Jeffery Kelly, Ph.D., co-chair of the Department of Molecular Medicine at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), has been named a fellow of the esteemed National Academy of Inventors (NAI), the organization announced today.
A blood test using infrared spectroscopy can be used to diagnose two types of cancer, lymphoma and melanoma, according to a study led by Georgia State University.
• Benjamin Ebert, MD, PhD, current chair of Medical Oncology, was presented with recognition at annual American Society of Hematology meeting
• Ebert is notable for his leadership in describing the genomic landscape of adult myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS)
Researchers at the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA have discovered how high glucose levels - whether caused by diabetes or other factors - keep heart cells from maturing normally. Their findings help explain why babies born to women with diabetes are more likely to develop congenital heart disease.
Dr. Nathan Bryan, Baylor College of Medicine and one of the leading experts in nitric oxide biochemistry and physiology said today, “healthcare providers, especially those helping patients with cardiovascular issues and age-related disease, are not using perhaps the most important ‘tool’ in their ‘toolbox,’ restoring nitric oxide function. Bryan organized and chaired a full day workshop on the Clinical Applications of Nitric Oxide held during the 25th American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine World Congress.
A chemical found in marijuana, known as tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, has been found to potentially slow the process in which mental decline can occur in up to 50 percent of HIV patients, says a new Michigan State University study.
A study by researchers at Mayo Clinic’s campus in Jacksonville, Florida has found that barriers to patients receiving stem cell therapy as part of their treatment for multiple myeloma include income, education, insurance status and access to care at an academic center or facility that treats a high volume of patients.
• Azacitidine reverses resistance to SL-401 in AML and BPDCN cell lines, researchers find
• Results prompt clinical trial of SL-401 and azacitidine in AML and MDS patients
Rare stem-like tumor cells play a critical role in the spread of breast cancer, but a vulnerability in the pathway that powers them offers a strategy to target these cells using existing drugs before metastatic disease occurs, report University of California San Diego School of Medicine and Moores Cancer Center researchers.
Researchers have identified a promising new strategy to fight infections and cancer. They uncovered a novel function for a protein known as “Runx3” that is key to the development of killer T cells—immune cells important for fighting infections and cancer.
Researchers have developed new single-cell sequencing methods that could be used to map the cell origins of various brain disorders, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. By analyzing individual nuclei of cells from adult human brains, researchers have identified 35 different subtypes of neurons and glial cells and discovered which of these subtypes are most susceptible to common risk factors for different brain diseases.
Although the insidious bacterium Salmonella typhi has been around for centuries, very little is actually known about its molecular mechanisms. A new study from researchers at the College of Veterinary Medicine addresses this knowledge gap and may lead to novel, targeted treatments.
Adding a blood test called liquid biopsy to a standard tissue biopsy could significantly improve the accuracy of diagnosis and treatment for patients with cancer, according to researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.
Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine have found a genetic signature for delay discounting — the tendency to undervalue future rewards — that overlaps with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), smoking and weight.
A fundamental advance in the quality of an optical material used to make hyperlenses makes it possible to see features on the surface of living cells in greater detail than ever before.
Genentech researchers have identified an enzyme that shifts pancreatic cancer cells to a more aggressive, drug-resistant state by epigenetically modifying the cells’ chromatin. The study, which will be published December 11 in the Journal of Cell Biology, suggests that targeting this enzyme could make pancreatic cancer cells more vulnerable to existing therapies that currently have only limited effect against this deadly form of cancer.
Among younger patients newly diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), treatment with a combination of chemotherapy and a molecularly targeted drug significantly improves response over what is typically seen with chemotherapy alone, according to an investigator-initiated multi-center phase II clinical trial.
A study involving the recently approved CD19-targeting chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy shows that 42 percent of patients with aggressive large B-cell lymphoma remained in remission at 15 months following treatment with axi-cel (marketed as Yescarta™).
In a pair of clinical trials stretching from Philadelphia to Tokyo, the chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy Kymriah™ (formerly known as CTL019) demonstrated long-lasting remissions in non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) patients. Results from a global, multisite trial will be presented today at the 59th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition in Atlanta (Abstract #577). Results from the single-site study, with follow-up extending past two years, will be published today in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have carried out the largest genomic analysis of patients with smoldering multiple myeloma (SMM), a precursor to full-blown blood cancer that doesn’t show outward symptoms.
Although people with multiple myeloma usually respond well to treatment, the blood cancer generally keeps coming back. Following genetic changes in how the disease evolves over time will help to understand the disease and, eventually, deliver more effective treatments.
• Clinical Activity in a Phase 1 Study of BLU-285, a Potent, Highly-Selective Inhibitor of KIT D816V in Advanced Systemic Mastocytosis
• Study shows one of multiple ways in which novel targeted cancer therapies are now being deployed to improve outcomes and quality of life for patients with rare, advanced, or difficult-to-treat blood malignancies.
