A Look Back at 2022: Progress Towards the Treatment of Aging as a Medical Condition
At the end of 2022, we can reflect on the fact that we are steadily entering a new era of medicine, one in which mechanisms of aging are targeted rather than ignored. It is a profound change, one that will change the shape of a human life and ultimately the human condition by eliminating the greatest sources of suffering and death in the world. Year after year, we see increased funding, ongoing progress towards therapies capable of slowing aging or reversing aspects of aging, and a growing taxonomy of such potential therapies and their target mechanisms.
The view of aging in the medical community and public at large...
Source: Fight Aging! - December 30, 2022 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Of Interest Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, December 19th 2022
In conclusion, p16 deletion or p16 positive cell clearance could be a novel strategy preventing long term HFD-induced skin aging.
Association of LDL-Cholesterol with Mortality
https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2022/12/association-of-ldl-cholesterol-with-mortality/
Researchers here report on a study of LDL-cholesterol and mortality risk in older people. As they note, data on this topic is conflicted once one moves beyond the matter of cardiovascular disease. Over a lifetime, higher LDL-cholesterol makes it easier to reach the tipping point at which cholesterol deposited in blood vessel walls produces e...
Source: Fight Aging! - December 18, 2022 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
T Cell Immunotherapy an Improvement Over Checkpoint Inhibition
Researchers here report on the results of a phase III trial of tumor infiltrating leukocyte (TIL) therapy for melanoma. A patient's T cells are multiplied outside the body and then injected, along with chemotherapy beforehand to clear existing T cell populations, and IL-2 delivery afterwards to promote replication of the delivered T cells. It has meaningful side-effects, as do other cancer immunotherapies, but the outcome is an improvement over the present standard approach of checkpoint inhibition for melanoma. Even as better approaches to cancer therapy are in development, such as those based on interference in telomere ...
Source: Fight Aging! - December 14, 2022 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, November 28th 2022
This study explored whether determining the gain or loss of specific taxa represent a more precise metric of healthy/unhealthy aging than summary microbiome statistics, such as diversity and uniqueness. We analyzed microbiome diversity and four measures of microbiome uniqueness in 21,000 gut microbiomes for their relationship with aging and health. We show that diversity and uniqueness measures are not synonymous; uniqueness is not a uniformly desirable feature of the aging microbiome, nor is it an accurate biomarker of healthy aging. Different measures of uniqueness show different associations with diversity and with mark...
Source: Fight Aging! - November 27, 2022 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
mTOR in the Enhancement of Cancer Treatment Outcomes via Calorie Restriction
Calorie restriction, and related approaches such as protein restriction, tend to improve the outcomes for cancer patients, making cancers more vulnerable to therapies by reducing the normally rampant replication of cancer cells. Here, researchers explore the role of mTOR signaling in the mechanisms underlying this effect, finding the link between dietary intake of amino acids and mTOR activity in cell growth. Manipulating these mechanisms isn't enough on its own to deal with cancer, but there is a lot to be said for low cost improvements to the odds of success for patients undertaking any form of cancer therapy.
R...
Source: Fight Aging! - November 25, 2022 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
Prodrugs As a Useful Approach to Targeting Distinctive Aspects of Cancer Metabolism
The goal of cancer research should be to produce a robust, highly effective universal cancer therapy, or as close to universal as possible. One treatment that can be deployed for every type of cancer, with a very good chance of inducing remission. Attempting to tackle cancer subtypes one by one based on their genetic peculiarities is simply not efficient enough to produce meaningful progress in our lifetimes. Further, most cancers are subject to high mutation rates, and in a sizable fraction of patients will prove to be quite capable of evolving immunity to any therapy that targets a non-essential aspect of cancer biochemi...
Source: Fight Aging! - November 23, 2022 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs
Extra Hot Nanoparticles for Cancer Therapy
Researchers at Oregon State University created a new type of hyperthermic magnetic nanoparticle that is intended to assist in destroying tumors through localized heating under an alternating magnetic field. Previous iterations of such technologies could heat up to about 44 degrees Celsius (111 F), which was only effective in easy-to-access tumors that can be reached with a hypodermic needle, allowing a clinician to inject a large number of the nanoparticles directly into the tumor. For difficult-to-access tumors, intravenous delivery of the nanoparticles is required, but this typically only results in a small number of par...
Source: Medgadget - November 18, 2022 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Nanomedicine Oncology Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, November 14th 2022
In this study, we show that TXNIP is vital for the cell fate choice when cells are challenged by various stress signals. Furthermore, prolonged IGF1 treatment leads to the establishment of a premature senescence phenotype characterized by a unique senescence network signature. Combined IGF1/TXNIP-induced premature senescence can be associated with a typical secretory inflammatory phenotype that is mediated by STAT3/IL-1A signaling. Finally, these mechanistic insights might help with the understanding of basic aspects of IGF1-related pathologies in the clinical setting.
