Immune System News and Research

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U.S., Canada research institutions to participate in NCI's Cancer Immunotherapy Trials Network

Research institutions at 27 sites in the U.S. and Canada have been selected to participate in the Cancer Immunotherapy Trials Network, a new initiative in immunotherapy funded by the National Cancer Institute and headquartered at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

7 Apr 2011

Fish oil can serve as beneficial booster for tamoxifen breast cancer therapy

Breast cancer is the second most common cancer among women, with more than 200,000 women diagnosed each year. Being exposed to estrogen over a long period of time is one factor that can increase a woman's risk of developing the disease.

7 Apr 2011

Vegans at increased risk of developing blood clots and atherosclerosis

People who follow a vegan lifestyle - strict vegetarians who try to eat no meat or animal products of any kind - may increase their risk of developing blood clots and atherosclerosis or "hardening of the arteries," which are conditions that can lead to heart attacks and stroke. That's the conclusion of a review of dozens of articles published on the biochemistry of vegetarianism during the past 30 years. The article appears in ACS' bi-weekly Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

7 Apr 2011

Cernostics, Definiens enter partnership to develop unique cancer assay

Definiens, the number one Health Image Intelligence company, and Cernostics, a life sciences firm specializing in advanced cancer diagnostics, today announced a partnership to develop a unique multiplexed assay tool for the diagnosis of cancer.

7 Apr 2011

ALR announces medical research grant awards to cure lupus

The Alliance for Lupus Research – the world's largest private funder of lupus research – today announced its most recent medical research grant awards, totaling $3.6 million, which support the ALR mission of finding better treatments and ultimately preventing and curing systemic lupus erythematosus, a debilitating autoimmune disease.

7 Apr 2011

A2AAR-selective agonists may prevent permanent vision damage from traumatic optic nerve injury

Scientists want to protect the optic nerve when the eye takes a blow on the battlefield or in a car wreck.

7 Apr 2011

Hartwell honors UCSD scientists with Individual Biomedical Research Award

Three scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine are among this year's 12 winners of Hartwell Individual Biomedical Research Awards, honoring researchers whose work advances children's health.

7 Apr 2011

VBL's VB-111 preclinical data against metastatic cancer presented at AACR meeting

VBL Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company committed to the development of novel treatments for immune-inflammatory diseases and cancer, today announced preclinical data demonstrating VB-111's potential utility as a targeted cancer treatment.

7 Apr 2011

Roswell Park Cancer Institute selected to be part of Cancer Immunotherapy Trials Network

Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) is one of 27 North American research institutions that have been selected to be part of the Cancer Immunotherapy Trials Network (CITN), a new immunotherapy initiative funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Kunle Odunsi, MD, PhD, FRCOG, FACOG, Director of the Center for Immunotherapy and Chair of Gynecologic Oncology at RPCI, will serve as Principal Investigator of the Institute's role in this collaborative investigative effort.

6 Apr 2011

Record number of medicines for various cancers in clinical trials

A record 887 medicines for various of cancers are in clinical trials or awaiting Food and Drug Administration (FDA) review—well over double the number in the pipeline just six years ago, according to a report unveiled today by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA).

6 Apr 2011

Celldex presents CDX-1127 preclinical data against cancer at AACR meeting

Celldex Therapeutics, Inc. today announced that new data on its preclinical therapeutic antibody program, CDX-1127, is being presented in a poster presentation at the 2011 American Association for Cancer Research 102nd Annual Meeting in Orlando, FL.

6 Apr 2011

Scientists identify biological pathways that mediate IgA nephropathy

For the first time, researchers have found five regions in the human genome that increase susceptibility to immunoglobulin A nephropathy, a major cause of kidney failure worldwide - systematically identifying those that point to a tendency for IgA nephropathy, or a protection against it.

6 Apr 2011

Major depression linked to premature aging of immune cells: Study

Certain cases of major depression are associated with premature aging of immune cells, which may make people more susceptible to other serious illness, according to findings from a new UCSF-led study.

6 Apr 2011

Physical activity may moderate impact of stress on telomeres

UCSF scientists are reporting several studies showing that psychological stress leads to shorter telomeres - the protective caps on the ends of chromosomes that are a measure of cell age and, thus, health. The findings also suggest that exercise may prevent this damage.

5 Apr 2011

Tumor cryoablation coupled with immunotherapy amplifies tumor immunity

Scientists at the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit today presented data at the American Association for Cancer Research's 102nd Annual Meeting 2011 showing that when tumor cryoablation – or the freezing of tumor tissue while preserving tumor-associated antigens – is coupled with immune system modulation, the procedures have the potential to initiate or amplify tumor immunity.

5 Apr 2011

Cancer cells exploit 'stress response' mechanism used by normal cells to cope with harsh, demanding conditions

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine say a "stress response" mechanism used by normal cells to cope with harsh or demanding conditions is exploited by cancer cells, which transmit the same stress signal to surrounding cells, triggering an inflammatory response in them that can aid tumor growth.

5 Apr 2011

Idera presents IMO-3100 Phase 1 trial data in autoimmune diseases at Keystone Symposia

Idera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced the presentation of data from its multiple-dose Phase 1 clinical trial of IMO-3100 in healthy subjects.

5 Apr 2011

GERONTOSHIELD project receives 2.6 Million Euro fund for ageing research

Our society gets older, people live longer. The price we pay: infectious diseases can easier overcome the immune system. Like all organs, the immune system does not function flawlessly in old age. A new collaboration of university and non-university research institutes and two companies is investigating why our immune defence is getting weaker when we become old.

5 Apr 2011

Oncothyreon's ONT-10, PX-866 preclinical data presented at AACR meeting

Oncothyreon Inc. today announced the presentation of preclinical data for ONT-10, a therapeutic vaccine directed at cancers expressing MUC1, and PX-866, its irreversible inhibitor of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, at the American Association of Cancer Research meeting in Orlando, Florida.

4 Apr 2011

OncoSec acquires certain assets of Inovio

OncoSec Medical Incorporated, a developer of innovative medical approaches to treat solid tumor cancers with unmet medical needs, announced today that on March 24, 2011 it completed its acquisition of certain assets of Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and entered into a license agreement with Inovio, pursuant to the terms of an asset purchase agreement with Inovio entered into on March 14, 2011.

4 Apr 2011