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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

Berlin, 11. April 2022 – Wichtige zentrale Institutionen des Gesundheitswesens sind in der Öffentlichkeit weitgehend unbekannt. Sie bestimmten jedoch in wesentlichen Punkten über Rechte der betroffenen Patient:innen und die Leistungen, die sie erhalten können. Die Erfahrungen der Deutschen Stiftung für junge Erwachsene mit Krebs bei ihren Bemühungen zur Finanzierung der Fruchtbarkeitserhaltung junger Betroffener zeigen, dass die Transparenz und die Geschwindigkeit dieser Institutionen an einigen Stellen deutlich verbessert werden müssen.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

The gel, tested in mice, releases drugs and special antibodies that simultaneously deplete immune-blocking cells called macrophages from the surgical site and activate T cells so they can attack cancer.

Many cancers exhibit high levels of the reverse transcriptase enzyme. Single-agent lamivudine, a reverse transcriptase inhibitor, stopped disease progression in over 25% of patients with fourth-line refractory metastatic colorectal cancer. These results provide evidence for the evaluation of reverse transcriptase inhibitors as a new class of anti-cancer drugs.

Many cancers exhibit high levels of the reverse transcriptase enzyme. Single-agent lamivudine, a reverse transcriptase inhibitor, stopped disease progression in over 25% of patients with fourth-line refractory metastatic colorectal cancer. These results provide evidence for the evaluation of reverse transcriptase inhibitors as a new class of anti-cancer drugs.

Although clinical labs have known for almost a century that a oddly shaped nucleus resembling pince-nez glasses in blood cells could indicate leukemia, the cause of this anomaly remained unknown. Scientists have now discovered that loss of nuclear Lamin B1 induces defects in the nuclear morphology and in human hematopoietic [blood-forming] stem cells associated with malignancy. The scientists went on to detail that lamin B1 deficiency alters genome organization. This in turn causes expansion of blood-forming stem cells, a bias towards their becoming myeloids, genome instability due to defective DNA damage repair and other problems that set the stage for cancer.