Feature Channels: Respiratory Diseases and Disorders

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Researchers have known for decades that exposure to radon may cause lung cancer, and that North Dakota and Iowa have some of the highest radon rates in the country. Could radon potentially cause other cancers? Researchers from the geography department and the School of Medicine & Health Sciences teamed up to explore that possibility. Along with a high incidence of radon, North Dakota also has the highest rate in the nation of chronic lymphocytic leukemia, or CLL. No one knows what causes this cancer, which usually is found in people over age 70. It is not curable but is treatable for some patients. Could there be a correlation?

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Rush University Medical Center’s lung cancer care team is one of two programs that provide the highest-quality lung cancer care in North America, according to the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC), which chose Rush as one of five worldwide recipients of the foundation’s inaugural Cancer Care Team Award. Acknowledging cancer care teams across the globe who go above and beyond to provide the highest-quality patient care, the award is unique in that the recipients were nominated by patients.

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Because its symptoms are similar to those of other viruses – coughing, sneezing, runny nose, fever, irritability and loss of appetite – RSV is considered the most common illness that many parents have never heard of. While in many healthy babies, RSV may not develop into a more serious illness, it is the most common cause of bronchiolitis and pneumonia in children younger than one year of age in the United States, making it the most frequent cause of hospitalization for infants.

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For some cancer patients, the road to remission and healing can have its share of speed bumps. That’s particularly true of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who develop a secondary, or acquired, resistance to immunotherapy, which initially was effective against their tumors.

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Asthma and allergies are related, and many people who suffer from asthma have allergies that trigger their asthma. Research being presented at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology’s (ACAAI) Annual Scientific Meeting examines the relationship between medical history and allergic reactionsin children, and how long they stayed in the hospital after an asthma attack.

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If you think only infants suffer from eczema, think again. The uncomfortable, itchy rash that most people relate to babies and young children occurs frequently in adults. Although many adults with atopic dermatitis (commonly known as eczema)develop the disease in childhood and carry it through life, a large number are first diagnosed in adulthood – atrend being discussed at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) Annual Scientific Meeting.

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“Good dog!” Two studies being presented at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) Annual Scientific Meeting show there may be even more reason to love your dog. The first study shows babies born in a home with a dog – during pregnancy and early infancy – receive protection from allergic eczema, though the protective effect goes down by age 10. A second study shows dogs may provide a protective effect against asthma, even in children allergic to dogs.

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Late-breaking research on food allergies being presented at the ACAAI Annual Scientific Meeting. Data shows almost half of all food-allergic adults reported one or more adult-onset food allergies.

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The Association of American Cancer Institutes, the American Cancer Society, Inc., and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center For Immunization and Respiratory Diseases announced 10 award winners as part of its HPV Vaccine Is Cancer Prevention campaign.

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With the advancement of surgical and radiation therapy strategies for stage 1 non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), more patients are being treated, resulting in higher survival rates.

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A study led by Mayo Clinic researchers has found that proton beam therapy, in combination with chemotherapy, prior to surgery, may be a better option than a combination using traditional radiation therapy techniques with chemotherapy when treating elderly patients with esophageal cancer.

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University of Colorado Cancer Center study being presented October 28 at the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets: By pairing an anti-EGFR drug with a “tail” that only activates the drug when it is very near tumor cells, tarloxitinib brings the drug to tumors while keeping concentrations safe in surrounding tissues.

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Perlmutter Cancer Center at NYU Langone Health, a National Cancer Institute-designated center, has announced the creation of a new interdisciplinary center bringing together new and existing programs to study, diagnose, treat and prevent the nation’s leading cancer killer, lung cancer.

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New research from the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine suggests that the lung microbiome plays a significant role in asthma severity and response to treatment.

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University of Colorado Cancer Center study finds a genetic change called ALK-fusion in a patient sample of a melanoma subtype called mucosal melanoma. When researchers treated a tumor grown from this sample with the drugs crizotinib and ceritinib – both FDA approved to treat ALK-positive lung cancer – the tumor responded dramatically.

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UAB will lead a infectious disease sentinel surveillance network, funded by the CDC, for Mycoplasma pneumoniae infections at eight medical centers across the United States.

