Immunotherapy Weekly articles from May 2001

Immunotherapy Weekly archives from May 2001

Possible Link Discovered Between Chronic Asthma And Chronic Infection.
May 9, 2001... 2001 MAY 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- New research shows a possible link between chronic bacterial respiratory infections and persistent asthma. The study was conducted by Richard J. Martin, MD, from the National Jewish Medical and...

High Blood Cell Cytokine Output Indicates Successful Treatment.
May 9, 2001... 2001 MAY 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, staff medical writer - Enhanced interleukin (IL)-10 production from peripheral blood cells is a strong indicator of successful methotrexate (MTX) treatment for rheumatoid...

Decoy Molecule That Fights Food Poisoning Might Help Defeat Other Toxins.
May 9, 2001... 2001 MAY 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Scientists at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico report that they have designed decoy molecules that, in laboratory studies, can stop the spread of staphylococcal superantigen, a toxin...

Clinical Trial To Test Combination Therapy In Patients With Advanced Disease.
May 9, 2001... 2001 MAY 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Scientists are to launch a major trial that aims to improve survival and quality of life for patients with advanced cancer of the kidney. The research, being carried out by the Medical Research...

Molecule That Guides Nerve Cells Also Directs Immune Cells; Implications For Immunotherapy.
May 9, 2001... 2001 MAY 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers have the first evidence that cues that guide migrating nerve cells also direct white blood cells called leukocytes, which have to find their way to inflamed, infected, or damaged areas...

Interferon Therapy Does Not Inhibit GMK Vaccine Effectiveness.
May 9, 2001... 2001 MAY 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - Giving high-dose interferon therapy with the GM2-KLH/QS-21 (GMK) vaccine does not inhibit immune response and appears to prolong relapse-free survival in...

Amantadine-Interferon Combination Effective for Chronic Hepatitis C.
May 9, 2001... 2001 MAY 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer - A new clinical trial suggests combination amantadine-interferon therapy reduces virus levels in patients with chronic hepatitis C. In the trial,...

Fas Antigen On Liver Cells Predicts Sustained Response To Interferon.
May 9, 2001... 2001 MAY 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer - Fas antigen is an independent predictor of sustained response to interferon therapy in patients with chronic hepatitis C, researchers say. "Interaction...

Does A Lifetime Of Fighting Off Infections Trigger Heart Disease?
May 9, 2001... 2001 MAY 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Hardened arteries and heart attacks may be the price we pay for fighting infection. According to a report in a recent issue of New Scientist, researchers in Austria have shown that a wide...

New Hypothesis Suggests Osteoarthritis Is A Systemic Disorder.
May 9, 2001... 2001 MAY 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Susan Hasty, senior medical writer - Osteoarthritis' link with obesity has been well established, if less well understood. Now scientists in Scotland have offered a new hypothesis to explain...

Supplements Of Lactobacillus Could Be Therapeutic For Babies With Skin Condition.
May 9, 2001... 2001 MAY 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Supplements of a friendly bacterium found in live yogurt could halve the chances of infants developing eczema, an incurable skin disease some never outgrow, new research shows. Capsules of...

UN Agencies Suggest Ways to Prevent Potential Health Risks From Genetically Modified Foods.
May 9, 2001... 2001 MAY 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Confronting complex issues stemming from biotechnology, two United Nations agencies issued new recommendations on April 16, 2001, to help protect consumers from risks that some genetically modified...

Extensive Gp120-Induced Macrophage Surface CD4 Loss Observed.
May 9, 2001... 2001 MAY 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, staff medical writer - The HIV envelope protein gp120 can cause a rapid and substantial loss of macrophage surface CD4 using a CCR5-dependent mechanism, pathologists report. ...

Nitric Oxide Not Involved In Interferon-Induced Hepatitis C Replicon Clearance.
May 9, 2001... 2001 MAY 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers with Roche Discovery, U.K., have determined that nitric oxide does not have a role in interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) induced hepatitis C replicon clearance. They also report that...

NewsRx.net Is Preferred Site for Cancer, Malaria, AIDS, Other Health Searches, Audience Measurement Shows.
May 9, 2001... 2001 MAY 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- NewsRx Network, Atlanta, Georgia, the leading provider of life science databases and daily and weekly health news, announced on April 17, 2001, the results of audience measurements based on its...

