Melanoma is the most aggressive form of skin cancer and often spreads to the brain. Though immunotherapy has greatly improved the outlook for even metastatic melanoma patients, once melanoma brain metastases (MBM) develop, prognosis worsens, and available therapeutic options decline. Scientists at the Institute for Neurosciences (IN), a joint center of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the Miguel Hernández University of Elche (UMH) have found a way to tackle MBM through microglial reprogramming.

Curently the only available blood test to tell which women are at risk of postpartum depression (PPD) is the one that confirms their pregnancy – and a one in seven chance of developing the condition which can have long-term implications for both mother and child. Research out of the University of Virginia and Weill Cornell Medicine could soon change that by identifying biomarkers in the third trimester of pregnancy that indicate which women have the greatest risk of developing PPD.

Oncolytic viruses are therapeutic agents used for in situ immunization in cancer immunotherapy. Unfortunately, its efficacy is particularly limited in solid tumors expressing stimulator of interferon genes (STING) and retinoic acid-inducible gene I (RIG-I).

Researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital and affiliated organizations have published preclinical data for [18F]CNL-02, a positron emission tomography (PET) radioligand targeting mitochondrial complex I (MC-I) that is being developed for the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders.