New research from the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, published in the June 2019 issue of JNCCN—Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, pilots multidisciplinary team approach for providing diagnosis and management of immunotherapy-related adverse events (irAEs).
Human and mouse experiments show that an antibody in breastmilk is necessary to prevent necrotizing enterocolitis – an often deadly bacterial disease of the intestine.
In cancer and chronic infections immune balance can be disrupted, resulting in immune system dysfunction or “exhaustion.” An important protein called TOX, which varies in amount in different immune cell types, controls the identity of the cells that become exhausted. With this knowledge, investigators now have a way to accurately identify immune cells that are exhausted in a tumor or site of an infection and improve the effectiveness of patients’ immune response to treatment.
An international research team has discovered a gene that triggers a process called “exhaustion” in the immune T cells used to battle cancer in immunotherapy. The gene, called Tox, launches a process that remodels the cells’ machinery to weaken their ability to attack cancer cells, as well as infections. The discovery, published in advance online in the journal Nature, could lead to diagnostic tests to detect T cell exhaustion, and the researchers hope their basic findings will also result in techniques to prevent exhaustion.
New York University is launching a Chemical Biology Initiative, committing to six new tenure-track positions in its Chemistry Department, the renovation of nearly 70,000 square feet of lab space, and a multi-disciplinary approach to develop molecular solutions to challenges in both biology and medicine.
Researchers have identified a genetic mutation that caused an 11-year-old girl to suffer a fatal reaction to infection with the Hepatitis A virus (HAV). The study, which will be published June 18 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, reveals that mutations in the IL18BP gene causes the body’s immune system to attack and kill healthy liver cells, and suggests that targeting this pathway could prevent the deaths of patients suffering rapid liver failure in response to viral infection.
A Ludwig Cancer Research study has deciphered a complex molecular conversation between cancer and immune cells that is key to orchestrating the successful invasion of tumors by T cells that kill cancer cells.
A drug that targets the immune system can delay the onset of type 1 diabetes an average of two years in children and adults at high risk, according to findings from TrialNet’s Teplizumab (anti-CD3) Prevention Study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
One of the greatest enigmas of evolutionary biology is that while sex is the dominant mode of reproduction among multicellular organisms, asexual reproduction appears much more efficient and less costly.
Sanjay B. Maggirwar, PhD, MBA, has been selected to serve as chair of the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Tropical Medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences
A UCLA-led research team has pinpointed a three-drug combination that could prove to be an effective new therapy for people with a specific type of advanced melanoma.
Harvard Medical School’s Media Fellowship program, now entering its 22nd year, is accepting applications for Fall 2019.
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the Africa Health Research Institute have identified a master cell that coordinates the body’s immune defenses in the crucial early days after infection. Boosting the activity of such cells could help reduce the millions of new infections that occur worldwide every year.
Below are summaries of recent Fred Hutch research, with links for additional background and media contacts.
A team of researchers from Indiana University and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center have been awarded a $4.1 million National Cancer Institute “Cancer Moonshot” grant to develop immunotherapy treatments for cancer in children and adolescents, especially those with leukemia.
Eric Zwisler, former President and Chairman of Cardinal Health China, has been elected Chairman of the Board of Directors of La Jolla Institute for Immunology. He will assume his role effective May 31, 2019.
The results of a study led by physicians at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center showed that patients living with HIV and one of a variety of potentially deadly cancers could be safely treated with the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab, also known by its brand name, KEYTRUDA®.
Five-year survival data for pembrolizumab patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer were presented June 1 at the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting, May 31-June 4, in Chicago. The study results showed a marked improvement over 5-year survival rates in the pre-immunotherapy era, which averaged only 5.5%. Pembrolizumab increased the survival rate to 23.2% after five years in people with advanced non-small cell lung cancer who had not previously been treated with chemotherapy and to 15.5% in those who had been previously treated with chemotherapy. The KEYNOTE-001 is the longest follow-up study to date of people with advanced non-small cell lung cancer treated with pembrolizumab.
As part of a program called the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program, the DOD is awarding Texas Biomedical Research Institute $2 million over the next three years to study a promising experimental Zika vaccine.
A previously unknown autoimmune muscle disease involving sudden onset of debilitating muscle pain and weakness has been identified by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The syndrome easily could be mistaken for other muscle diseases that require different treatment, so the findings are expected to help physicians treat patients appropriately, the researchers said.
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