Lymph in Biological News

Novel technique changes lymph node biopsy, reduces radiation exposure

Information obtained from a new application of photoacoustic tomography (PAT) is worth its weight in gold to breast cancer patients. For the first time, Lihong Wang, Ph.D., Gene K. Beare Distinguished Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, with a joint appointment in Radiology...

Novel technique changes lymph node biopsy, reduces radiaiton exposure

Information obtained from a new application of photoacoustic tomography (PAT) is worth its weight in gold to breast cancer patients. For the first time, Lihong Wang, Ph.D., Gene K. Beare Distinguished Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, with a joint appointment in Radiology...

UCLA researchers locate and image prostate cancer as it spreads to lymph nodes

Using an engineered common cold virus, UCLA researchers delivered a genetic payload to prostate cancer cells that allowed them, using Positron Emission Tomography (PET), to locate the diseased cells as they spread to the lymph nodes, the first place prostate cancer goes before invading other organ...

Interaction between lymph and liver cells may affect immune response

A new study on the ability of liver cells to interact with T cells (lymph cells that play a role in regulating the immune response) found that such interactions do occur and demonstrated the mechanism by which they may take place. The results may help explain the altered immune responses that occur...

Malaria parasites develop in lymph nodes

In the first quantitative, real-time imaging study of the travels of the malaria parasite Plasmodium through mammalian tissue, researchers at the Pasteur Institute in Paris found the parasites developing in an unexpected place: the lymph nodes. The parasites' presence in the lymph nodes almost ce...

Imaging Lymph Nodes with Nanoparticles

A novel application involving the buzzword "nano" - cancer detection using nanoparticles and MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) : Accurate staging of cancers is one of the most important parts of the work up of patients for both prediction of prognosis and determination of the most appropriate tre...

Colorectal cancer

...d spread to other body regions via the blood vessels or the lymphatic system. In colorectal cancer, these cells usually settle in the liver, lungs, or lymph nodes. Since the affected patient seldom feels pain or shows other symptoms, the tumor is frequently not discovered until it has already formed metast...

IMPAKT -- Breast cancer conference highlights

...REATMENT Friday, 8 May 2009 (15:15) A new rapid test can confirm quickly and accurately that breast cancer has most likely not spread into adjacent lymph nodes, offering reassurance to patients and reducing the need for a second operation. The new technique allows you to make the diagnosis of micro meta...

DNA barcoding of mosquito species deployed in bid to end elephantiasis

...search is identifying species spreading the worm larvae that clog the human lymph system, often causing grotesque swelling. By revealing the menace species'... often appear years after infection. The disease can permanently damage the lymph system and kidneys, which results in fluid collecting and swelling in the a...

Building the lymphatic drainage system

...blood vessels are built, the same was not true for lymph vessels. Now though, Norrmn et al. have identified...rs, Foxc2 and NFATc1. Foxc2 had been implicated in lymph vessel development already, but Norrmn and colleag... the factor specifically regulates a late stage of lymph development when large, valve-containing vessels a...

Ambati study published in PNAS

... it "stunning." But these side effects could themselves find useful application, for example, in cornea transplantation, where growth of new blood and lymph vessels is believed to be a major cause of graft failure. The new findings are published in this week's online issue of Proceedings of the Nationa...

UC Davis researchers identify a protein that may help breast cancer spread, beat cancer drugs

...e. Kermit Carraway, senior author of the study, knew that Muc4 was not always expressed in primary breast cancer tumors, yet it could be present in lymph node metastases. He suspected that it may have a specialized function in the process of metastasis. "Breast cancer deaths are caused by metastasis,...

Amniotic fluid may provide new source of stem cells for future therapies

...ipheral blood of the transplanted mice was examined every four weeks, and after 16-18 weeks the blood-forming organs (bone marrow, spleen, thymus, and lymph nodes) of the mice were dissected. Transplants using mouse AFKL cells were found to be successful; newly formed white blood cells of all lineages deri...

A new way to assemble cells into 3-D microtissues

...lso, we can study how systems of cells work together to produce complex organ functions. Examples include how T cells and B cells work together in the lymph nodes to mount an immune response against foreign antigens." Practical challenges remain, such as scaling up the production of tailored microtiss...

