MRNA Vaccine For Pancreatic Cancer Shows Early Promise
A small-scale trial saw an immune response provoked in half of the patients treated, with those people showing no relapse of their cancer during the study — something outside experts calls "extremely promising." A peanut allergy treatment is also in the news.
The New York Times:
Pancreatic Cancer Vaccine Shows Promise In Small Trial
The vaccine provoked an immune response in half of the patients treated, and those people showed no relapse of their cancer during the course of the study, a finding that outside experts described as extremely promising. The study, published in Nature, was a landmark in the yearslong movement to make cancer vaccines tailored to the tumors of individual patients. (Mueller, 5/10)
CNN:
An MRNA Vaccine That Programs The Body To Fight Pancreatic Cancer Shows Early Promise
When Barbara Brigham was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in September 2020, the odds were not in her favor. Pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal malignancies, fatal in 88% of patients. It is also one of the hardest to treat. Tumors can be surgically removed, but they come back within seven to nine months in 90% of patients. Chemotherapy can help prolong life, but it too is rarely a cure. Radiation, immunotherapy and targeted therapies also don’t work. (Goodman, 5/10)
Read the study —
On peanut allergies —
NBC News:
Toddlers Saw Peanut Allergies Ease After Wearing 'Peanut Patch' In Trial
A wearable patch could prevent severe allergic reactions in toddlers with peanut allergies, according to the results of a promising clinical trial. The late-stage trial, which involved more than 200 children ages 1 to 3 with peanut allergies, found that after wearing the experimental patch around 22 hours a day for a year, 67% were able to tolerate 300 to 1,000 milligrams of peanut protein — the equivalent of one to four peanuts. The findings were published Wednesday evening in the New England Journal of Medicine. (Bendix, 5/10)
On Lyme disease —
Reuters:
Lingering Nerve Symptoms From Lyme Disease May Be Tied To Immune Response
Neurologic complications of Lyme disease such as hand and feet numbness and pain that do not resolve with treatment may be due to an exaggerated immune response rather than the infection itself, a study published on Wednesday suggests. Researchers found that Lyme disease patients with persistent central nervous system problems have high blood levels of interferon alpha, an inflammatory protein produced by the immune system in response to infection. (Leo, 5/10)
On mosquito-borne diseases —
Bloomberg:
Increased Chikungunya Cases Adds Urgency To Vaccine Race
When you think of mosquito-borne illnesses, chikungunya is probably not the first one that comes to mind. But it’s a virus you may soon be hearing about more often. “Longer stretches of warmer periods in the south of the Americas have enabled the mosquito to do well in places where it didn’t do well before,” said Thais dos Santos, an advisor on surveillance and control of arboviral diseases at the WHO’s Pan American Health Organization. (Peng, 5/10)
WRDW:
Invasive, Aggressive Mosquitoes Stir Concern In 2-State Region
Experts are concerned about the “alarming spread” of an invasive and aggressive mosquito species found in Georgia and South Carolina. Asian tiger mosquitoes are black with distinctive white stripes. They first entered the U.S. in the 1980s through shipments of used tires from northern Asia, according to the Center for Invasive Species Research. These mosquitoes can transmit severe and debilitating diseases including dengue fever, chikungunya and Zika virus. (5/9)
The Atlantic:
Your Soap Might Be Making You More Attractive To Mosquitoes
But to focus only on a mosquito’s hankering for flesh is to leave a whole chapter of the pests’ scent-seeking saga “largely overlooked,” Clément Vinauger, a chemical ecologist at Virginia Tech, told me. Mosquitoes are omnivores, tuned to sniff out blood and plants. And nowadays, most humans, especially those in the Western world, tend to smell a bit like both, thanks to all the floral, citrusy lotions and potions that so many of us slather atop our musky flesh. (Wu, 5/10)
