Often diagnosed when surgery is no longer an option, pancreatic cancer is one of the most difficult cancers to treat and has one of the lowest rates of survival among major malignancies. Like many solid tumors, the most common type of pancreatic cancer, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), is shielded by the desmoplastic matrix-a dense barrier … Read more
In aggressive lymphomas, inflammatory messengers reprogram the “conductors” of the immune system, causing lymph nodes structure to collapse. A team led by Simon Haas describes in “Nature Cancer” this process for the first time using single-cell and spatial analyses. Lymph nodes are highly organized command centers of the immune system. Within these structures, immune cells … Read more
Vitamin D supplementation may help shape how the immune system responds to gut bacteria in people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), according to a Mayo Clinic–led study published in Cell Reports Medicine. The findings offer new insight into how the immune system and gut microbiome interact in this chronic condition and point to potential new therapeutic strategies. IBD, which includes … Read more
Anyone with a chronic illness understands the struggle of living with a disease that is deeply unpredictable. Many such illnesses are characterized by long periods of remission broken up by sudden, debilitating flare-ups. Sometimes these flare-ups have obvious causes, but often they seem to come out of nowhere, which can be frustrating and unpleasant. The … Read more
A new study led by Pierre Close’s team (GIGA, Laboratory of Cancer Signaling, and WELRI Investigator) reveals how subtly disrupting the way tumors produce their proteins can trigger a potent antitumor immune response. Researchers from the University of Liège and international collaborators have discovered an unexpected way to to stimulate the immune system against cancer: … Read more
Cells in our immune system are best known for providing security against external invaders such as bacteria and viruses. These immune cells also guard against internal threats, including cancerous tumors. Different forms of cancer cells and tumors have their own tricks for avoiding detection by the body’s security system altogether or otherwise sabotaging any attempts … Read more
Despite advances in the field of organ transplantation, long-term organ rejection that can become apparent a decade or more after a heart or lung transplant remains a common problem for patients. This chronic organ failure has long been attributed exclusively to the recipient’s immune system attacking the foreign organ over time. Now, a study led … Read more
In a significant step forward for mucosal immunity, Aptar Pharma has announced that its innovative nasal delivery systems are being utilized in CastleVax’s Phase II clinical trial for CVAX-01, an intranasal COVID-19 vaccine candidate. The trial is designed to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of the vaccine, which aims to provide a more robust immune … Read more
After nearly 40 years of research on how Listeria bacteria manipulate our cells and battle our immune system to cause listeriosis, Daniel Portnoy and his colleagues have discovered a way to turn the bacteria into a potent booster of the immune system – and a potential weapon against cancer. Three years ago, Portnoy cofounded a … Read more
A new study sheds light on why some patients with the most aggressive form of ovarian cancer respond better to treatment than others. Tumors positive for a molecule called MHC class II are linked to stronger immune responses and longer survival. These findings from a large study led by the University of Helsinki highlight how … Read more