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New assessment tool helps identify children and adolescents with bereavement disorder

Everybody grieves the death of a loved one, and the process helps most mourners adjust to their loss. "Charlie Brown was right," said Christopher Layne, a psychologist and researcher at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA. "There is good grief." But for some people, bereavement becomes a problem in itself, prolonging suffering and impairing functioning. For grieving children and adolescents persistent complex bereavement disorder can derail social and academic development at a time when children and adolescents need to master skills and form aspirations to succeed later in life.

23 Jul 2015

New UTMB study reveals mechanism central to pollen-induced allergies

A new study from The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston has uncovered a mechanism that is central to becoming allergic to ragweed pollen and developing allergic asthma or seasonal nasal allergies. The findings are currently available online in the American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology.

23 Jul 2015

Genetic variation influences survival in patients with multiple myeloma

As part of a multi-institutional effort, researchers with Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah have found that multiple myeloma patients with a genetic variation in the gene FOPNL die on average 1-3 years sooner than patients without it.

23 Jul 2015

Gene responsible for cancer growth plays unexpected role in prostate cancer

A gene that is responsible for cancer growth plays a totally unexpected role in prostate cancer. The gene Stat3 is controlled by the immune modulator interleukin 6 and normally supports the growth of cancer cells. The international research team led by Prof. Lukas Kenner from the Medical University of Vienna, the Veterinary University of Vienna, and the Ludwig Boltzmann Institiute for Cancer Research (LBI-CR) discovered a missing link for an essential role of Stat3 and IL-6 signalling in prostate cancer progression.

22 Jul 2015

New TCR therapy demonstrates encouraging clinical responses in patients with multiple myeloma

Results from a clinical trial investigating a new T cell receptor (TCR) therapy that uses a person's own immune system to recognize and destroy cancer cells demonstrated a clinical response in 80 percent of multiple myeloma patients with advanced disease after undergoing autologous stem cell transplants (ASCT).

22 Jul 2015

AS03 and MF59 adjuvants increase immune responses to two doses of H7N9 influenza vaccine

In a phase 2 trial that included nearly 1,000 adults, the AS03 and MF59 adjuvants (a component that improves immune response of inactivated influenza vaccines) increased the immune responses to two doses of an inactivated H7N9 influenza vaccine, with AS03-adjuvanted formulations inducing the highest amount of antibody response, according to a study in the July 21 issue of JAMA.

22 Jul 2015

GUMC physician leads new national clinical trial for melanoma treatment

A Georgetown University Medical Center physician renowned for his research in melanoma will lead a new national clinical trial involving novel treatments for the disease. The study compares the sequencing of two groups of drugs -- both effective in treating melanoma.

22 Jul 2015

Common environmental chemicals may act separately or together to increase risk of cancer

Common environmental chemicals assumed to be safe at low doses may act separately or together to disrupt human tissues in ways that eventually lead to cancer, according to a task force of nearly 200 scientists from 28 countries, including one from Oregon State University.

22 Jul 2015

New phase III cancer treatment trial opens for patient with advanced melanoma

A new phase III cancer treatment trial has opened for patient enrollment that examines two treatments that work in completely different ways yet have both been shown in previous clinical trials to be effective in treating patients with advanced melanoma, the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group announced today.

22 Jul 2015

InnaVirVax presents positive results of IVVAC-3S/P1 study at International AIDS Society Conference

InnaVirVax, a biopharmaceutical company specialized in research and development of therapeutic and diagnostic solutions for major infectious and chronic diseases, today announced the overall results of its Phase I/IIa clinical study of its VAC-3S immunotherapy, which is currently in development.

22 Jul 2015

Researchers devise way to induce protective immunity in mice against influenza viruses

A vaccine that protects against a wide variety of influenza viruses (a so-called universal flu vaccine) is a critical public health goal given the significant rates of illness and death caused by seasonal influenza and the potentially devastating effects of a pandemic influenza strain.

22 Jul 2015

Early antiretroviral treatment prevents AIDS- and non-AIDS-related diseases in HIV-infected people

Starting antiretroviral therapy early not only prevents serious AIDS-related diseases, but also prevents the onset of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and other non-AIDS-related diseases in HIV-infected people, according to a new analysis of data from the Strategic Timing of AntiRetroviral Treatment (START) study, the first large-scale randomized clinical trial to establish that earlier antiretroviral treatment benefits all HIV-infected individuals.

