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Peptide antibodies hit immune-response-stifling MDSCs without harming other vital cells

Scientists have found a way to target elusive cells that suppress immune response, depleting them with peptides that spare other important cells and shrink tumors in preclinical experiments, according to a paper published online by Nature Medicine.

26 May 2014

French researchers introduce new method to effectively control bleeding and repair tissues

Stopping bleeding, closing wounds, repairing organs—these are everyday challenges in medical and surgical practice. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, French researchers have now introduced a new method that employs gluing by aqueous nanoparticle solutions to effectively control bleeding and repair tissues. In animal tests, their approach proved easy to apply, rapid and efficient even in situations when conventional methods are traumatic or fail.

25 Apr 2014

Nanotechnology unlocks new pathways for targeted drug delivery

Significant advances have been made in chemotherapy over the past decade, but targeting drugs to cancer cells while avoiding healthy tissues continues to be a major challenge.

15 Apr 2014

Inhibiting cancer-promoting prolactin causes unconventional cell death in preclinical research

Under stress from chemotherapy or radiation, some cancer cells dodge death by consuming a bit of themselves, allowing them to essentially sleep through treatment and later awaken as tougher, resistant disease.

4 Apr 2014

Study examines events that lead to sepsis by Streptococcus pneumoniae

An international team of academics, including Professor Marco Oggioni from the University of Leicester's Department of Genetics, has studied how localised infections can turn into the dangerous systematic disease sepsis - and has identified for the first time through genetic evidence that a single bacteria could be the cause.

24 Mar 2014

Gut bacteria and blood cell development relationship helps immune system fight infection

The human relationship with microbial life is complicated. At almost any supermarket, you can pick up both antibacterial soap and probiotic yogurt during the same shopping trip.

13 Mar 2014

Incyte Corporation publishes results of Phase III trial of ruxolitinib in patients with polycythemia vera

Incyte Corporation (Nasdaq: INCY) today announced that a pivotal Phase III trial of ruxolitinib compared to best available therapy in patients with polycythemia vera who are resistant to or intolerant of hydroxyurea has met its primary endpoint of achieving phlebotomy independence and reducing spleen size by 35 percent or more.

7 Mar 2014

Cell Therapeutics initiates Phase 3 clinical trial to evaluate pacritinib in patients with myelofibrosis

Cell Therapeutics, Inc. (CTI) (NASDAQ and MTA: CTIC) today announced the initiation of a Phase 3 clinical trial, known as PERSIST-2, which will evaluate pacritinib, a novel, investigational JAK2/FLT3 inhibitor, in patients with myelofibrosis whose platelet counts are less than or equal to 100,000 per microliter (uL).

3 Mar 2014

Researchers identify novel strategies to develop more efficient vaccines against encapsulated bacteria

Researchers have discovered the presence of a novel subtype of innate lymphoid cells in human spleen essential for the production of antibodies. This discovery, published in the prestigious journal Nature Immunology, clears the path to the identification of novel strategies to develop more efficient vaccines against encapsulated bacteria, considered highly virulent.

24 Feb 2014

New radiation-free MRI test effectively diagnoses cancer in children

A new type of whole-body magnetic resonance imaging test could be an alternative to standard positron emission tomography/computed tomography imaging for assessing cancer in children and young adults, but without exposure to radiation that has been shown to increase the risk of secondary cancers in later life.

20 Feb 2014

Elusive progenitor cells that give rise to ILCs identified in fetal liver and bone marrow of mice

The elusive progenitor cells that give rise to innate lymphoid cells-a recently discovered group of infection-fighting white blood cells-have been identified in fetal liver and adult bone marrow of mice, researchers from the University of Chicago report early online in the journal Nature.

14 Feb 2014

Combination of infused vitamin C and conventional chemotherapy drugs stops ovarian cancer

Scientists at the University of Kansas Medical Center have determined that high doses of vitamin C, administered intravenously with traditional chemotherapy, helped kill cancer cells while reducing the toxic effects of chemotherapy for some cancer patients.

10 Feb 2014

Function of stem cells in blood-forming system is regulated by estrogen, says study

Scientists have known for years that stem cells in male and female sexual organs are regulated differently by their respective hormones. In a surprising discovery, researchers at the Children's Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern (CRI) and Baylor College of Medicine have found that stem cells in the blood-forming system — which is similar in both sexes — also are regulated differently by hormones, with estrogen proving to be an especially prolific promoter of stem cell self-renewal.

23 Jan 2014

New drug helps children and young adults who have severe pain from sickle cell disease

Saint Louis University researchers are studying whether ReoPro® (abciximab), a drug currently given to heart patients undergoing angioplasties to open blocked arteries, also could help children and young adults who have severe pain from sickle cell disease.

23 Jan 2014

Researchers uncover how typhoid pathogen manages to evade host's immune system

The life-threatening disease typhoid fever results from the ongoing battle between the bacterial pathogen Salmonella and the immune cells of the body. Prof. Dirk Bumann's research group at the Biozentrum of the University of Basel has now uncovered how the typhoid pathogen repeatedly manages to evade the host's immune system. Their findings are published in the scientific journal "Cell Host & Microbe".

20 Jan 2014

Research findings may offer new therapeutic target for management of Gaucher diseas

What causes brain damage and inflammation in severe cases of Gaucher disease? Little is known about the events that lead to brain pathology in some forms of the disease, and there is currently no treatment available - a bleak outlook for sufferers and their families. Now, scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science have discovered a new cellular pathway implicated in Gaucher disease.

19 Jan 2014

New discovery has potential to transform heart attack treatments

An Australian discovery has the potential to transform the treatment of a heart attack, after a new approach boosted heart function and reduced heart scarring in preclinical studies.

16 Jan 2014

Researchers report three-fold increase in use of MIS for patients with pancreatic disease

Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report a three-fold increase in the use of minimally invasive surgery (MIS) across the nation for patients with pancreatic disease.

16 Jan 2014

Researchers report three-fold increase in use of minimally invasive surgery for pancreatic disease

Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report a three-fold increase in the use of minimally invasive surgery across the nation for patients with pancreatic disease. Although adaptation of MIS for this difficult-to-reach gland is recent, the growing trend points to improved patient outcomes, such as reduced bleeding and infections. Now published online, the paper will appear in the March print edition of JAMA Surgery.

15 Jan 2014

Researchers deploy potential new weapon against HIV

Researchers at the UNC School of Medicine have deployed a potential new weapon against HIV - a combination therapy that targets HIV-infected cells that standard therapies cannot kill.

10 Jan 2014