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First-of-its-kind device uses single drop of blood to profile newborns’ immune function

Researchers have developed a first-of-its-kind device to profile the immune function of newborns. Using a single drop of blood, the BiophysicaL Immune Profiling for Infants (BLIPI) system provides real-time insights into newborns’ immune responses, enabling the early detection of severe inflammatory conditions and allowing for timely interventions.

This critical innovation addresses the urgent and unmet need for rapid and minimally invasive diagnostic tools to protect vulnerable newborns, especially those born prematurely.

Surgical treatment of multiple breast cancer brain metastases: clinical characteristics and factors impacting postoperative survival

Purpose Breast cancer (BC) is one of the most common primary tumor entities that develop brain metastases (BM) during disease progression. Multiple BM are associated with poorer prognosis, but various surgical, radiotherapeutic and systemic treatment approaches improve survival. We aimed to identify prognostic factors and evaluate the overall survival following BM surgery in patients with multiple BCBM. Methods All metachronous metastasized female patients with resected BCBM at our institution between 2008 and 2019 were included. Data on clinical, radiologic, and histopathologic parameters were recorded and analyzed using univariate and multivariate regression models. Results Among the 93 patients included in the final analysis, 30 individuals presented with multiple BM. Compared to patients with single BM, those with multiple BM were more likely to have infratentorial BM (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 3.35, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.03–10.83, p = 0.044), HER2(human epidermal growth factor receptor 2)-positive BC (aOR 3.93, 95% CI 1.23–12.53, p = 0.021) and hepatic metastases (aOR 5.86, 95% CI 1.34–25.61, p = 0.019). There was no significant difference in postoperative survival between individuals with multiple (median: 12.5 months) and single BM (17.0 months, p = 0.186). In the multivariate Cox regression analysis, adjuvant radiotherapy (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 5.93, 95% CI 1.06–33.26, p = 0.043) and trastuzumab treatment (aHR 4.95, 95% CI 1.72–14.25, p = 0.003) were associated with longer postoperative survival multiple BCBM patients. Conclusion BC patients with multiple BM show remarkable postoperative survival, particularly if combined with adjuvant radiotherapy. Our data justify the surgery of multiple BCBM in patients with appropriate clinical condition and feasible location of BM.

What If We Could Grow Babies in Artificial Wombs?

The miracle of life. A 40-week process where you developed from a single cell to fully formed human baby. All within in your mother’s womb. Now, imagine you were born in an artifical womb. How would we benefit from artificial wombs? What would be the downsides?

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US approves first blood test for Alzheimer’s

The United States on Friday approved the first blood test for Alzheimer’s, a move that could help patients begin treatment earlier with newly approved drugs that slow the progression of the devastating neurological disease.

The test, developed by Fujirebio Diagnostics, measures the ratio of two proteins in the blood. The ratio is correlated with amyloid plaques in the brain—a hallmark of Alzheimer’s that, until now, has been detected only through brain scans or spinal fluid analysis.

“Alzheimer’s disease impacts too many people—more than breast cancer and prostate cancer combined,” said Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary.

Combination therapy extends survival in advanced skin cancer, trial finds

In patients with an advanced type of skin cancer called cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC), those who received the combination of the immunotherapy drug avelumab and targeted agent cetuximab had almost four times longer median progression-free survival compared to patients who received avelumab alone, according to the results of a phase 2 trial presented today at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting and concurrently published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

“It is both an honor and humbling to develop clinical trials that can be potential options for our patients,” said lead author and study chair for the trial, Dan Zandberg, M.D., associate professor of medicine at the University of Pittsburgh and medical oncology co-leader of the head and neck cancer program at UPMC Hillman Cancer Center. “My hope is that the insights we made with this trial will lead to additional studies that can ultimately bring a new immunotherapy-based combination into standard of care for patients with advanced cSCC.”

CSCC is a common type of skin cancer with about 1.8 million cases diagnosed in the U.S. each year. About 95% of cSCCs are detected early and can be treated with minor surgery. But in rare cases, patients will go on to develop advanced cSCC, which includes locally advanced tumors that cannot be surgically removed and metastatic disease. At this point, the prognosis is poor and treatment is focused on extending survival, not cure.

Dual-target CAR T cell therapy slows growth of aggressive brain cancer

A dual-target CAR T cell therapy approach shows promise for slowing tumor growth in a notoriously aggressive and fast-growing brain cancer. Tumors became smaller after the experimental CAR T cell therapy in nearly two-thirds of patients.

While survival data is still accumulating, several patients lived 12 months or longer after receiving the investigational therapy, which is notable given the typical survival for this patient population is less than a year.

The findings were presented at the 2025 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting (Abstract 102) and published in Nature Medicine by researchers from the Abramson Cancer Center (ACC) of the University of Pennsylvania and Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine.

Supplements, Diet That Correspond To A 17y Younger Biological Age (Test #3 in 2025)

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