Natural Killer Cells News and Research

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Steroids for treating infertility in women may have harmful effects on pregnancy and child

Researchers at the University of Adelaide are urging doctors and patients to refrain from using a specific steroid treatment to treat infertility in women unless clinically indicated, because of its links to miscarriage, preterm birth and birth defects.

9 Sep 2016

HHV-6A human herpesvirus infects uterus lining of women with unexplained infertility

A new study has found that the little-known member of the human herpesvirus family called HHV-6A infects the lining of the uterus in 43% of women with unexplained infertility but cannot be found in uterine lining of fertile women. The study was conducted by investigators at the University of Ferrara, Italy.

7 Jul 2016

Daclizumab drug offers new treatment option for people living with relapsing forms of MS in the UK

A new, first-in-class treatment which is believed to use a double-action approach to fight MS by rebalancing the immune system, has today been authorised in the UK for people living with relapsing forms (the most common type) of the disease.

7 Jul 2016

Health-promoting bacteria may protect women from breast cancer

Bacteria that have the potential to abet breast cancer are present in the breasts of cancer patients, while beneficial bacteria are more abundant in healthy breasts, where they may actually be protecting women from cancer, according to Gregor Reid, PhD, and his collaborators.

25 Jun 2016

Scientists study fundamentals of tumour surveillance by immune system in mice models

The body's defences detect and eliminate not only pathogens but also tumour cells. Natural killer cells (NK-Cells) are specifically activated by chemical messengers, the Cytokines, to seek and destroy tumour cells.

20 Jun 2016

Study provides new insights into development of skin-depigmenting disease vitiligo

Researchers at the University of Bonn and the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität of Munich have decoded a new mechanism of how the immune system can specifically attack pigmented cells of the skin.

8 Jun 2016

Researchers find ways to switch on Natural Killer cells to combat cancer

Our bodies are constantly and successfully fighting off the development of cells that lead to tumours - but when there is disruption to this process cancer is free to develop.

24 May 2016

Wresting back control of CHI3L1 protein could stave off cancer spread in mice

For cancer to spread, the cells that take off into the bloodstream must find a tissue that will permit them to thrive. They don't just go looking, though. Instead, they actively prepare the tissue, in one case by co-opting a protein that suppresses defenses the body would otherwise mount.

21 May 2016

Novel gene therapy can improve symptoms of Bubble Boy disease in young adults

Adolescents and young adults with a severe inherited immunodeficiency disorder improved following treatment with novel gene therapy developed at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health. The results of this study appear today in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

21 Apr 2016

Researchers find way to boost the body's natural cancer-killing cells

The immune cells, called natural killer cells, hunt and destroy foreign cells in the body, including cancer cells that spread and form tumours.

27 Feb 2016

Sensitive computational method could help reveal effect of the immune system on cancer

A study by researchers at Norris Cotton Cancer Center has shown that a very sensitive computational method can be used to reveal the human immune system's effect on cancer. The Dartmouth study was the first to perform an in-depth computational examination of how immune activity translates to prognosis in breast cancer.

22 Jan 2016

TG4010 vaccine promising in advanced NSCLC

Addition of the TG4010 vaccine to first-line chemotherapy improves outcomes in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer, show the results of a placebo controlled trial.

19 Jan 2016

New mechanism of differentiation may offer novel therapeutic approaches to blood malignancies, solid tumors

In humans the differentiation of stem cells into hundreds of specialized cell types is vital. Differentiation drives development from fertilized egg to a newborn, and it underlies the continuous replacement of the 5 billion cells that die every hour in an adult. On the downside, mutations in differentiation pathways of different cell types can be drivers of cancers.

13 Jan 2016

Immunogeneticist helps monitor immune responses in VRC01 phase 1 trial in HIV-infected individuals

Janardan Pandey, Ph.D., an immunogeneticist specializing in immunoglobulin GM genes at the Medical University of South Carolina, helped monitor for immune responses that could limit the effectiveness of the broadly neutralizing antibody VRC01 in a phase 1 trial of that antibody in HIV-infected individuals led by a team at the Vaccine Research Center (VRC) of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health.

24 Dec 2015

Study shows promise for cord blood-derived natural killer cells in multiple myeloma patients

A first-in-human Phase I study of multiple myeloma patients combined expanded cord blood-derived natural killer cells with transplantation of a patient's own stem cells and high-dose chemotherapy with little or none of the side effects seen with current treatments.

8 Dec 2015

People with viral infections and identical gene mutations may be prone to hyperinflammatory disorder

A group of people with fatal H1N1 flu died after their viral infections triggered a deadly hyperinflammatory disorder in susceptible individuals with gene mutations linked to the overactive immune response, according to a study in The Journal of Infectious Diseases.

25 Nov 2015

Cornell biomedical engineers develop 'super natural killer cells' to destroy cancer cells in lymph nodes

Cornell biomedical engineers have developed specialized white blood cells - dubbed "super natural killer cells" - that seek out cancer cells in lymph nodes with only one purpose: destroy them.

13 Nov 2015

Patrolling monocytes may play anti-cancer role in the lung

One goal of immunotherapy is to rally a patient's often over-burdened immune cells to effectively attack a tumor. Among foot soldiers on the immune front line is a subpopulation of white blood cells called "patrolling monocytes," whose job is to cruise the bloodstream, cart off cellular debris, and block invasion of a less benign population of inflammatory cells.

23 Oct 2015

Paradigm failure is primary reason for lack of progress in cancer research, says cancer biologist

A recent publication, which received sustained media attention, claimed that most cancers are just “bad luck”. Its authors stated that only about one-third of cancer mutations are caused by known lifestyle or environmental factors.

6 Oct 2015

Weight cycling not associated with overall risk of cancer

The first comprehensive study of its kind finds weight cycling, repeated cycles of intentional weight loss followed by regain, was not associated with overall risk of cancer in men or women. The study by American Cancer Society investigators is the largest to date to investigate weight cycling with cancer risk.

4 Aug 2015