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Science News for December 1, 2018


Global trial shows CAR T therapy can lead to durable remissions in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

A global clinical trial has shown that chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy can lead to long-lasting remissions in patients with relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. The treatment, known as Kymriah, modified patients' own immune T cells to target cancer cells and achieved high remission rates.

SourceUniversity of Pennsylvania School of Medicine·JournalNew England Journal of Medicine·DateDec 1, 2018

CAR-T cell update: Therapy improves outcomes for patients with B-cell lymphoma

The phase-2 JULIET trial found that CAR-T cell therapy achieved a 52% favorable response rate in patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, with 40% experiencing complete responses. Sixty-five percent of patients remained relapse-free after one year.

SourceUniversity of Chicago Medical Center·JournalNew England Journal of Medicine·DateDec 1, 2018

Studies suggest immunotherapy adds punch to earlier attempts

Researchers found that checkpoint blockade therapy can sensitize patients to better respond to future use of drugs, even when initial attempts failed. This breakthrough has significant implications for treating relapsing non-Hodgkin lymphoma and Hodgkin lymphoma patients.

SourceNYU Langone Health / NYU Grossman School of Medicine·DateDec 1, 2018

Sickle cell anemia treatment safely lowers disease burden in African children

A daily hydroxyurea pill has been shown to improve health outcomes for young children with sickle cell anemia in resource-challenged sub-Saharan Africa. The treatment reduced rates of pain episodes, infections, malaria, transfusions, and death by significant margins.

SourceCincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center·JournalNew England Journal of Medicine·DateDec 1, 2018
Apple AirPods Pro (2nd Generation, USB-C)

Apple AirPods Pro (2nd Generation, USB-C) provide clear calls and strong noise reduction for interviews, conferences, and noisy field environments.

Learning to read comes at a cost

Preliterate 6-year-olds outperformed their peers on grammatical relations, but struggled with novel words. After six months of reading instruction, the advantage disappeared, suggesting that literacy may come at a cost.

SourceMax Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics·JournalJournal of Cultural Cognitive Science·DateDec 1, 2018