In light of the recent pandemic, several COVID-19 vaccines were developed, tested and approved in a very short time, a process that otherwise takes many years. Above all, these efforts have also unmistakably revealed the capacity limits and potential for improvement in vaccine production. This review aims to emphasize recent approaches for the targeted rapid adaptation and production of vaccines from an interdisciplinary, multifaceted perspective.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Adult-onset neuroblastoma (AON) differs significantly in biology and clinical behavior from childhood-onset disease. AON poses therapeutic challenges since tolerance of intensive multimodality therapies that are standard of care for pediatric neuroblastoma (NB) is poor. AON is enriched for somatic mutations including anaplastic lymphoma kinase (), deemed to be an oncogenic driver in NB.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Continuous monitoring and targeted behavioral interventions have been shown to improve health status and quality of life for heart failure patients. Digital therapeutics offer the possibility to make more frequent monitoring and targeted behavioral interventions available for more people.
Methods: We conduct a pilot study with 71 patients who were given a smartphone app and wearables for a 3-month period.
Detailed examination of tumor components is leading-edge to establish personalized cancer therapy. Accompanying research on cell-free DNA, the cell count of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in patient blood is seen as a crucial prognostic factor. The potential of CTC analysis is further not limited to the determination of the overall survival rate but sheds light on understanding inter- and intratumoral heterogeneity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: detailed information about circulating tumor cells (CTCs) as an indicator of therapy response and cancer metastasis is crucial not only for basic research but also for diagnostics and therapeutic approaches. Here, we showcase a newly developed IsoMAG IMS system with an optimized protocol for fully automated immunomagnetic enrichment of CTCs, also revealing rare CTC subpopulations.
Methods: using different squamous cell carcinoma cell lines, we developed an isolation protocol exploiting highly efficient EpCAM-targeting magnetic beads for automated CTC enrichment by the IsoMAG IMS system.