News • Fighting cancer
Light-triggered nanoparticles show promise against metastatic cancer
Tumor imaging technique has potential as anti-cancer weapon, mouse study shows.
Therapy
News • Microbubbles
Bracco Imaging to innovate ultrasound for new personalized gene therapy
Bracco Imaging S.p.A., a global leader in diagnostic imaging, announced that it has initiated new experimental activities in its R&D Center in Geneva, Switzerland, to explore a new application for gas-filled microbubbles in the development of personalized gene therapy for treatment of chronic dysfunctional diseases related to lipid metabolism. Microbubbles have already revolutionized medical…
News • Antiviral design
CAR-T gene therapy could provide long-term HIV protection
Through gene therapy, researchers engineered blood-forming stem cells (hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells, or HSPCs) to carry chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) genes to make cells that can detect and destroy HIV-infected cells. These engineered cells not only destroyed the infected cells, they persisted for more than two years, suggesting the potential to create long-term immunity from the virus…
News • Cooperation
Hitachi to install new proton beam therapy system in Spain
Hitachi, Ltd. announced that it has entered into an agreement to provide Clinica Universidad de Navarra (CUN) with its proton beam therapy (PBT) system. The agreement includes PBT system maintenance following completion of the systems' installation. The PBT System will be installed at CUN's facility in Madrid, Spain and is equipped with state of the art technology including spot scanning…
News • Ventricular tachycardia
Deadly heart rhythm halted by noninvasive radiation therapy
Radiation therapy often is used to treat cancer patients. Now, doctors at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown that radiation therapy — aimed directly at the heart — can be used to treat patients with a life-threatening heart rhythm. They treated five patients who had irregular heart rhythms, called ventricular tachycardia, at the School of Medicine. The patients…
News • Monitoring CML therapy
Bio-Rad releases first CE-IVD digital PCR test
Bio-Rad Laboratories announces the launch of the "QXDx BCR-ABL %IS" Kit, the first CE-IVD digital PCR test that can monitor the molecular response of patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) to therapy.
News • A double-edged sword
Killing cancer cells can also drive tumor growth
Cancer therapies including radiation and chemotherapy seek to treat the disease by killing tumor cells. Now a team including researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) have shown that the dead and dying cancer cells generated by chemotherapy and targeted cancer therapy paradoxically trigger inflammation that promotes aggressive tumor growth. In a study published today in the…
News • Cell activity
Individual receptors caught at work
G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are among the "hottest” targets for the therapy of diseases such as hypertension, asthma or Parkinson's. These receptors are the site of action of many hormones and neurotransmitters and allow them to regulate the activity of our cells. How and where this happens has long been the subject of numerous hypotheses. An international team of scientists from…
News • Gene-based testing
Skewing the aim of targeted cancer therapies
Headlines, of late, have touted the successes of targeted gene-based cancer therapies, such as immunotherapies, but, unfortunately, also their failures.
News • Rheumatoid arthritis
Hibernation causes inflammation
A research team found that in patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, a special cell population called innate lymphoid cells are in a state of hibernation which is why these patients suffer from persistent inflammation.
News • Long-term support
Stroke: Lethal risk even without complications
People who survive a stroke or a mini-stroke without early complications have an increased risk of death, another stroke or heart attack (myocardial infarction) for at least 5 years following the initial stroke, found a new study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
News • Antioxidant study
How strawberries may prevent Alzheimer's
A natural compound in strawberries could help treat age-related mental decline and conditions like Alzheimer’s, a new study found.
News • Clinical trials
How treating dogs might help human cancer patients
The UC Davis Comparative Oncology Program joins oncologists at both the vet school and cancer center to test novel treatments on companion dogs with spontaneous tumors that could be effective in human patients with cancer. Human clinical trials could be started this year.
News • Integrated quality assurance
IBA releases the newest version of myQA global platform
IBA (Ion Beam Applications S.A.), the world’s leading provider of proton therapy solutions and radiation therapy integrated quality assurance (QA) for the treatment of cancer, announces the release of myQA version 2017-001. This new version further enhances the integration of quality assurance across all QA applications, departments and people.
News • Trypanosomiasis
News from the pathogen that causes sleeping sickness
A team of researchers from the University of Würzburg has discovered an interesting enzyme in the pathogens responsible for African sleeping sickness: It could be a promising target for drugs.
News • Mindfulness
Meditation - a cheaper alternative to traditional pain medication?
Just ten minutes of mindfulness meditation could be used as an alternative to painkillers, according to research by Leeds Beckett University.
News • DNA manipulation
Chaos in cancer cells: Mysterious gene transcripts after therapy
Drugs that are used in cancer therapy to erase epigenetic alterations in cancer cells simultaneously promote the production of countless mysterious gene transcripts, scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) now report in Nature Genetics. The substances activate hidden regulatory elements in DNA. The unusual gene activity has the potential to stimulate the immune system – a…
Bronchial thermoplasty yields multiple benefits for asthma patients
In a new study presented at the 2017 American Thoracic Society International Conference, adult asthma patients treated with bronchial thermoplasty (BT) had fewer severe exacerbations and were able to reduce their ER visits and hospitalizations in the two years following treatment.
News • Rare disorder
New treatment for kidney failure patients
A novel treatment offers kidney failure and kidney transplant patients with a rare disorder new hope. The treatment allows targeted elimination of plasma cell clones producing abnormal proteins that deposits in the kidneys and leads to kidney failure, according to new research.
News • Pediatrics
Watching movies can replace anaesthesia for children in radiotherapy
Children with cancer could be spared dozens of doses of general anaesthesia by projecting a video directly on to the inside of a radiotherapy machine during treatment, according to research presented at the ESTRO 36 conference.
News • Distribution
Grabbing multiple sclerosis by the nose
Over the next few years, in a research project funded by the EU, an international consortium is developing a new technology for a better treatment of multiple sclerosis. The idea of the innovative “Nose2Brain” approach is to transport a special active substance directly through the nose into the central nervous system.
News • Going Viral
An unusual 'friend' to help fight ovarian cancer
In some cases, the Lassa virus starts with a fever and general weakness, moving toward headache, muscle pain, possible facial swelling, deafness, and worse. About 15 percent of patients hospitalized with severe cases die. Lassa fever is contagious, endemic in West Africa, and Dr. Anthony van den Pol thinks he can use it to cure ovarian cancer.
Sponsored • Alopecia
Scalp cooler to reduce hair loss in breast cancer patients
Paxman Coolers Limited announced today that The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared the company to market the Paxman Scalp Cooling System, a scalp cooling technology that was developed by a British family to reduce hair loss (alopecia) in breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.
Article • Genetics
Ascertaining the value of microRNA
European Hospital reports a new approach in molecular diagnostics introduced during the IASLC World Conference in Vienna.
News • Radiation Therapy
Dolphin from IBA makes radiation therapy safer
Innovative Dolphin® system clinically implemented at the Gaziosmanpasa Hospital, Istanbul, ensuring high quality and efficient radiosurgery and SBRT treatment QA
