UPMC

In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers from Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) Brain Tumor Program have demonstrated that peptide vaccines in children with gliomas, the most common type of brain tumor, not only were well-tolerated but also showed evidence of immunological responses. The study, led by Ian F. Pollack, M.D., F.A.C.S., F.A.A.P., chief, Pediatric Neurosurgery at Children’s Hospital’s Brain Care Institute and co-director of UPCI’s Brain Tumor Program, and Dr. Regina I. Jakacki, M.D., director of Pediatric Neuro-Oncology, enrolled 27 children with gliomas, including 16 with newly diagnosed brainstem gliomas, five with newly diagnosed cerebral high-grade gliomas and six with recurrent gliomas. Each child received serial doses of a peptide vaccine, which stimulates an immune response to a protein fragment present on their tumor cells. “We’ve found that this vaccine is tolerated well with limited systemic toxicity, but we’ve also observed that there are some patients who have immunological responses in the vaccine target in the brain that can cause swelling and transient worsening and, subsequently, some of those children can have very favorable responses,” said Dr. Pollack, the Walter Dandy professor of neurological surgery and vice chairman for academic affairs in the department of neurological surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. “We’ve also demonstrated immunological responses in the majority of the kids.” Learn more at http://bit.ly/HaLcF2.

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND MEDICAL CENTER

Metformin, a drug widely used to treat Type II diabetes, may help to prevent primary liver cancer, researchers at the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer Center report. Primary liver cancer, or hepatocellular carcinoma, is an often-deadly form of cancer that is on the rise worldwide and is the fastest-growing cause of cancer-related deaths among American men. Patients with Type II diabetes have a two- to three-fold increased relative risk of developing primary liver cancer. Also at risk are people who are obese, have hepatitis or non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Metformin, which is derived from the French lilac, is used to treat NAFLD as well as diabetes, and currently is being studied in connection with the prevention of a variety of cancers. This pre-clinical study is the first to focus on liver cancer. Learn more at http://bit.ly/HzpbTN.

MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL

Researchers in the Center for Regenerative Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital have overcome a major hurdle in the pursuit of a treatment for Cystic fibrosis (CF) and other fatal lung diseases. Dr. Jayaraj Rajagopal, a pulmonologist at MassGeneral Hospital for Children, and colleagues managed to create human lung tissue using skin cells from CF patients.  The research details how Rajagopal’s team used skin cells from patients with CF to create induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) and then used these stem cells to create human disease-specific functioning epithelium – the tissue that lines the airways and is the main target of the CF gene. Learn more at http://bit.ly/I2aA2u.

COVIDIEN

Covidien, a leading global provider of healthcare products, announces that researchers have developed a new method to measure the physical strain placed on surgeons while performing minimally invasive surgery. By analyzing surgeons’ motions in the operating room, researchers will gain new insights into proper postures, techniques and body angles that should influence the development of new ergonomically designed minimally invasive surgery instruments. Donald R. Peterson, PhD, MS, University of Connecticut Health Center Biodynamics Laboratory in the Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, presented the new criteria during an oral presentation (Abstract ET008) at the annual meeting of the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES), held earlier this month. “The widespread acceptance of minimally invasive surgical procedures has led to an increase in their popularity and demand. To successfully perform laparoscopic surgery, surgeons may have to position their bodies at unnatural angles and perform repetitive actions with their hands, which may cause strain and fatigue,” Dr. Peterson said. “We have now established a method to assess the biomechanical risks that surgeons face when performing minimally invasive surgery. This should provide invaluable information to guide the development and design of new ergonomic surgical tools.” Learn more at http://bit.ly/HCyuOT.

CHRISTIANA CARE HEALTH SYSTEM

Babies born at Christiana Care Health System now are being tested for potentially fatal heart defects within their first two days of life, allowing them to receive immediate care if necessary, thanks to a new pulse oximetry initiative. The simple, 15-minute screening can identify a number of critical congenital heart defects in babies who may otherwise appear healthy. These defects, while rare—affecting three to four children in every 1,000 live births—can be fatal if not diagnosed and treated immediately after birth. “When babies are 24 to 28 hours of age, a nurse attaches a tiny electrode to one hand and one foot to measure oxygen saturation in their blood,” said Louis Bartoshesky, M.D., chairman of Christiana Care’s Department of Pediatrics. “The test can take place either at the mother’s bedside or in a treatment room and is not invasive. There are no needles, just electrodes measuring skin color at those sites. It identifies children whose blood oxygen level is lower than it should be.” Learn more at http://bit.ly/HAfSDy.

CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL BOSTON

A 16-hospital study, led by researchers at Boston Children’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, is challenging common wisdom about bronchiolitis, a respiratory illness and the leading cause of hospitalization in infants. Currently, clinicians treating babies with severe bronchiolitis generally don’t test for pathogens, assuming the specific infectious cause to be irrelevant to the child’s care. The new study, the largest prospective, multicenter study of U.S. children hospitalized with bronchiolitis, suggests it should be viewed as more than one disease, especially when considering treatments. “Our data show that the infecting pathogen in bronchiolitis affects hospital length-of-stay,” says Jonathan Mansbach, MD, a hospitalist physician at Boston Children’s and first author of the study. “Most research on treatments currently lumps all children with bronchiolitis together, and may miss findings that are important in a particular subgroup.” Learn more at http://bit.ly/HCxqL5.

BRIGHAM AND WOMEN’S HOSPITAL

A team of scientists, engineers and physicians from Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI), Harvard Medical School (HMS), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), BIND Biosciences, Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), Wayne State University Karmanos Cancer Institute, and Weill Cornell Medical College have found promising effects of a first-in-class targeted cancer drug called BIND-014 in treating solid tumors. BIND-014 is the first targeted and programmed nanomedicine to enter human clinical studies. In the study, the researchers demonstrate BIND-014’s ability to effectively target a receptor expressed in tumors to achieve high tumor drug concentrations, as well as show remarkable efficacy, safety and pharmacological properties compared to the parent chemotherapeutic drug, docetaxel (Taxotere). “BIND-014 demonstrates for the first time that it is possible to generate medicines with both targeted and programmable properties that can concentrate the therapeutic effect directly at the site of disease, potentially revolutionizing how complex diseases such as cancer are treated,” said Omid Farokhzad, MD, a physician-scientist in the BWH Department of Anesthesiology, associate professor at HMS, and study co- senior author.  Learn more at http://bit.ly/IsVD5M .