Synovium Of Pediatric Tissues Rich With Angiogenic Growth Factors.
May 9, 2001... 2001 MAY 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer - Growth factors that influence the progression of diseases such as atherosclerosis, diabetic retinopathy, and cancer also are common to patients with juvenile...

Demonstration of Cross-Reactive Epitopes Should Enhance Vaccine Development.
May 9, 2001... 2001 MAY 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - By identifying cross-reactive epitopes on the surface of erythrocytes parasitized by Plasmodium falciparum, researchers at the U.S. National Institutes of...

Babies Born Via Cesarean Section At Risk Of Asthma In Adulthood.
May 9, 2001... 2001 MAY 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Babies born via cesarean section are more likely to be diagnosed with asthma in adulthood, according to researchers writing in the April 2001 Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology. Baizhuang...

Digital Imaging Technique Quantifies Vascular Changes In Murine Model.
May 9, 2001... 2001 MAY 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer - Researchers in The Netherlands have developed a new digital imaging technique that identifies vascular changes in the tissues that line the joints. ...

Mixed Chimerism Linked To Lower Graft-Versus-Host Risk.
May 9, 2001... 2001 MAY 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, staff medical writer - Patients who display mixed T-cell chimerism after allogeneic stem cell transplantation have a lower risk of developing a devastating post-transplant...

Stressgen Targets Hepatitis B For Its Next Heat Shock Protein Fusion Program.
May 9, 2001... 2001 MAY 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Stressgen Biotechnologies Corporation (SSB) announced on April 17, 2001, that, based on positive preclinical data presented at the Experimental Biology 2001 meeting held in April, it has chosen to...

Addition Of Ribavirin To Interferon Therapy Reduces Relapse.
May 9, 2001... 2001 MAY 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers at the University Hospital Rotterdam, The Netherlands, confirm that ribavirin boosts the initial immune response of hepatitic C patients to interferon treatment and report that the...

Osteopontin May Regulate Middle Ear Calcification.
May 9, 2001... 2001 MAY 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Deborah W. Heinrich, staff medical writer - Researchers at the Hyogo College of Medicine in Japan report that osteopontin (OPN) is secreted by exudate macrophages in sites of middle ear...

Adjuvants Improve Potency Of Epidermal Powder Immunization.
May 9, 2001... 2001 MAY 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - Epidermal powder immunization (EPI) is an attractive delivery route for vaccination and has shown some success in mice immunized against influenza. Now...

Electropermeabilization Enhances Response To Nucleic Acid Vaccination.
May 9, 2001... 2001 MAY 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - When electropermeabilization (EP) is used with naked DNA vaccination in animals, transgene expression increases up to 83-fold compared to naked DNA...

Intrasplenic DNA Vaccine Yields Antibodies To Cell Surface Molecules.
May 9, 2001... 2001 MAY 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - DNA vaccination directly to the spleen induces polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies (MAb) against cell surface molecules, say researchers working in...

Nasal Mucosa Generates Accurate Correlation With Allergen Exposure.
May 16, 2001... 2001 MAY 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Deborah W. Heinrich, PhD, staff medical writer - Researchers at the University of Perugia in Italy found that immunoglobulin E (IgE) and eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) levels in the nasal...

Boosting The Immune System May Help Fight Pediatric Cancer.
May 16, 2001... 2001 MAY 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Johns Hopkins University pediatric oncology director Robert Arceci, MD, PhD, will lead efforts to find a way to keep the body's cancer-fighting immune cells awake and responsive to tumor cells in...

Immunotherapy Agent Found Effective In 73% Of Patients.
May 16, 2001... 2001 MAY 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Stressgen Biotechnologies Corp. (TSE:SSB) announced April 24, 2001, preliminary Phase II data confirming previously reported activity of HspE7, a novel immunotherapeutic, for the treatment of a...

Quality Of Immune Response To Dendritic Cell Vaccine Tied To Route Of Administration.
May 16, 2001... 2001 MAY 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - Immune response of prostate cancer patients receiving a dendritic cell (DC) vaccine varies depending on how the vaccine is delivered, pathologists report....

