Feature Channels: Immunology

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“Good dog!” Two studies being presented at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) Annual Scientific Meeting show there may be even more reason to love your dog. The first study shows babies born in a home with a dog – during pregnancy and early infancy – receive protection from allergic eczema, though the protective effect goes down by age 10. A second study shows dogs may provide a protective effect against asthma, even in children allergic to dogs.

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The Association of American Cancer Institutes, the American Cancer Society, Inc., and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center For Immunization and Respiratory Diseases announced 10 award winners as part of its HPV Vaccine Is Cancer Prevention campaign.

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Actors, singer-songwriters, musicians and others lend their talents to help end autoimmune disease

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Scientists understand new details about the development of Th17, a type of immune cell that is believed to play a complex role in cancer, and is also implicated in autoimmune diseases.

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Immune cells are normally associated with fighting infection but in a new study, scientists have discovered how they also help the nervous system clear debris, clearing the way for nerve regeneration after injury. In a study published in the Journal of Neuroscience, researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine showed certain immune cells—neutrophils—can clean up nerve debris, while previous models have attributed nerve cell damage control to other cells entirely.

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Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC) has been selected as one of the few authorized treatment centers in the United States approved to administer the first FDA- approved chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR T) therapy for treatment of adult patients with a specific type of lymphoma. VICC is the only cancer center in a seven-state region of the Southeast authorized to deliver the new immunotherapy.

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Researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of Washington have developed a novel way to genetically engineer T cells that may be effective for treating and preventing leukemia relapse. The findings provide the basis for launching a first-in-human clinical trial of this new immunotherapy, which relies on engineered T-cell receptors, or TCRs.

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The article "A Blueprint to Advance Colorectal Cancer Immunotherapies” was written by leaders in oncology and immunotherapy convened by Fight Colorectal Cancer and Cancer Research Institute with the intent of furthering and guiding colorectal cancer research.

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Researchers combined the immune response created by injection of potato virus nanoparticles with doxorubicin to halt melanoma progression in a mouse model. It is the first demonstration of an anti-tumor response using potato virus nanoparticle vaccination—a novel treatment further enhanced with doxorubicin chemotherapy.

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A team of researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have discovered how uncontrolled vitamin A metabolism in the gut can cause harmful inflammation. The discovery links diet to inflammatory diseases, like Crohn’s disease and inflammatory bowel syndromes, and could inform nutritional interventions.

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Researchers have discovered that a virus-like particle vaccine can prime the body’s immune response and prevent the severe respiratory disease that results when patients given an early form of a vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are exposed to RSV, according to a study led by Georgia State University.

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A new vaccine under development provoked an immune response to 72 forms of the bacteria that’s responsible for pneumonia, sepsis and meningitis. That’s up from the 23 forms of bacteria covered by current immunizations. The new vaccine, which represents the “most comprehensive” coverage of pneumococcal disease to date, could greatly reduce the number of deaths from the disease.

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Following a successful clinical trial involving Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the first chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy for adult cancers was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today. Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center, the only facility in the northeast to be part of the clinical trial, is one of a few locations certified to offer this new therapy nationwide.

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Joanne Turner, Ph.D., a preeminent scientist in tuberculosis (TB) research, has joined the Texas Biomed team, bringing with her a portfolio of research on the immune system in relation to Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection and aging.

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Scientists have for the first time shown that a novel compound effectively suppresses production of the virus in chronically infected cells.

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In addition to the major talks and awards at ATA's 87th Annual Meeting, a variety of scientific and clinical presentations will be accessible to attendees in the form of posters and oral abstracts.

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A group of international cancer researchers led by investigators from Mayo Clinic and University of New South Wales Sydney has found that the level of a type of white blood cell, called tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, present in the tumors of patients with high-grade ovarian cancer may predict a patient’s survival.

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A major national effort to expand the reach of cancer immunotherapy to benefit more patients will draw upon the expertise of a team of researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

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Van Andel Research Institute–Stand Up To Cancer Epigenetics Dream Team scientists have been awarded two grants totaling nearly $5.5 million to pursue clinical trials of epigenetic drugs to enhance tumor response to immunotherapy.

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Two new papers from researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center provide the most comprehensive data yet reported on side effects of the emerging cancer immunotherapy strategy known as CAR T-cell therapy.

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A new mouse study found that, even in immunized animals, noroviruses can escape the immune system and still spread by hiding out in an extremely rare type of cell in the gut.

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Seeking to spur development of innovative medical breakthroughs, Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences has started one of the nation’s first doctoral (Ph.D.) research training programs in regenerative sciences.

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The Cancer Research Institute will give awards for scientific achievements in immunology and tumor immunology and immunotherapy to three accomplished research scientists at its 31st Annual Awards Dinner on November 14, 2017, in New York City.

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Cancer Research Institute will recognize Genentech and Bruce Ratner for their contributions to medical research, patient care, or public education in the fields of cancer immunology and immunotherapy.

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The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai is preparing to host the 6th annual SINAInnovations conference, whose theme this year is “Cancer.”

