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Startling immune hack that makes tumors disappear could unlock a universal cancer vaccine

Startling immune hack that makes tumors disappear could unlock a universal cancer vaccine

Daily Mail​2 days ago
Scientists may be one step closer to a universal cancer vaccine that could revolutionize how the disease is treated.
The vaccine uses mRNA, messenger RNA, the same technology behind the COVID-19 vaccines, which carries instructions for cells to produce specific proteins.
However, instead of directing cells to make a protein that triggers an immune response, researchers at the University of Florida used mRNA that acts as a red flag itself, immediately alerting the immune system and prompting a reaction.
In their study, mice implanted with human melanoma tumors were treated with the mRNA vaccine alongside immunotherapy drugs, medications designed to harness and boost the immune system, once a week for three weeks.
The combination helped immune cells recognize and attack the cancer, leading to tumor shrinkage and, in some cases, complete disappearance.
All untreated mice died within 50 days, but among those that received the vaccine and immunotherapy, every mouse survived at least 60 days, and more than half were still alive at day 100 when the experiment ended.
The research remains in its early stages and has not yet been tested in humans, but scientists said it offers a promising glimpse into a future where chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery may no longer be necessary in the fight against cancer.
Dr Elias Sayor, a pediatric oncologist which led the research, said: 'This paper describes a very unexpected and exciting observation: That even a vaccine not specific to any particular tumor or virus could lead to tumor-specific effects.
'This finding is proof of concept that these vaccines potentially could be commercialized as universal cancer vaccines that might sensitize the immune system against a patient's individual tumor,' she continued.
Scientists consider developing a cancer vaccine, targeting one of the leading causes of death, to be a 'holy grail' of medical breakthroughs.
There are currently two main approaches in cancer vaccine development, including identifying a common target found in many patients with a particular cancer, or creating a personalized vaccine tailored to an individual's specific tumor.
However, the team behind this new research believes their study introduces a promising third approach, one that focuses on stimulating a powerful immune response rather than targeting cancer directly.
Dr Duane Mitchell, a neurosurgeon and co-author of the study, explained: 'What we found is by using a vaccine designed not to target cancer specifically, but rather to stimulate a strong immunologic response, we could elicit a very strong anti-cancer reaction.
'This has significant potential to be broadly used across cancer patients, even possibly leading us to an off-the-shelf cancer vaccine.'
Each year, about 104,000 Americans are diagnosed with melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. When caught early, it's often treatable, but if the cancer spreads, the five-year survival rate drops to just 34 percent.
In the study, scientists used mRNA derived from mitochondria, the energy-producing structures within cells, which can also trigger a rapid immune response.
The researchers tested their new vaccine on several types of cancer in mice, including skin, bone, and brain cancers, and found that in many cases, the tumors shrank or disappeared entirely following treatment.
Dr. Elias Sayour, a pediatric oncologist and lead investigator, suggested the vaccine may help activate T cells, immune cells responsible for detecting and destroying threats, which previously failed to respond, prompting them to multiply and attack cancerous cells.
Dr. Duane Mitchell added: 'It could potentially be a universal way of waking up a patient's own immune response to cancer. And that would be profound if generalizable to human studies.'
While the vaccine is still likely years away from clinical use, the team says they are actively working to advance it into human trials.
The research was published in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering.
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EXCLUSIVE The truth about 'suicide headaches' and the bizarre treatments I tried in search of a cure
EXCLUSIVE The truth about 'suicide headaches' and the bizarre treatments I tried in search of a cure

Daily Mail​

time11 minutes ago

  • Daily Mail​

EXCLUSIVE The truth about 'suicide headaches' and the bizarre treatments I tried in search of a cure

