Fighting pancreatic cancer with immunotherapy
Researchers at the School of Medicine in St. Louis and Rush University in Chicago have found a compound that promotes a vigorous immune assault on pancreatic cancer. The findings, in mice, suggest a way to improve immunotherapy for the deadly disease in patients.
Understanding how tics are suppressed may help some at risk for tic disorders
Studying children shortly after they began experiencing tics, researchers at the School of Medicine discovered that although tics don’t go away, most children are able to suppress and control them. Understanding how they do that may provide insight to help others at risk for significant tic disorders.
Alzheimer’s missing link ID’d, answering what tips brain’s decline
Researchers at the School of Medicine have found that immune cells that typically protect neurons from damage may be the link between such early and late brain changes in Alzheimer’s disease. Breaking that link could lead to new approaches to delay or prevent the disease.
Aging delayed in older mice given blood component from young mice
Researchers at the School of Medicine have shown that supplementing older mice with an enzyme from younger mice extends life spans in the older ones.
Deadly tick-borne virus cured with experimental flu drug, in mice
Only a few cases of the newly discovered Bourbon virus have been reported, and two of them ended in death, partly because no specific treatments are available for the tick-borne illness. Now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified an experimental antiviral drug that cures mice infected with the potentially […]
Once thought to be asexual, single-celled parasites caught in the act
The single-celled parasite Leishmania can reproduce sexually, according to a study from the School of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The finding could pave the way towards finding genes that help the parasite cause disease.
To fight TB infection, early protection is crucial
Researchers at the School of Medicine and the Africa Health Research Institute have identified a master cell that coordinates the body’s immune defenses in the crucial early days after a tuberculosis infection. Boosting the activity of such cells could help reduce the millions of new infections that occur worldwide every year.
Biomarker predicts which pancreatic cysts may become cancerous
Research led by investigators at the School of Medicine has taken a step toward identifying the cysts in the pancreas that are likely to become cancerous.
Heartburn drugs linked to fatal heart and kidney disease, stomach cancer
A study from researchers at the School of Medicine and Veterans Affairs St. Louis Health Care System has linked long-term use of drugs known as proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) to fatal cases of cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease and upper gastrointestinal cancer. The researchers found that such risks increase with the duration of PPI use, even when taken at low doses.
Immune cells determine how fast certain tumors grow
Researchers at the School of Medicine studying brain tumors in mice discovered that tumors grow most rapidly if they can enlist the aid of immune cells. The findings suggest that therapies targeting immune cells could potentially treat some kinds of brain tumors.
View More Stories