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Immunology news

Immunology

Here's why B cells benefit from booster shots

Certain infectious diseases, such as COVID or the flu, evolve constantly, shapeshifting just enough to outmaneuver our immune systems and reinfect us repeatedly. But subsequent reinfections often don't lead to the most severe ...

Immunology

Scientists discover new mechanism controlling T-cells in inflammation

Northwestern Medicine scientists have discovered a new mechanism that controls a specialized group of T-cells, known as regulatory T-cells, and may serve as potential therapeutic targets to treat inflammatory disorders and ...

Cardiology

New cardiovascular disease risk marker discovered in older women

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have identified a new potential risk marker for cardiovascular disease in women. A new study shows an association between low levels of an anti-inflammatory antibody and the risk of heart ...

Oncology & Cancer

Blood cancers: Expert explains what you need to know

Blood cancer is not a diagnosis anyone wants to receive, but understanding the different types of this disease and how best to catch them early is essential, one expert says.

Oncology & Cancer

What is CAR-T cell therapy? Oncologist explains

Roughly 635,000 new cases of lymphoma were diagnosed worldwide, according to the World Cancer Research Fund International's most recent report. Survival rates for aggressive lymphomas have improved significantly thanks to ...

Medical research

When the body's B cell training grounds stay open after hours

If B cells are the munitions factories of the immune system, manufacturing antibodies to neutralize harmful pathogens, then the tiny biological structures known as germinal centers are its weapons-development facilities. ...

Oncology & Cancer

Cellular messengers improve cancer therapy

Nano-sized membrane bubbles known as extracellular vesicles activate the immune system in mice and seem to render their tumors sensitive to a type of immunotherapy drug called a checkpoint inhibitor. This is according to ...

Oncology & Cancer

COVID-19 vaccination shown to protect people with blood cancer

People suffering from blood cancer often have a weak immune system, putting them at higher risk of falling seriously ill with COVID-19. Some cancer therapies, moreover, result in these patients forming few or no antibodies ...

Genetics

Infant gene therapy is a breakthrough for Artemis-SCID patients

Ten young children born without functioning immune systems and lacking the ability to fight infections are on track for healthier lives thanks to a new gene therapy treatment pioneered at UC San Francisco, reports a Dec. ...

Immunology

How fat takes over the lymph nodes as we age

Lymph nodes normally serve as the headquarters of our immune system. When we get an infection or are vaccinated, the lymph nodes are the sites where the immune cells congregate, are activated and proliferate so as to be able ...

Oncology & Cancer

Why don't T cells destroy solid tumors during immunotherapy?

The great hope of cancer immunotherapy is to bolster our own immune cells in specific ways to keep cancer cells from evading our immune system. Although much progress has been made, immunotherapy does not always work well. ...

Oncology & Cancer

Study identifies new therapeutic target for tumor treatment

Northwestern Medicine scientists have identified a new therapeutic target for tumors and developed a compound which slowed tumor growth and bolsters immune responses in mice, according to research published in Science Advances.

Oncology & Cancer

Researchers expanding the types of cancer CAR-T therapy can target

Teaching the body's immune cells to recognize and fight cancer is one of the holy grails in medicine. Over the past two decades, researchers have developed new immunotherapy drugs that stimulate a patient's immune cells to ...

Medications

Why should I be evaluated for a penicillin allergy?

Taking action to be evaluated for a penicillin allergy can impact your health, safety and wallet. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 10% of the U.S. population reports a penicillin allergy, but less ...