Immunotherapy

Medical Audio available

How can obesity both fuel tumor growth and help new immunotherapy drugs work better?

Rich Haridy November 12, 2018

Two studies have provided new insights into the relationship between obesity and cancer. The research reveals fascinatingly paradoxical effects, suggesting obesity can suppress our immune responses to enhance tumor growth, but also improve the efficacy of a new kind of cancer-killing immunotherapy.

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Medical

"Lab on a chip" technology picks personalized cancer-fighting molecules out of a crowd

Nick Lavars November 7, 2018

In an exciting advance in the burgeoning world of bespoke cancer treatments, scientists have developed a new immunotherapy screening technology that greatly accelerates the creation of drugs that can target individual tumors with 100-percent specificity.

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Science

New eczema drug unexpectedly restores hair in bald alopecia patient

Rich Haridy October 11, 2018

A new case study published in the journal JAMA Dermatology reveals a young patient suffering from severe eczema along with a longstanding case of alopecia totalis has displayed major hair regrowth after being treated with a newly approved eczema drug.

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Science

Alpaca immune system delivers a potential new cancer treatment

Rich Haridy October 3, 2018

Mostly known for its lustrous fleece and predilection for vigorous spitting, the humble alpaca may soon be more famous for its novel immune system. A study has discovered that the animals produce a unique nanobody that could be recruited into a new treatment for cancer.

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2018 Nobel Prize in Medicine awarded to cancer immunotherapy scientists

Michael Irving October 1, 2018

The 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to James P. Allison and Tasuku Honjo, for their efforts in the development of cancer immunotherapy. In the 1990s, the two Laureates independently developed ways to lift the brakes on the immune system to help fight cancer.

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Early clinical trials showing promise for new kind of cancer vaccine

Rich Haridy September 30, 2018

Promising early results are in from a phase 1 clinical trial into a new cancer vaccine designed to stimulate the immune system into attacking certain cancers known to overexpress a specific protein.

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Science

A gene that causes hair loss may be recruited to help kill cancers

Rich Haridy July 30, 2018

An intriguing new study from Columbia University Irving Medical Center has found that the same gene associated with a condition responsible for autoimmune-related hair loss could be recruited to help our immune cells better target tumors.

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Medical

Promising HIV vaccine moves to wider human trials

Rich Haridy July 9, 2018

Developing a HIV vaccine has been frustrating scientists for decades due the ability of the virus to rapidly mutate. A team of researchers is now the closest they've ever been to producing a successful vaccine, with an experimental drug moving to a large-scale human trial in Southern Africa.

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Medical

How wrapping drugs in spider silk helps craft a better cancer vaccine

Michael Irving June 15, 2018

Strong and light, spider silk is one of the most impressive materials in the natural world. Now, scientists in Germany and Switzerland have found a new use for spider silk – wrapping up cancer drugs to protect them until they can reach their tumorous targets.

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Health & Wellbeing

The bacteria that could lead to a probiotic-based immunization for stress, anxiety and depression

Rich Haridy June 6, 2018

Intriguing new research suggests that a particular bacteria may have beneficial anti-inflammatory effects on the brain. Early studies in rodent models found that through injections of the bacteria the animals can be "immunized" against displaying anxious responses to stressful situations.

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