22 Jul 2015

New study suggests novel ways to treat serous retinal detachment

Wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of severe vision loss in older individuals. AMD and other serious chronic eye problems that affect younger individuals result when fluid accumulates abnormally under or within the retina. A new study published in The American Journal of Pathology shows for the first time that the release of substances from mast cells may be a causal factor in this type of eye pathology, and inhibitors of this release may offer new ways to treat serous retinal detachment.

22 Jul 2015

Expanded use for IntelliCap with further CE Mark for aspiration of fluids

The small, pill-shaped IntelliCap wireless medical device is opening up research opportunities into the impact of the small intestine microbiota on health and disease. For the first time, scientists have been able to obtain and analyse samples of the small intestine’s microbiome in a non-invasive way.

21 Jul 2015

Alefacept drug offers clinical benefit to certain individuals with new-onset type 1 diabetes

Individuals with new-onset type 1 diabetes who took two courses of alefacept (Amevive®, Astellas Pharma Inc.) soon after diagnosis show preserved beta cell function after two years compared to those who received a placebo.

21 Jul 2015

Duke study finds that gut worms can protect babies' brains from chronic inflammation

A Duke University study in rats finds that gut worms can protect babies' brains from long-term learning and memory problems caused by newborn infections.

21 Jul 2015

Stanford researchers identify iron-containing microglia in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease

Examining post-mortem tissue from the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease, Stanford University School of Medicine investigators identified what appear to be iron-containing microglia -- specialized scavenger cells that sometimes become inflammatory -- in a particular part of the hippocampus, a key brain structure whose integrity is critical to memory formation.

21 Jul 2015

Patients' own genetically engineered immune cells show significant success against multiple myeloma

In recent years, immunotherapy has emerged as a promising treatment for certain cancers. Now this strategy, which uses patients' own immune cells, genetically engineered to target tumors, has shown significant success against multiple myeloma, a cancer of the plasma cells that is largely incurable.

21 Jul 2015

Researchers successfully treat eczema patients using rheumatoid arthritis drug

Researchers at Yale School of Medicine have successfully treated patients with moderate to severe eczema using a rheumatoid arthritis drug recently shown to reverse two other disfiguring skin conditions, vitiligo and alopecia areata. The study is evidence of a potential new era in eczema treatment, they report.

21 Jul 2015

Antibiotics may increase risk of juvenile arthritis

Taking antibiotics may increase the risk that a child will develop juvenile arthritis, according to a study from Rutgers University, University of Pennsylvania and Nemours A.I. duPont Hospital for Children published today in Pediatrics.

21 Jul 2015

Immune System News and Research

New assessment tool helps identify children and adolescents with bereavement disorder

New UTMB study reveals mechanism central to pollen-induced allergies

Genetic variation influences survival in patients with multiple myeloma

Gene responsible for cancer growth plays unexpected role in prostate cancer

New TCR therapy demonstrates encouraging clinical responses in patients with multiple myeloma

AS03 and MF59 adjuvants increase immune responses to two doses of H7N9 influenza vaccine

GUMC physician leads new national clinical trial for melanoma treatment

Common environmental chemicals may act separately or together to increase risk of cancer

New phase III cancer treatment trial opens for patient with advanced melanoma

InnaVirVax presents positive results of IVVAC-3S/P1 study at International AIDS Society Conference

Researchers devise way to induce protective immunity in mice against influenza viruses

Early antiretroviral treatment prevents AIDS- and non-AIDS-related diseases in HIV-infected people

New study suggests novel ways to treat serous retinal detachment

Expanded use for IntelliCap with further CE Mark for aspiration of fluids

Alefacept drug offers clinical benefit to certain individuals with new-onset type 1 diabetes

Duke study finds that gut worms can protect babies' brains from chronic inflammation

Stanford researchers identify iron-containing microglia in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease

Patients' own genetically engineered immune cells show significant success against multiple myeloma

Researchers successfully treat eczema patients using rheumatoid arthritis drug

Antibiotics may increase risk of juvenile arthritis

Understanding the DNA Damage Response in Innate Immunity 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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