Immunotherapy agents known as checkpoint inhibitors have shown considerable promise in patients with hematologic cancers who relapse after a transplant with donor stem cells. Preliminary results from the first clinical trial in these patients of one such agent – nivolumab – indicate that along with signs of effectiveness, it also produced significant side effects at the dose initially studied. The findings indicate a need for further clinical trials in this group before being considered for off-label use with these patients, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute investigators report.
A group of investigators from Mayo Clinic and multiple academic research centers in Italy have identified a genetic model for predicting outcomes in patients with primary myelofibrosis who are 70 years or younger and candidates for stem cell transplant to treat their disease.
Results from a phase 2 clinical trial, presented by Seattle Children’s Research Institute at the 59th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, show that the drug Abatacept (Orencia) nearly eliminated life-threatening severe acute graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) in patients receiving hematopoietic stem cell transplants.
Researchers report at the 59th Annual American Society for Hematology Annual Meeting in Atlanta on Saturday, Dec. 9, that they were able to validate their approach for predicting markers – called minor histocompatibility antigens – in a group of patients with blood cancers.
Preliminary findings indicate gene therapy pioneered at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is safe and effective for babies with a devastating inherited disorder that leaves them with little or no immune protection
Patients with certain advanced hereditary breast cancers may have new treatments options on the horizon, according to two studies presented this week at the annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. Susan Domchek, MD, executive director of the Basser Center for BRCA at Penn’s Abramson Cancer Center, will present new results from the Mediola and OlympiAD trials showing continued success of treating BRCA-related metastatic breast cancer with the PARP inhibitor olaparib with limited side effects for patients.
Intensive surveillance including a dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) exam every six months was far more effective in detecting breast cancer in younger women with a high-risk genetic profile than an annual mammogram. DCE-MRI every six months performed well for early detection of invasive breast cancer in high-risk women.
An online database built by Iowa State University scientists provides a new tool with which researchers can study human biology. The database is freely accessible to anyone on the web, where it allows scientists to study the functions and structure of RNA with greater speed and ease than in the past.
In a randomized, Phase III trial led by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, the PARP inhibitor talazoparib extended progression-free survival (PFS) and improved quality-of-life measures over available chemotherapies for patients with metastatic HER2-negative breast cancer and mutations in the BRCA1/2 genes.
Study in mice reveals a brain circuit that regulates social memory formation and recognition. Results shed light on brain’s ability to reconcile conflicting social stimuli, and shed light on anomalies in social behavior seen in neurodevelopmental, neurologic and psychiatric disorders
University of Michigan-led research brings scientists one step closer to understanding the development of neurodegenerative disorders such as ALS. A study published today in Nature Communications details what the researchers describe as a vicious cycle of toxic protein production set in motion by cell stress.
• New research indicates that the role of dendritic cells in kidney inflammation is more complex than previously thought. Different types of dendritic cells communicate with each other to control the magnitude of the immune response.
• The findings may lead to a better understanding of various types of kidney disease.
A team of researchers from The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) and Duke University has made the first determination of the atomic structure of Transient Receptor Potential Melastatin 8 (TRPM8), a molecular sensor in nerve ends that detects cold temperatures as well as menthol and other chemicals that induce cold sensations.
The Society of Toxicology (SOT) has approved a new Issue Statement on the issues and complexities associated with understanding the health risk from low-level arsenic exposure.
The biological features of patients’ tumors partially explained a racial disparity for women with hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer, but UNC Lineberger researchers led by Katherine Reeder-Hayes, MD, MBA, MSc, said it didn’t explain it completely. The preliminary findings were reported at the 2017 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
Comprehensive immuno-oncology landscape analysis conducted by nonprofit Cancer Research Institute quantifies global development of immunotherapy and identifies opportunities to advance the field to improve patient care
Researchers at the Cancer Science Institute of Singapore (CSI Singapore) at the National University of Singapore (NUS) have identified a novel molecular pathway by which a tumour suppressor, TIP60, inhibits the growth of cancer cells.
Like nomads who carry tokens of home on their travels, colorectal cancer cells that spread to other parts of the body appear to bring several of the species of bacteria that were their companions in the colon, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists report in a new study in the journal Science.
A team led by scientists at Van Andel Research Institute has revealed for the first time the atomic-level structure of a promising drug target for conditions such as stroke and traumatic brain injury.
DNA sequences between mitochondria within a single cell are vastly different, found researchers. This knowledge will help to better illuminate the underlying mechanisms of many disorders that start with accumulated mutations in individual mitochondria and provide clues about how patients might respond to specific therapies.
Study results revealed previously unknown interplay between two key enzymes and a novel understanding of how brain cancer tumors form and spread, according to researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
People who carry the APOE4 genetic variant face a substantial risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease. Now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified a compound that targets the APOE protein in the brains of mice and protects against damage induced by the Alzheimer’s protein amyloid beta. The findings suggest that APOE could potentially be a target for treatment or prevention.
A clinical trial using genetic testing to match acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients with new therapies is now open at the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center (UMGCCC). The center is one of seven cancer centers nationwide participating in the Beat AML® Master Trial, sponsored by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS).