After decades of being woefully under-diagnosed and all but ignored by the biotech and pharma industry, recent advances in understanding its complex etiology could be opening the way to new treatments for endometriosis. Impetus is coming from (modest) increases in funding for basic research, such as the Biden administration’s $200 million for women’s health research and NIH grants under an ‘Advancing cures and therapies and ending endometriosis diagnostic delays’ call announced in March of this year.

Mutations in the metabolic enzyme isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) induce tumorigenesis due to generation of the oncometabolite (R)-2-hydroxyglutarate (R-2HG). A hallmark of solid tumors carrying mutations in IDH1 is immune evasion by T-cell exclusion and altered epigenetic state. Researchers from the Center for Cancer Research, Massachusetts General Hospital have published a study in Science on July 12, 2024, in which they demonstrate that inhibiting mutant IDH1 restored antitumoral immunity.

New research has pinpointed gene signatures that determine what immune responses will be activated in the development of sepsis, pointing to novel targets and opening the way for the stratification of clinical trials and for patients to be treated on the basis of their immune response, rather than their symptoms.

A new approach against non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has combined immunotherapy with molecularly targeted therapy to activate the immune response and inhibit oncogenic pathways, which prevented tumor progression and eliminated cancer cells. Brigham and Women’s Hospital scientists have developed nanoparticles loaded with antibody conjugates that could deliver large amounts of treatment to the tumor tissue. This new strategy could improve the results of conventional immunotherapy in these patients and reduce toxicity of existing treatments.

SARS-CoV-2 could proliferate in the lungs causing severe COVID-19 through a special type of immune cell. A group of scientists from Stanford University observed how this coronavirus infected interstitial macrophages through a CD209 receptor, triggering the inflammatory response observed in hospitalized patients.

As with most common diseases of the developed world, aging is the major risk factor for developing cancer. Most of the half-dozen hallmarks of precancer that were published last week by investigators from Vanderbilt University and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center are also hallmarks of aging. Unfortunately, scientists reported at the American Association for Cancer Research’s (AACR) 2024 annual meeting this week that accelerated aging is increasing, and may be driving an increase in early-onset cancers.

At a recent meeting on “Research priorities for preventing and treating Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias” (ADRD), convened by the National Academies, one consensus priority on ADRD research was that there needs to be more of it at every stage. Several speakers presented stark numbers on the relative volume of research in cancer and neurodegeneration. Research output, measured in peer-reviewed papers, for dementia is estimated to be around 10,000 papers annually, compared to 150,000 for cancer, while AD clinical trials are also few and far between compared to cancer trials. This final installment of BioWorld’s series on Alzheimer’s explores some of the reasons for this discrepancy along with the latest advances and ongoing efforts to accelerate research and drug development in the field.

Scientists from the Australian National University have discovered the gene mutation responsible for causing psoriasis, and the findings could lead to improved diagnosis and treatment for patients with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, a chronic inflammatory skin disease. “We were able to identify the gene that could be important in enabling this progression from a skin-only condition to a skin-and-joint condition,” lead study author Chelisa Cardinez told BioWorld.

A metabolite that suppresses appetite and food intake after exercise could be the reason for the weight loss observed in patients treated with metformin to control blood glucose. A study conducted by a group of scientists at Stanford University showed how this antidiabetic drug induced the biosynthesis of N-lactoyl-phenylalanine (Lac-Phe), which has an effect reducing the body mass index.

Scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel announced the discovery of the new intestinal microbiota species Kazachstania weizmannii in mice, which competed with and limited the growth of Candida albicans, thus preventing candidiasis. Both microorganisms belong to the Saccharomycetaceae family and reside in humans, maintaining a complex interaction with therapeutic value.