One-third of cancer patients use complementary and alternative medicine
A stunning one-third of people with a cancer diagnosis use complementary and alternative medicines such as meditation, yoga, acupuncture, herbal medicine, and supplements. UT Southwestern Medical Center's Dr. Nina Sanford made the discovery that's now drawing renewed attention to habits she said cancer patients must disclose during treatment. Dr. Sanford is an Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology who specializes in and treats cancers of the gastrointestinal tract.
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Immune cells fighting blood cancer visualized for the first time
When cancer escapes the immune system, our defenses are rendered powerless and are unable to fight against the disease. Chimeric antigen receptor T cells (CAR T cells) represent a promising immunotherapy strategy, developed with the aim of tackling tumors head-on. But the occurrence of relapse in some patients remains a challenge.
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Compound that kills drug-resistant fungi is isolated from ant microbiota
Antimicrobial and antifungal resistance, which describe the ability of bacteria and other pathogens to resist the effects of drugs to which they were once sensitive, is a major public health problem worldwide. A study published recently in the journal Nature Communications suggests that the solution may come from the tiny bodies of insects, or more accurately, from the microbiota that they host.
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Sugar could be sweet solution to respiratory disease
Restriction or inhalation of common sugar could one day treat a range of respiratory diseases, according to new research led by University of Manchester biologists. The study in mice reveals how the ability of cells to use glucose helps to regulate the immune system during lung inflammation.
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Clinical trial finds therapy to be well-tolerated in patients with aggressive brain tumour
A phase I clinical trial that set out to assess the safety of a new combination therapy for a type of aggressive brain tumour has found the treatment to be well tolerated in patients. The trial used a treatment combination of ADI-PEG20, pemetrexed and cisplatin, which showed encouraging efficacy in patients with recurrent high-grade gliomas (HGGs), a disease for which little progress has been made over the last few decades.
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BridgIT, a new tool for orphan and novel enzyme reactions
Effective protein engineering can give us control over the generated products inside a cell. However, for many of the biochemical reactions responsible for these products, we don't we don't know the specific protein- or enzyme-producing gene responsible. These reactions are called "orphan" and have become a big problem for protein engineers.
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Diabetes drug effective against heart failure in wide spectrum of patients
The cardiovascular benefits of the diabetes drug dapagliflozin extend across a wide spectrum of patients and are especially pronounced in those with reduced ejection fraction, a measure of the heart's pumping ability indicative of poor heart functioning, according to research presented at the American College of Cardiology's 68th Annual Scientific Session.
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