GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (Jan. 2, 2025) — A multi-institutional team of scientists has developed a free, publicly accessible resource to aid in classification of patient tumor samples based on distinct molecular features identified by The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) Network.       The resource comprises classifier models that can accelerate the design of cancer subtype-specific test kits for use in clinical trials and cancer diagnosis. This is an important advance because tumors belonging to different subtypes may vary in their response to cancer therapies.   The resource is the first of its kind to bridge the gap between TCGA’s immense data library ...

NEW YORK, NY--New work by Columbia researchers has turned a textbook principle of genetics on its head and revealed why some people who carry disease-causing genes experience no symptoms. Every biology student learns that each cell in our body (except sperm and eggs) contains two copies of each gene, one from each parent, and each copy plays an equal part in the cell.  The new study shows that some cells are often biased when it comes to some genes and inactivate one parent’s copy. The phenomenon was discovered about a decade ago, but ...

AURORA, Colo. (Jan. 2, 2025) - Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have discovered that some CAR-T cells engineered to fight cancer and other conditions carry the memory of past encounters with bacteria, viruses and other antigens within them, a finding that may allow scientists to manufacture the cells in more precise and targeted ways. The study, published today in the journal Nature Immunology, focused on chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cells, an effective therapy against ...

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — When it comes to deciding where they’re going to get their next meal, different species of bees may be attracted to different flower traits, according to a study led by researchers at Penn State and published in PNAS Nexus. The study focused on two species of solitary bees: the horned-face bee, which helps pollinate crops like apples and blueberries, and the alfalfa leafcutting bee, which pollinates alfalfa. The researchers found that the horned-face bees tended to prefer plants with a large number of flowers — for them, quantity was most important. ...

A new study by investigators from Mass General Brigham uncovers how a novel immunotherapy prevents squamous cell carcinoma, with benefits lasting five years after treatment. This therapy is the first to activate specific components of the adaptive immune system, particularly CD4+ T helper cells, which are not known to be involved in traditional cancer treatments. This work highlights the potential for similar immunotherapies to prevent other cancers throughout the body. Results are published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.  “One of the unique challenges with squamous cell carcinoma is that individuals who develop it are at an increased risk of developing multiple new ...

When children receive their second measles-mumps-rubella vaccine, around the time they start kindergarten, they gain protection against all three viruses for all or most of their lives. Yet the effectiveness of an influenza vaccine given in October starts to wane by the following spring. Scientists have long been stymied by why some vaccines can coax the body to produce antibodies for decades, while others last mere months. Now, a study led by researchers at Stanford Medicine has shown that variation in vaccine durability can, in part, be pinned on a surprising type ...

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have developed a nasal swab test for kids that diagnoses specific asthma subtype, or endotype. This non-invasive approach could help clinicians prescribe medications more precisely and pave the way for research toward better treatments for lesser-studied asthma types, which have been difficult to diagnose accurately until now. Published today in JAMA, the findings are based on data from three independent U.S.-based studies that focused on Puerto Rican and African American youths, who have higher rates of asthma and are more likely to die from the disease than their non-Hispanic white counterparts. “Asthma ...

About The Study: Most study participants could not extract basic information—including whether they have cancer—from standard prostate cancer pathology reports but were able to understand this diagnostic information from the patient-centered pathology reports (PCPRs). Also, they discriminated between risk levels (i.e., lower levels of perceived worry in the low-risk condition) with PCPRs compared with standard reports. Hospital systems should consider including PCPRs with standard pathology reports to improve patient understanding.  Corresponding ...

About The Study: This case-control study found that individuals with more advanced breast cancer at diagnosis were more likely to have prevalent cardiovascular disease. This finding may be specific to hormone receptor–positive and ERBB2-negative (formerly HER2) disease. Future studies are needed to confirm these findings and investigate interventions to improve patient outcomes, including personalized cancer screening. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Kevin T. Nead, MD, MPhil, email ktnead@mdanderson.org. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.52890) Editor’s ...

PITTSBURGH, Jan. 2, 2025 – University of Pittsburgh researchers uncovered a surprising link between Alzheimer’s disease and herpes simplex virus-1 (HSV-1), suggesting that viral infections may play a role in the disease. The study results are published today in Cell Reports. The study also revealed how tau protein, often viewed as harmful in Alzheimer’s, might initially protect the brain from the virus but contribute to brain damage later. These findings could lead to new treatments targeting infections and the brain’s immune response. “Our study challenges ...

HOUSTON ― Cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cancer are the two leading causes of death in the U.S. According to researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, patients diagnosed with late-stage or metastatic breast cancer have a statistically significant increased risk of pre-diagnosis CVD compared to those with early-stage cancer at diagnosis. The study, published today in JAMA Network Open, found those with advanced breast cancer at diagnosis were 10% more likely to have had pre-existing ...

Glaucoma is a progressive eye disorder characterized by fluid buildup inside the eye, causing ocular hypertension. By 2040, it is estimated that 111.8 million people worldwide will be affected by glaucoma, potentially leading to blindness if left untreated. Currently, there are treatments available to manage ocular hypertension, but a cure for glaucoma remains elusive. Retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) are crucial for transmitting visual signals from the eyes to the brain, and their degeneration leads to optic nerve damage, which is a hallmark of glaucoma.  In recent years, scientists ...

Maize is a globally cultivated staple crop and one of the most successful examples of heterosis utilization in food production. The development of elite inbred lines is critical for breeding hybrid varieties and achieving sustained yield improvements. However, efficient breeding of inbred lines faces significant challenges, including the broad origins of germplasm resources, complex and diverse genetic structures, and low accuracy in phenotypic prediction. Advances in modern genomics and artificial intelligence technologies ...

