Immune System News and Research

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Researchers create new map of the brain's own immune system

A team of researchers under the direction of the Medical Center - University of Freiburg has created an entirely new map of the brain's own immune system in humans and mice.

19 Feb 2019

The high cost of sex: Insurers often don’t pay for drugs to treat problems

For some older people, the joy of sex may be tempered by financial concerns: Can they afford the medications they need to improve their experience between the sheets?

19 Feb 2019

New study establishes how stress favors breast cancer growth and spread

Cancer: The word alone evokes dread, anxiety, and fear. Accordingly, many women living with the disease and undergoing treatment experience chronic stress and depression.

19 Feb 2019

Influenza and common cold are completely different diseases, study shows

There is a lack of information about the difference between influenza, "real" flu, and the common cold. Most people struggle to distinguish between these two diseases and this often leads to irritation and the perpetuation of myths.

19 Feb 2019

Single CRISPR treatment can safely and stably correct genetic disease

Researchers at Duke University have shown that a single systemic treatment using CRISPR genome editing technology can safely and stably correct a genetic disease -- Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) -- for more than a year in mice, despite observed immune responses and alternative gene editing outcomes.

18 Feb 2019

CRISPR technology creates pluripotent stem cells that are 'invisible' to the immune system

UC San Francisco scientists have used the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing system to create the first pluripotent stem cells that are functionally "invisible" to the immune system, a feat of biological engineering that, in laboratory studies, prevented rejection of stem cell transplants.

18 Feb 2019

Combination of PARP inhibitor and immunotherapy results in tumor regression in SCLC mouse models

Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have discovered that a combination of immune checkpoint blockade and targeted therapies that block normal DNA damage repair achieved significant tumor regression in mouse models of small cell lung cancer, suggesting a promising new approach for treating patients with this aggressive cancer.

18 Feb 2019

Smoking may blight immune response against melanoma and reduce survival

Melanoma patients with a history of smoking cigarettes are 40 per cent less likely to survive their skin cancer than people who have never smoked, according to a new report funded by Cancer Research UK.

18 Feb 2019

Columbia researchers unravel why some glioblastomas respond to immunotherapy

Columbia researchers have learned why some glioblastomas--the most common type of brain cancer--respond to immunotherapy. The findings could help identify patients who are most likely to benefit from treatment with immunotherapy drugs and lead to the development of more broadly effective treatments.

17 Feb 2019

New technique using patients' own modified cells could help treat Crohn's disease

A new technique using patients' own modified cells to treat Crohn's disease has been proven to be effective in experiments using human cells, with a clinical trial of the treatment expected to start in the next six months.

15 Feb 2019

Conformance of genetic characteristics found to be crucial for longer preservation of kidney graft

The conformance of genetic characteristics is essential for the long-term function after kidney transplantation. This is the central result of a recent study in the top journal “The Lancet” with more than 500 patients after kidney transplantation, conducted by a global consortium led by Rainer Oberbauer and his colleagues Roman Reindl-Schwaighofer and Andreas Heinzel from the Division of Nephrology and Dialysis at MedUni Vienna.

15 Feb 2019

Common herbicide found to increase the risk of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma

A new study has shown that the herbicide glyphosphate, could increase the risk of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma by 41 percent among those who are exposed.

15 Feb 2019

Castration-resistant metastatic prostate cancer responds to combination of immune checkpoint inhibitors

Some patients with metastatic prostate cancer respond to a combination of immune checkpoint inhibitors after hormonal therapy and chemotherapy have failed, according to early results from a clinical trial led by investigators at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center presented today at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Genitourinary Cancers Symposium in San Francisco.

15 Feb 2019

Immune checkpoint molecule protects against future development of cancer

A research team at the University of Louisville has discovered that an immune checkpoint molecule they developed for cancer immunotherapy, also protects against future development of multiple types of cancer when administered by itself.

15 Feb 2019

Discovery of weakness in a rare cancer could be exploited with drugs

Cancer cells are, in some respects, impressive: They can grow relentlessly, sidestep the aging process by becoming immortal, and evade the immune system's persistent attacks. But in the process of acquiring such superpowers, the cells must occasionally relinquish other, more mundane skills--including the ability to produce certain nutrients.

15 Feb 2019

Moffitt researchers shed light on how CAR T cells function mechanistically

The scientific community has made great strides over the past decade in the development of a new class of cancer therapy called immunotherapy, a treatment that activates a patient's own immune system to target cancer cells.

15 Feb 2019

Researchers study animal venoms to identify new medicines for treating diseases

Animal venoms are the subject of study at research center based at the Butantan Institute in São Paulo. But in this case, the idea is not to find antidotes, but rather to use the properties of the venoms themselves to identify molecular targets of diseases and, armed with that knowledge, develop new compounds that can be used as medicines.

15 Feb 2019