Researchers have identified a novel brain disorder that is neurodegenerative, but so early onset that it disrupts development, leading to disturbances in the formation and function of hindbrain structures.

Researchers have come up with an unusual variation of the theme of drug-device combinations. They have used cochlear implants as electroporation devices to enable gene therapy during implantation, which in turn stimulated nerve outgrowth that allowed the implant to perform better.

Researchers have found that inhibiting one step of prostaglandin synthesis specifically in macrophages appears to have cardiovascular benefits, an ironic new twist on the relationship between nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and the cardiovascular system.

When cancers become resistant to the drugs used to treat them, it has become possible – at least in principle – to understand the cause of that resistance through sequencing, and if a drug exists that is effective against cells with the mutation, to change a patient's treatment accordingly. But a better strategy might be to prevent resistance from developing at all.

Researchers have gained new insights into the cellular consequences of trisomy 21 by studying an unusual set of twins – one with the trisomy, which leads to Down syndrome, and one without.

Measles is officially targeted by the World Health Organization as an eradication disease. A highly effective vaccine against it does exist, and would in principle be enough to eradicate the virus.

Two decades before the TGN1412 disaster that sent six previously healthy volunteers to the emergency room, another clinical trial went badly wrong: that of the experimental hepatitis drug fialuridine [FIAU] in 1993.

SAN DIEGO – At a session on Application of Nanotechnology to the Treatment of Cancer Patients, the presenters showed multiple ways in which nanotechnology could improve cancer treatment and diagnostics. If, that is, the technology can make it onto pharma's priority list.

SAN DIEGO – At the American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting, Lynda Chin had a blunt reminder for her audience. "No matter how much data you have," she said, "drugs, tests and devices are the only thing patients will benefit from."

SAN DIEGO – The annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) draws a broad mix of clinical and basic scientists, and so the gathering usually brings news of broad themes of cancer research – be they biomarkers, immunotherapies or clinical trial design – from both a theoretical and a practical standpoint. Biomarkers exemplified that dual strength this year.