Tom Zeller Jr has done just about anything to get rid of his headaches. He's chugged 60 glasses of water in a day, inhaled oxygen straight from the tank and even tripped on magic mushrooms on top of the western Montana mountains. The 56–year–old science journalist was diagnosed about three decades ago with cluster headaches, debilitating headaches that strike randomly and drag out for weeks or months at a time. While it could be years between attacks, they return as fast as a lightning strike, with Zeller likening them to resting your hand on a hot burner and not being able to take it off. Zeller told 'They're excruciatingly painful. The tend to come on really, really quickly, within a matter of seconds. You don't usually have a warning and they will knock you down to the floor until they're over.' Zeller, who lives in Montana, spent much of his adult life suffering attacks up to four times a day for months at a time until they suddenly disappeared. His clusters have slowed in recent years, but like the 1 in 1,000 Americans with the disorder, Zeller waits for the next attack with limited tools at his disposal. In his newly released book, The Headache: The Science of a Most Confounding Affliction – and a Search for Relief, Zeller detailed his decades–long search for cluster headache relief, along with the wackiest things he's tried to quell the pain. 'I never wanted to write this book, to be honest. I did not want people to know I had headaches. It's just terrible to be seen in this way,' Zeller told 'But I also felt like if you're going to write a book, they say, "Write about what you know." I realized that I know headaches.' Cluster headaches are extremely painful and strike quickly in frequent attacks, or 'clusters,' lasting weeks or months at a time, earning the grim nickname 'suicide headaches.' The disorder usually causes sharp and stabbing pain in or around the eye, restlessness, tears and eye redness, forehead sweating, swelling around the eye and eyelid drooping. While a close relative of migraines, they're far less common. About 0.1 percent of Americans have had a cluster headache attack at some point in their lives, while 15 percent – most of whom are women – have migraines. For Zeller, the attacks drove a wedge in his journalism career, often forcing him to 'retreat from opportunities in the newsroom.' 'It's not easy. The book talks about how any sort of headache disorder is kind of a drag on the momentum of your life. They're always slowing you down,' he said. 'When I wasn't having the headaches, I felt like I was pretty bold and pretty accomplished as a journalist. But when the headaches would come on, I would sort of disappear and I would work from home a lot. 'There's a lot of stigma attached to headaches in a weird way. I tried very hard to make sure that no one knew that I had these headaches. You start to hide and that meant hiding from opportunities at work too.' Throughout the book, Zeller detailed a laundry list of unorthodox treatments he tried or researched. 'I was being ground down by the relentless injections, self–administered into an abdomen bruised and pockmarked by previous jabs, and overuse of the medication was likely driving an endless cycle of rebound attacks,' he wrote in his book. 'Given this unappealing tableau, why not shrooms?' Psilocybin, the active compound in magic mushrooms, has been shown to alter how the brain processes and perceives pain signals and is thought to reduce inflammation. He's also tried inhaling capsaicin, an extract in chili peppers that gives them their signature heat. Some research suggests it helps desensitize nerve fibers in the nasal passages that transmit cluster headache pain to the brain. Zeller also rented oxygen tanks from a welding supplier as a 'really fast way to abort a cluster headache attack.' 'I also remember a forum saying that if you just tried to chug like 60 glasses of water a day, or some absurd amount, it would cure your headaches. I was willing to try, but all I did was visit the toilet a lot with headaches,' he recalled. Zeller said many patients with cluster headaches have to rely on bizarre hacks because of the lack of medications geared specifically toward their condition. 'The thing that surprised me most, and what probably prompted the book, was that so little research was out there on primary headache disorders,' Zeller explained. Patients are often prescribed beta blockers, antipsychotics, antidepressants and other drugs manufactured for other illnesses, as they can treat headaches in some people. Recently, the advent of CGRP drugs has changed the picture. Approved by the FDA in 2018, these preventative drugs block or reduce the effects of CGRP, which causes migraine and cluster headache pain. 'A lot of times you'll find a drug or remedy that does kind of work, but the body adapts. We're very plastic, and over time, those things start to wane,' Zeller said. Zeller uses the CGRP medication Emgality, the only FDA approved medication specifically designed for cluster headaches and migraines. The cluster headache dose of Emgality is significantly higher than the migraine dose – 300 milligrams compared to 120 milligrams – and both versions are given through a subcutaneous injection just under the skin. 'Cluster headaches are their own unique animal, so once the headaches start happening, it does seem to be pretty hard to stop,' Zeller revealed. 'But I think three times in I'm sort of convinced that the CGRP blockers work for me to stop a bout from happening.' Like migraines, cluster headaches often become less frequent and severe with age, which some research suggests could be due to hormonal fluctuations and altered blood vessel function in the brain. Zeller's clusters in recent years have slowed and can now fall years apart, but he's far from being in remission. 'I don't think I, or anyone really, is out of the woods yet,' he said. For now, Zeller said he hopes his new book will help improve cluster headache awareness and provide a sense of community for readers with the condition. In his research, he spoke with several cluster headache and migraine patients who at first were 'guarded' and wary of speaking about their experience over fears of it being trivialized. But throughout the interviews, they became excited because they had 'this pent–up desire to just unload about it.' 'I hope they feel seen by the book,' Zeller said. 'Someone out there is paying attention and you can take heart in that, and if you're able to buy time between painful bouts, I hope that you know the book will be affirming in that you know you're not alone.' The Headache: The Science of a Most Confounding Affliction – and a Search for Relief is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Target and others.

