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A world-first research breakthrough has sparked fresh hope for patients with the same cancer that killed Dame Deborah James.

Australian scientists have discovered a new “roadmap” to beating bowel cancer.

They found an important group of immune cells in the large bowel – called gamma delta T cells – are “crucial” to prevent the disease that claims tens of thousands of lives every year.

The breakthrough was made by researchers at the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute in Heidelberg, Australia, named after the Anglo-Aussie singer who succumbed to cancer, aged 73, last year.

The BBC journalist and podcast presenter chronicled her battle with early onset bowel cancer, before her death, aged 40, in June last year.

The research team says there is an “urgent” need to discover more effective treatments and improve bowel cancer screening, particularly for early-onset bowel cancer as Australians born in 1990 onwards have double the risk of developing bowel cancer compared with those born in 1950.

They said younger bowel cancer patients often have poorer outcomes as they only turn to their doctor when the disease is already in its later stages.

Immunotherapy is one of the most promising new treatments for cancer. It involves boosting the ability of immune cells to recognize and remove cancer cells.

However, less than one-in-10 bowel cancer patients respond to current immunotherapies.

Study principal investigator Dr. Lisa Mielke said: “We have discovered that an important group of immune cells in the large bowel – gamma delta T cells – are crucial to preventing bowel cancer.

“Gamma delta T cells act as our frontline defenders in the bowel.

“What makes these immune cells extraordinary is that they constantly patrol and safeguard the epithelial cells lining the bowel, acting as warriors against potential cancer threats.

“When we analyzed bowel cancer patient samples, we found that when more gamma delta T cells were present in the tumors, these patients were reported to have better outcomes and improved survival.”

She explained that the large bowel contains trillions of bacteria, viruses and fungi, collectively known as the microbiome.

While some bacteria are associated with disease, others are extremely important for the immune system.

Study co-lead author Marina Yakou says the research may lead to improved treatments for cancer patients in the future.

She said: “We discovered that the amount, and diversity of, the microbiome in the large bowel resulted in a higher concentration of a molecule called TCF-1 on Gamma delta T cells compared to other areas of the gut.

“This molecule (TCF-1) suppresses our natural immune response, the gamma delta T cells, from fighting off bowel cancer.

“When we deleted TCF-1 in gamma delta T cells using pre-clinical models, this fundamentally changed the behavior of these immune cells and we saw a remarkable reduction in the size of bowel cancer tumors.”

Yakou, a PhD candidate at the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute, added: “Our world-first research breakthrough paves a new roadmap for developing targeted combination immunotherapies to more effectively treat bowel cancer patients.”

The researchers say their findings, published in the journal Science Immunology, also open up new possibilities for understanding how the microbiome and immune cells in the bowel interact – which could lead to the development of new ways to lower the risk of bowel cancer and better screening.

The breakthrough was welcomed by 36-year-old bowel cancer patient, Elise Stapleton, who was initially diagnosed with reoccurring endometriosis.

But, in January this year, she received a shock diagnosis of Stage 3 bowel cancer.

She said: “After waking up from my surgery to remove endometriosis, the bombshell hit.

“Instead of a planned keyhole surgery, surgeons told me that they had found a tumor and performed open surgery to remove ‘what they could’.

“I then had a second operation to remove 20 to 25 centimeters (0.82 foot) of my large bowel, follow up chemotherapy in April; and I have side-effects from the surgery and treatment.”

Elise continued: “My life has changed dramatically. After having been through a lot in a very short amount of time this year, I’m now feeling very empowered.

“I want to help raise awareness with young people that bowel cancer is not just an older person’s disease and to trust your instincts – if something doesn’t seem right, then keep following it up with health professionals.”

She added: “I’m hopeful that this new research may lead to more targeted immunotherapies that will result in less side effects, and hopefully even one day help to design better screening so people can be more accurately diagnosed and treated earlier.”

Produced in association with SWNS Talker

Running is as good for beating depression as medication and leaves you fitter, according to the first study of its kind.

Researchers from Vrije University, Amsterdam, found 44 percent of people with depression and anxiety started to feel better if they spent 16 weeks going on runs, or 16 weeks taking antidepressants.

