A study at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center revealed the investigational drug umbralisib as an effective treatment for patients with relapsed marginal zone lymphoma (MZL). MZL is a low-grade non-Hodgkin lymphoma that accounts for 6 percent of all lymphoma diagnoses. Although it is treatable, many patients relapse, at which point few treatment options exist. “Umbralisib is part of a new class of drugs that are quite active in low-grade lymphomas,” said Fowler. “These PI3K inhibitors...

If an antibiotic doesn’t kill all the bacteria that infects a patient, the surviving bugs may be particularly adept at timing their resurgence. Theoretical scientists at Rice University have proposed a better way to understand how to prescribe antibiotics to kill every last bacterium or at least discourage them from developing resistance. Anatoly Kolomeisky, a Rice professor of chemistry and chemical and biomolecular engineering, considers antibiotic resistance “the most serious problem of the 21st century.”...

A collaborative team from The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Saudi Arabia, and Canada developed a potent and safe vaccine that protects against the deadly Middle East respiratory syndrome, or MERS. MERS was first identified when someone died from the viral infection in 2012. The virus, which can suddenly cause severe and fatal respiratory symptoms, systemic infection and multi-organ failure, has caused more than 2,250 confirmed infections with a 35 percent mortality rate...

Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reported cellular identity switch protects a cancer-promoting genetic pathway from targeted therapy. Working in cell lines and mouse models of lung cancer, a team led by Don Gibbons, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of Thoracic/Head & Neck Medical Oncology, demonstrated how the KRAS-driven lung cancer cells defeat treatment by switching from stable, stationary cells into a type of mobile, resistant cell associated with embryonic development. They also found a drug combination...