Research News

An innovative phase 2 clinical trial led by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in collaboration with 10 major brain tumor centers around the country and designed to find new potential treatments for glioblastoma has reported initial results in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. While none of the three therapeutics tested so far improved overall survival of patients, this adaptive platform trial, the first of its kind in neuro-oncology, has the potential to rapidly and efficiently identify therapies that benefit patients.

New research provides insight about the bedrock scientific principle that mitochondrial DNA — the distinct genetic code embedded in the organelle that serves as the powerplant of every cell in the body — is exclusively passed down by the mother.

ProMyelocytic Leukemia (PML) protein controls various biological functions, such as apoptosis, senescence or stem cell self-renewal. PML may elicit these functions by scaffolding the spherical shells of PML Nuclear Bodies (NBs), which subsequently act as hubs of post-translational modifications, in particular sumoylation, for the broad range of proteins trafficking through their inner cores. PML NBs are disrupted in Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia (APL) driven by the PML-RARA oncogenic fusion protein.

Breast cancer research takes a significant stride forward as Professor Semin Lee and his research team from the Department of Biomedical Engineering at UNIST, in collaboration with Professor Ji-Yeon Kim and Professor Young-Hyuck Im from the Division of Hematology-Oncology at Samsung Medical Center in Seoul, delves into the exploration of triple negative apocrine carcinoma. This rare breast cancer subtype has garnered attention due to its unique genetic characteristics and improved prognosis when compared to other forms of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).

A study  led by Columbia obstetricians has shown that a new intrauterine device can rapidly control postpartum hemorrhage, a major cause of severe maternal morbidity and death, in real-world situations.

An LSU Health New Orleans research study led by Siqiong June Liu, PhD, Professor of Cell Biology and Anatomy, has found that cerebellar inhibitory interneurons are essential for fear memory, a type of emotional memory formation. Inhibitory interneurons within the cerebellar circuitry act as gatekeepers and control the output of the cerebellar cortex. The formation of fear memory requires the activity of these interneurons.

Through study findings published Friday in Cell Reports, a team of scientists at VCU Massey Cancer Center discovered a previously unknown interaction between proteins that is responsible for supplying energy to tumor cells and could hold significant implications for the development of future treatments for colon cancer.

New research led by the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College London has found that depression and the risk of depression are linked to different inflammatory proteins in boys and girls.

When inflammation occurs in the body a host of proteins are released into the blood called cytokines. Previous research has shown that higher levels of cytokines are associated with depression in adults, but little is known about this relationship in adolescence.

AstraZeneca’s Calquence (acalabrutinib), a next generation, selective Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor, has been approved in China for the treatment of adult patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL) who have received at least one prior therapy.