Researchers have succeeded in communicating with brain-injured patients who are unconscious. They see enormous potential in this for future treatments. Patients who lie motionless in bed after a severe brain injury and do not respond to any response are medically considered unconscious. But some of these people may perceive much more of the environment [...]

Natural killer cells reprogrammed inside mice eliminated lymphoma tumors and helped damaged livers heal, though whether this approach could help people with cancer or autoimmune disease remains unknown. To make a cancer treatment from a patient’s T cells, doctors first collect a blood sample and send it to a laboratory. There, these immune cells [...]

 Key takeaways: Phase 3 trial finds personalized intismeran plus pembrolizumab may better prevent high-risk melanoma recurrence after surgery The trial enrolled 1,137 patients and builds on phase 2 results showing about half the recurrence risk Moderna and Merck plan to present detailed findings and pursue potential regulatory approval for the treatment New research from [...]

The promise of an experimental treatment for C. difficile gut infections lies partly in the bacteria it leaves alive, according to early laboratory and mouse research. Broad-spectrum antibiotics can disrupt the gut’s microbial community, allowing a bacterium already living there to multiply unchecked. Clostridioides difficile, or C. difficile, is naturally present in the intestines [...]

For people with blood cancers called myelodysplastic syndromes, osteoporosis may hold an overlooked clue to survival, a three-year observational study suggests. In blood cancers that develop in the bone marrow, an important clue to a patient’s survival may lie in the bones themselves. Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), a group of cancers that primarily affect older [...]

Reading for pleasure may offer surprising benefits for the brain, with research linking the habit to better mental health, stronger cognitive abilities, and a lower risk of dementia. Reading for pleasure may do far more than provide entertainment. A scientific review published in Psychological Medicine links the habit to better mental health, stronger cognitive [...]

Inflammation persists after proteins detach from immune receptors, revealing a potential target for autoimmune treatments. Since a Nobel Prize-winning discovery in the 1990s identified molecules called Toll-like Receptors as the guardians of the human immune system, researchers have pursued a straightforward strategy for treating autoimmune diseases. By developing therapies that interfere with these receptors, [...]

Researchers have found the trigger behind a powerful bacterial defense against viruses. Viruses that prey on bacteria could become an increasingly important tool for treating bacterial infections, particularly as antibiotic resistance makes some infections harder to control. These viruses, known as bacteriophages (phages), can infect and destroy harmful bacteria without damaging human cells. Using [...]

Aspirin was linked to a sharply lower dementia risk in some older adults, and their genes may hold the clue. A Monash University analysis found that older adults with a particular genetic profile had about a 70 percent lower relative risk of dementia when taking low-dose aspirin. But serious bleeding was also more common [...]

The body’s response to inflammation may disturb cancer cells that have been lying silent for years, giving them an opportunity to grow again. Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute have found that gut inflammation can reactivate dormant breast cancer cells in a mouse model of bone marrow. Their study, published in Cell Reports, suggests [...]