Antibody News and Research

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An antibody is a blood protein that is produced in response to and counteracts an antigen. Antibodies are produced in response to disease and help the body fight against the particular disease. In this way, antibodies help the body develop an immunity to disease.

Alcohol may protect against rheumatoid arthritis

New data presented at EULAR 2007, the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology in Barcelona, Spain, suggests that alcohol may protect against rheumatoid arthritis, with three units a week exhibiting protective effects and ten units a week being more protective still.

19 Jun 2007

How 'memory' T cells protect the body from viral diseases

A scientific discovery by Fox Chase Cancer Center researchers helps explain how 'memory' T cells protect the body from viral diseases.

19 Jun 2007

Results of Tocilizumab study

Nearly half (43.9%) of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients receiving tocilizumab 8mg/kg, in addition to ongoing methotrexate therapy experienced a 50% (ACR50) improvement in symptoms at 24 weeks and more than one fifth achieved a 70% symptom improvement, according to results of a study presented at EULAR 2007, the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology in Barcelona, Spain.

19 Jun 2007

Bone erosion reduced by denosumab

Treatment with denosumab 60 mg and 180 mg (with background methotrexate) reduces the progression of bone erosion according to results of a 227 patient Phase II trial presented at EULAR 2007, the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology in Barcelona, Spain.

19 Jun 2007

Researchers breach blood-brain barrier to deliver therapy

A major obstacle in the treatment of infections and other diseases of the brain is the blood-brain barrier, which prevents systemically delivered therapeutic drugs from reaching the brain.

19 Jun 2007

50 million Europeans suffer from neurological diseases

About 50 million people in the EU suffer from neurological diseases such as epilepsy, migraines, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, strokes and dementia.

18 Jun 2007

Researchers clarify alphaB-crystallin's role in multiple sclerosis

A protein found primarily in the lens of the eye could be the critical "tipping point" in the spiral of inflammation and damage that occurs in multiple sclerosis, researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine report.

18 Jun 2007

Antitumor vaccine

How can we induce the body to use its own weapon, the immune system, to battle cancer" In principle, by the same means used against infectious diseases: immunization.

18 Jun 2007

Study on B-cell depletion therapy

36% of patients with refractory systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE or lupus) remain well after undergoing B-cell depletion therapy (BCDT) without needing further standard immunosuppressive agents, according to a study presented at EULAR 2007, the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology in Barcelona, Spain.

17 Jun 2007

Women well-informed about breast cancer although lack knowledge about current treatments

According to a new GfK Roper Public Affairs survey sponsored by CancerCare, a national nonprofit cancer support organization, while the majority (76 percent) of women surveyed said they know at least a fair amount about breast cancer, many remain unaware of the important recent progress made in treatment.

16 Jun 2007

Aptamer-targeted nanoparticles collect and detect cancer cells

Using magnetic and fluorescent nanoparticles capable of binding tightly to molecules found only on the surface of cancer cells, a team of investigators at the University of Florida has developed a method for collecting and detecting multiple cancer cells from biological samples.

14 Jun 2007

Newly found antibodies may be body's natural defense against Alzheimer's

In an important advance in the battle against Alzheimer's disease, physician-scientists at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center have identified naturally occurring antibodies in human blood that may help to defend against this form of dementia as well as other neurodegenerative diseases.

14 Jun 2007

New data on the performance of meningitis vaccine in West African children

The Meningitis Vaccine Project (MVP) today released new data on the performance of a meningitis vaccine in West African children, suggesting that the new vaccine,expected to sell initially for 40 US cents a dose,will be much more effective in protecting African children and their communities than any vaccine currently on the market in the region.

14 Jun 2007

What makes people susceptible to rheumatoid arthritis?

Peter K. Gregersen, MD, stares at x-rays of hands, searching out the telltale signs of inflamed joints and wrists from his research subjects with rheumatoid arthritis. With these clinical features at his side, he turns to the basic building blocks of life , the human genome , to figure out what makes these people susceptible to the disabling inflammatory condition.

14 Jun 2007

Inflammation again implicated in atherosclerosis

Men whose blood tests positive for the auto-antibody rheumatoid factor have a three times higher risk of heart disease, according to a study published online ahead of print in Heart .

8 Jun 2007

Aging stem cells in mice may hold answers to diseases of the aged

As stem cells in the blood grow older, genetic mutations accumulate that could be at the root of blood diseases that strike people as they age, according to work done in mice by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

8 Jun 2007

Study finds lymphoma drug effective over long term

Eight years after being treated with a new drug for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, 86 percent of patients were still alive and half had not had a relapse of their disease, according to researchers from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.

5 Jun 2007

Study shows combination improves survival of metastatic melanoma patients

Two chemotherapy drugs combined with an agent that prevents the growth of blood vessels significantly delayed the spread of tumors in patients with metastatic melanoma, according to study findings presented at the 2007 American Association of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting.

5 Jun 2007

Benefits of Herceptin are lasting

An updated analysis of two large randomized clinical trials has found that breast cancer patients who received the monoclonal antibody trastuzumab (Herceptin) along with chemotherapy are living longer and with less risk of recurrent disease, compared to patients treated with chemotherapy alone.

5 Jun 2007

Adding radioimmunotherapy to chemo may help patients with lymphoma

Patients treated for follicular lymphoma, a slow-growing type of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, may benefit from chemotherapy followed by radioimmunotherapy, according to a University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) study presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Chicago and published as Abstract 8005 in the ASCO proceedings.

5 Jun 2007