Pancreatic cancer kills 50,000 people each year, according to the National Cancer Institute, and there are few effective treatment options for the disease. In a new study, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine have discovered that an enzyme called MICAL2 promotes tumor growth and spread in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas (PDAC), the most common form of pancreatic cancer. The study will be published on January 2, 2025 in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. Normally, MICAL2 plays an important role in cell migration and morphology. But when the researchers measured ...

WHAT: Highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza A virus (HPAI H5N1) remains a low risk to the general public, and public health experts in the United States believe that available treatments and vaccines, as well as those in development, are sufficient to prevent severe disease. However, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and its federal partners remain focused on monitoring the virus and evaluating changes, according to leading officials at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the NIH.  In a commentary published in the New England Journal of Medicine, NIAID Director Jeanne M. Marrazzo, M.D., M.P.H., and Michael G. Ison, M.D., M.S., chief ...

University of Iowa researchers are recommending all patients be surveyed about their physical activity levels, after a new study underscores the link between physical activity and chronic disease. The study, led by Lucas Carr, associate professor in the Department of Health and Human Physiology, examined responses from more than 7,000 patients at University of Iowa Health Care Medical Center who noted their level of physical activity in a questionnaire.  From patients’ answers to the questionnaire, the researchers found that those who reported the highest level of physical activity — meaning they exercised moderately ...

Since 2021, Insilico Medicine has successfully nominated 22 preclinical candidates (PCCs) with the help of its proprietary Pharma.AI platform, among which 5 were nominated just the year of 2024. The novel scaffold of ISM1745 is based on de novo generation results of Insilico’s Chemistry42, the generative AI platform combining more than 40 generative models. With in vivo anti-tumor activity validated in multiple cancer models, the candidate compound showed robust in vivo efficacy as monotherapy as well as combination potential with chemotherapies, targeted agents including MAT2A inhibitor, and immunotherapies. CAMBRIDGE, ...

Scientists at University of California San Diego School of Medicine have shed new light on the development of liver cancer, the sixth most frequently diagnosed cancer and fourth leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide. The study, published in Nature, reveals a complex interplay between cellular metabolism and DNA damage that drives the progression of fatty liver disease to cancer. The findings suggest new paths forward for preventing and treating liver cancer and have significant implications on our understanding of cancer’s origin and the effects of diet on our DNA. The incidence of the most common form of liver cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), has grown by 25-30% in the past ...

Inflammation is a crucial part of the body’s defense mechanism, playing a key role in fighting infections and repairing tissue damage. Basophils, a type of immune cell that makes up less than 1% of white blood cells, have recently emerged as critical players in triggering allergic responses by releasing pro-inflammatory cytokines like IL-4. Despite the established role of basophils in inflammation, the molecular mechanisms controlling their cytokine production have remained unclear. To address this gap, a group of researchers from Institute of Science Tokyo, led by Professor Kensuke Miyake, conducted a study to explore the role of tristetraprolin ...

Researchers are aiming to bring the magic of playing music in person to the virtual world.  The Joint Active Music Sessions (JAMS) platform, created at the University of Birmingham, uses avatars created by individual musicians and shared with fellow musicians to create virtual concerts, practice sessions, or enhance music teaching.  Dr Massimiliano (Max) Di Luca from the University of Birmingham explains: “A musician records themselves and sends the video to another musician.  The software creates a responsive avatar ...

One or two doses of psilocybin, a compound found in psychedelic mushrooms, may improve the mental health of cancer patients when accompanied by psychotherapy, a new report suggests. A second new study found that treatment with psilocybin resulted in lasting, positive personality changes in patients with alcohol use disorder. The first report’s findings were published online Oct. 7 in the journal Nature Mental Health, and the second published online Jan. 1 in a special edition of The American Journal of Psychiatry focused on psilocybin research. In the first study, a team of experts at NYU Langone Health found that psilocybin accompanied by psychotherapy significantly reduced anxiety, ...

To many, Vice President Kamala Harris’s loss in the 2024 presidential election was a sobering reminder of a larger and continuous gender gap across leadership positions in not only government, but also in business, higher education, and the military. A majority of Americans recognize the inadequacy of female representation in leadership, and the news media often portray women’s underrepresentation in these roles—but it nonetheless persists.  Recognizing that news coverage may have influence in forming attitudes and in driving ...

A new international study led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden shows that AI-based models can outperform human experts at identifying ovarian cancer in ultrasound images. The study is published in Nature Medicine. “Ovarian tumours are common and are often detected by chance,” says Professor Elisabeth Epstein at the Department of Clinical Science and Education, Södersjukhuset (Stockholm South General Hospital), at Karolinska Institutet and senior consultant at the hospital’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. “There is a serious shortage of ultrasound experts in many parts of the world, which has ...

Researchers from the Bakkers group at the Hubrecht Institute have successfully repaired damaged mouse hearts using a protein from zebrafish. They discovered that the protein Hmga1 plays a key role in heart regeneration in zebrafish. In mice, this protein was able to restore the heart by activating dormant repair genes without causing side effects, such as heart enlargement. This study, supported by the Dutch Heart Foundation and Hartekind Foundation, marks an important step toward regenerative therapies to prevent heart failure. The findings were published in Nature Cardiovascular Research on January 2, 2025. After a heart attack, the human heart loses millions of muscle cells that cannot ...

Artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT have been touted for their promise to alleviate clinician workload by triaging patients, taking medical histories and even providing preliminary diagnoses. These tools, known as large-language models, are already being used by patients to make sense of their symptoms and medical tests results. But while these AI models perform impressively on standardized medical tests, how well do they fare in situations that more closely mimic the real world? Not that great, according to the findings of a new study led by researchers at Harvard Medical School and Stanford University. For their analysis, published Jan. 2 in Nature ...