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). The study, named ZUMA-1, also reported measurable responses in 82 percent of patients and complete responses in...
Year: <span>2017</span>
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Researchers identify epigenetic orchestrator of pancreatic cancer cells
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...
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The Endoplasmic Reticulum: Networking Inside the Cell
Like a successful business networker, a cell’s endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is the structure that reaches out—quite literally—to form connections with many different parts of a cell. In several important ways, the ER enables those other parts, or organelles, to do their jobs. Exciting new images of this key member of the cellular workforce may clarify...
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How inhibiting one protein could help to treat pancreatic cancer
Targeting an enzyme that makes pancreatic cancer cells more aggressive by silencing some of their genes could make the deadly disease less resistant to treatment. Could the findings of a new study help in the fight against pancreatic cancer? This was the conclusion of new research from Genentech, a biotechnology company in South San Francisco,...
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Revolutionary technology allows brain surgery without breaking the skin
Zelma Kiss, University of Calgary neurosurgeon and professor, right, with patient Elias Pharaon. The 85-year-old suffers from a movement disorder called essential tremor, and has benefited from technology that allows surgeons to access the …more Elias Pharaon is 85 years old and can sign his name for the first time in five years thanks to...
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Suite of Monash papers shed light on decade-long stem cell mystery
A series of studies led by Monash University researcher Associate Professor Jose Polo have this week shed light on vital, yet previously unclear, aspects of cell reprogramming. Cell reprogramming, in which one type of cell can be turned into almost any other type cell in the human body, is revolutionising medicine. It gives scientists the...
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ASH: A+AVD beats ABVD for advanced Hodgkin’s lymphoma
(HealthDay)—For patients with advanced-stage Hodgkin’s lymphoma, brentuximab vedotin, doxorubicin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (A+AVD) have superior efficacy to doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (ABVD), according to a study published online Dec. 10 in the New England Journal of Medicine to coincide with the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology, held from Dec. 9 to 12 in...
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High-intensity exercise delays Parkinson’s progression
Immunohistochemistry for alpha-synuclein showing positive staining (brown) of an intraneural Lewy-body in the Substantia nigra in Parkinson’s disease. High-intensity exercise three times a week is safe for individuals with early-stage Parkinson’s disease and decreases worsening of motor symptoms, according to a new phase 2, multi-site trial led by Northwestern Medicine and University of Denver...
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Scientists discover possible master switch for programming cancer immunotherapy
Study authors Adam Getzler, Dapeng Wang and Matthew Pipkin of The Scripps Research Institute collaborated with scientists at the University of California, San Diego. During infection or tumor growth, a type of specialized white blood cells called CD8+ T cells rapidly multiply within the spleen and lymph nodes and acquire the ability to kill...
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A new weapon against bone metastasis? Team develops antibody to fight cancer
These fluorescent images show bone metastases (green) that were treated with chemotherapy alone (left) or in combination with antibody 15D11 (right). When combined with the antibody developed by Princeton University’s Yibin Kang, …more In the ongoing battle between cancer and modern medicine, some therapeutic agents, while effective, can bring undesirable or even dangerous side effects....