Music training can help the brain focus, study shows

Researchers from the University of Birmingham's Bladder Cancer Research Center have used a new method to detect chemical changes in the DNA in an individual's urine sample; epigenetic changes, called methylation.

A new study by researchers from the University of Birmingham and the University of Turku, Finland has revealed an important clue as to why immunotherapy fails in many patients with cancer.

Researchers in Berlin have used base editing to repair mutations that cause the kidney disorder ADPKD in cells from both mice and humans. In mice, a team led by Michael Kaminski was able to ease a key symptom of the difficult-to-treat disease.

In the cancer type multiple myeloma, the malignant cells differ significantly from normal cells regarding the layer of chemical "tags" on DNA and proteins that control whether genes are turned on or off. These "tags" affect growth and survival of the tumor cells, and could be utilized for developing new treatment strategies against multiple myeloma.

A research team led by Prof. Wang Yi and Wei Haiming from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), in collaboration with Prof. Ding Chen's team from Human Phenome Institute at Fudan University, has elucidated the role of lactate-induced lysine lactylation (Kla) in modulating natural killer (NK) cell anti-tumor responses within the tumor microenvironment (TME). The study was published in Nature Immunology on June 10.

A new study reveals that small cell lung cancer (SCLC) likely begins in basal stem-like cells rather than in neuroendocrine cells, marking a major shift in the understanding of this aggressive disease that is often associated with smoking.

A new review of existing practice and policy, led by experts at the University of Nottingham, has highlighted the need to improve hospital doctors' understanding of how GPs operate as "expert generalists" as the key to tackling long-term issues around communication at hospital discharge.

An international study led by Dr. Malu Martínez-Chantar, principal investigator at CIC bioGUNE and CIBERehd, has identified a new therapeutic target for cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), a rare but highly aggressive liver cancer with very limited treatment options. The findings, recently published in the journal Gut, open the door to developing safe and effective personalized therapies. Importantly, the study has been highlighted with a dedicated editorial. The work was carried out with Dr. Naroa Goikoetxea and Dr. María Mercado as co–first authors, in collaboration with several international research centers.

People with temporal lobe epilepsy in particular often wander around aimlessly and unconsciously after a seizure. Researchers at the University Hospital Bonn (UKB), the University of Bonn, and the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) have identified a neurobiological mechanism that could be responsible for this so-called post-ictal wandering and potentially other postictal symptoms.

New York City offers nearly every type of medical specialist but provides fewer specialty health care providers per capita than smaller cities, according to a new study that challenges conventional assumptions about urban health care advantages and reveals a troubling paradox across America's largest metropolitan areas.

In a pair of studies, investigators from the lab of Huiping Liu, MD, Ph.D., associate professor of Pharmacology and of Medicine in the Division of Hematology and Oncology, have uncovered how specific cellular interactions in the bloodstream may be fueling the spread of breast cancer.

In a study led by Lund University and the Amsterdam University Medical Center, researchers used PET to analyze aggregates of tau pathology in more than 12,000 people from all over the world. The study—the largest ever of its kind—examines the connection between genetic predisposition, gender and age in relation to tau pathology in Alzheimer's disease. The study is published in Nature Neuroscience.

Pancreatic cancer has the highest mortality rate of all major cancers, and its incidence is climbing. Because it is typically asymptomatic at early stages, pancreatic cancer is especially difficult to catch and treat in time. This allows the cancer to spread or metastasize throughout the body—the ultimate cause of death for nearly all patients.

In an analysis by race, sex, age, and geography, alcohol-induced death rates in 2024 are nearly double those in 1999, with a sharp increase at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

People with substance use disorder who participate in recovery running programs have shown improved success in maintaining their sobriety and reducing their risk for relapse. These observations led Panayotis Thanos, a University at Buffalo neuroscientist who studies the brain's reward system, to try to figure out the brain mechanisms behind that phenomenon.

A newly developed molecule brings together two powerful immunotherapy strategies in one treatment. Researchers at the University of Basel and University Hospital Basel, Switzerland, have demonstrated that this fusion protein can both block the "do not attack" signal used by cancer cells and selectively activate tumor-fighting immune cells. This dual action could pave the way for more effective cancer therapies with fewer side effects.

A survey study of families with puppies in the UK has identified multiple mental health challenges alongside benefits of ownership for adults and kids alike, suggesting that a mental health boost should not be the main motivator behind getting a puppy. Rowena Packer of the Royal Veterinary College, UK, and colleagues present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS One.

Two health care workers get COVID-19 vaccinations on the same day. Both show strong antibody responses initially, but six months later one stays healthy while the other contracts the virus. A new study published in Science Translational Medicine could help explain this difference.