Spleen News and Research

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Researchers identify defective gene responsible for isolated congenital asplenia

The spleen is rarely noticed, until it is missing. In children born without this organ, that doesn't happen until they become sick with life-threatening bacterial infections.

12 Apr 2013

$Pharmacyclics presents positive results of ibrutinib Phase II trial in untreated, relapsed and refractory CLL patients$

Pharmacyclics presents positive results of ibrutinib Phase II trial in untreated, relapsed and refractory CLL patients

Pharmacyclics, Inc. today announced results from a Phase II trial of the investigational oral agent ibrutinib which demonstrated rapid and sustained disease control as a monotherapy in untreated, relapsed and refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients, irrespective of characteristics that predict poor outcomes to chemoimmunotherapy.

11 Apr 2013

AstraZeneca reports fostamatinib Phase 3 study results for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis

AstraZeneca today announced top-line results of OSKIRA-1, a Phase 3 study to assess the efficacy and safety of fostamatinib, the first oral spleen tyrosine kinase inhibitor in development for rheumatoid arthritis.

6 Apr 2013

Researchers to test cyclodextrin for treating Niemann-Pick Type C disease

Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis is playing a leading role in one of the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) first clinical trials to improve treatments for rare and neglected diseases.

3 Apr 2013

Left and right sides of heart develop differently, research shows

Viewed from the outside, our body looks completely symmetrical. However, most internal organs - including the heart - are formed asymmetrically.

27 Mar 2013

Harvard scientists to further advance blood-cleansing technology for treating sepsis

The Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University announced today that it was awarded a $9.25 million contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to further advance a blood-cleansing technology developed at the Institute with prior DARPA support, and help accelerate its translation to humans as a new type of sepsis therapy.

26 Mar 2013

Researchers find white blood cells produce and eliminate RBCs

Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have found that macrophages - white blood cells that play a key role in the immune response - also help to both produce and eliminate the body's red blood cells (RBCs).

18 Mar 2013

Acceleron commences ACE-536 phase 2 study in beta-thalassemia

Acceleron Pharma, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing protein therapeutics for cancer and orphan diseases, today announced the initiation of a phase 2 study of its novel, investigational protein therapeutic, ACE-536, to treat patients with beta-thalassemia, a genetic hematologic disorder causing chronic and life-threatening anemia and serious complications affecting the spleen, liver and heart.

7 Mar 2013

Engineering chemotherapy drugs' shape increases their ability to target and inhibit cancer cells

Bioengineering researchers at University of California, Santa Barbara have found that changing the shape of chemotherapy drug nanoparticles from spherical to rod-shaped made them up to 10,000 times more effective at specifically targeting and delivering anti-cancer drugs to breast cancer cells.

28 Feb 2013

Positive new data from Genzyme’s eliglustat tartrate Phase 3 studies on Gaucher disease type 1

Genzyme, a Sanofi company, today announced positive new data from the Phase 3 ENGAGE and ENCORE studies of eliglustat tartrate, its investigational oral therapy for Gaucher disease type 1.

15 Feb 2013

Tumor suppressor mutant may predict poor outcome in breast cancer

An oncogenic variant of the Krüppel-like family 6 tumor suppressor gene appears to play a role in driving breast cancer metastasis and may be a prognostic marker for poor patient outcome, report researchers.

6 Feb 2013

IRHOM2-targeted drugs can effectively treat patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery have identified a potential new target for drugs to treat patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a protein known as IRHOM2. The finding could provide an effective and potentially less toxic alternative therapy to tumor necrosis factor-alpha blockers (TNF-blockers), the mainstay of treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, and could help patients who do not respond to this treatment. Efforts to develop drugs that hone in on this new target are underway.

28 Jan 2013

Clinical trial to evaluate cyclodextrin against Niemann-Pick disease type C1

A clinical trial to evaluate a drug candidate called cyclodextrin as a possible treatment for Niemann-Pick disease type C1 (NPC), a rare and fatal genetic disease, will start today, researchers announced.

24 Jan 2013

Scientists identify new mechanism that turns CD4 helper T lymphocytes into killer cells

A research team led by the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology has discovered the mechanism that enables CD4 helper T cells to assume the more aggressive role of killer T cells in mounting an immune attack against viruses, cancerous tumors and other damaged or infected cells.

21 Jan 2013

Intermountain Risk Score tool can predict mortality among trauma patients

A simple, inexpensive blood test performed on trauma patients upon admission can help doctors easily identify patients at greatest risk of death, according to a new study by researchers at Intermountain Medical Center in Salt Lake City.

18 Jan 2013

Insights into tissue-based T cells

US researchers have, for the first time, characterized T cells located in human tissues, rather than in the blood.

31 Dec 2012

Uncharacterized TLR plays key role in Toxoplasma gondii response

A previously uncharacterized toll-like receptor appears to play a crucial role in the innate immune response to Toxoplasma gondii infection and may promote host resistance, potentially leading to anti-parasite vaccines, say US researchers.

28 Dec 2012

Researchers create first ever atlas of immune cells in the human body

By analyzing tissues harvested from organ donors, Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) researchers have created the first ever "atlas" of immune cells in the human body.

21 Dec 2012

Researchers track adipose tissue-derived stromal cells after transplantation

Using mesenchymal stromal cells derived from adipose (fat) tissues, genetically modified to express a bioluminescent marker, researchers in Italy have tracked cells after transplantation. The cells were followed from their injection into the spleen of mice modeling liver disease, to their characterization as "hepatic precursors," and to their subsequent migration through the spleen before engrafting at regenerating sites in the liver by bioluminescent imaging.