Research

People with obesity are more likely to have monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS), a benign blood condition that often precedes multiple myeloma, new research has found. Multiple myeloma is a blood cancer of the plasma cells - white blood cells that produce antibodies to fight infection. MGUS, characterised by an abnormal protein produced by [...]

If a universal vaccine vaccine were available at the start of the pandemic, it could have saved millions of lives, prevented suffering and saved billions of dollars in direct medical and other costs until the strain-specific vaccine went through the entire development, testing and emergency use authorisation process, a new study has concluded. The new [...]

Researchers in the US have discovered a new way to decrease early seizure likelihood and improve neurologic outcomes among infants with Sturge-Weber Syndrome (SWS). The research, funded by National Institutes of Health (NIH), is the first multi-centre study of its kind focused on this rare condition. Almost 90 per cent of infants with SWS experience [...]

Combining health data with whole genome sequence (WGS) data in patients with cancer can help doctors provide more tailored care for their patients, a new study has revealed. The research, published today in the journal Nature Medicine, shows that linking WGS data to real-world clinical data can identify changes in cancer DNA that may be [...]

The University of Rochester in the US will house a new national centre focused on using tissue-on-chip technology to develop drugs more rapidly and reduce the need for animal trials. The National Institutes of Health awarded a $7.5 million (£5.9 million) grant to establish the Translational Center for Barrier Microphysiological Systems (TraCe-bMPS) at Rochester in partnership [...]

Frontline healthcare workers in busy NHS hospitals feel that they are “just rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic” according to new research into the impact of under-resourced and high-pressure emergency hospital departments in the UK. Research from the Royal College of Emergency Medicine and University of Bath, led by clinical psychologist Dr Jo Daniels in [...]

Children who develop neuroblastomas, a rare form of cancer which develops in nerve cells, may benefit from receiving certain anti-tumour drugs as well as chemotherapy, a new trial has revealed. The results of the BEACON trial conducted by the Cancer Research UK Clinical Trials Unit at the University of Birmingham found that combining anti-angiogenic drugs, [...]

The most extensive clinical study into liver cirrhosis ever conducted worldwide has been announced by Newcastle University, University of Edinburgh and major research-driven global biopharmaceutical company, Boehringer Ingelheim. The ADVANCE (Accelerating Discovery: Actionable NASH Cirrhosis Endpoints) study will be the most detailed observational study of its kind, enrolling the largest number of patients and providing [...]

Compounds that obstruct the "landing gear" of a range of harmful viruses can successfully protect against infection by the virus that causes COVID-19, new research has revealed.  Based on the findings, researchers have launched a human clinical trial of one such compound made by chemically stabilising a key coronavirus peptide. If the stapled lipopeptide proves [...]

Researchers in the US have identified a mechanism that causes severe gastrointestinal problems with immune-based cancer treatment. The team at the University of Michigan Health Rogel Cancer Center also found a way to deliver immunotherapy’s cancer-killing impact without the unwelcome side effect. The findings are published in the journal Science. Senior study author, Gabriel Nunez, [...]