in controlling cancerous tumors often short-lived? A research team from Roswell Park Cancer Institute has shown that at least one answer - and an excellent opportunity for unleashing the full potential of these promising immunotherapies - may lie in the body's "fight or flight" reaction to stressors and in drugs already widely used to control and temporarily disable this stress response.

31 Aug 2017

Researcher uses gold nanoparticles and lasers to target bladder cancer

A University of Colorado Cancer Center study takes a new approach to killing cancer: Why not fry it into oblivion with vibrating gold nanoparticles? "But what about the frickin' lasers?" you may ask. Don't worry. There are lasers. And bioluminescence too.

31 Aug 2017

Olfactory tissue regeneration requires inflammatory processes that create loss of smell

In a mouse study designed to understand how chronic inflammation in sinusitis damages the sense of smell, scientists at Johns Hopkins say they were surprised to learn that the regeneration of olfactory tissue requires some of the same inflammatory processes and chemicals that create injury and loss of smell in the first place.

30 Aug 2017

$Novartis gets FDA approval for novel immunocellular therapy to treat relapsed or refractory B-cell ALL$

Novartis gets FDA approval for novel immunocellular therapy to treat relapsed or refractory B-cell ALL

Novartis announced today that the US Food and Drug Administration has approved Kymriah (tisagenlecleucel) suspension for intravenous infusion, formerly CTL019, the first chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR-T) therapy, for the treatment of patients up to 25 years of age with B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) that is refractory or in second or later relapse.

30 Aug 2017

‘Liquid biopsies’ may help predict prognosis of early-stage lung cancer patients

Cancer cells obtained from a blood test may be able to predict how early-stage lung cancer patients will fare, a team from the University of Michigan has shown.

30 Aug 2017

Immune System News and Research

Combination treatment provides positive results for people with advanced melanoma

CWRU professor wins $3.9 million NIH grant to identify countermeasures against chemical hazards

Generic drug used to increase blood flow may improve effectiveness of cancer immunotherapy

Differentiating sepsis and systemic inflammatory response syndrome using biomarkers

Discovery of sugar 'warehouse' provides new metabolic target to regulate immune activity

Combined PET/CT scanning could identify melanoma patients' response to ICI therapy

Another way for anti-vaxxers to skip shots for schoolkids: A doctor’s note

MIT study offers new approach to evaluate risk of preterm birth

Research provides novel insights into bacterial toxins

STING signaling pathway induces apoptosis in T cells

Zika virus may one day be effective treatment for deadly brain cancer

University and pediatric hospital work together to improve lives of children with epilepsy

Breastfeeding may protect children from asthma exacerbations later in life

Link found between fetal genes and risk of preeclampsia in mother

New research shows estrogen synthesis may fight off infection-induced neuroinflammation

Beta blockers capable of reducing stress signaling may enhance effectiveness of immunotherapy

Researcher uses gold nanoparticles and lasers to target bladder cancer

Olfactory tissue regeneration requires inflammatory processes that create loss of smell

Novartis gets FDA approval for novel immunocellular therapy to treat relapsed or refractory B-cell ALL

‘Liquid biopsies’ may help predict prognosis of early-stage lung cancer patients

Industry Focus eBook - Cell & Gene Therapy (1st Edition) eBook

Advancing Neuroscience Research Through Collaboration and Patient-Centered Innovation

The impact of vibration on microscopy

How Omics Technologies Are Transforming Biological Research and Drug Discovery

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