Participants either joined a supervised running group two or three times a week or took SSRI escitalopram as prescribed.

The majority picked exercise, and their treatment also improved their weight, waist circumference, blood pressure and heart function.

Meanwhile, people who took antidepressants tended to become less fit.

However, experts insisted that telling patients to go run is not enough, noting that a larger portion of the runners dropped out, with just 52 percent sticking to the plan versus 82 percent of those taking the pills.

Speaking at the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology conference in Barcelona, Professor Brenda Penninx said: “We wanted to compare how exercise or antidepressants affect your general health, not just your mental health.

“This study gave anxious and depressed people a real-life choice, medication or exercise.

“Interestingly, the majority opted for exercise, which led to the numbers in the running group being larger than in the medication group.

“Both interventions helped with the depression to around the same extent. Antidepressants generally had worse impact on body weight, heart rate variability and blood pressure, whereas running therapy led to improved effect on general fitness and heart rate for instance.

“We are currently looking in more detail for effects on biological aging and processes of inflammation.

“It is important to say that there is room for both therapies in care for depression.

“The study shows that lots of people like the idea of exercising, but it can be difficult to carry this through, even though the benefits are significant.

“We found that most people are compliant in taking antidepressants, whereas around half of the running group adhered to the two-times-a-week exercise therapy.

“Telling patients to go run is not enough. Changing physical activity behavior will require adequate supervision and encouragement as we did by implementing exercise therapy in a mental health care institution.”

Her team offered 141 depression and or anxiety patients a choice of SSRI antidepressants for 16 weeks or running in a group two or three times a week for the same period of time.

Overall, 45 selected medications and 96 running.

Those who chose medication were slightly more depressed than the runners.

The antidepressant group had to take SSRI escitalopram as prescribed for 16 weeks, but that did not generally impact on their daily behaviors.

Meanwhile, runners aimed for two to three closely supervised 45-minute group sessions a week for 16 weeks.

The exercise tackled. the sedentary lifestyle that often accompanies depression and anxiety, encouraging people to head outside, set goals, improve fitness and get involved in a group activity.

Professor Penninx added: “Antidepressants are generally safe and effective. They work for most people.

“We know that not treating depression at all leads to worse outcomes; so antidepressants are generally a good choice.

“Nevertheless, we need to extend our treatment arsenal as not all patients respond to antidepressants or are willing to take them.

“Our results suggest that implementing exercise therapy is something we should take much more seriously, as it could be a good – and maybe even better – choice for some of our patients.

“In addition, let’s also face potential side effects our treatments can have.

“Doctors should be aware of the dysregulation in nervous system activity that certain antidepressants can cause, especially in patients who already have heart problems.

“This also provides an argument to seriously consider tapering and discontinuing antidepressants when depressed or anxious episodes have remitted.

“In the end, patients are only truly helped when we are improving their mental health without unnecessarily worsening their physical health”.

Dr. Eric Ruhe, Amsterdam University Medical Centres, said the impact of the findings could be huge.

Commenting on the study originally published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, he said: “These are very interesting results that again show that physical health can influence mental health and that treatment of depression and anxiety can be achieved by exercising, obviously without the adverse effects of antidepressant drugs.

“However, several remarks are important. First, the patients followed their preference, which is common practice, but ideally, we should advise patients what will work best.

“Following this choice is understandable from a pragmatic point of view when patients have strong preferences, which you have to take into account when doing a study like this.

“The downside is that the comparisons between groups might be biased compared to doing this in a truly randomized study.

“For example, patients in the antidepressant group were more depressed which might be associated with less chance of persisting engagement in the exercises.

“So, we have to be careful not to over-interpret the comparisons between groups, which the authors acknowledge properly.

“Finally, a very important finding is the difference in adherence between the interventions: 52 percent in the exercise group and 82 percent in the antidepressant group.

“This shows that it is more difficult to change a lifestyle habit than taking a pill. This is not exclusively found in psychiatry, indicating that we also have to focus on how to improve compliance to healthy behavior.

