Connecting You to Tomorrow's Biotechnology Innovations
A new study has found that “skinny fat” – the combination of low muscle mass and strength in the context of high fat mass – may be an important predictor of cognitive performance in older adults. While sarcopenia, the loss of muscle tissue that is part of the natural aging process, as well as obesity […]
Urothelial cancers of the bladder and upper urinary tract are among the most common cancers encountered worldwide. In the United States, urothelial cancers are among the most costly cancers to treat. With early diagnosis, followed by surgery, most urothelial cancers can be cured. Now an international team of cancer researchers including Kate Dickman, PhD, of the […]
On the cellular highway, motor proteins called dyneins rule the road. Dyneins “walk” along structures called microtubules to deliver cellular cargo, such as signaling molecules and organelles, to different parts of a cell. Without dynein on the job, cells cannot divide and people can develop neurological diseases. Now a new study, which appears in the […]
A study led by Kevin King, a bioengineer and physician at the University of California San Diego, has found that the immune system plays a surprising role in the aftermath of heart attacks. The research could lead to new therapeutic strategies for heart disease. The team, which also includes researchers from the Center for Systems […]
A new class of drugs for blood cancers such as leukemia and multiple myeloma is showing promise. But it is hobbled by a problem that also plagues other cancer drugs: targeted cells can develop resistance. Now scientists, reporting in ACS Central Science, have found that insights into a rare genetic disease known as NGLY1 deficiency […]
Immunotherapy drugs could help some breast cancer patients based on the genetic changes in their tumours, researchers at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and their collaborators find. Published today (13 September) in Cancer Research, scientists identify particular genetic changes in a DNA repair mechanism in breast cancer. The results open up the possibility to another […]
Cancer immunotherapy drugs only work for a minority of patients, but a generic drug now used to increase blood flow may be able to improve those odds, a study by Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) researchers suggests. In mice with melanoma, the researchers found that the drug – called pentoxifylline – boosts the effectiveness of […]
By learning how a recently discovered immune cell works in the body, researchers hope to one day harness the cells to better treat allergies and infections, according to new Cornell University research. Type 1 regulatory (Tr1) cells are a type of regulatory immune cell that help suppress immune responses, including inflammation and tissue damage, but […]
A team of scientists from the UNC School of Medicine and North Carolina State University (NCSU) has developed promising research towards a possible stem cell treatment for several lung conditions, such as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and cystic fibrosis — often-fatal conditions that affect tens of millions of Americans. In […]
In preclinical experiments, researchers at VCU Massey Cancer Center have uncovered a new way in which colon cancer develops, as well as a potential “silver bullet” for preventing and treating it. The findings may extend to ovarian, breast, lung, prostate and potentially other cancers that depend on the same mechanism for growth. Led by Massey’s […]
Glioblastoma is the most malignant brain tumor with high mortality. Cancer stem cells are thought to be crucial for tumor initiation and its recurrence after standard therapy with radiation and temozolomide (TMZ) chemotherapy. Protein tyrosine phosphatase receptor type Z (PTPRZ) is an enzyme that is highly expressed in glioblastoma, especially in cancer stem cells. The […]
Immune cells with a general knack for recognizing and killing many types of infected or abnormal cells also can be engineered to hunt down cells with specific targets on them to treat cancer, researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center report in the journal Leukemia. The team’s preclinical research shows that natural […]
Some patients with a form of advanced kidney cancer that carries a poor prognosis benefited from an experimental drug targeted to an abnormal genetic pathway causing cancerous growth, according to research led by a Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientist. The drug, savolitinib, showed clinical activity in patients with metastatic papillary renal cell carcinoma (PRCC) whose tumors […]
A team led by UCL and Cardiff University researchers has developed a novel measure of disease progression for Huntington’s disease, which enabled them to identify a genetic modifier associated with how rapidly the disease progresses. “We’ve identified a gene that could be a target for treating Huntington’s disease. While there’s currently no cure for the […]
Testicular cancer is relatively rare with only 8,850 cases expected this year in the United States. A majority of testicular cancer, 95 percent of all cases, begins in testicular germ cells, which are the cells responsible for producing sperm. Testicular germ cell tumors (TGCT) are the most common cancer in men aged 20 to 39 […]
For many patients, participating in gene therapy clinical trials isn’t an option because their immune system recognizes and fights the helpful virus used for treatment. Now, University of Florida Health and University of North Carolina researchers have found a solution that may allow it to evade the body’s normal immune response. The discovery, published May […]
Findings from a phase III clinical trial point to a more effective initial treatment for patients with ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Compared to the current standard of care crizotinib (Xalkori), the newer ALK inhibitor alectinib (Alecensa) halted cancer growth for a median of 15 months longer and caused fewer severe side effects. The […]
By adding an experimental drug to a standard chemotherapy regimen, a subset of patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer had a significantly longer period before the cancer progressed as compared with those who received the standard treatment, according to a Phase 2 clinical trial led by an investigator at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. The randomized, […]
HDAC inhibitors, already widely used to treat cancer, may be an effective therapy for psoriasis as well, scientists report. They have shown that HDAC3 inhibitors are particularly adept at increasing expression of aquaporin-3, or AQP3, a channel that transports glycerin, a natural alcohol and water attractor, which helps skin look better and aids healthy production […]
Over the past few decades, many bacteria have become resistant to existing antibiotics, and few new drugs have emerged. A recent study from a U.K. commission on antimicrobial resistance estimated that by 2050, antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections will kill 10 million people per year, if no new drugs are developed. To help rebuild the arsenal against […]