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Certain proteins in the influenza virus remain constant year after year. Researchers at Cornell University are taking one of those conserved proteins, Matrix-2 (M2), and packaging it in a nanoscale, controlled-release “capsule” in an attempt to create a quick-acting, long-lasting, multi-strain vaccine against pandemic influenza A.

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Four multidisciplinary studies will focus on genetics and associated mechanisms of hyperuricemia gout, an inflammatory arthritis.

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The Hackensack University Medical Center Foundation has received a substantial donation from Celgene Corporation to advance multiple myeloma research and transformational medicine that improve patient outcomes at Hackensack Meridian Health - John Theurer Cancer Center. Supported by Celgene, a global biopharmaceutical leader in the discovery, development and delivery of treatment for diseases like multiple myeloma (MM), funds will help to establish the Multiple Myeloma Institute (MMI) – a leading-edge research facility at the Seton Hall-Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine scheduled to open in 2018.

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Individuals with certain types of bacteria in their gut may be more likely to respond well to cancer immunotherapy, researchers at the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center found in a study of patients with metastatic melanoma.

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Cancer immunologist Andrea Schietinger, PhD, of the Sloan Kettering Institute (SKI) at Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) has been honored with the prestigious National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director’s New Innovator Award.

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A new generation DNA-based Zika vaccine is the first to demonstrate both safety and the ability to elicit an immune response against Zika in humans, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, conducted in partnership with The Wistar Institute, Inovio Pharmaceuticals, and GeneOne Life Science, Inc. In results published today in the New England Journal of Medicine, the phase 1 clinical trial showed for the first time that humans who received up to three doses of the vaccine candidate produced an immune response against Zika with minimal adverse effects, opening the door to further clinical trials for this important vaccine candidate.

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Pembrolizumab, a drug that has effectively extended the lives of countless people with many types of cancer, has now been approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration to treat people with metastatic gastric adenocarcinoma, the most common form of stomach cancer. The research that led to the approval was conducted at UCLA and 67 other sites in the U.S., Europe, South America and Asia.

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If you diabetes and haven’t been vaccinated, it’s time to reconsider. Flu can be more serious than you realize, and health officials say there are early signs that this flu season will be a bad one.

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Using an influenza infection model in mice, researchers find a particular population of immune cells develops during the later stages of the immune response to the influenza. These cells, called T follicular regulatory cells, prevent the generation of self-reactive antibody responses.

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In a first-of-its-kind study, University of California San Diego School of Medicine researchers report that a blood sample, or liquid biopsy, can reveal which patients will respond to checkpoint inhibitor-based immunotherapies.

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Many cancer survivors experience devastating cognitive impairment following chemotherapy. Researchers at UK are trying to identify strategies to relieve these symptoms.

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Scientists are closer to discovering what makes some individuals better able to clear viral infections than others can, thanks to a new study by researchers at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School's Child Health Institute of New Jersey and the University of Chicago.

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UVA has administered its first dose of an experimental gene therapy for a deadly form of treatment-resistant pediatric leukemia.

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The National Institutes of Health has awarded a five-year $9.6 million grant to the Center for Infection and Immunity (CII) at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health to create the Center for Solutions for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/ Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CfS for ME/CFS), an inter-disciplinary, inter-institutional research group dedicated to understanding the biology of the disease in order to develop effective means to diagnose, treat and prevent it. This Center will be one of three ME/CFS Collaborative Research Centers (CRCs) that will be awarded, together with a Data Management and Coordinating Center (DMCC).

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The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Pfizer Inc. today announced that they have entered into a clinical collaboration to study novel combinations of three Pfizer investigational immuno-oncology therapies and other Pfizer agents in the treatment of various solid tumors and hematologic malignancies.

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The same countries hard hit by Zika virus – which can cause brain damage in babies infected before birth – are also home to dengue virus. Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis researchers report that they have found an antibody that protects against both viruses. These findings, in mice, could be a step towards an antibody-based preventative drug to protect fetuses from brain damage, while also protecting their mothers from both Zika and dengue disease.

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A new study involving patients with stage IV cancer finds that treatment with radiation therapy and immunotherapy can halt the growth of tumors by stimulating the body’s immune system to attack the cancer.

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Investigators at CHLA have identified the molecular pathway used to foster neuroblastoma and demonstrated use of a clinically available agent, ruxolitinib, to block the pathway.

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Multiple sclerosis can be inhibited or reversed using a novel gene therapy technique that stops the disease’s immune response in mouse models, University of Florida Health researchers have found.

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Scientists have found that ignored pieces of DNA play a critical role in the development of immune cells (T cells). These areas activate a change in the structure of DNA that brings together crucial elements necessary for T cell formation. This “big bang” discovery may aid in combating diseases.

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Checkpoint inhibitor-based immunotherapy has been shown to be very effective in recurrent and metastatic head and neck cancer but only in a minority of patients. University of California San Diego School of Medicine researchers may have found a way to double down on immunotherapy’s effectiveness.