Investigating the Ability of Type 2 Diabetes...
Source: Fight Aging! - November 13, 2022 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
Which chemotherapeutic agent is well known to cause coronary vasospasm?
5-fluorouracil is well known to cause coronary vasospasm. 5-fluorouracil and its orally active prodrug capecitabine are fluoropyrimidines, belonging to the class of antimetabolites used for treatment of malignancies of breast, head and neck tumours and gastrointestinal tumours.
Mechanisms for coronary vasospasm
Endothelial cell damage with cytolysis and denudation
Increased endothelin-1 bioactivity leading to vasoconstriction
When high dose infusions are given, coronary vasospasm with angina, arrhythmia or even sudden death can occur in up to 5% of patients. Vascular toxicity occurs generally within 72 hours of the...
Source: Cardiophile MD - November 13, 2022 Category: Cardiology Authors: Johnson Francis Tags: General Cardiology Source Type: blogs
Senescent Cells as a Cancer Vaccine
Researchers here note the discovery that vaccinating mice with senescent cancer cells ensures that the immune system will more aggressively attack a later introduction of cancerous cells. Since we know that most cancer therapies induce senescence in cancerous cells to a fair degree, one has to think that the effectiveness of this approach will diminish as a cancer progresses to form a solid tumor and co-opts the immune system in various ways. Still, it sounds as though it could be a potentially useful after, for example, surgical resection of a tumor, to help reduce the odds that the cancer will reoccur.
Scientis...
Source: Fight Aging! - November 9, 2022 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
Magnetic Bacteria Target Tumors
Scientists at ETH Zurich in Switzerland have unveiled a technique that weaponizes bacterial cells against tumors. The approach involves using bacteria called Magnetospirillum that are naturally magnetic by virtue of the iron oxide particles they contain. The researchers use a rotating magnetic field applied at the tumor location from outside the body to help draw the bacteria through gaps in the walls of tumor blood vessels. At present, the technique has been explored as a proof-of-concept, but in the future it may be possible to attach anti-cancer drug-loaded nanoparticles to the outside of the bacteria, turning them into...
Source: Medgadget - November 3, 2022 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Medicine Nanomedicine Oncology ETH Zurich ethz Source Type: blogs
AI-Enhanced Prostate Cancer Treatment: Interview with Brittany Berry-Pusey, Co-Founder and COO at Avenda Health
Avenda Health, a medtech company based in Santa Monica, California has developed the FocalPoint ablation system, an AI-powered prostate cancer therapy. The system is designed to provide localized prostate cancer treatment and its AI system equips clinicians with a map of a patient’s cancer, along with treatment simulations to help them chose the best course of action.
The goal behind the system is to effectively treat the tumor, but preserve as much of the healthy tissue as possible, thereby maximizing patient chances at retaining full urinary and sexual function. The ablation technology itself is laser-b...
Source: Medgadget - November 1, 2022 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Exclusive Oncology Urology AvendaHealth Source Type: blogs
3D Bioprinted Breast Tumors for Immunotherapy Testing
A team of scientists at Penn State has bioprinted breast tumor mimics with significant complexity, including a form of vascularization and the ability to precisely place cells in certain locations within the construct. The scientists used a technique called aspiration-assisted bioprinting to achieve this.
With many anti-cancer therapies failing at the clinical trial stage and the ethical considerations of animal studies, there is a need for better in vitro cancer models that allow for advanced therapeutic testing. The models have allowed the researchers to test advanced therapies, including CAR-T immune cell therapies....
Source: Medgadget - October 27, 2022 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Materials Medicine Oncology Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, October 24th 2022
This study shows the uncoupling of lifespan and healthspan parameters (aerobic fitness and spontaneous activity) and provides new insights into SIRT3 function in CR adaptation, fuel utilization, and aging.
HDL Level, Age, and Smoking are the Largest Determinants of Mortality Risk in Old People
https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2022/10/hdl-level-age-and-smoking-are-the-largest-determinants-of-mortality-risk-in-old-people/
An interesting epidemiological study here stratifies the contributions of various metrics to mortality in later life, age 70 and older. The authors find that the largest effects arise...
Source: Fight Aging! - October 23, 2022 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
There is Such a Thing as Too Much of a Focus on Low-Hanging Fruit in the Longevity Industry
The longevity industry includes a few companies that will genuinely revolutionize the medical industry, such as Maia Biotechnology, the first deployment of a near-universal cancer therapy based on targeting telomerase activity. For every such gem there are, unfortunately, a half dozen companies that are marketing dietary supplements and the like that will do just about nothing to change the human condition. It is a great deal easier to market a supplement than it is to revolutionize the medical industry by developing a completely new biotechnology, and this truth has a significant impact on the funding available to a compa...
Source: Fight Aging! - October 21, 2022 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Healthy Life Extension Community Source Type: blogs
