General

Infection with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), the cause of infectious mononucleosis, has been associated with subsequent development of systemic lupus erythematosus and other chronic autoimmune illnesses, but the mechanisms behind this association have been unclear. Now, a novel computational method shows that a viral protein found in EBV-infected human cells may […]

Most of the roughly 15.5 million cancer survivors in the U.S. receive chemotherapy, and roughly 65 percent develop some degree of the chemotherapy-induced nerve damage known as peripheral neuropathy. Peripheral neuropathy simply means nerves outside of the brain and spinal cord are affected, and symptoms include numbness and tingling in […]

The method involves the use of a new type of a nanotube – a tiny tube used in many applications, including drug delivery. This new type, designed and created by Dr Ben Newland at Cardiff University, is made from a non-toxic polymer called poly(ethylene glycol).  Unlike current nanotubes, which can cause […]

New research, published in Biological Reviews and conducted by researchers from the University of Liverpool and Escola Superior de Ciências da Saúde (Brasília, Brazil) has found some type of cancers unique to humans may be a result of evolutionary accidents. Cancer is a major cause of death worldwide. But humans are not […]

All of the body’s organs contain macrophages, which, as part of the immune system, consume bacteria and other foreign bodies. However, macrophages are also specialised according to the organ in which they operate; in the brain they are known as microglia, and researchers believe that this specialisation is controlled by […]

The small, pilot study aims to recruit seven people to find out if the bone marrow stem cell mobilising drug, granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (GCSF), could improve blood markers and potentially treat the condition. GCSF, which is commonly used in diseases related to the blood, as well as in healthy people […]

New research published in The Lancet and co-authored by Professor Lucilla Poston CBE, shows that the diet and lifestyle of both parents before conception plays a key role in the long-term health of their children. In a series of papers Professor Poston, Head of King’s School of Life Course Sciences, and colleagues from […]

Older adults who take a novel antioxidant that specifically targets cellular powerhouses, or mitochondria, see aging of their blood vessels reverse by the equivalent of 15 to 20 years within six weeks, according to new CU Boulder research. The study, published this week in the American Heart Association journal Hypertension, […]

Cancer is not as scary as it used to be. Of course, it is a terrible condition which causes a lot of deaths worldwide every year. But nowadays we have novel therapies to combat cancer, even though sometimes it is difficult to say what is and what isn‘t working. Now […]

Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a cancer that is diagnosed in the U.S. more than 70,000 times annually, arises from overly proliferating immune cells within the body’s lymph nodes, which are connected to a network of lymph vessels through which lymphatic fluid flows. The most common type of lymphoma is diffuse large B-cell […]

Despite the great successes of targeted cancer drugs and the promise of novel immunotherapies, the vast majority of people diagnosed with cancer are still first treated with chemotherapy. Now a new study by UCSF researchers using techniques drawn from computational biology could make it much easier for physicians to use […]

Twenty years ago this fall, a team of scientists led by James Thomson at the University of Wisconsin–Madison published the first paper describing successful derivation of human embryonic stem cells. The discovery of these master human stem cells empowered a new and promising direction in biomedical research, and for the […]

“Night owls” — people who like to stay up late and have trouble dragging themselves out of bed in the morning — have a higher risk of dying sooner than “larks,” people who have a natural preference for going to bed early and rise with the sun, according to a […]

A new blood test using gold nanoparticles could soon give oncologists an early and more accurate prognosis of how cancer treatment is progressing and help guide the on-going therapy of patients. Researchers at The University of Queensland have developed new nanotechnology to monitor the diversity of individual cancer cells circulating […]

Scientists at the University of Southampton have shown how stimulating a specific location on the surface of immune cells can be targeted with antibodies to help in their fight against cancer. The new work concerns a receptor called CD40 found of the surface of certain immune cells which regulates their […]

Sirtex Medical Ltd. has renewed a grant award to Dan Brown, MD, professor of Radiology and Radiological Sciences and chief of Interventional Oncology, and his Vanderbilt Health colleagues, for a research program designed to treat patients with liver tumors that cannot be addressed with surgery. In 2015, Brown and colleagues […]

Obesity can also alter a young person’s likelihood of developing cancer later in life A Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine researcher has compiled evidence from more than 100 publications to show how obesity increases risk of 13 different cancers in young adults. The meta-analysis describes how obesity has […]

One of the major goals of scientists is to increase the longevity of humans. Our lifespan has been increasing for a long time, but we all want to live longer and healthier lives. Now a team of scientists led by UCL has found that a moderate dietary restriction extend lifespan […]

You see that all the time. A woman gets pregnant and immediately changes her lifestyle in order to keep the baby healthy. This is very beautiful, but is it enough? Scientists from the University of Queensland say that it actually isn‘t enough to make sure that the baby is born […]

Consuming high amounts of carbohydrates and various forms of sugar during the year prior to treatment for head and neck cancer may increase patients’ risks of cancer recurrence and mortality, a new study reports. However, eating moderate amounts of fats and starchy foods such as whole grains, potatoes and legumes […]

Mouse brains are tiny and smooth. Ferret brains are larger and convoluted—and could provide the missing link in understanding how humans acquired big brains. Children with microcephaly, whose brains are abnormally small, have a part in the story too. Microcephaly is notorious for its recent link to the Zika virus, […]

A new type of cancer vaccine has yielded promising results in an initial clinical trial conducted at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania. The personalized vaccine is made from patients’ own immune cells, which are exposed in the laboratory […]

Patients with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia commonly experience sundown syndrome: a sudden worsening of confusion, agitation and aggression at the end of the day. This daily pattern suggested that sundowning, as the phenomenon is also known, may be governed by the body’s internal biological clock. Synchronized by […]

You’ve heard of the face that launched a thousand ships? Margaret “Peg” Geisler, 82, is the case that launched an international search for “extreme survivors” of metastatic breast cancer. Geisler, a retired UW–Madison director of outreach development, has lived with breast cancer for 40 years and with metastatic cancer (meaning it spread […]

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health worked with 15 patients from around the world to uncover a genetic basis of “dripping candle wax” bone disease. The rare disorder, known as melorheostosis, causes excess bone formation that resembles dripping candle wax on x-rays. The results, appearing in Nature Communications, offer […]

A new Tel Aviv University study addresses the challenges of nanoparticle-based cancer-targeting strategies. It also suggests ways of refocusing the collaborative work of cancer researchers and clinicians to move the field forward from “the bench” to the patients. The study follows landmark research published 10 years ago in Nature Nanotechnology that reviewed the full […]

Many cancers start with the flip of a switch. For example, the most common mutation in human cancers affects a small signaling protein called K-Ras, which helps tell our cells when to grow and divide; when K-Ras is mutated, its normal on-off mechanism gets stuck in the “on” position, leading […]

Mothers aged 30 to 34 years have more full-term pregnancies and healthier babies than those in the 20-to-24 age group. These are the findings of a new  epidemiological study led by an Université de Montréal researcher which looked at over 165,000 births in 32 Quebec hospitals from 2008 to 2011. “We’ve always […]

Regularly drinking more than the recommended UK guidelines for alcohol could take years off your life, according to new research from the University of Cambridge. Part-funded by the British Heart Foundation, the study shows that drinking more alcohol is associated with a higher risk of stroke, fatal aneurysm, heart failure […]

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) affects more than 1.75 million individuals in the United States. Because the population is aging, that number will increase to almost 3 million by 2020. Between 80 and 90 percent of cases in this country are the dry version of the condition, for which no effective treatment exists. Now, a team […]