New knowledge on lymphoid cell maturity could lead to more effective IBD therapies

A research group has analyzed how certain immune cells known as innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) develop into mature cells that play a part in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The findings could pave the way for more effective treatments against IBD, a disease that causes considerable suffering and that is linked to an increased risk of colorectal cancer.

Quelle: Sciencedaily

A new toolkit to engineer safe and efficient therapeutic cells

Researchers undertook a systematic analysis of the molecular building blocks used to engineer therapeutic cells. Their work resulted in a comprehensive rule book for the design of therapeutic cells with improved specificity and safety, and for the eventual customization of cell-based therapies.

Quelle: Sciencedaily

Study reveals male sex hormones are new targets for cancer immunotherapy

A study examined the differences in intratumoral immune responses between male and female cancers of non-reproductive origin.

Quelle: Sciencedaily

Spatial maps of melanoma

Melanoma is a somewhat unusual cancer — one that blooms before our very eyes, often on sun-exposed skin, and can quickly become deadly as it turns our own skin against us and spreads to other organs. Fortunately, when caught early, melanoma can often be cured by simple surgery, and there are now better treatments for advanced cases, including immunotherapies that prime a patient’s immune system to fight off the cancer. However, much remains unknown about melanoma, including the details of how it develops in the earliest stages, and how to best identify and treat the most dangerous early cases. Spatial maps of melanoma reveal how individual cells interact as cancer progresses.

Quelle: Sciencedaily

Key characteristics of immune cells in ovarian cancer

Researchers want to improve their understanding of the immune environment in ovarian cancer in hopes of making immunotherapy an option for these patients. Researchers now report on key characteristics of immune cells in ovarian cancer and identify cell types important for mediating an immune response.

Quelle: Sciencedaily

Vitamin E can boost immunotherapy responses by reinvigorating dendritic cells

Using retrospective clinical data and in-depth lab studies, researchers have discovered that vitamin E can enhance immunotherapy responses by stimulating dendritic cells in the tumor.

Quelle: Sciencedaily

Could releasing ‘handbrake’ immune cells help supercharge immunity?

Researchers have found a way to supercharge immune cells that could enable them to clear disease and infections faster

Quelle: Sciencedaily

Colon cancer: How mutation of the APC gene disrupts lymphocyte migration

In patients with familial adenomatous polyposis, a genetic disease predisposing to colon cancer, mutations of the APC gene induce the formation of intestinal polyps, but also reduce immune system activity. In a new study, researchers describe the mechanisms that modify the structure of T lymphocytes and hinder their migration towards the tumors to be destroyed. This discovery provides new perspectives on the migration of immune cells, a key process in antitumor immune defense.

Quelle: Sciencedaily

Researchers load CAR T cells with oncolytic virus to treat solid cancer tumors

Researchers have devised an immunotherapy technique that combines chimeric antigen receptor-T cell therapy, or CAR-T cell therapy, with a cancer-killing virus to more effectively target and treat solid cancer tumors.

Quelle: Sciencedaily

Tumors change their metabolism to spread more effectively

Cancer cells can disrupt a metabolic pathway that breaks down fats and proteins to boost the levels of a byproduct called methylmalonic acid, thereby driving metastasis, according to new research. The findings open a new lead for understanding how tumors metastasize, or spread to other tissues, and hints at novel ways to block the spread of cancer by targeting the process.

Quelle: Sciencedaily

Comprehensive map of human blood stem cell development

Scientists have created a new roadmap that traces each step in the development of blood stem cells in the human embryo, providing scientists with a blueprint for producing fully functional blood stem cells in the lab. The research could help expand treatment options for blood cancers like leukemia and inherited blood disorders such as sickle cell disease.

