Body

Palbociclib, an investigational oral medication that works by blocking molecules responsible for cancer cell growth, is well tolerated and extends progression-free survival (PFS) in newly diagnosed, advanced breast cancer patients, including those whose disease has stopped responding to traditional endocrine treatments. Results of the phase II study, led by researchers in the Abramson Cancer Center and the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania , were published this month in Clinical Cancer Research.

A new paper says that breastfeeding and other factors influence a baby's immune system development and susceptibility to allergies and asthma by what's in their gut. The findings, from a series of studies further advance the so-called hygiene hypothesis theory that early childhood exposure to microorganisms affects the immune system's development and onset of allergies, says Christine Cole Johnson, Ph.D., MPH, chair of Henry Ford's Department of Public Health Sciences and principal research investigator.

Researchers have linked a specific protein to the development of post-viral infection asthma, which is the first step in generating a novel type of asthma therapy designed to prevent development of post-viral asthma in young children.

Immunologists have shown that our immune cells can learn on the job.

Even better, some cells remember what they have learnt, and can apply it in response to future challenges.

The research, published as the cover story of the first 2015 edition of the journal Immunity, focused on T-helper cells, a type of T cell that helps other immune cells by releasing messenger substances or cytokines.

Dr Andreas Kupz, a researcher from James Cook University in Cairns, Australia, is a co-author of the paper, 'Set Theory for Immune Cells'.

If genes were lights on a string of DNA, the genome would appear as an endless flicker, as thousands of genes come on and off at any given time. Tim Hughes, a Professor at the University of Toronto's Donnelly Centre, is set on figuring out the rules behind this tightly orchestrated light-show, because when it fails, disease can occur.

Genes are switched on or off by proteins called transcription factors. These proteins bind to precise sites on the DNA that serve as guideposts, telling transcription factors that their target genes are nearby.

What started as an evolutionary protection against starvation has become a biological "bad joke" for people who need to lose weight. The human body doesn't distinguish between dieting and possible starvation, so when there is a decrease in calories consumed, human metabolism increases its energy efficiency and weight loss is resisted.

The average American woman lives more than 80 years and ovulates for 35 of them, producing an egg approximately once a month. The typical fruit fly lives about 4 weeks as an adult and ovulates every 30 minutes. Now researchers at the University of Connecticut report in PLOS Genetics that during a key process, the same gene may govern both. If correct, the results could bring insight to cancer metastasis, human fertility and ovarian disease.

Tumors require blood to emerge and spread. That is why scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center believe that targeting blood vessel cells known as pericytes may offer a potential new therapeutic approach when combined with vascular growth factors responsible for cell death.

Duke researchers have demonstrated a genetic therapeutic technique that has the potential to treat more than half of the patients suffering from Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD).

One of the challenges of treating DMD is that the disease can be caused by mutations to a number of different DNA sequences, few of which occur with any substantial frequency. The new technique, however, gets around this sticking point by targeting a large region of the gene that contains many different mutations.

The study was published on Feb. 18 online in Nature Communications.

Contrary to popular belief, only a minimal amount of heavy metals are removed in the 'filtration' process when smoking shisha, also known as hookah, according to research published in the open access journal BMC Public Health. On average, 3% of heavy metals present in tobacco are removed and this would not be enough to protect users from exposure to these toxins.

Much of the damage that ultraviolet radiation (UV) does to skin occurs hours after sun exposure, according to a new study.

Exposure to UV light from the sun or from tanning beds can damage the DNA in melanocytes, the cells that make the melanin that gives skin its color. This damage is a major cause of skin cancer, the most common form of cancer in the United States. In the past, experts believed that melanin protected the skin by blocking harmful UV light. But there was also evidence from studies suggesting that melanin was associated with skin cell damage.

From 28% to 68% of women using hormones at menopause take compounded - "bioidentical" - hormones, but women don't understand the risks of these unapproved, untested treatments, shows an analysis of two large surveys.

Napping beyond the age of 2 is linked to poorer sleep quality in young children, although the impact on behavior and development is less clear-cut, according to a review in Archives of Disease in Childhood. The total length and quality of sleep over a 24 hour period is linked to child health and development, and parents and carers have been encouraged to let toddlers take a daytime nap as a way of promoting good health. By the time a child is 2, s/he is generally getting most of his/her sleep at night.

It's well known that over the long run, a high-fat diet increases the risk of heart attack and stroke.

But a new study has found that a high-fat diet, eaten one day to two weeks days before a heart attack, actually reduced heart attack damage in mice by about 50 percent.

The finding by a team led by W. Keith Jones, PhD, of Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, is published in the American Journal of Physiology - Heart and Circulatory Physiology.

A new study identified a previously unknown change in the spinal cord related to MS, and a way to alter this change to reduce the nerve cell damage that occurs with the disease.

This research, which could lead to the development of new types of drugs to treat MS, was led by Dr. Fang Liu, Senior Scientist in Centre for Addiction and Mental Health's Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute and Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto.