http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Researchers from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) have discovered that a new treatment for the inflammatory condition, Systemic Lupus Erythmstosus (SLE) could potentially benefit Irish patients who suffer from the condition. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-irish-lupus-patients-benefit-treatment.html Arthritis & Rheumatism Tue, 07 May 2013 09:07:52 EST news287136465 (Medical Xpress)—Researchers at The Jackson Laboratory have identified a molecule that prevents repair of some cancer cells, providing a potential new "genetic chemotherapy" approach to cancer treatment that could significantly reduce side effects and the development of treatment resistance compared with traditional chemotherapy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-molecule-leukemia-cancer-cell-scientists.html Cancer Wed, 17 Apr 2013 10:42:09 EST news285414122 Severe autoimmunity in childhood can be an indication of a primary immunodeficiency (PID) – this has now been demonstrated in a 13-year-old patient by a research group from the MedUni Vienna belonging to the CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the AAS and the St. Anna paediatric hospital. A previously unknown B-cell defect was identified in the teenager with the aid of so-called "next generation sequencing", with which genetic mutations in the genetic material can be detected within a few days. The study has been published in the leading journal Blood. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-discovery-previously-unknown-immunodeficiency.html Genetics Tue, 19 Feb 2013 11:40:01 EST news280490838 Multiple myeloma is a type of leukaemia which affects B lymphocytes. There have been some indications that exposure to pesticides or chlorinated solvents increases the risk of developing this cancer. New research published in Biomed Central's open access journal Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology provides a large (from 22 centres across Europe), matched control study into lifetime risk of multiple myeloma. They find that risk of Multiple myeloma is related to farm work, printing and cleaning. But although exposure to pesticides seemed to be a risk, exposure to organic solvents was not. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-large-factors-multiple-myeloma.html Cancer Thu, 13 Dec 2012 19:00:02 EST news274642834 The process of blood cell development, known as hematopoiesis, gives rise to numerous different immune cell subtypes. Each of these in turn matures through a stepwise process governed by the action of transcription factors—specialized proteins that coordinate activation and deactivation of specific target genes.  http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-complicated-network-maturation-cells-immune.html Medical research Thu, 22 Nov 2012 07:49:34 EST news272792961 The antibody response to immune threats is managed by cells known as B lymphocytes. The differentiation and function of B cells are tightly regulated to ensure a prompt response to confirmed dangers, such as viruses or bacteria, and also to prevent the emergence of harmful autoimmune responses that can damage healthy tissues in the body. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-defects-protein-sabotage-immune-multiple.html Immunology Wed, 21 Nov 2012 07:22:56 EST news272704962 A team of UC Davis investigators has discovered a protein on the surface of lung cancer cells that could prove to be an important new target for anti-cancer therapy. A series of experiments in mice with lung cancer showed that specific targeting of the protein with monoclonal antibodies reduced the size of tumors, lowered the occurrence of metastases and substantially lengthened survival time. The findings will be published in the November issue of Cancer Research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-scientists-lung-cancer-treatment.html Cancer Thu, 01 Nov 2012 15:11:39 EST news271001442 Burkitt lymphoma is a malignant, fast-growing tumor that originates from a subtype of white blood cells called B lymphocytes of the immune system and often affects internal organs and the central nervous system. Now Dr. Sandrine Sander and Professor Klaus Rajewsky of the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch have identified a key element that transforms the immune cells into malignant lymphoma cells. They developed a mouse model that closely resembles Burkitt lymphoma in humans and that may help to test new treatment strategies (Cancer Cell). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-key-element-pathogenesis-burkitt-lymphoma.html Cancer Mon, 13 Aug 2012 14:17:51 EST news264086261 Chronic exposure to even small amounts of staph bacteria could be a risk factor for the chronic inflammatory disease lupus, Mayo Clinic research shows. Staph, short for Staphylococcus aureus, is a germ commonly found on the skin or in the nose, sometimes causing infections. In the Mayo study, mice were exposed to low doses of a protein found in staph and developed a lupus-like disease, with kidney disease and autoantibodies like those found in the blood of lupus patients. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-chronic-exposure-staph-bacteria-factor.html Immunology Wed, 08 Aug 2012 14:55:58 EST news263656546 An organism's ability to make new antibodies and use them to optimize its own immune defenses is of central importance in the fight against pathogens. In the case of severe infections, the overall relative speed with which an immune response proceeds could mean the difference between life and death. An international team of scientists, among them systems immunologist Prof. Michael Meyer-Hermann of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) of Braunschweig, Germany, has now found that asymmetric division of antibody-producing B cells speeds up the body's immune defenses. Early on, one daughter cell starts making antibodies while the other works at refining its own antibodies. The researchers' findings are due to be published in the upcoming issue of the scientific journal, Cell Reports. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-lymph-node-roundabout-probe-optimized.html Immunology Thu, 28 Jun 2012 14:24:49 EST news260112280 A new genetic signature identified by Spanish researchers may provide doctors with robust and objective information about which patients with early stage lung cancer are at low or high risk of relapse following surgery, investigators report at the 3rd European Lung Cancer Conference in Geneva. Their work also opens new avenues for immunotherapy for lung cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-gene-signature-relapse-lung-cancer.html Cancer Wed, 18 Apr 2012 11:16:56 EST news253966608 For the first time, it has been discovered that neutrophils exist in the spleen without there being an infection. This important finding made by the research group on the Biology of B Cells of IMIM (Hospital del Mar Research Institute) in collaboration with researchers from Mount Sinai in New York, has also made it possible to determine that these neutrophils have an immunoregulating role. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-neutrophils-spleen.html Medical research Sun, 25 Dec 2011 13:00:05 EST news244014592 Steve Reiner, MD, professor of Medicine, and Burton Barnett, a doctoral student in the Reiner lab at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, have shown how immune cells, called B lymphocytes, are able to produce daughter cells that are not equal, a finding that might explain how lifelong antibodies are made after vaccination. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-cells-antibodies-vaccination.html Medical research Thu, 15 Dec 2011 14:00:13 EST news243178420