“This could have a tremendous impact on healthcare more generally, but also on psychiatric diseases.”

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Scientists have used a 3D printer to print human stem cells that could help repair brain injuries.

The researchers from Oxford University have successfully implanted the cells into the brains of mice.

The exciting advance has raised the prospect of the method being tailored for use in treating brain injuries in humans in the future, by essentially 3D printing brain cells.

In experiments, the implanted cells integrated into the animals’ brains both structurally and functionally.

The innovative University of Oxford study, published in the journal Nature Communications, marks the first time neural cells have been 3D printed to mimic the architecture of the cerebral cortex.

The research builds on a ten-year track record in producing and patenting 3D printing technologies for synthetic tissues and cultured cells.

The success of this latest project has increased hopes similar technology could one day be used to treat brain injuries.

Injuries to the brain, including those caused by trauma, stroke and surgery or tumors on the brain can typically result in damage to the cerebral cortex – the outer layer of the brain.

This can lead to difficulties in cognition – the process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses – as well as movement and communication.

Each year, around 70 million people across the globe suffer from traumatic brain injuries (TBI), with five million of those being severe or fatal.

But despite their significant toll on the human population, there are thus far no effective treatments for TBI, leading to serious impacts on the sufferer’s quality of life.

However, tissue regenerative therapies are seen as a promising route to treatment; especially those which incorporate implants derived from patients’ own stem cells.

But, up until now, no method has been able to ensure that implanted stem cells mimic the architecture of the brain.

In this latest study, researchers used 3D printing techniques to create a two-layered brain tissue using human neural stem cells.

When implanted into the brain slices of mice, these cells encouragingly showed convincing structural and functional integration with the host tissue.

The cortical structure was constructed from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs), which have the potential to produce the cell types found in most human tissues.

A key advantage of using hiPSCs for tissue repair is that they can be easily derived from cells harvested from patients themselves; therefore not triggering an immune response.

The hiPSCs were differentiated into neural progenitor cells for two different layers of the cerebral cortex by using specific combinations of growth factors and chemicals.

The cells were then dipped in a solution to generate two ‘bioinks’, which were then printed to produce a two-layered structure.

The printed tissues maintained their layered cellular makeup for weeks, as indicated by the expression of layer-specific biomarkers.

Dr. Yongcheng Jin, a lead author of the study from the University of Oxford’s Department of Chemistry, excitedly explained: “This advance marks a significant step towards the fabrication of materials with the full structure and function of natural brain tissues.

“The work will provide a unique opportunity to explore the workings of the human cortex and, in the long term, it will offer hope to individuals who sustain brain injuries.”

When these printed tissues were implanted into brain slices in mice they displayed strong integration, demonstrated by the projection of neural processes and the movement of neurons across the boundary between the implanted and the host cells in the brain.

The implanted cells also showed signalling activity which correlated to that of the host cells – indicating that the human and mouse cells were communicating with each other and demonstrating functional as well as structural integration in the brain.

The research team now intend to further refine their printing technique to create complex, multi-layered cerebral cortex tissues that more realistically mimic the architecture of the human brain.

If successful, it is hoped that scientists may soon simply be able to print necessary brain cells from a patient’s own stem cells and implant them in the brain.

Besides their potential for repairing brain injuries, these engineered tissues might also have uses in drug evaluation, studies of brain development, and improvement of our understanding of the very basis of cognition.

Senior author Dr. Linna Zhou said: “Our droplet printing technique provides a means to engineer living 3D tissues with desired architectures, which brings us closer to the creation of personalized implantation treatments for brain injury.”

Associate Professor Francis Szele, from the University of Oxford’s Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics and another senior author of the study, added: “The use of living brain slices creates a powerful platform for interrogating the utility of 3D printing in brain repair.

“It is a natural bridge between studying 3D printed cortical column development in vitro and their integration into brains in animal models of injury.”

Professor Zoltán Molnár, another senior author, said though the technology was not fully advanced yet, the study shows significant promise in treating brain injuries in the future.

“Human brain development is a delicate and elaborate process with a complex choreography,” he said.

“It would be naïve to think that we can recreate the entire cellular progression in the laboratory.

