To better understand the response to treatment of patients with Burkitt’s lymphoma, a team of researchers at Brown University created a stratified risk score of patient prognosis. Burkitt lymphoma is a cancer of the lymphatic system that derives from B lymphocytes; it is a rare lymphatic cancer as it represents only about 2% of lymphoid cancers. According to Dr. Jorge Castillo, an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and a hematology / oncology specialist at Rhode Island Hospital, there is little available on prognostic factors, indicators or scoring regarding Burkitt lymphoma.

In order to better understand the disease and prognosis of patients with Burkitt’s lymphoma, the team of investigators led by Dr. Castillo, analyzed medical records of 2,284 patients during a period of 11 years. Researchers focused on information such as survival rates, age, race, cancer location and stage of the cancer in the body. They found that although survival rates have significantly improved prognosis, these have not improved much for older patients or black people with advanced stage cancer. Analyzing these data, researchers used these risk factors to create a new risk score for patients with Burkitt lymphoma. According to this score, patients with the lowest score have 7 out of 10 chances to survive with treatment, while patients with the highest score have less than 3 in 10 chance to survive.

Castillo and his team of researchers from Brown University have found that age has a significant impact on survival. It seems that patients aged over 80 have a risk of dying from cancer five times higher than patients aged 20-39 years. In addition, it was also found that the risk of death is directly correlated with the stage of the cancer: patients with Burkitt lymphoma stage IV had a 2.4 times greater risk of dying than patients with Burkitt lymphoma stage I.

Another risk factor was the race: black people had a risk of death 1.6 times higher than Hispanics and whites. It should be noted that patients’ survival rate improved significantly over time: in 1998 the rate of overall survival was 34.7%,  while in 2007 it increased to 62.1% for the youngest adult patients. However, it must be said that for patients over 60 years, the survival rate increased only to 43%. Dr Castillo said that this score has several applications not only for doctors, but also for patients. By applying this score, they understand what to expect and how to assess treatment regimens or other treatment options.

A study conducted by a team of researchers from The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, shows that eteplirsen can improve walking performance of patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. This is the first study to demonstrate that an exon-skipping drug increases the production of dystrophin, a protein essential for muscle growth and health. The study, which was published in the journal Annals of Neurology, is an important progress in muscular dystrophy research.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy is the most common form of muscular dystrophy in children, affecting approximately 1 in 5000 births of boys in the United States. Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a debilitating disease that affects the muscles; at 12 years, most patients end in a wheelchair. This disorder occurs due to a mutation in the DMD gene that encodes a protein called dystrophin. Without this protein, the muscle can no longer contract, and muscle fiber gradually degenerates and are replaced by scar tissue and fat.

Jerry Mendell, MD, lead author of the study and director of the Center for Gene Therapy at Nationwide Children’s, said they have been working on this research for over 40 years and it is one of the most exciting discoveries he has seen. He added that this finding offers hope for patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy and for their families.

Researchers at The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital conducted a double-blind, randomized study to test the efficacy of eteplirsen, an exon-skipping drug. They were able to show that this drug can improve motor performance of patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy in a standard 6-minute test drive. It was a phase 2 clinical trial that included 12 boys aged between 7 and 12 years, who received weekly 30 mg / kg or 50 mg / kg of eteplirsen. Compared with the placebo group, participants who received eteplirsen had an increase of 23% in dystrophin production at week 24. Due to this significant improvement and lack of adverse effects, researchers included the participants from the placebo group in the drug group. Furthermore, at week 48, there was a 52% increase in dystrophin-positive muscle fibers and, at the 6-minute walk test, the participants were able to walk 67.3 meters farher than the placebo group.

More than half of the patients with DMD dystrophin gene lack large sections of DNA called exons, which contain the instructions for making proteins. Eteplirsen is an exon-skipping drug that allows the cells to skip these regions of DNA, namely across exons. “There may be factors that lead to preferential localization of the dystrophin production. That’s one of many issues we’d like to investigate further, “said Dr. Mendell.

According to a study led by researchers at the University of California in Riverside and San Diego, pregnant women eat foods that contain toxins that can be harmful to the fetus. The study, which was published in the July issue of Nutrition Journal, reveals that a number of foods such as salmon, tuna, canned food, tap water, caffeine, alcohol and some over the counter drugs , may cause birth defects.

