Research
Patients had ‘significant and clinically meaningful improvement’ in survival in fruquintinib clinical trial
Sep. 13, 2022—Patients with metastatic colorectal cancer who had not responded to other treatments had “significant and clinically meaningful improvement” in overall survival when treated with the oral targeted therapy fruquintinib.
Cancer registries and sarcoma research
Sep. 13, 2022—The number of sarcoma research studies that use the two largest U.S. cancer registries is increasing, but over one-third of studies that asked the same research question reported conflicting findings.
Enhancing innate immunity in the lung
Sep. 12, 2022—Vanderbilt researchers show that a TLR4 agonist improves lung immune response and survival in a mouse model of bacterial pneumonia, supporting the development of this drug to protect against pneumonia in hospitalized patients.
PheWAS reveals post-COVID-19 diagnoses
Sep. 8, 2022—Using a high-throughput informatics technique and electronic health records, Vanderbilt researchers found that COVID-19 survivors had an increased risk for more than 40 new diagnoses.
Immune cells drive beta cell loss in Type 2 diabetes
Sep. 8, 2022—Vanderbilt researchers have discovered details of pancreatic beta cell loss — and potential therapeutic targets — during conditions of overnutrition, as occurs in obesity.
Study identifies key player in T cell “education”
Sep. 1, 2022—New Vanderbilt research could inform therapeutic strategies for enhancing thymic function when desired — such as during aging, recovery from radiation therapy or chemotherapy, or other conditions that reduce T cell output.
A new mechanism for lupus
Aug. 30, 2022—Vanderbilt researchers describe a new mechanism for the most common form of lupus and suggest a new treatment approach to this autoimmune disease.
Blood cancer progression
Aug. 29, 2022—Vanderbilt researchers used single-cell technologies to explore the accumulation of mutations during blood cancer progression, which could help identify strategies for preventing leukemia before it occurs.
New high-tech biobank safeguards critical specimens
Aug. 25, 2022—by Bill Snyder Vanderbilt University Medical Center has opened a state-of-the-art automated biobanking system that can store as many as 10 million biospecimens, including blood and body fluids, tissue, and genetic and protein material, at temperatures down to minus 80 degrees Celsius. The “BioStore” was purchased from its manufacturer, Massachusetts-based Azenta Life Sciences, with the...
Vanderbilt researchers discover how gut inflammation leads to bone loss
Aug. 25, 2022—Gastrointestinal inflammation, such as occurs in inflammatory bowel disease, triggers the expansion of a population of “bone-eating” cells, leading to bone loss.
Study describes how E. coli co-opts cells, causes recurrent UTIs
Aug. 25, 2022—Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have discovered why the uropathogenic bacterium E. coli, the leading cause of urinary tract infections, is so tenacious; their findings could lead to new ways to prevent recurrent UTIs.
Rheumatoid arthritis and heart disease: a common path
Aug. 25, 2022—An increase in certain antibodies in patients with rheumatoid arthritis can serve as a predictive biomarker for cardiovascular disease, Vanderbilt researchers have discovered.
