Research Roundup: The Latest Science, Discoveries, And Breakthroughs
Each week, KFF Health News compiles a selection of health policy studies and briefs.
The Washington Post:
Multiple Myeloma Immunotherapy Drug Found To Keep Patients Alive
An immunotherapy kept multiple myeloma at bay for over 80 percent of patients in a three-year clinical trial, and the FDA offered an accelerated approval path. (Gilbert, 1/15)
MedPage Today:
CAR7 Gene Therapy Shows Promise In T-Cell ALL
The use of base editing to generate universal off-the-shelf CAR T cells induced durable remissions -- up to 36 months in one case -- in patients with relapsed or refractory T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), according to results from a phase I study. (Bassett, 1/8)
MedPage Today:
Multiple Sclerosis Risk May Start Before Birth
Prenatal and perinatal factors were tied to multiple sclerosis in offspring, a Norwegian cohort study showed. Prenatal exposure to maternal diabetes was associated with a doubled risk of developing MS in adulthood, reported Sarah Tom, PhD, MPH, of Columbia University in New York City, and co-authors in JAMA Neurology. (George, 1/12)
MedPage Today:
MicroRNA Tests Eyed For Flagging Heart Transplant Rejection
The noninvasive diagnosis of allograft rejection after heart transplantation may be on the horizon, according to findings from the GRAfT cohort study. MicroRNA sequencing results, based on blood samples obtained at the time of an endomyocardial biopsy, were found to flag acute cellular rejection and antibody-mediated rejection after heart transplantation, according to Palak Shah, MD, MS, of Inova Schar Heart and Vascular and George Washington University in Falls Church, Virginia, and colleagues. (Lou, 1/13)
MedPage Today:
Phone Data May Give Early Warning On Rheumatoid Arthritis Flares
Devices can record subtle behavioral changes before patients notice anything amiss. (Gever, 1/12)
UC Davis:
Cat Coronavirus Study Offers Clues To Long COVID
Researchers at the University of California, Davis, have uncovered new details about how a once-deadly coronavirus disease in cats spreads through the immune system. The findings may help scientists better understand long COVID and other long-lasting inflammatory illnesses in people. The disease, feline infectious peritonitis, or FIP, is caused by a form of feline coronavirus that changes inside some cats. If left untreated, it is almost always fatal. While FIP only affects cats, it shares many features with serious coronavirus-related conditions in humans. (Quinton, 1/12)
