Interest has been growing in the use of cannabinoids - the active chemicals in cannabis or marijuana - for the treatment of epilepsy in children. A recent Epilepsia analysis of relevant published studies indicates that this strategy looks promising. The analysis included four randomized controlled trials and 19 non-randomized studies, primarily involving cannabidiol, a particular type of cannabinoid that does not have psychoactive effects.

The human brain is rich in lipids. Investigators studying Parkinson's disease (PD) have become increasingly interested in lipids since both molecular and genetic studies have pointed to the disruption of the balance of the brain's lipids as a potentially critical contributor to this disease. Beginning in yeast and moving through various model organisms and human cells, a new study led by investigators from

In their phase-2 study of tisagenlecleucel (marketed as KYMRIAH®), to be published on-line Dec. 1, 2018 in the New England Journal of Medicine, an international team of researchers evaluated 93 patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). They found that 52 percent of those patients responded favorably to the therapy. Forty percent had a complete response and 12 percent had a partial response.

Many factors affect cancer treatment outcome, such as the size and location of the tumor, availability of effective treatments, and timing of intervention. But some cancers are so aggressive that outcome is poor, even after early diagnosis and chemotherapy. Researchers have focused their attention on trying to understand what makes some cancers less treatable than others.

Clinical trial results published in the journal Nature Medicine show 91 percent response rate to the combination of venetoclax with azacitidine in older adults newly diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Of 33 patients given combination venetoclax and azacitidine, 20 experienced a complete response (aka complete remission) and eight experienced a complete response but with continued low blood counts.

A UCLA-led team of scientists has developed a new technique that will enable researchers to easily and quickly determine the structures of organic molecules using very small samples. The work is already drawing significant attention in the scientific community: A preview of the paper that was posted on the website ChemRxiv was downloaded 19,000 times in 24 hours, shattering the site's previous record of 15,000 downloads in six months.

A new paper published by McGill University researchers in JAMA Internal Medicine suggests that some clinical trials may promote the use of ineffective and costly treatments. That's the opposite of what clinical trials are aimed at, namely preventing ineffective and costly treatments from being taken up by physicians and patients.