Immune System Helps Prevent Tumors After All, Study Finds.
May 16, 2001... 2001 MAY 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers have obtained the first conclusive evidence that the immune system helps prevent tumor formation. They discovered that white blood cells called lymphocytes and a protein produced...

Two-Stage Approach Achieves 20-Fold Uptake Of Chemotherapeutic.
May 16, 2001... 2001 MAY 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Immunomedics, Inc. (IMMU) presented results May 2, 2001, on a new method for improved targeting of drugs and isotopes to cancers. Dr. David M. Goldenberg, Immunomedics, described progress being...

Chronic Chlamydia Infection Linked To Asthma.
May 16, 2001... 2001 MAY 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Chronic infection with Chlamydia pneumoniae is linked to asthma, according to investigators who studied the serology of 33 asthmatics and 33 healthy control subjects. Chlamydia is a common...

Hormones Improve Immune Response to HBV Vaccination in Aged Animals.
May 16, 2001... 2001 MAY 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Preclinical results with a Hollis-Eden Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (HEPH) investigational drug candidate, HE2200, an immune-regulating hormone, demonstrated that HE2200 and other immune-regulating...

Drug Companies Start Phase II Monotherapy Clinical Trials.
May 16, 2001... 2001 MAY 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Abgenix, Inc. (ABGX) and Immunex Corp. (IMNX) announced April 18, 2001, that the companies will start a Phase II clinical trial of ABX-EGF in patients with kidney cancer. The Phase II trial...

Anti-Angiogenesis Agent To Be Tested With Chemotherapy.
May 16, 2001... 2001 MAY 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The University of Washington and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center's Puget Sound Oncology Consortium will lead a Phase II ovarian cancer clinical trial in the U.S. evaluating the safety and...

72-Week Results From Completed Phase II Study Reported.
May 16, 2001... 2001 MAY 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Maxim Pharmaceuticals (MAXM) announced the 72-week results from its completed Phase II study evaluating Ceplene(TM) (histamine dihydrochloride) plus interferon-alpha (IFN-(alpha)) in the treatment...

Treatments In Children Lack Scientific Scrutiny, Say Hopkins Researchers.
May 16, 2001... 2001 MAY 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Chronic infections by the hepatitis C virus in children can cause serious liver damage or liver failure later in life if left untreated. A team of researchers at Johns Hopkins University set out to...

New Research Shows Promise In Conquering Ulcer-Causing Bacterium.(Helicobacter pylori)
May 23, 2001... 2001 MAY 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A new study in mice suggests that a treatment using a specific type of immune cell can eradicate the ulcer-causing bacterium Helicobacter pylori. The research found that mice with deficient...

Potential New Therapy Could Lead To Novel Treatments Against Other Bacterial Infections.(anthrax)
May 23, 2001... 2001 MAY 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A study by Harvard Medical School researchers, reported in the April 27, 2001, edition of Science, suggests a mutation in the anthrax toxin, which prevents poisoning, may lead to a double-pronged...

Serious Infections Can Inhibit Development Of Tumor-Nourishing Blood Vessels.
May 23, 2001... 2001 MAY 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Serious infections can retard and even halt the growth of tumors in mammals by blocking the formation of blood vessels that nourish those tumors, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania's...

Therapeutic Vaccine Prolongs Survival Time For Patients With Metastatic Disease.
May 23, 2001... 2001 MAY 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Demonstrating new success in cancer immunotherapy, researchers reported that they have increased the survival time of cancer patients using novel therapeutic vaccines. Data show, for the first...

Monoclonal Antibody Targets Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor In Advanced-Stage Disease.(colorectal cancer )
May 23, 2001... 2001 MAY 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A new drug for the treatment of advanced-stage colorectal cancer can shrink tumors in some patients who have developed resistance to other chemotherapy agents. The results of the study of...

FDA Advisors Say Three Prescription Drugs Are Safe Enough To Be Over-The-Counter.(Claritin, Allegra, and Zyrtec)
May 23, 2001... 2001 MAY 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A advisory panel to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has decided that three popular allergy drugs are safe enough to sell without prescription, but experts say the path to...

