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Category: biotech/medical

Cost-Effectiveness of Adjuvant Immunotherapy in Cancer Treatments: A Systematic Review

Adjuvant immunotherapy is increasingly integrated into cancer care to reduce recurrence and improve survival. However, its high cost raises critical concerns regarding affordability and economic value across diverse health system contexts.

This review outlines health gains and economic value, and identifies where future research, pricing reform, or prioritization are needed to support evidence-informed policymaking and sustainable use of immunotherapy in cancer treatment pathways.

Question Is adjuvant immunotherapy cost-effective across cancer types?

Findings This systematic review including 69 economic evaluations (2015−2025) found that adjuvant checkpoint inhibitors, usually single-agent, were associated with higher quality-adjusted life-year/life-year gains and were determined to be cost-effective by 40 studies (58%), with the strongest signals in non−small cell lung cancer and melanoma, particularly in early-stage/high-risk populations, and for some combination regimens. Industry-funded studies more frequently reported cost-effective decisions and findings were sensitive to drug prices, model assumptions, and country-specific willingness-to-pay thresholds.

Meaning These findings suggest that adjuvant immunotherapy can offer good value for money in selected high-risk settings; decisions should be indication-specific, aligned with local health technology assessment thresholds, and supported by price negotiation or managed-entry agreements.

Researchers design a pioneering drug capable of reversing cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s disease in animal models

A team from the Institute of Neurosciences of the University of Barcelona (UBneuro) has designed and validated in animal models an innovative compound with a pioneering mechanism of action for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Unlike current drugs, which mainly remove beta-amyloid plaques that accumulate in the brain, this new experimental drug reprogrammes the neuronal epigenome by correcting alterations in gene expression that contribute to the progression of the disease. The results of this study, published in Molecular Therapy, open the door to an epigenetic-based therapeutic strategy to fight Alzheimer’s disease.

“The compound FLAV-27 represents an innovative and promising approach to Alzheimer’s disease, with the potential to modify the disease process, as it acts not only on its symptoms or a single pathological biomarker, but directly on its underlying molecular mechanisms,” says Aina Bellver, a researcher at the UB Institute of Neurosciences (UBneuro) and first author of the paper.

The study was led by Christian Griñán and Mercè Pallàs, UBneuro researchers and Professors from the Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences. Th work was performed with the participation of researchers from the CIBER Area for Neurodegenerative Diseases (CIBERNED), as well as the UB Institute of Biomedicine (IBUB), the Institute of Nutrition and Food Safety (INSA-UB), the August Pi i Sunyer Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBAPS) and other national and international institutions.

CARTA: Human Brain Specializations Related to Language and Theory of Mind with James Rilling

Humans excel at transmitting ideas, skills, and knowledge across generations, and at building on those competencies in a cumulative manner. James Rilling, Professor of Psychology at Emory University, explores how the transmission of our cumulative culture is assumed to depend on both language and mental perspective-taking, or theory of mind. If humans have specialized abilities in these domains, we must have neurobiological specializations to support them. Our research has used comparative primate neuroimaging to attempt to identify such specializations. The arcuate fasciculus is a white matter fiber tract that links Wernicke’s and Broca’s language areas. It is known to be involved in multiple, high level linguistic functions such as lexical semantics, complex syntax, and speech fluency. Using diffusion weighted imaging and tractography, we have demonstrated human specializations in the size and trajectory of the arcuate fasciculus that may partially explain human linguistic abilities. Theory of Mind depends on a set of cortical regions that belong to a neural network known as the default mode network that is functionally connected, highly active at rest, and deactivated by attention-demanding cognitive tasks. We and others have used functional neuroimaging to show that chimpanzees and other primates appear to have a default mode network that is similar to that of humans. However, the non-human primate default mode network seems to have weaker connectivity between certain key nodes, suggesting that these connections could play a role in human theory of mind specializations. Recorded on 02/27/2026. [3/2026] [Show ID: 41329]

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Learn more about anthropogeny on CARTA’s website:
https://carta.anthropogeny.org/

More videos from: CARTA — The Idea Organ.
(https://www.uctv.tv/carta-idea-organ)

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(https://www.uctv.tv/science)
Science and technology continue to change our lives. University of California scientists are tackling the important questions like climate change, evolution, oceanography, neuroscience and the potential of stem cells.

