Immune cells engineered to seek out and attack a type of deadly brain cancer known as glioblastoma (GBM) were found to have an acceptable safety profile and successfully migrate to and infiltrate tumors, researchers from Penn Medicine and Harvard University reported at the AACR Annual Meeting 2016.

After a stroke, there is inflammation in the damaged part of the brain. Until now, the inflammation has been seen as a negative consequence that needs to be abolished as soon as possible. But, as it turns out, there are also some positive sides to the inflammation, and it can actually help the brain to self-repair.

Americans are living longer but in poorer health, according to a new study. The USC-led study examined life expectancy trends and disability rates in a 40-year period, from 1970 to 2010. The analysis of U.S. vital statistics found that the average total lifespan increased for men and women in those 40 years, but so did the proportion of time spent living with a disability.

Pancreatic cancer is the third leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States, in part because it is very difficult for chemotherapy drugs to reach the pancreas, which is located deep within the abdomen. To help overcome that obstacle, researchers from MIT and Massachusetts General Hospital have now developed a small, implantable device that delivers chemotherapy drugs directly to pancreatic tumors.

Global inequities in health spending are expected to persist and intensify over the next 25 years, according to a new study that estimates total health financing in countries around the world. Published in The Lancet on April 13, 2016 "National spending on health by source for 184 countries between 2013 and 2040" draws from a joint research collaboration between the World Bank Group and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington.

In a recent paper published in Nature Communications, a group of Case Western University School of Medicine researchers presented their discovery of the full-length structure of a protein named Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid subtype 2 (TRPV2). Taken in addition to their study of its molecular mechanism last year, published in the December issue of Molecular and Cellular Biology,

Since 2012, the FDA can designate a drug as a "breakthrough therapy" if preliminary clinical evidence - such as an improvement in a pharmacodynamic biomarker - suggests an advantage over existing options. The term is routinely used in press releases and prescribing resources. Although the term breakthrough leads consumers to overly optimistic beliefs about drug effectiveness, it is not known how physicians understand this term, or more generally, what FDA approval means.