‘A disaster for all of us': US scientists describe impact of Trump cuts
‘A disaster for all of us': US scientists describe impact of Trump cuts

The Guardian

timean hour ago

  • The Guardian

‘A disaster for all of us': US scientists describe impact of Trump cuts

'Our ability to respond to climate change, the biggest existential threat facing humanity, is totally adrift,' said Sally Johnson, an Earth scientist who has spent the past two decades helping collect, store and distribute data at Nasa (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) and Noaa (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). Donald Trump's assault on science – but particularly climate science – has led to unprecedented funding cuts and staff layoffs across federally funded agencies and programs, threatening to derail research tackling the most pressing issues facing Americans and humanity more broadly. A generation of scientific talent is also on the brink of being lost, with unprecedented political interference at what were previously evidence-driven agencies jeopardizing the future of US industries and economic growth. Johnson was among scores of scientists conducting vital research across a range of fields from infectious diseases, robotics, education, computer science and the climate crisis, who responded to a Guardian online callout to share their experiences about the impact of the Trump administration's cuts to science funding. Many said they had already had funding slashed or programs terminated, while others fear that cuts are inevitable and are beginning to search for alternative work – either overseas or outside science. So far, the cuts have led to a 60% reduction in Johnson's team, and fear is mounting over the future of 30 years of climate data and expertise as communities across the country are battered by increasingly destructive extreme weather events. 'We won't be able to afford to continue providing the free and quality tools and services to make our data stores searchable, viewable, usable, and accessible. We might not even be able to afford to keep all the data … this will mean worse forecasts and less effective search and rescue responses leading to unnecessary and avoidable loss of life,' said Johnson (not her real name). Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act (Obbba) calls for a 56% cut to the current $9bn National Science Foundation (NSF) budget, as well as a 73% reduction in staff and fellowships – with graduate students among the hardest hit. The NSF is the premier federal investor in basic science and engineering, and more than 1,650 grants have also been terminated, according to Grant Watch, a non-profit tracking federally funded research grants under the Trump administration. At the behest of Trump, the hardest hit are studies aimed at addressing the unequal impact of the climate crisis and other environmental hazards, as well as any projects perceived to have a connection to diversity, equity or inclusion (DEI). An anthropologist who researches the impact of floods and cyclones on public health and food supplies in Madagascar, which is among the most vulnerable nations in the world to the climate crisis but contributed virtually nothing to the catastrophe, is leaving Johns Hopkins for Oxford University after funding for the remainder of her fellowship was threatened. 'I am devastated to leave family, friends and the grad students I am mentoring in the US, but this seemed like the only way to continue work I've been pursuing for 10+ years. I am working on improving climate mitigation and adaptation in an African country. After Trump was elected, the writing was on the wall. There is no way I can write grant applications that will be acceptable to this government.' A veteran infectious diseases researcher at Ohio State University was forced to abandon a clinical trial for a new medication to treat hypoxemic respiratory failure in Covid patients after the National Institute of Health (NIH) terminated funding midway through the study. The decision will save $500,000, but $1.5m had already been spent on the trial which researchers hoped would lead to new treatment options for the million or so people hospitalized with respiratory failure each year as a result of flu, Covid and other infections. The trial would have to be repeated from the start, in order to seek approval from the FDA. 'This is a disaster for all of us. We're all depressed and living on a knife-edge, because we know we could lose the rest of our grants any day. These people really hate us yet all we've done is work hard to make people's health better. A flu pandemic is coming for us, what's happening in cattle is truly scary and all we have is oxygen and hope for people,' said the Ohio scientist. Between 90 and 95% of their lab work is funded through the NIH. So far, more than 3,500 grants have been terminated or frozen by the NIH. Trump's budget proposes slashing NIH funding by more than 40%. The majority of scientists who got in touch described feeling anxious and despondent – about their own work if the cuts continue, but also about what seems an inevitable loss of talent and knowledge which could upend the US position as a global leader in scientific endeavors and ricochet for years to come. The brain drain is real. The Australian Academy of Science is leading the country's efforts to proactively recruit top US-based scientists, creating a new global talent program that includes research funding, access to Australian research infrastructure, fast-track visas and a relocation package. At least 75 scientists applied in the first three months of the program, the AAS told the Guardian. The Trump administration has accused universities, without evidence, of promoting leftwing radical thinking and research, but federal funds train scientists who go on to work for the oil and gas, mining, chemical, big tech and other industries. Several respondents said the private sector was also starting to feel the knock-on effect of Trump's cuts and tariffs. Wessel van den Bergh, a materials scientist with a PhD, was working on battery storage technology for a Chinese-owned renewable energy company in Massachusetts. He was laid off in early June amid Trump's tariff chaos and attacks on science and renewables, and is struggling to find work. 'When I started my PhD program, America was at the leading edge of batteries/energy storage but this is no longer true due to tariffs, funding cuts, and aggression towards green alternatives. Rather, the US has ceded its hard-earned expertise to other countries such as Korea, Japan and China,' Van den Bergh said. Trump supports the expansion of fossil fuels and has received millions of dollars in campaign donations from the oil, gas and coal industry, while his budget legislation terminated incentives for solar and wind energy. 'It's crushing, I don't see a clear path ahead any more. I no longer feel this country values science. It's genuinely heartbreaking to build your vocation to something that could genuinely benefit the world for it to be quashed for imagined political victories … especially at a time where these kinds of technologies are the only way out of the climate crisis,' said Van den Bergh. Separately, the Nuclear Physics Laboratory (NPL) at the University of Illinois got in touch after the Guardian's recent investigation into the chaos at the NSF. For almost 100 years the NPL has been at the forefront of cutting-edge science in drug discovery, cancer treatments, PET scans and other medical diagnoses, and semiconductor testing, with researchers playing a key role in world-renowned institutions like Cern and Los Alamos. It's a major hub for nurturing and training future talent, and at least 50 students have graduated with PhDs in the past 20 years. It was here that Rosalind Yalow got her PhD in nuclear physics in 1945, and then went on to invent radioimmunoassay – a technique to detect minute amounts of hormones, viruses and drugs in the blood which revolutionized medical testing for conditions such as diabetes. Yalow was awarded the Nobel prize in 1977, only the second woman to win it. The lab was recently informed that the NSF will reduce funding that supports graduates students from $15m for four years to $1m for one year. 'Our group in nuclear physics at Illinois actually predates the founding of the NSF in 1950, and we have a long history of both producing scientists and accelerator technologies that have had an impact on huge numbers of people,' said Anne M Sickles, professor of nuclear physics. 'If you cut the funding to the people who are doing the work right now, you don't know what they would have innovated in 10 years or 15 years or 32 years like Rosalind Yalow. We don't know what we're losing.' The NFS declined to comment, while the office of management and budget and NIH did not respond.