UCTV is the broadcast and online media platform of the University of California, featuring programming from its ten campuses, three national labs and affiliated research institutions. UCTV explores a broad spectrum of subjects for a general audience, including science, health and medicine, public affairs, humanities, arts and music, business, education, and agriculture. Launched in January 2000, UCTV embraces the core missions of the University of California — teaching, research, and public service – by providing quality, in-depth television far beyond the campus borders to inquisitive viewers around the world.

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Association of Interictal Respiratory Variability and Severity of Postictal Hypoxemia After Generalized Convulsive Seizures

In an observational cohort study based on the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities-Neurocognitive Study (ARIC-NCS), the presence of lobar and mixed CMBs was associated with incident dementia. stroke.

BACKGROUND: Cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) are associated with dementia, but the impact of specific microbleed patterns (with distinct pathophysiologies) is unclear. Lobar CMBs commonly result from cerebral amyloid angiopathy (sometimes with cortical superficial siderosis [cSS]), while subcortical microbleeds indicate a hypertensive cause. This study investigates the association of CMB presence, patterns, and frequency with dementia risk. METHODS: Participants from the ARIC-NCS (Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities-Neurocognitive Study), a community-based longitudinal cohort, with a 3T research magnetic resonance imaging at visit 5 (2011–2013) without prior intracerebral hemorrhage or dementia, were included. CMB and cSS presence and location were evaluated using a T2 gradient-recalled echo sequence.

Intracellular bacteria modulate the immune microenvironment of oral squamous cell carcinoma

Wang et al. apply INVADEseq to probe intracellular bacteria in oral squamous cell carcinoma patients treated with neoadjuvant immunotherapy. They show that bacteria modulate immune efficacy, identify specific response predictors, and uncover the impact of bacteria on the communication between predictors and cDC1s.

Plasma p-tau217 Cutoffs, Kidney Function, BMI, and Anemia

Biologically informed plasma pTau217 thresholds improved diagnostic accuracy for amyloid PET positivity in patients with CKD and anemia vs a standard single cutoff, supporting cost-efficient biomarker implementation in AlzheimerDisease screening.

Question For plasma phosphorylated tau 217–based amyloid-β detection, does the strategy of using biological subgroup–specific optimal single cutoffs or a double cutoff better optimize diagnostic accuracy and cost efficiency?

Findings This cohort study found that subgroup-specific optimal cutoffs improved accuracy over the standard single cutoff, especially in chronic kidney disease (CKD) and anemia. Compared with a double cutoff, the optimal cutoff had similar or better accuracy in CKD with lower cost, whereas a double cutoff was slightly better in underweight and anemia but created intermediates; in obesity, a double cutoff remained superior.

Meaning Biologically optimized cutoffs offer a balanced, cost-efficient default, particularly in CKD and anemia, while a double cutoff retains advantages in obesity.

Spontaneous aging-associated inflammation and genome instability in the immune system of turquoise killifish

Turquoise killifish are naturally short-lived vertebrates that serve as a model system for aging. The authors show that killifish exhibit age-related transformation in the immune system, which rapidly develops inflammation, genome instability and functional decline.

Painless skin patch offers new way to monitor immune health

Researchers at The Jackson Laboratory (JAX), in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), have developed the first bandage-like microneedle patch that can sample the body’s immune responses painlessly from the skin. The device detects inflammatory signals within minutes and collects specialized immune cells within hours without the need for blood draws or surgical biopsies.

Already, the patch is helping researchers and clinicians study immune responses in aging and skin autoimmunity, including vitiligo and psoriasis. In the future, it could make it easier to track how people respond to vaccines, infections, and cancer therapies by complementing traditional blood tests and biopsies while being far easier on patients.

The study appears in Nature Biomedical Engineering.

Aging, Cancer, And Rejuvenation (Featuring Drs. Michael Levin And Leo Pio-Lopez)

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