Immune system

Prof. Johanna Joyce

Advancing cancer research across Europe and beyond

Prof. Johanna Joyce has begun her two-year term as President of the European Association for Cancer Research (EACR), a global community of scientists and clinicians dedicated to advancing the…

News • Effects on autoimmune disease

Will pregnancy make myasthenia gravis worse? Study sheds new light

Many women with myasthenia gravis choose not to have children due to fear that the disease will get worse during or after pregnancy. Now, a study investigated the connection to the autoimmune disease.

News • Targeted immunotherapy

Implantable cytokine factories to help treat ovarian cancer

Researchers have reported results from a first-in-human trial evaluating a novel cell-based platform for localized delivery of interleukin-2 (IL-2) in patients with advanced ovarian cancer.

News • Immuno-Oncology

Killer cells caught in the act: a 3D view of T lymphocytes

Researchers have used cryo-expansion microscopy to capture cytotoxic T lymphocytes destroying cancer cells in unprecedented 3D detail, opening new paths in immuno-oncology.

News • Lowering tissue reactivity

Towards more biocompatible brain implants

Neural implants show great potential, but the brain's reaction to foreign objects remains a challenge. New research insights could now pave the way for more biocompatible brain implants.

News • Transplant organ acceptance

“Immune priming” prevents donor liver rejection

A new technique to “prime” a patient's immune system before liver transplantation has proven itself in a first-in-human clinical trial to successfully prevent transplant rejection.

News • Immunology

How obesity impairs vaccine response

Being overweight can reduce vaccine effectiveness, new research finds. The findings explore differences in immune response, and may lead to more effective vaccines for patients with obesity.

News • Prediction of treatment response

Colon and rectal cancer: new biomarker shows which patients benefit from immunotherapy

A multidisciplinary team of pathologists, oncologists and biologists has discovered a new biomarker to determine whether immunotherapy may work in people with colon and rectal cancer.

News • Study explores reason for health benefits

How sauna bathing boosts the body's immune responses

Regular sauna bathing has been associated with several beneficial health effects. A new study from Finland may help explain how these effects develop in the body.

News • Impact on longevity and cancer

“The thymus has been overlooked for decades”

Two new studies explore the role of the thymus – a small organ in the chest, and possibly a missing piece in explaining why people age differently, and why cancer treatments fail in some patients.

News • Critical role of NFAT

Preventing pregnancy complications with new immune insights

A hidden immune circuit in the uterus revealed: Researchers have discovered a crucial immune switch that sheds light on preeclampsia and early pregnancy failure.

News • Adhesive microgel-based coating

A spray-on shield to prevent transplant rejection

Korean researchers are developing a “spray shield that adheres to transplant organs” and reduces the burden on patients taking lifelong immunosuppressants to prevent transplant rejection.

News • Research on dopaminergic neurons

Immunotherapy to prevent neuron loss in Parkinson’s disease

Promising new research points to a new immunotherapy approach that could help preserve viable neurons in people with Parkinson’s disease.

News • Focus on tumor STAT1 acetylation

How cancer cells learn under pressure to evade immunotherapy

Immunotherapy has been hailed as a breakthrough in cancer treatment. But new research reveals: under sustained treatment pressure, cancer does not simply weaken — it adapts, learns, and fights back.

News • Immune response to viral infection

Multiple sclerosis: how EBV can evoke nerve damage

The immune system’s reaction to the common Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) can ultimately damage the brain and contribute to multiple sclerosis (MS), a new study shows.

News • Drivers of gray matter injury

Multiple sclerosis: Promising biomarker linked to progression and brain inflammation

A new University of Toronto-led study has discovered a possible biomarker linked to multiple sclerosis (MS) disease progression that could help identify patients most likely to benefit from new drugs.

News • Intestinal nervous system

Allergies: central role of the "gut brain" discovered

New insights into the intestinal nervous system – or "gut brain" – open new avenues for advancing therapies for allergies, chronic inflammatory bowel diseases and irritable bowel syndrome.

News • Dual-barrier tumours

How colorectal cancer evades immunotherapy (and what to do about it)

Most patients with metastatic colorectal cancer do not respond to immunotherapy—but why? A new study shows how the tumours block the immune system through two complementary mechanisms.

News • Virtual, dynamic model

"Immune Digital Twins" to tackle autoimmune disorders, infectious diseases

An international project to create a ‘digital twin’ of the human immune system could help scientists finally tackle grand challenges such as autoimmune disorders and infectious diseases.

News • Peripheral immune tolerance

Immune system researchers receive Nobel Prize 2025 in Medicine

The 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded to three researchers for their insights into peripheral immune tolerance - how our immune system is kept from attacking our own body.

News • AML targetable immune escape mechanism

How leukemia cells trick the immune system

Immunotherapy has improved the treatment for many cancers, but progress has been limited in leukemia. Discovery of a new evasive mechanism could help change that.

News • Public health

What is ‘herd immunity’ and how can it help eliminate infectious diseases?

When the many protect the few: An expert explains the premise of herd immunity, and how vaccinations apply the priciple in preventing communicable diseases, notably in the complete eradication of smallpox.

News • Study shows widespread disruption

Glioblastoma: damage beyond the brain

Scientists have shown for the first time that glioblastoma—the deadliest form of brain cancer—affects not just the brain but also erodes the skull, alters the makeup of skull marrow, and interferes with the body’s immune response.

News • Neural anticipation of infection

Virtual health threats trigger real immune response

The mere fact of being exposed to a sick avatar in a virtual reality environment triggers a measurable immune response in humans, a multidisciplinary research team discovered.

News • Predictive phenotypes

Ovarian cancer: new insights into immune landscapes

Defining four different immunologic subtypes of recurrent ovarian cancers, researchers pave the way for more personalized treatment.

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