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The difficult-to-identify, multidrug-resistant fungus is reported primarily in hospital patients in New Jersey and the New York City metropolitan area

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Researchers have discovered that a virus-like particle vaccine can prime the body’s immune response and prevent the severe respiratory disease that results when patients given an early form of a vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are exposed to RSV, according to a study led by Georgia State University.

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E-cigarettes appear to trigger unique immune responses as well as the same ones that cigarettes trigger that can lead to lung disease, according to new research published online in the American Thoracic Society’s American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

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University of California San Diego researchers have developed the first 3D spatial visualization tool for mapping “’omics” data onto whole organs. The tool helps researchers and clinicians understand the effects of chemicals, such as microbial metabolites and medications, on a diseased organ in the context of microbes that also inhabit the region. The work could advance targeted drug delivery for cystic fibrosis and other conditions where medications are unable to penetrate.

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A targeted therapy resurrected by the Moon Shots Program™ at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has produced unprecedented response rates among patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer that carries a highly treatment-resistant mutation.

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Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have performed neutron structural analysis of a vitamin B6-dependent protein, potentially opening avenues for new antibiotics and drugs to battle diseases such as drug-resistant tuberculosis, malaria and diabetes. Specifically, the team used neutron crystallography to study the location of hydrogen atoms in aspartate aminotransferase, or AAT, an enzyme vital to the metabolism of certain amino acids.

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Dr. Rogerio Lilenbaum, a board member of NCCN and Chief Medical Officer of Smilow Cancer Hospital at the Yale Cancer Center said that for nonsmall-cell lung cancer, both panel testing and liquid biopsies are appropriate.

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A study underway at the Institute for Exercise and Environmental Medicine is investigating the respiratory effects of obesity in children, including obese children who may be misdiagnosed with asthma.

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TAMPA, Fla. (Oct. 10, 2017) – Developing new drugs to treat cancer can be a painstaking process taking over a decade from start to Food and Drug Administration approval. Scientists are trying to develop innovative strategies to identify and test new drugs quicker and more efficiently. A team of researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center used cellular drug screening, functional proteomics and computer-based modeling to determine whether drugs with well-known targets may be repurposed for use against other biological targets. They found that an FDA approved drug for non-small cell lung cancer called ceritinib has anti-cancer activity against previously unknown targets. Their results were published today in the journal, Nature Chemical Biology.

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Surgeons at Penn Medicine are using a fluorescent dye that makes cancerous cells glow in hopes of identifying suspicious lymph nodes during head and neck cancer procedures. Led by Jason G. Newman, MD, FACS, an associate professor of Otorhinolaryngology in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, the study is the first in the world to look at the effectiveness of intraoperative molecular imaging (IMI) of lymph nodes in patients with head and neck cancer.

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Investigators plan to determine the lowest dose of chemotherapy needed for babies with severe combined immunodeficiency undergoing bone marrow transplant. The goal is to restore the immune system safely and effectively with less toxicity than the higher dose regimens currently in use.

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The University of Illinois at Chicago, the University of Chicago Medicine, and Northwestern Memorial Hospital are part of a newly-formed national network that will collaborate to conduct clinical trials designed to improve the outcomes for patients with neurologic, cardiac, respiratory, hematologic and trauma-related emergency events.

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Some kids like to be scared on Halloween, while others prefer to grab the candy and run. No kid enjoys allergy and asthma symptoms. Kids who suffer from food allergies can find Halloween particularly frightful if they are worried a treat might send them to the emergency room.

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The American Thoracic Society applauds the efforts of New York Senators Schumer and Gillibrand and New Jersey Senators Booker and Menendez for their legislation to improve transportation safety by addressing sleep apnea. We believe screening for sleep disorders like sleep apnea and ensuring appropriate treatment for sleep related illness will improve the health of transportation workers and improve the safety of the U.S. transportation system for all travelers.

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A Johns Hopkins student team that wants to help people breathe easier has scored a coveted finalist spot in the 2017 Collegiate Inventors Competition. The students devised a simple, discreet device to open obstructed nostrils, a common problem that can cause snoring and other sleep disruptions, as well as exercising difficulties.