Quelle: Sciencedaily

Blood type may offer insights into risk of blood clot in people with cancer

A new study suggests that people with cancer and non-O blood types, such as types A, B, and AB, face an increased risk of developing venous thromboembolism (VTE), or blood clots in the veins, three months after their initial diagnosis. Scientists have long strived to understand the risk factors for VTE, the leading cause of preventable hospital deaths in the United States. Existing assessments use factors like tumor or cancer type to detect those at high risk of VTE. Yet, many patients without these diagnoses still develop life-threatening blood clots but go unidentified.

Quelle: Sciencedaily

Epigenetic regulator explains why some lung cancer patients become resistant to common therapeutics

Cellular biologists discover why some patients become resistant to standard treatments for nonsmall cell lung cancer.

Quelle: Sciencedaily

New platform optimizes selection of combination cancer therapies

Researchers have developed a new computational tool to select optimal combination therapies for patients with cancer based on the co-occurring alterations in a given tumor.

Quelle: Sciencedaily

How to find anti-cancer agents

Researchers have developed a novel substance that disables a protein in the cell skeleton, leading to cell death. In this way, substances of this type can prevent, for example, the growth of tumors. To accomplish this, the researchers combined a structural biological method with the computational design of active agents.

Quelle: Sciencedaily

New 3D printing technique: A game changer for medical testing devices

Researchers have developed a 3D printing technique to fabricate microfluidic devices for biomedical applications at a microscale not previously possible.

Quelle: Sciencedaily

Omicron: Number of vaccine breakthroughs in cancer patients on the rise, study finds

For cancer patients, COVID-19 poses a particular risk due to their often compromised immune systems. Now, a study shows that, due to Omicron, there is an increasing number of breakthrough infections in people with cancer, especially while they are undergoing cancer therapy.

Quelle: Sciencedaily

New tool reveals how immune cells find their targets

Biological engineers have devised a new experimental tool that allows them to precisely pick out interactions between a particular B or T cell and its target antigen.

Quelle: Sciencedaily

Study suggests why most smokers don’t get lung cancer

Cigarette smoking is overwhelmingly the main cause of lung cancer, yet only a minority of smokers develop the disease. A study suggests that some smokers may have robust mechanisms that protect them from lung cancer by limiting mutations. The findings could help identify those smokers who face an increased risk for the disease and therefore warrant especially close monitoring.

Quelle: Sciencedaily

Friend or foe? The immune system collaborates with blood cancer cells

An international study demonstrates that the body’s immune system attacks itself in a rare type of blood cancer. Consequently, treatment should be targeted at the immune system as well, not only the cancer cells.

Quelle: Sciencedaily

Evidence in mice that bacteria in tumors help cancer cells metastasize

Bacteria promote cancer metastasis by bolstering the strength of host cells against mechanical stress in the bloodstream, promoting cell survival during tumor progression, researchers report.

Quelle: Sciencedaily

Achilles’ heel of high-risk multiple myeloma

Chromosomal abnormalities are found in most multiple myeloma (MM) patients. While myeloma patients have generally benefited from the advancement of treatment modalities over the years, the treatment outcome for patients having two or more high-risk prognostic events remains poor. In a novel step forward, a research team has embarked on a study which aims to address the unmet clinical need in this group of patients.

Quelle: Sciencedaily

Exercise shown to release protein reducing bowel cancer risk

Experts have identified for the first time exactly how exercise can lower your risk of getting bowel cancer and slow the growth of tumors.

Quelle: Sciencedaily

Cryo-EM imaging of STING protein reveals new binding pocket

Imaging at near-atomic resolution of a key immune protein commonly known as STING has revealed a previously unrecognized binding site that appears to be pivotal for launching immune attacks, scientists report. The findings could lead to new ways of manipulating STING to prompt stronger immune responses or stem its action in autoimmune diseases.

Quelle: Sciencedaily

Researchers look to licorice for promising cancer treatments

A research review into molecular insights of a licorice-derived substance called glycyrrhizin for preventing or treating cancer suggests further research could lead to specific agents for clinical use.

Quelle: Sciencedaily