Man wearing heavy metallic necklace dies after being sucked into MRI machine
Man wearing heavy metallic necklace dies after being sucked into MRI machine

BBC News

time2 hours ago

  • BBC News

Man wearing heavy metallic necklace dies after being sucked into MRI machine

A 61-year-old man has died after he was sucked into a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine at a medical centre while he was wearing a heavy metal necklace. The man, who has not been identified, entered a room at Nassau Open MRI in Westbury, on New York's Long Island, without permission as the MRI machine was running, Nassau County Police Department said. A patient at the facility told local media her husband was the one who died. She said she had called him into the room after she had a scan on say the incident "resulted in a medical episode" and the man was taken to the hospital, where he died on Thursday. MRI machines use a strong magnetic field to produce detailed images. Patients are typically asked to remove metal items and change out of their clothes before undergoing MRI scans or going near the machine. "The male victim was wearing a large metallic chain around his neck causing him to be drawn into the machine, which resulted in a medical episode," said Nassau County Police Department, which is investigating the incident. Though police have not named the victim, a woman, Adrienne Jones-McAllister, told local television station News 12 Long Island that it was her husband, Keith, who died. "He waved goodbye to me and then his whole body went limp," she said tearfully. Ms Jones-McAllister told the outlet she was getting an MRI on her knee and asked her husband to come in to help her get up afterwards. She said he was wearing a 20lb (9kg) chain with a lock that he used for weight training."At that instant, the machine switched him around, pulled him in, and he hit the MRI," she Jones-McAllister said the technician had tried to pull her husband away from the machine."I'm saying, 'Could you turn off the machine?" she told the outlet. "Call 911. Do something. Turn this damn thing off!'"The BBC has contacted Nassau Open MRI for comment. According to the US Food and Drug Administration, MRI machines have magnetic fields that will attract magnetic objects of all sizes - keys, mobile phones and even oxygen tanks - which "may cause damage to the scanner or injury to the patient or medical professionals if those objects become projectiles". In 2001, a six-year-old boy died of a fractured skull at a New York City medical centre while undergoing an MRI exam after its powerful magnetic force propelled an oxygen tank across the room.

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