Health Problems

New dual-action cancer-killing virus

Scientists have equipped a virus that kills carcinoma cells with a protein so it can also target and kill adjacent cells that are tricked into shielding the cancer from the immune system. It is the first time that cancer-associated fibroblasts within solid tumours – healthy cells that are tricked into protecting the cancer from the […]

Health Problems

New paper stresses the importance of ecological thinking and diverse study samples to improve psychological science

For decades, consensus among psychologists has held that a cluster of five personality traits—or a slight variation thereof—universally defines the structure of human personality.Previous research conducted in high-income countries and across many cultures found strong support for what experts refer to as the “Big Five”—openness, conscientiousness, agreeableness, extraversion and neuroticism. However, when UC Santa Barbara […]

Health Problems

New epigenetic drug strategy to treat cancer

Researchers have discovered that inhibiting CDK9, a DNA transcription regulator, reactivates genes that have been epigenetically silenced by cancer. Reactivation leads to restored tumor suppressor gene expression and enhanced anti-cancer immunity. It is the first time this particular kinase has been linked to gene silencing in mammals. Jean-Pierre Issa, MD, Director of the Fels Institute […]

Health Problems

Old drug, new hope for pediatric brain cancer

Some drugs for heart disease might also work against brain cancer, according to an analysis by researchers from the Jackson Laboratory (JAX), Connecticut Children’s Medical Center (CCMC), and UConn Health. The researchers used a new approach to identify five heart medicines that might also be effective at fighting the most common type of childhood brain […]

Health Problems

Immunotherapy may become new first line treatment in some metastatic colorectal cancers

Immunotherapy with nivolumab and low-dose ipilimumab could become a new first line treatment in patients with some metastatic colorectal cancers following late-breaking results from the CheckMate-142 trial reported at the ESMO 2018 Congress in Munich. The drug combination shrank tumours and had beneficial effects on survival in patients with microsatellite instabiliy (MSI)-high metastatic colorectal cancer. […]