“Nonetheless, our 3D printing project demonstrates substantial progress in controlling the fates and arrangements of human iPSCs to form the basic functional units of the cerebral cortex.”

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An experimental vaccine that sends immune cells into “Incredible Hulk mode” could protect patients against all hospital superbugs, according to new research.

Scientists say a study in mice suggests a single shot administered just before or after arriving in hospital could prevent all antibiotic-resistant infections – including potentially deadly MRSA.

The new vaccine has been developed and patented by an international team led by scientists at the University of Southern California (USC).

Researchers designed the formula to stop serious infections from drug-resistant pathogens.

The Incredible Hulk was a super-strong Marvel Comics character who was the alter ego of scientist Dr. Bruce Banner.

The new study, published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, shows that a single dose, administered in mouse models, put immune cells into “Incredible Hulk” mode, providing rapid protection against eight different bacteria and fungi species.

Senior author Dr. Brad Spellberg, chief medical officer at the USC-affiliated Los Angeles General Medical Center, said: “It’s an early warning system.

“It’s like Homeland Security putting out a terror alert. ‘Everybody, keep your eyes open. Keep an eye out for suspicious packages.’

“You’re alerting the soldiers and tanks of your immune system.

“The vaccine activates them. ‘Oh my, there’s danger here. I better turn into the Hulk.’

“I mean, when you have bad superbugs lurking, that’s when you want the Hulk waiting to pounce rather than Dr. Banner, right?”

Healthcare-acquired infections kill more than 90,000 people every year in the United States alone.

On any given day, around one in 31 hospital patients in America has at least one such infection, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In many cases, infections are caused by superbugs such as MRSA.

The infections spread via contaminated surfaces or equipment, such as catheters or ventilators, or through person-to-person spread, often from contaminated hands.

Risk is highest among intensive care patients who may suffer surgical site infections, bloodstream infections, urinary tract infections and ventilator-associated pneumonia.

Typical vaccines usually prompt the body to make antibodies against a specific pathogen but – despite the high incidence of healthcare-acquired infections -there are currently no approved vaccines that prevent the most serious, antibiotic-resistant infections.

Dr. Brian Luna, of Keck School of Medicine at USC, said: “Even if there were such vaccines, multiple vaccines would have to be deployed simultaneously to protect against the full slate of antibiotic-resistant microbes that cause healthcare-acquired infections.”

He said the new experimental vaccine takes an entirely different approach as it “gooses” the body’s pre-existing supply of pathogen-gobbling immune cells called macrophages, which engulf and digest bacteria, fungi and other bad actors.

Dr. Luna said the activated fighters, found in all tissues, quickly neutralize incoming invaders which might otherwise multiply rapidly and overwhelm the body’s defenses.

Study first author Jun Yan, a doctoral student at Keck School of Medicine, said: “This is very different from developing new antibiotics.

“This is using our own immune system to fight against different superbugs, which is a different approach than everybody else.”

The vaccine is comprised of just three ingredients, two of which are already used in officially approved vaccines.

A third component is a tiny piece from the surface of a fungus commonly found on human skin.

Tested in two independent labs, the vaccine works within 24 hours and lasts for up to 28 days.

In lab models, the number of pathogen-eating immune cells in the blood increased “dramatically” – and the survival time of invasive blood and lung infections improved.

Early data suggest that a second dose could extend the window to prevent infection, according to the research team.

To develop the vaccine, they formed the start-up ExBaq LLC.

The technology licensing office for USC has successfully filed one patent for the vaccine and is pursuing others.

Professor Ishwar Puri, senior vice president of research and innovation at USC, said: “The pandemic stimulated unprecedented innovation in vaccine development, where federal funding and university-industry partnerships were game changers for translating promising discoveries from academic labs for the good of all.”

Now ExBaq’s founders have begun talking with potential pharmaceutical partners who might be interested in further developing the vaccine for human clinical trials.

They said the first such trial would be done in healthy volunteers to find the right dose of vaccine that is safe and triggers the same kind of immune response in people as seen in the mice.

Produced in association with SWNS Talker