New treatment strategy may thwart deadly brain tumors

Immune checkpoint inhibitors are important medications that boost the immune system’s response against certain cancers; however, they tend to be ineffective against glioblastoma, the most deadly primary brain tumor in adults. New research in mice led by investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and the University of Florida reveals a promising strategy that makes glioblastoma susceptible to these medications. The […]

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Drug treats inflammation associated with genetic heart disease that can be deadly in young athletes

When young athletes experiences sudden cardiac death as they run down the playing field, it’s usually due to arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (ACM), an inherited heart disease. Now, Johns Hopkins researchers have shed new light on the role of the immune system in the progression of ACM and, in the process, discovered a new drug that might help prevent ACM disease symptoms […]

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Model predicts bat species with the potential to spread deadly Nipah virus in India

Since its discovery in 1999, Nipah virus has been reported almost yearly in Southeast Asia, with Bangladesh and India being the hardest hit. In a new study, published today in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, scientists used machine learning to identify bat species with the potential to host Nipah virus, with a focus on India—the site of a 2018 outbreak. Four […]

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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 lethal virus. The drug, favipiravir, […]

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Fighting deadly drug resistant bacteria in intestines with new antibiotic

A new antibiotic developed by a Flinders University researcher is being heralded as a breakthrough in the war against a drug resistant superbug. Bacteria are winning the fight against antibiotics as they evolve to fight off traditional treatments, threatening decades of advancements in modern medicine, with predictions they will kill over 10 million people by 2050. The scientific development of […]

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Cancer patients with rare deadly brain infection treated successfully with off-the-shelf adoptive T-cell therapy

An emerging treatment known as adoptive T-cell therapy has proven effective in a Phase II clinical trial for treating progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), a rare and often fatal brain infection sometimes observed in patients with cancer and other diseases in which the immune system is compromised. The study, led by Katy Rezvani, M.D., Ph.D., professor, Department of Stem Cell Transplantation […]

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A Trojan Horse delivery for treating a rare, potentially deadly, blood-clotting disorder

In proof-of-concept experiments, University of Alabama at Birmingham researchers have highlighted a potential therapy for a rare but potentially deadly blood-clotting disorder, TTP. The researchers deliver this therapeutic enzyme via the cellular equivalent of a Trojan Horse, using tiny blood cell platelets as their protective delivery vehicle, with a key enzyme hidden inside. TTP, or thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, appears as […]

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