The deadly brain cancer glioblastoma (GBM) is often resistant to chemotherapy and radiation, but new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Penn’s Abramson Cancer Center shows targeting stromal cells—the cells that serve as the connective tissue of the organs—may be an effective way of overcoming that resistance. Specifically, the researchers found that GBM causes these stromal cells to act like stem cells, naturally resisting attempts to kill them and promoting tumor growth instead. They also identified the pathway that makes this all possible and showed that blocking that pathway makes cancer vulnerable in a lab setting. Science Translational Medicine published the findings today.
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A novel blood test that uses gold nanoparticles to detect cancer has also been shown to identify signals released by cancer cells which could result in earlier diagnosis and better treatment.
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The aggravating skin condition eczema is most commonly treated by suppressing the immune system, but not all patients get relief. Now, a drug strategy aimed at revving up the immune system and boosting a type of immune cell known as natural killer cells appears, at least in mice, to effectively treat eczema.
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With porous borders, creaking hospitals and large illiterate populations, Afghanistan and Pakistan face a potentially devastating health crisis after the new coronavirus erupted in neighbouring Iran.
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Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have identified a molecular pathway that, when silenced, could restore the normal function of immune cells in people with fatty liver disease. The findings could lead to new strategies for treating the condition, which is a major health risk for people with obesity. The study is published in the scientific journal Science Translational Medicine.
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Administering stem cell or enzyme therapy in utero may be a path to alleviating some congenital diseases that often result in losing a pregnancy, according to a new study in mice by UC San Francisco researchers, who showed that stem cells can enter the fetal brain during prenatal development and make up for cells that fail to make an essential protein.
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North Macedonia reported its first coronavirus case on Wednesday, after a woman who had returned from a month in Italy was found to be infected with the virus.
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Pakistan has detected its first two cases of novel coronavirus, a public health advisor to Prime Minister Imran Khan tweeted Wednesday, days after Islamabad closed its land border with Iran, where 19 people have died from the virus.
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Cardiologists at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center are the first in the United States to test a new type of ablation technology for patients suffering from atrial fibrillation, a common type of irregular heartbeat.
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For women receiving breast implants during reconstructive or cosmetic breast surgery, scarring around the implant—called capsular contracture—is a common, costly, and painful complication. The anti-inflammatory effects of omega-3 fatty acids, found in fish oil, might help to avoid abnormal capsule formation suggests an experimental study in the March issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).
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