Initial colon cancer surgery may not be best course Southern China researchers unexpectedly found pre-surgery immunotherapy for a common type of colorectal cancer even more effective at early and mid-stages than its previously known high success rate in the metastatic stage of the disease. The study, published January 11 in JNCCN - Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, found that immune checkpoint programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) inhibitor treatment prior to surgery was significantly effective for patients with certain types of colorectal cancer.Read More
Ebola vaccine protocols found safe for all ages Two randomized, placebo-controlled trials evaluating three Ebola vaccine administration strategies in adults and children found that all regimens were safe in both age groups. The research, published last week in the New England Journal of Medicine, was conducted under the international consortium Partnership for Research on Ebola Vaccination (PREVAC).Read More
Analysis of T-cell receptors sheds light on cause of autoimmune diseases An analysis of T-cell receptors by researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine, and colleagues at Stanford University and Oxford University, has generated evidence that microbial antigens and self-antigens could play a pathogenic role in certain autoimmune diseases.Read More
Cryo-EM reveals 3D structure of inflammasomes implicated in multiple diseases Using cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), researchers from Harvard Medical School and Peking University have generated 3D images of the inflammasome in its active state for the first time, enabling scientists to view a structure linked to multiple diseases in near-atomic resolution.Read More