The green line represents male mice with pancreatic cancer-causing genes and expressing half the normal amount of GRP78 protein. These mice survived longer than those that had pancreatic cancer-causing genes, but normal levels of GRP78, …more New research from the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) shows new promise in...
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A new T-cell population for cancer immunotherapy
Scientists at the University of Basel in Switzerland have, for the first time, described a new T cell population that can recognize and kill tumor cells. The open access journal eLife has published the results. T lymphocytes (short T cells) are a special type of cells that recognize germs and protect our body from infections. Their second important...
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Cancer immunotherapy may work in unexpected way
Researchers have found that a cancer therapy may prompt a type of immune cell called a macrophage (illustrated above) to attack cancer. Antibodies to the proteins PD-1 and PD-L1 have been shown to fight cancer by unleashing the body’s T cells, a type of immune cell. Now, researchers at the Stanford University School of...
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Antibody for fighting cancer emerges
Killer T cells surround a cancer cell. While studying the underpinnings of multiple sclerosis, investigators at Brigham and Women’s Hospital came across important clues for how to treat a very different disease: cancer. In a paper published in Science Immunology, a group of researchers led by neurologist Howard Weiner, MD, describe an antibody that can...
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Researchers identify surface proteins responsible for navigating immune cells to sites of inflammation
The protein tags that adorn immune cells and engage with receptors to promote inflammation in the body’s endothelial tissues are not what they were thought to be. An investigation by Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) has identified the true surface proteins expressed by T-cells that mediate this molecular liaison, a...
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Dried blood diagnosed as viable alternative to liquid samples
A new study indicates that dried blood samples could replace frozen liquid samples in diagnosis and research Blood samples are one of medicine’s most powerful diagnostic tools, but taking and storing liquid blood samples is expensive and time consuming. To bring down costs and broaden the use of samples, researchers at Uppsala University are studying the...
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Tracking cancer’s signaling pathways
Malignant melanoma is one of the most common and dangerous types of cancer. Researchers at Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) investigated how and why brown pigmented moles turn into malignant melanoma using innovative robot technology. The insights gained can simplify methods of diagnosis in the future; furthermore, they suggest that certain cosmetic products and creams should...
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Raised blood platelet levels ‘strong predictor’ of cancer
Having a high blood platelet count is a strong predictor of cancer and should be urgently investigated to save lives, according to a large-scale study. Around two per cent of people over 40—up to half a million people in the UK—have a raised blood platelet count—known as thrombocytosis. Now, a study of 40,000 patient records led by...
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Sensors detect disease markers in breath
The researchers made sensors from porous thin films of organic conductive plastics with the goal of portable, disposable devices for medical and environmental monitoring. A small, thin square of an organic plastic that can detect disease markers in breath or toxins in a building’s air could soon be the basis of portable, disposable sensor...
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‘Sepsis sieve’ that cleans your blood of infections or blood-borne diseases could save thousands of lives
Device created by British scientist who said it could save the NHS huge sums Blood is removed and cleaned of dangerous microbes using magnets Machine is to undergo the first human clinical trials next year Could also be used to treat blood-borne diseases such as malaria and leukaemia A machine that ‘sieves’ the blood could...