Sarah Santiago, a Ph.D. student in psychology at UCR and the paper’s lead author, said that this is a unique study that highlights some of the unseen dangers of foods that have not so far been considered unhealthy for the fetus. Santiago explained that unlike alcohol and nicotine, which are known to be dangerous, tuna, canned foods, caffeine, along with a range of foods and beverages, are associated with a range of developmental defects that are not normally considered unhealthy. She added that they hope this study to draw attention to health care providers to keep pregnant women informed on the possible dangers of unhealthy habits.

The study, which was conducted on 200 Hispanic women, analyzed dietary habits during pregnancy using a food questionnaire. Almost all participants said they ate meat during pregnancy, especially fish: tuna, tilapia and salmon. Also, almost all said they consumed fruit but less than a quarter ate the recommended daily amount, which is more than one serving. Regarding the consumption of canned foods, three-fourths said they ate canned foods (vegetables, soup, fruit). Most participants said they consumed caffeinated beverages and 6% of them admitted that they had sometimes consumed alcohol during pregnancy. Regarding the drugs consumed, acetaminophen was the most cited drug.

The researchers from University of California – Riverside said that tuna, salmon, caffeinated beverages, sweetened desserts, alcoholic beverages are considered unhealthy due to environmental toxins that have harmful effects on child development. It seems that tuna contains methylmercury, which can lead to many developmental deficits involving verbal learning, attention, motor skills, etc.. Also, caffeine consumption during pregnancy was associated with fetal death, low birth weight and birth defects. Bisphenol A (BPA) which is found in metal cans can cause hyperactivity, problems with reproduction, etc., while polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in salmon have been associated with low birth weight, mental impairment, etc.. UC Riverside psychologists found that especially women with low socioeconomic status are at risk, because consuming  canned food is inversely correlated with the income.

Cellular therapy combined with gene therapy appears to be the future treatment of advanced cancer. According to an article recently published in Clinical Cancer Research, the combined treatment consisting of cellular therapy and gene therapy shows promise in curing breast cancer with brain metastases. Breast cancer, the most common invasive cancer in women, can be successfully cured if caught in time. However, metastasis, namely brain metastases are difficult to treat due to blood-brain barrier that prevents the passage of drugs into the brain. In addition, brain metastases can lead to a wide range of neurological, debilitating symptoms.

But now researchers at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have managed to treat breast cancer with brain metastases using gene therapy combined with cellular therapy. Cell therapy is part of immunotherapy based on T cells (cells that belong to the immune system). Naturally, T cells activates cellular immune response that fights the destruction of microorganisms with which the body comes in contact. After several experiments in the laboratory, researchers modified these cells in order to destroy breast cancer cells, then they injected these sensitized T cells to destroy brain metastases. Researchers have demonstrated in this way that T cells can recognize cancer cells and destroy them.

The other therapy, gene therapy, uses a drug called 5-flurocytosine (5-FC). In order for the gene to enter the cancer cells, it must first be inserted into a virus that infect cancer cells. After the cells are infected with the virus, 5-FC, which is non-toxic, is given to patients. Then the cells convert the non-toxic drug into a toxic drug, which means that they are destructed.

Researchers from UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have shown that each of these two methods (gene therapy and cellular therapy) led to the destruction of metastasis in laboratory experiments, but the success rate was recorded when the two were combined. Carol Kruse, professor of neurosurgery and a member of the Jonsson Cancer Center and the UCLA Brain Research Institute, said that although brain metastases (which are secondary tumors) are 10 times more common than primary tumors, there is a significant lack of funding studies to the research in this area. He added that patients with brain metastases have a poor prognosis because the brain is considered a ‘sanctuary site’ where many chemotherapy drugs are ineffective. It must be said that both therapies are now being tested in studies to treat primary brain tumors.

An article published in Science Signaling explains why some tumors treated with ErbB inhibitors are resistant to treatment. According to researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, there is a protein called AXL that help cancer cells to escape the effects of ErbB inhibitors.

ErbBs are proteins (epithelial growth factor receptors, EGFR) present in cancer cells and responsible for the uncontrolled growth and division. Drugs targeting these proteins have been shown effective in the treatment of cancer; examples of these drugs are Iressa, which is used to treat lung cancer, and Herceptin which is useful in treating certain types of breast cancer. Doug Lauffenburger, the Ford Professor of Bioengineering, head of MIT’s Department of Biological Engineering, said that there are many drugs that target ErbBs, but they have their limitations. He added that a solution to prevent the emergence of resistance to treatment would be the use of a combination therapy consisting of drugs that target ErbBs and AXL.