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A pilot program that uses big data to predict which lung cancer patients will require a trip to an emergency department (ED) successfully anticipated a third of all ED visits over a two week trial period, and was further able to identify which patients were at high risk and low risk of requiring such care. The predictive model was designed by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania with the eventual goal of developing a tool for early intervention that will help patients avoid ED visits.

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Hackensack Meridian Health Riverview Medical Center has been designated a Lung Cancer Screening Center by the American College of Radiology (ACR). The ACR Lung Cancer Screening Center designation is a voluntary program that recognizes facilities that have committed to practice safe, effective diagnostic care for individuals at the highest risk for lung cancer.

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Outdoor air pollution may increase the risk of chronic kidney disease and contribute to kidney failure, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the Veterans Affairs (VA) St. Louis Health Care System. Scientists culled national VA databases to evaluate the effects of air pollution and kidney disease on nearly 2.5 million people over a period of 8.5 years, beginning in 2004. The scientists compared VA data on kidney function to air-quality levels collected by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as well as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The study is published Sept. 21 in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

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In a new study, published this month in Cancer Discovery, University of California San Diego School of Medicine researchers report that approximately half of lung and pancreatic cancers that originate with a KRAS mutation become addicted to the gene as they progress.

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The number one cause of preventable death is on the decline, but not for everyone. A new report led by a West Virginia University public health expert shows that despite a drop in cigarette smoking nationwide, minority groups are at higher risk for tobacco-related diseases than others.

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A clinical trial of an innovative e-mental health tool led by a Stony Brook University psychiatry professor to help address stress, anxiety and/or depression will begin on September 18. The trial is designed to inform the delivery of mental health treatments for astronauts on long duration space missions.

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Patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) are more likely to use CPAP, or continuous positive airway pressure, when their use is telemonitored and they receive individualized, automated messages that reinforce therapy adherence, according to a randomized, controlled trial published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

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Antibody treatment reduces rate of flare-ups in patients with a subgroup of treatment-resistant COPD.

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Sweet taste receptor, known as T1R, can be activated by certain amino acids secreted by bacteria. Researchers took cells from rhinosinusitis patients and isolated the various communities of bacteria that were present. They found cultures of Staphylococcus bacteria produced two D-amino acids called D-Phe and D-Leu, both of which activate T1R sweet receptors and block the release of antimicrobial peptides.

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People with severe emphysema may breathe better after a minimally invasive procedure that places valves in the airways leading to diseased portions of their lungs, according to a randomized, controlled trial published online in the American Thoracic Society’s American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

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Details of lung cell molecular pathways that promote or inhibit tissue regeneration were reported by Penn researchers. Their aim is to find new ways to treat lung disorders.

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The best way to find out if someone has a food allergy is through an oral food challenge (OFC) under the supervision of a board-certified allergist. A new study shows that OFCs are extremely safe, with very few people having a reaction of any kind.

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Sixteen years after the collapse of the World Trade Center towers sent a “cloud” of toxic debris across Lower Manhattan, children living nearby who likely breathed in the ash and fumes are showing early signs of risk for future heart disease.

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Mucin levels – the proteins that make mucus thick – is abnormally high in chronic bronchitis and mucin concentrations are associated with disease severity. This finding could become the first-ever objective marker of chronic bronchitis and lead to the creation of diagnostic and prognostic tools.

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University of Colorado Cancer Center study shows that monitoring levels of blood tumor markers may predict when a lung cancer patient is progressing on targeted treatments.

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A Columbia Engineering team led by Professors Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic (Columbia Engineering) and N. Valerio Dorrello (Columbia University Medical Center) is the first to successfully bioengineer a functional lung with perfusable and healthy vasculature in an ex vivo rodent lung. Their new approach allows the removal of the pulmonary epithelium while maintaining the viability and function of the vascular network and the lung matrix (Science Advances).

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Biomedical engineering researchers at Case Western Reserve University are refining more than 15 years of work on an electrical nerve-block implant, focusing their next step on new applications related to treating asthma and heart failure.

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If you're a smoker considering cosmetic surgery, your plastic surgeon will likely require you to stop smoking for at least two weeks before your procedure. A long-term follow-up study finds that many patients receiving these instructions will quit smoking, or at least smoke less, in the years after cosmetic surgery, reports the September issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).