Category Health/Medical

Omega fatty acids have long been recognized for their benefits: supporting cardiovascular health, reducing systemic inflammation, and promoting brain development and cognitive function. But scientists now warn of a long-unrecognized downside to these compounds when it comes to cancer and immunotherapy.

New preclinical experiments by medical investigators in the Vascular Biology and Therapeutic Program at Yale University School of Medicine show that omega fatty acids can blunt the cancer-killing capabilities of the immune system’s natural killer cells.

Their research is part of a growing body of evidence suggesting that well-known—and largely beneficial—fatty acids can circumvent the body’s defenses and promote cancer growth.

A unifying he...

An international research team has discovered a previously unknown mechanism that plays a key role in the signaling pathways involved in programmed cell death. The team identified the protein HERC4 as an essential component of both TNF-induced necroptosis and apoptosis pathways—two processes that play a crucial role in maintaining cellular balance and triggering inflammatory responses.

The study, “HERC4-mediated ubiquitination licenses RIPK1 to initiate TNF-induced cell death,” was published in Nature Structural and Molecular Biology. The lead researchers were Dr...

The risk of developing chronic kidney disease (CKD) or heart failure (HF), or dying, following a type 2 diabetes (T2D) diagnosis increases substantially over time, according to new research being presented at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Milan, Italy, Sept. 28–Oct. 2.

The study, which analyzed data from more than 1.6 million patients across the U.S., found that the combined risk of developing CKD or HF, or dying, was 33% on average within the first five years of a T2D diagnosis, rising to 55% over 10 years.

The researchers say their findings underscore the importance of early, proactive and more holistic approaches to managing type 2 diabetes to help reduce the risk of serious complications...

A study led by researchers at the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center found that a dietary form of a naturally occurring molecule called calcium alphaketoglutarate, or Ca-αKG, reduced lung tumor growth in female mice and activated genes associated with better outcomes in women with lung cancer. The researchers also found that Ca-αKG had the opposite effect in male mice, where it was associated with larger tumors and increased tumor-cell proliferation.

The findings, published in the journal Cell Reports, suggest that Ca-αKG may influence lung cancer primarily through epigenetic changes—chemical modifications that help control which genes are turned on or off—rather than by changing the ca...