Study Finds Not All Blood Tests Are Created Equal.(allergy tests)
May 23, 2001... 2001 MAY 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The results of most commonly used blood tests for allergies can vary widely depending on which laboratory does the actual testing - and which laboratory procedure is used, a new study suggests. ...

Modified T Cells Target Synovium And Block Inflammation In Murine Model Of Gene Therapy.(rheumatoid arthritis)
May 23, 2001... 2001 MAY 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The ability of immune cells to home to peripheral lymphoid organs or target tissues is critical to autoimmune pathogenesis, but it also makes these cells a promising vehicle for delivering...

FDA Approves Reduced Dosage Albuterol Inhalation For Children.(AccuNeb)
May 23, 2001... 2001 MAY 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved AccuNeb(TM) (albuterol sulfate) Inhalation Solution for the relief of bronchospasm in patients two to 12 years of age with asthma. ...

Antibody Therapy Kills Cancer Cells In Culture.
May 23, 2001... 2001 MAY 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- In a study published in the May 2001 online version of the International Journal of Cancer, scientists from the Free University Medical Center, Amsterdam, showed that humanized HMFG1, a novel...

Imiquimod Effective Against Genital Warts In Adolescent Girls.
May 23, 2001... 2001 MAY 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Results of a new study show that Aldara(TM) (imiquimod) cream 5% is a highly effective treatment for adolescent girls with the sexually transmitted disease genital warts. Nearly 80% of the...

HIV Epitopes Found In Persistently Seronegative Sex Workers Could Aid Vaccine Development.
May 23, 2001... 2001 MAY 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- An ideal AIDS vaccine might be one that stimulates the cellular immune system so efficiently that, despite repeated exposure to HIV, an individual never shows signs of viremia or even seroconverts...

NewsRx Network Chosen As Source For 'Information Therapy'.
May 23, 2001... 2001 MAY 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- NewsRx Network, Atlanta, Georgia, the leading provider of life science databases and daily and weekly health news, now is a major source for "information therapy." NewsRx databases are derived...

Cell Genesys Reports Antitumor Activity In Phase I/II GVAX Vaccine Trial.
May 23, 2001... 2001 MAY 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Cell Genesys, Inc. (CEGE) reported interim clinical data from its multicenter Phase I/II GVAX(R) lung cancer vaccine trial that demonstrate objective evidence of antitumor activity including a...

Cancer Vaccine May Help Patients With Metastasis To The Lungs.(melanoma)
May 23, 2001... 2001 MAY 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A custom-made vaccine created from a patient's own cancer tumor cells appears effective in prolonging the survival of patients with malignant melanoma, the deadliest form of the skin cancer, that...

Interferon Therapy Beats Vaccination In Trial Of High-Risk Patients.
May 23, 2001... 2001 MAY 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - The advantages of high-dose interferon therapy over vaccination in high-risk melanoma patients were significant enough to halt a clinical trial comparing...

Peptide Vaccine Induces Immune Response In 80% Of Trial Patients.(multiple sclerosis )
May 23, 2001... 2001 MAY 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The Immune Response Corp. (IMNR) has published data on its investigational T-Cell Receptor (TCR) peptide vaccine for multiple sclerosis (MS) showing that it induced a specific response (stimulation...

Anti-Inflammatory Medications Ease Eye Infections.
May 23, 2001... 2001 MAY 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Anti-inflammatory medications used to treat arthritis may represent an important new treatment in preventing recurrences of sight-threatening eye infections caused by herpes simplex virus, study...

Cytokine and Kinase Inhibitors Effective Against Inflammation.
May 23, 2001... 2001 MAY 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Celgene Corp. (CELG) scientists and collaborators have presented data that show Celgene's SelCIDs(TM) (Selective Cytokine Inhibitory Drugs) and novel JNK (c-Jun N-terminal Kinase) inhibitor have...

Kinase Inhibitor Well Tolerated In Short Dosing Trial.(rheumatoid arthritis )
May 23, 2001... 2001 MAY 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Scios Inc. (SCIO) says that data from a Phase Ib clinical trial indicate that SCIO-469, the company's oral p38 kinase inhibitor, was well-tolerated in healthy volunteers over a two-week dosing...