Cancer vaccines are designed to turn the body's own immune system specifically against tumor cells. Particularly promising are vaccines that are directed against so-called neoantigens: These are proteins that have undergone a genetic mutation in tumor cells and, therefore, differ from their counterparts in healthy cells.

A recently published clinical trial report reviewing the first completed Phase III study in the ODYSSEY development program has shown that alirocumab showed significantly better LDL-C lowering than ezetimibe, with a comparable safety profile to ezetimibe. The report, which is published in the January issue of Future Cardiology, provides a comprehensive overview of the ODYSSEY MONO trial,

Involuntary dyskinetic movements induced by treatment with levodopa (L-dopa) are a common problem for people with Parkinson's disease. Now, however, researchers at Karolinska Institutet and Lund University in Sweden seem to be close to a novel therapy to this distressing side effect.

Taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for the menopause, even for just a few years, is associated with a significantly increased risk of developing the two most common types of ovarian cancer, according to a detailed re-analysis of all the available evidence, published in The Lancet.

Bacteria that are commonly found in the mouth are often abundant in patients with colon cancer, but the potential role these microbes play in tumor development has not been clear. A study published by Cell Press February 18th in the journal Immunity reveals that the oral pathogen Fusobacterium nucleatum protects a variety of tumor cells from being killed by immune cells.

Rare diseases - those that affect fewer than one in 200,000 people - are often identified early in life. Some 30 percent of children afflicted by these "orphan diseases" do not live to see their fifth birthday. While the U.S. Orphan Drug Act of 1983 was written into law to promote research on the topic, the cost of identifying the source and progression of these diseases remains prohibitive for many families.

A good drug is hard to design: to garner FDA approval and reach consumers, it must not only effectively treat a medical condition, but it must also do so without having side effects that outweigh its benefits. Sometimes, toxic side effects aren't discovered until fairly late in the drug development process, when substantial amounts of time and money have already been invested in clinical trials.