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Blog – Page 217

📝 — Sheikh, et al.

In this paper, the authors summarize the current practice and the latest progress of CD19 auto-CAR T cell therapy and the management of specific toxicities and discuss the place of allogeneic CAR T development in this setting.

Full text is available 👇

While more than half of non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL) can be cured with modern frontline chemoimmunotherapy regimens, outcomes of relapsed and/or refractory (r/r) disease in subsequent lines remain poor, particularly if considered ineligible for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Hence, r/r NHLs represent a population with a high unmet medical need. This therapeutic gap has been partially filled by adoptive immunotherapy. CD19-directed autologous chimeric antigen receptor (auto-CAR) T cells have been transformative in the treatment of patients with r/r B cell malignancies. Remarkable response rates and prolonged remissions have been achieved in this setting, leading to regulatory approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of four CAR T cell products between 2017 and 2021.

Continue reading “CAR T-Based Therapies in Lymphoma: A Review of Current Practice and Perspectives” | >

A recent study has revealed that nearly half of black holes that consume stars during tidal disruption events (TDEs) later emit remnants of those stars, sometimes years after the initial event. TDEs occur when a star ventures too close to a black hole, where the black hole’s gravitational pull exerts intense tidal forces. This results in the star being stretched and compressed, a process known as spaghettification, which tears the star apart within hours. This destruction is marked by a burst of electromagnetic radiation visible as a bright flash.

As the star is consumed, part of its material is expelled, while the remaining material forms an accretion disk—a thin, rotating structure around the black hole. The accretion disk initially releases material in chaotic bursts, detectable through radio waves, but these emissions typically fade within a few months. Traditionally, astronomers only observed these radio emissions for a short period after the star’s destruction, missing any longer-term activity.

The new study, led by Yvette Cendes, a research associate at the Harvard and Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, involved monitoring black holes for several years after TDEs. Published on Aug. 25 in the preprint database arXiv, the findings showed that in up to 50% of the cases, black holes expelled material years after consuming a star. In 10 of the 24 studied black holes, this delayed emission occurred between two and six years after the initial star-destroying event. These unexpected “burps” were observed as sudden bursts of radio waves, indicating that the black holes “turned on” again long after the initial event.

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Human minibrains in little vials surprised scientists by surviving a stint in low-Earth orbit.

US researchers sent lab-grown blobs of human neural tissue known as organoids for a short holiday on the International Space Station back in 2019. What they got back a month later amazed them.

Not only were the cells healthy and thriving after weeks of weightlessness – they had matured faster than the same cells here on Earth.

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The brain is sometimes called the most complex machine in the known universe. But the thoughts that it outputs putter along at a trifling 10 bits per second, the pace of a conversation.

By Rachel Nuwer

People tend to have the sense that their inner thoughts and feelings are much richer than what they are capable of expressing in real time. Elon Musk has spoken publicly about this “bandwidth problem,” as he described it to podcaster Joe Rogan. Musk is so bothered by this, in fact, that he has made it one of his long-term goals to create an interface that allows the human brain to communicate directly with a computer, unencumbered by the slow speed of speaking or writing.

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Regorafenib.

For patients with metastatic esophagogastric adenocarcinoma, inhibition of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) pathway via the anti–VEGFR-2 antibody ramucirumab increases response, progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) when combined with second-line treatment with paclitaxel. The multitargeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor regorafenib targets VEGFR and other pathways and has effectiveness in chemotherapy-refractory colorectal cancer.

Investigators now report results of the industry-sponsored, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled INTEGRATE IIa trial evaluating regorafenib (160 mg daily for 21 days of 28-day cycles) in patients with chemotherapy-refractory esophagogastric adenocarcinoma. Of the 251 patients enrolled, 63% were treated in Asia; 73% had gastric primaries; 42% had received a prior VEGF inhibitor; 59% had received two and 40% had received three or more lines of prior chemotherapy. For the analysis of OS, the primary endpoint, results were pooled with those from INTEGRATE I, a prior randomized, placebo-controlled, phase II trial in 147 patients.

At a median follow-up of 48 months, OS was improved with regorafenib over placebo in the pooled cohort (hazard ratio, 0.70; P=0.001) and in the INTEGRATE IIa cohort (HR, 0.68; P=0.006). In the INTEGRATE IIa cohort, 1-year OS was improved with regorafenib (19% vs. 6%), whereas median OS was similar (4.0 and 4.5 months). PFS was improved with regorafenib (HR, 0.53; P0.0001). The disease control rate was higher with regorafenib than placebo (21.3% vs. 4.9%) and the antitumor response was limited (2.4% vs. 0%). Adverse events related to regorafenib, including palmar–plantar erythrodysesthesia, mucositis, hypertension, and diarrhea, were manageable.

Continue reading “A Potential New Treatment Option for Chemotherapy-Refractory Gastric Cancer” | >

Mapping the geometry of quantum worlds: measuring the quantum geometric tensor in solids.

Quantum states are like complex shapes in a hidden world, and understanding their geometry is key to unlocking the mysteries of modern physics. One of the most important tools for studying this geometry is the quantum geometric tensor (QGT). This mathematical object reveals how quantum states “curve” and interact, shaping phenomena ranging from exotic materials to groundbreaking technologies.

The QGT has two parts, each with distinct significance:

1. The Berry curvature (the imaginary part): This governs topological phenomena, such as unusual electrical and magnetic behaviors in advanced materials.

2. The quantum metric (the real part): Recently gaining attention, this influences surprising effects like flat-band superfluidity, quantum Landau levels, and even the nonlinear Hall effect.

Continue reading “Physicists measure quantum geometry for first time” | >

The most common form – obstructive sleep apnoea – happens when the walls of the throat relax and narrow or close, with symptoms including choking noises, loud snoring and waking up a lot.

The three-hour procedure to fit Nyxoah’s Genio implant was carried out by medics at University College London Hospitals NHS foundation trust (UCLH) this month.

One of the two patients, Natalie Boller, 63, was feeling better within days and will return to the clinic to have the device activated in the coming weeks.

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The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope team at NASA has completed the integration of the telescope and its instruments onto the carrier, a significant milestone in the assembly process.

With the Coronagraph Instrument and the Optical Telescope Assembly in place, the Roman telescope is equipped to explore a vast array of astronomical phenomena, including exoplanets and cosmic mysteries like dark energy and dark matter. The Wide Field Instrument, a powerful 300-megapixel infrared camera, will enhance the telescope’s capability to survey the universe extensively. The project is on schedule for a 2026 completion and a 2027 launch.

Integration of roman space telescope components.

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