Prostate cancer research: Latest advances

Tala Elremmash   Glossary: Brachytherapy, BRCA genes, Digital Rectal Examination (DRE), External Beam Radiation Therapy (EBRT), ExoDx Prostate (EPI), 68Ga-PSMA-11, Gleason Score, High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU), Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT), 4Kscore Test, Multiparametric Magnetic Resonance Imaging (mpMRI), PCA3, Prostatic Intraepithelial Neoplasia (PIN), Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA), Prostate-specific Membrane Antigen Positron Emission Tomography (PSMA-PET), Stereotactic […]

Glioblastoma: Current Therapies and Recent Therapeutic Advances

Eleanor Doherty   Glossary Antibody, Antidepressant, Antigen, Apoptosis, Astrocyte, CAR-T Cell Therapy, Atypia, Clinical Trial, CNS, Dendritic Cell Vaccine, Epidermal Growth Factor, Ex-Vivo, Glioblastoma Multiforme, Glioma, Immunotherapy, Metastasis, Mitotic Activity, Monoclonal Antibody, Necrosis, Neuron, Neurotransmitter, Oncology, Oncolytic Virotherapy, Prognosis, Radiotherapy, Stem Cell, Surgical Resection, Tumor, Vaccine Therapy, Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor   Abbreviations BBB, blood-brain […]

The Era of Personalized Cancer Therapeutics

  Isabel Levy & Seema Bachoo Glossary Adoptive T cell transfer, Allosteric site, Clonal expansion, CRISPR-Cas9, DNA, DNA sequencing, EGFR, ‘Gain-of-function’ mutation, Genome, Genomic Instability, GTPase, GDP, GTP, Kinase, ‘Loss-of-function’ mutation, MAPK signaling pathway, Mutation, Oncogene/Proto-oncogene,  Personalized Cancer Medicine, PI3K pathway, RAS, TP53 gene, Tumor suppressor gene   Background Cancer: a disease of the genome […]

Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT): past to present and beyond

Aaron Logsdon   Abbreviations BBB, Blood brain barrier; DDT, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane; DRC, the Democratic Republic of the Congo; HAT, Human African Trypanosomiasis; NECT, nifurtimox-eflornithine combination therapy; NTD, neglected tropical disease; ODC, ornithine decarboxylase; VSG, variant surface glycoprotein   Glossary antigen, antigenic variation, arsenic, asymptomatic, clinical trial, dementia, drug, drug resistance, energy metabolism, endemic, epidemic, fever, host, […]

The use of Stem Cells in Modern Medicine

Lovisa Lindquist   Abbreviations CNS, central nervous system; ESC, embryonic stem cell; FDA, Food & drug administration; HLA, human leukocyte antigen; HSC, hematopoietic stem cell; ICM, inner cell mass; iPSC, induced pluripotent stem cell; IVF, in vitro fertilization; MS, multiple sclerosis; MSC, mesenchymal stem cells; SC, stem cell Glossary Adipose tissue, Amniotic sac, Antigen, Autoimmune […]

What is Digital Health and how is it revolutionizing healthcare?

Olivia Crossley   Keywords Arrhythmia, Artificial intelligence, Blood Pressure, Consultant, Digital health, Electrodes, EEG, ECG, FDA, Machine Learning, Side effects, Telemedicine, Ultrasound, UK’s General Data Protection Regulation, Wearable technologies Digital technologies are electronic devices that analyze and store different kinds of information. These technologies have revolutionized how we communicate, learn, and shop. Now, digital devices […]

Genomics: The Advent of Preventative Medicine?

Olivia Crossley   Glossary Amniocentesis, Cell, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis,  Chorionic villus sampling,  Chromosome, COVID-19, CRISPR-Cas9,  Cystic fibrosis, DNA, Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, Etiology, Familial Hypercholesterolemia, Gene, Genetic Counselling, Genetic Testing, Hemophilia, Leopard syndrome, Mucopolysaccharidosis type I,  Noncoding DNA, Parkinson’s disease, Pharmacogenomics, Phenylketonuria, Precision Medicine, Prenatal testing,  Severe Combined Immunodeficiency Disorder, Spinal Muscular Atrophy   What is […]

COVID-19: How will testing and vaccines have to adapt to new variants?

Joana Vidigueira   Glossary Antibody, Antigen, Antigen-presenting Cell, B cell, Booster, Clinical Trial, COVID-19, Dendritic Cell, Deoxyribonucleic Acid, Epidemiology, Helper T-cell, Host Cell, Immunity, Immune Response, Killer T-cell, Lymph Node, Macrophage, Mutation, Ribonucleic acid, RT-PCR, SARS-CoV-2, Vaccine, Variant, Virus Abbreviations SARS: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, CoV: coronavirus, MERS: Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome, DNA: deoxyribonucleic acid, […]

What is CAR-T cell therapy?

Seema Bachoo   Immunotherapy is a type of cancer treatment that makes use of a patient’s own immune system to target and destroy cancer cells, with the aim of eliminating cancer from the body. There are several different types of immunotherapies. Cytokine-based immunotherapies harness the power of cytokines, which are soluble proteins that stimulate and […]

Pharmacogenomics: The future of medicine?

Celeste Cohen           Picture credit: National Human Genome Research Institute         Note: All terms shown in bold are defined in the glossary at the end of the article. Defining Pharmacogenomics From chemotherapy to HIV drugs, the past century has seen rapid advances in medical innovation, which have given rise to a wide range […]