Category Health/Medical

Cancer immunotherapy under the microscope: In the center of the image, three killer cells (violet, smaller) attack a cancer cell (violet, larger; leukemia cells are shown here). Credit: Schliemann et al.: Cancer Immunol Res 2015, 3: 547

The use of immunotherapy to treat cancer is celebrating its first successes but there are still many knowledge gaps in the underlying mechanisms of action. In a study of mice with soft tissue tumors, ETH researchers have now shown how endogenous killer cells track down the tumors with the help of dormant viruses. The promising drug is F8-TNF. When injected into the bloodstream, it lures killer cells towards sarcomas which destroys the tumors...

Scientists at NIH used electrical recordings to study how the human brain remembers.
Credit: Courtesy of Zaghloul lab, NIH/NINDS

In a pair of studies, scientists at the National Institutes of Health explored how the human brain remembers. One study suggests that the brain etches each memory into unique firing patterns of individual neurons. Meanwhile, the second study suggests that the brain replays memories faster than they are stored. The studies were led by Kareem Zaghloul, M.D., Ph.D., a neurosurgeon-researcher at the NIH’s National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). Persons with drug resistant epilepsy in protocols studying surgical resection of their seizure focus at the NIH’s Clinical Center enrolled in this study. To help locate the source of the seizures, Dr...

Nearly three-quarters of patients with advanced cancer could be referred to a potential targeted treatment based on the results of a comprehensive analysis of their tumor’s genetic landscape, a new analysis finds.

More biomarker-based clinical trials will increase opportunities. A new analysis finds that nearly 3/4 of 500 patients with advanced cancer could be referred to a potential targeted treatment based on the results of a comprehensive analysis of their tumor’s genetic landscape. The study suggests the value of next generation sequencing, a sophisticated method of evaluating the DNA and RNA of a tumor to help direct treatment.

A report on the first 500 patients with advanced solid tumors to go through the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center’s sequencing program found...

Highlights
•OA inhibits the binding of proteins containing RRM.
•OA rescues processing of pri-miR-7 in vitro.
•OA induces mature miR-7 production in HeLa cells.

A compound found in olive oil may help to prevent cancer developing in the brain, a study shows. Research into oleic acid – the primary ingredient in olive oil – has shown how it can help prevent cancer-causing genes from functioning in cells. The oily substance – a fatty acids – stimulates the production of a cell molecule whose function is to prevent cancer-causing proteins from forming.

The study team says it is too soon to say whether dietary consumption of olive oil may help prevent brain cancer. Their findings, however, point towards possible therapies based on the oil to prevent brain cancer from occurring...