An experimental malaria vaccine protected a small number of healthy, malaria-naïve adults in the United States from infection for more than one year after immunization, according to results from a Phase 1 trial described in the May 9th issue of Nature Medicine.

Statins are equally effective at decreasing risk of coronary events in men and women, and yet women are less likely to be prescribed these cholesterol-lowering drugs than men. A study by investigators at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) published this week in PLOS ONE identifies four factors that may account for sex differences in statin therapy among patients with coronary artery disease (CAD),

Researchers have shown how controlling cholesterol metabolism in pancreatic cancer cells reduces metastasis, pointing to a potential new treatment using drugs previously developed for atherosclerosis. The findings, detailed in a paper published on May 2 in the journal Oncogene, suggest a class of drugs previously developed to treat atherosclerosis could be repurposed for treatment of pancreatic cancer and other forms of cancer.

A novel way of synthesising a promising new antibiotic has been identified by scientists at the University of Bristol. By expressing the genes involved in the production of pleuromutilin in a different type of fungus, the researchers were able to increase production by more than 2,000 per cent.

Men with aggressive prostate cancer that has stopped responding to conventional treatment could potentially benefit from a new class of cancer drug designed to overcome drug resistance, a new study suggests. Researchers found that the drugs, called Hsp90 inhibitors, specifically target and inactivate a mechanism commonly used by prostate cancer cells to evade the effects of standard treatment.

Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai say that tiny doses of a cancer drug may stop the raging, uncontrollable immune response to infection that leads to sepsis and kills up to 500,000 people a year in the U.S. The new drug treatment may also benefit millions of people worldwide who are affected by infections and pandemics.

A "Mediterranean" diet, high in fruit, vegetables, fish and unrefined foods, is linked to a lower risk of heart attack and stroke in people who already have heart disease, according to a study of over 15,000 people in 39 countries around the world. The research also showed that eating greater amounts of healthy food was more important for these people than avoiding unhealthy foods, such as refined grains, sweets, desserts, sugared drinks and deep-fried food - a "Western" diet.