In their study, the research team led by Lauffenburger wanted to discover the factors that cause cancer cells to become resistant to treatment with EGFR and other ErbB inhibitors. Therefore they developed Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia, ie a dataset containing information on over 1,000 human cancer lines and their response to treatment. After a detailed analysis of these cell lines, the researchers found that the strongest marker for EGFR inhibitor resistance is EGFR paired with AXL receptor. It seems that this marker is present in many types of cancers such as cancer of the lung, breast and pancreas.

Lauffenburger believes that when therapy targets a single signaling pathway, then resistance is very likely to occur. He added that the only way is to combine multiple therapeutic targets and to consider the interacting networks. Laboratory experiments have shown that when EGFR is activated, AXL also activates. AXL then stimulates other additional signaling pathways that lead to growth, division and migration of cancer cells throughout the body.

Researchers also found that other members of the ErbB family, similar to EGFR, are associated with AXL, which indicates that inhibition of AXL can treat cancers that are dependent on ErbB2, such as some breast cancers. Previous studies have shown that triple-negative breast cancers (those cancers that lack the three most frequent markers: estrogen receptors, progesterone receptors and HER2 receptors) express high levels of AXL, and the the results of the study explain why treatment with EGFR inhibitors fails despite high EGFR levels.

A new led study by researchers at the University of Cambridge suggests that breastfeeding  reduces the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. According to the study, recently published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, it seems that the risk is lower as the breastfeeding periods are longer.

Alzheimer’s disease ( AD) is known to cause insulin resistance in the brain and there seems to be a biological link between breastfeeding and this disease. In addition, breastfeeding ameliorates tolerance to insulin, which is significantly reduced during pregnancy. Even though the study was conducted only on a small number of patients (81 British women), researchers found a significant correlation between breastfeeding and Alzheimer’s disease. The correlation was much less significant in women who already had a history of dementia in their family.

The study opens a new perspective on the possible causes of Alzheimer’s disease. In addition, it is known that breastfeeding has benefits for both mother and baby and the study results urge women to breastfeed rather than bottlefeed. The researchers hope that these findings are confirmed by further studies on reproductive history and risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Dr Molly Fox, from the Department of Biological Anthropology at the University of Cambridge, said that Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cognitive disease affecting 35 million people and they expect that in the future AD  will spread in low and middle- income countries. It is therefore vital that they develop strategies to protect people against this devastating disease.

This is not the first study that shows a correlation between breastfeeding and the risk of Alzheimer’s; there have been studies that have shown that breastfeeding reduces the mother’s risk for certain diseases. In addition there appears to be a link between breastfeeding and cognitive decline of the mother in later in life.

The study was performed on both women with Alzheimer’s disease and women without Alzheimer’s. Investigators have focused on information such as reproductive history, history of nursing, dementia status (which was evaluated using a Clinical Dementia Rating), as well as other possible risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease such as stroke. The researchers found that women who breastfeed have a reduced risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and that this risk is directly proportional. “Women who spent more time pregnant without a compensatory phase of breastfeeding therefore may have more impaired glucose tolerance, which is consistent with our observation that those women have an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease”, researchers said.

Researchers at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital have discovered a new way to treat cancer using immunotherapy  without having autoimmune or inflammatory complications. What is interesting is that the mechanism that was tested on laboratory animals is present also in humans. Researchers have focused on regulatory T cells, cells belonging to the immune system. These cells control processes of autoimmunity and inflammation and also interfere with the immune system’s ability to fight cancer.

The study led by researchers at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital shows that there is a mechanism that stimulates the ability of regulatory T cells to cause complications by blocking an effective anti-tumor immune response. What is noteworthy is that the same process does not cause the immune system to attack self healthy tissues, ie to produce autoimmune or inflammatory complications. Researchers have demonstrated that blocking this mechanism leads to the destruction of melanoma in rats without causing complications (such as other autoimmune diseases, as it happens in standard treatments currently used).

Dario Vignali, Ph.D., vice chair of the St. Jude Department of Immunology, said that regulatory T cells are a barrier to effective antitumor immunity and that their study identified a mechanism that stimulates regulatory T cells’ ability to destroy tumors without interfering with autoimmunity processes. Vignali explained that this is for the first time when they are able to selectively target the activity of regulatory T cells in cancer therapy without inducing autoimmunity and other inflammatory diseases.

The mechanism identified by researchers at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital involves two proteins: semaphorin-4a (Sema4a) and neuropilin-1 (Nrp1); the first is found on the surface of many immune cells, while the second is found on the surface of regulatory T cells. The researchers used several techniques to demonstrate that the binding of Nrp1 to Sema4a activates a signaling pathway that stimulates regulatory T cells. When researchers removed Nrp1 only on regulatory T cells, those cells did not respond to signals that normally support their anti-inflammatory activity. Reseachers said that this mechanism is present also in humans.