New origin found for a critical immune response

... were thought to move from peripheral tissues into lymph nodes to stimulate T cell responses. The Duke ...n cell type in the blood, that moved directly into lymph nodes after infection. "The result speaks to ...tivated dendritic cells from peripheral tissues to lymph nodes. The Duke researchers generated a TH1 respon...

New technique for cancer screening

...umor cells in the background of non-tumor cells in lymph nodes and other organs. Most importantly, because ...NA methylation analysis to predict the presence of lymph node metastases and to detect very small tumor deposits in lymph nodes with known micrometastatic disease in a well...

Shades of 1918? New study compares avian flu with a notorious killer from the past

... specifically, dendritic cells whose job it is to phagocytize protein components from the virus and present these to T cells, either locally or at the lymph nodes that drain the lungs. Normally, through this process, specific antibodies are then produced to combat the viral infection. Tissue sampling for t...

Implants mimic infection to rally immune system against tumors

...s enter an implant's pores, where they are exposed to antigens specific to the type of tumor being targeted. The dendritic cells then report to nearby lymph nodes, where they activate the immune system's T cells to hunt down and kill tumor cells throughout the body. "Much as an immune response to a bac...

Unexpected finding opens up new way to stop autoimmune diseases and transplant rejection

...s a cell-surface antenna that receives signals telling T cells to leave the lymph nodes and patrol the body. When this antenna was disabled, the T cells failed to leave the lymph nodes (chemotaxis), reducing their numbers in the bloodstream. Taking this ...

For fats, longer may not be better

...dings were found in mouse studies; high amounts of dietary oleic acid, but not butyric acid, promoted significant absorption of LPS into the blood and lymph nodes and subsequent expression of inflammatory genes. Eckhardt and colleagues believe these findings may pave the way for future therapies for Cro...

Team finds breast cancer gene linked to disease spread

...posed to 27.1 percent for patients with cancer that has traveled beyond the lymph nodes to bodily organs, according to the federal agency's statistics. In...once thought that breast cancer spreads first to nearby tissue and underarm lymph nodes before spreading to other parts of the body. They now believe cancer ...

TGen, Scottsdale Healthcare, Mayo Clinic study new drug to stimulate immune system of cancer victims

...dale Healthcare, said the new drug appears promising. "VTX-2337 is a new, novel, small molecule aimed at stimulating the immune cells in the blood, lymph nodes, and in and around the tumor. It represents an exciting new class of agents for cancer therapy with good preclinical evidence of activity,'' Dr....

Immune cells reveal fancy footwork

...ogist Suzanne van Helden discovered that before dendritic cells move to the lymph nodes they lose their sticky feet. This helps them to move much faster. Imm...turation process. During this maturation the dendritic cells migrate to the lymph nodes to activate T cells. Suzanne van Helden studied the adhesion and migr...

Reprogrammable cell type depends on a single gene to keep its identity

...e is also part of the immune system that traps and attacks invading organisms and is a primary route for malignant tumor dissemination to the regional lymph nodes. "The new finding adds to a growing body of evidence showing that some fully differentiated cell types can exhibit great plasticity and upon...

Making flies sick reveals new role for growth factors in immunity

...ed Johnson's project. Since both the heart and the lymph glands in the fly originate from the same tissue (...opment goes awry in fruit fly Dpp mutants that the lymph glands might also be affected. "One of the functions of the lymph gland in fruit flies is to produce blood cells," n...

Seemingly suicidal stunt is normal rite of passage for immune cells

...d homing of lymphocytes," says Sleckman. "Lymphocytes are made in the bone marrow and the thymus, and they have to move to other niches, including the lymph glands, to do their work." In addition to the young lymphocyte, scientists are aware of other instances where DNA is normally and regularly broken...

When particles are so small that they seep right through skin

...logy and Biomedical Engineering and an expert on the properties of nanoparticles. Other scientists have found that the particles can accumulate in the lymph system, the liver, the nervous system, and in other areas of the body. In her study, she found that the particles accumulate around the hair follicles...

