An Oropharyngeal Accessory Tragus in a Young Patient With Conductive Hearing Loss.

In this report, we describe the first reported case of an oropharyngeal accessory tragus in a 20-year-old female presenting with moderate to severe left-sided conductive hearing loss. This case shares rare developmental anomalies to consider when diagnosing oropharyngeal masses that highlight the intricate embryological development of the head and neck region.

Sex Differences in Obstructive Patterns on Drug-Induced Sleep Endoscopy.

Objective: To identify and characterize sex differences in collapse patterns on drug-induced sleep endoscopy (DISE) in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

Study Design: Retrospective cohort analysis.

Setting: An outpatient tertiary care academic medical center.

Engineering allorejection-resistant CAR-NKT cells from hematopoietic stem cells for off-the-shelf cancer immunotherapy.

The clinical potential of current FDA-approved chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-engineered T (CAR-T) cell therapy is encumbered by its autologous nature, which presents notable challenges related to manufacturing complexities, heightened costs, and limitations in patient selection. Therefore, there is a growing demand for off-the-shelf universal cell therapies. In this study, we have generated universal CAR-engineered NKT (CAR-NKT) cells by integrating iNKT TCR engineering and HLA gene editing on hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), along with an ex vivo, feeder-free HSC differentiation culture.

Interleukin 15 in Cell-Based Cancer Immunotherapy.

Cell-based cancer immunotherapy, such as chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) engineered T and natural killer (NK) cell therapies, has become a revolutionary new pillar in cancer treatment. Interleukin 15 (IL-15), a potent immunostimulatory cytokine that potentiates T and NK cell immune responses, has demonstrated the reliability and potency to potentially improve the therapeutic efficacy of current cell therapy. Structurally similar to interleukin 2 (IL-2), IL-15 supports the persistence of CD8 memory T cells while inhibiting IL-2-induced T cell death that better maintains long-term anti-tumor immunity.