The researchers explained that after 16 months of Nrp1 removal, there were no complications such as autoimmune or inflammatory diseases. Vignali pointed out that this is extremely important because those who have defects in regulatory T cells have an increased risk of developing fatal autoimmune disease. For the first time, we may now have an opportunity to selectively target the activity of regulatory T cells for treatment of cancer without inducing autoimmune or inflammatory complications “, said Vignali.

According to a study published in Cell Reports, researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College have shown in an experimental study that a drug may cure human lymphoma after only a few doses. If the results are confirmed in future studies then the discovery could be a major step forward in the treatment of lymphoma diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL).

DLBCL, the most common form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, usually occurs in people over 70 years and affects on average 7-8 people per 100 000 inhabitants. DLBCL is a cancer derived from B cells, which are part of the immune system and are responsible for producing antibodies.

In the newly published study, the researchers explained the role of the transcription factor Bcl6 in controlling genome: it seems that this transcription factor ensures the proliferation of this type of lymphoma. But what is interesting is that Bcl6 inhibitor can stop the proliferation of DLBCL. Dr. Ari Melnick, Gebroe Family Professor of Hematology / Oncology and the study’s senior investigator, they said urgently need a new strategy to treat this cancer because more and more patients become resistant to standard treatment.

Dr. Melnick began research on inhibitors BCl 9 years ago and improved the design of these drugs until they could use them to treat patients with cancer. It should be noted that Bcl6 is active in many types of cancers not only in leukemia, it is also active in breast cancer. In a study published in Nature Immunology, Dr. Melnick has shown that it is possible to turn off Bcl DLBCL without affecting their vital role in T cells and macrophages and that treatment has fewer side effects than standard chemotherapy. It must be said that this protein has long been considered too complex to be targeted because of its essential role in immune system function.

Transcription factors act through activation or inhibition of gene expression, however transcription regulatory factors master, like Bcl6, influence thousands of genes in several celltypes. Bcl6 can influence cell differentiation (in bone marrow) in either B cells, T cells or macrophages. In addition, Bcl6 controls an important stage of B cell development: more exactly the stage where they generate antibodies that destroy microorganisms. When B cells produce antibodies to fight off an infection, Bcl6 deactivates the DNA and stops the formation of RNA and proteins. When the infection was eradicated, Bcl6 does not influence the genome anymore; in DLBCL, however, Bcl6 remains attached to genes.

Forpost readings on Lymphoma research development please read the following :

Lymphoma Cells Shown to be Destroyed by Experimental Drug Combination

New Human Lymphoma Treatment Target Discovered

According to study, exercise is the best method for preventing stroke. Some people who have had a stroke think family history is the main risk factor for this, regardless of how much they care for themselves. But it must be said that although a family history of cardiovascular disease indeed increases the risk of stroke or heart attack, this that does not mean it will necessarily happen. According to a study published in the journal Stroke, it seems that regular exercise for at least four times a week is the main way to prevent stroke.

Stroke usually occurs in people who have cardiovascular risk factors such as hypertension, atherosclerosis, smoking, old age etc. There are several risk factors for stroke, some of which can be modified (hypertension, smoking) and some that cannot be changed (age, family history). There are two types of stroke: ischemic stroke, which is the most common, and hemorrhagic stroke, which is rarer but more severe prognosis. Hypertension and smoking are two important risk factors for both ischemic and haemorrhagic stroke. The good part is that these two risk factors can be modified and in this way it significantly decreases the risk of stroke.

It seems that there are five factors that promote a healthy lifestyle that can lower the risk of stroke by 80%: quitting smoking, maintaining a healthy weight and a healthy diet, exercise 30 minutes a day and consuming low quantities of alcohol. Following these five factors that promote a healthy lifestyle can not only decrease the risk of stroke but also the risk of other chronic diseases.

The researchers reached this conclusion after conducting a study on 30 000 participants. They were asked if they exercise and were followed for several years. It was found that those who were physically inactive had a greater risk of developing stroke. Those who practiced four times a week had a 20% lower risk than those who exercised 3 times per week. It should be mentioned that the investigators focused on the intensity of their effort because participants were not asked what kind of exercise performed or for how long, but how intense was their effort.

Studies have shown that people know that smoking, hypertension, high cholesterol are risk factors for stroke;  however, they do not know that lack of exercise is an important part of these risk factors: lack of physical activity is actually the second most important risk factor for stroke.