New synthetic form of protein holds promise to stop cancer spread

...ts target cellular receptor, CXCR4, played an important role in the migration of cancer cells to common sites of tumor formation, such as bone marrow, lymph nodes, liver and lung tissue. Dr. Dwinell's laboratory established that CXCL12 expression was key to interfering with the progression of cancer. ...

Anti-tumor therapy with endoscopic ultrasound may fight cancer more safely and effectively

...ion with real time imaging, EUS can help physicians to detect blood flow in blood vessels in and around tumors as well as detect and biopsy tumors and lymph nodes as small as 3-5 mm. This allows doctors to avoid puncturing blood vessels when sampling tissue, get the most accurate view of the cancer and kno...

Researchers devise means to create blood by identifying earliest stem cells

... body. These hemangioblasts go on to become either blood cells or endothelial cells, which form the inner lining of the heart, veins and arteries, and lymph vessels. The research grew out of Zambidis' interest in understanding the complex biological processes of blood development and the transformation ...

From foe to friend: Researchers use salmonella as a way to administer vaccines in the body

...n of the bacteria causing pneumonia that itself is not deadly." In experiments, the genetically modified Salmonella enterica bacterium colonizes the lymph tissues of the host and manufactures a protein from the S. pneumoniae bacterium, which then triggers a strong antibody response. Unlike most vaccine...

Treatment delays result in poor outcomes for men with breast cancer

...found was that the disease often had already reached an advanced stage when the men were diagnosed. In 50% of cases the cancer had already reached the lymph nodes, a development that increases the likelihood of metastatic spread to other parts of the body. All the men underwent surgery to remove their ...

Breast cancers behave differently before and after the age of 70

...ed with aggressive tumours that have spread to the lymph nodes. But after 70, the cancer is increasingly li..., there has been conflicting evidence on aging and lymph node involvement and this study is the first to sh...o other sites in the body. The effect of age of lymph node positivity is not straightforward. There seem...

New chemotherapy combo produces side effects, but no extra efficacy, in early breast cancer patients

... and rate of breast conservations, said Professor von Minckwitz. The overall rate of pathologic complete responses (pCRs) no cancer in the breast or lymph nodes was 29.7%. Nor did the length of treatment appear to make a statistically significant difference. What the scientists did find was that the...

Biomarkers allow doctors to match therapy to patient

...The CVDP has conducted clinical trials with the HER2 E75-peptide vaccine in lymph nodepositive and lymph nodenegative patients with breast cancer who demonstrated varying levels of...

PET/CT imaging proves golden for detecting cancer in children

...tions in Baltimore, Md. In our study, we found that PET/CT can detect small lymph node lesions diagnosed as negative with conventional (or anatomical) imagin... system malignancies (30 patients had lymphomacancer that affects the bodys lymph nodes and other organs that are part of the bodys immune and blood-forming ...

DFG to establish 10 new collaborative research centers

...nd Cellular Interactivity of Lymphatic Malignancies will study how cancer cells adapt to their surroundings in patients suffering from diseases of the lymph nodes, thus possibly making it harder or even impossible for them to recover. Participating researchers from Berlin and Munich will combine animal exp...

West Nile virus' spread through nerve cells linked to serious complication

... up in the blood. In the elderly or patients with weakened immune systems, West Nile is able to replicate relatively freely in areas like the skin and lymph tissues, providing additional copies of the virus that build up in the blood. "Paralysis might not require such high levels of infection," he theori...

St. Jude settles century-old debate on origin of mammalian network of lymphatic vessels

... from the spaces surrounding the cells. Failure of lymph transport promotes lymphoedema, a disfiguring, dis...e. These LEC progenitor cells were thought to form lymph sacsstructures from which the entire lymphatic vas...he labeled LECs as they left the veins, formed the lymph sacs and spread through the entire mouse embryo. U...

Daisies lead scientists down path to new leukemia drug

...l about a dozen adult volunteers whove been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) or other types of blood or lymph cancers, Jordan said. Under development is dimethylamino-parthenolide (DMAPT), a form of parthenolide (PTL) that is derived from a daisy-like plant...