Scientific progress in human embryonic stem cell (hESC) research and increased funding make it imperative to look ahead to the ethical issues generated by the expected use of hESCs for transplantation. Several issues should be addressed now, even though phase I clinical trials of hESC transplantation are still in the future. To minimize the risk of hESC transplantation, donors of materials used to derive hESC lines will need to be recontacted to update their medical history and screening. Because of privacy concerns, such recontact needs to be discussed and agreed to at the time of donation, before new hESC lines are derived. Informed consent for phase I clinical trials of hESC transplantation also raises ethical concerns. In previous phase I trials of highly innovative interventions, allegations that trial participants had not really understood the risk and benefits caused delays in subsequent trials. Thus, researchers should consider what information needs to be discussed during the consent process for hESC clinical trials and how to verify that participants have a realistic understanding of the study. Lack of attention to the special ethical concerns raised by clinical trials of hESC transplantation and their implications for the derivation of new hESC lines may undermine or delay progress toward stem cell therapies.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1634/stemcells.2005-ed.4 | DOI Listing |
J Med Internet Res
January 2025
Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN, United States.
Background: Heart failure (HF) is one of the most common causes of hospital readmission in the United States. These hospitalizations are often driven by insufficient self-care. Commercial mobile health (mHealth) technologies, such as consumer-grade apps and wearable devices, offer opportunities for improving HF self-care, but their efficacy remains largely underexplored.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFN Engl J Med
January 2025
From the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) Foundation (C.E.G., E.P.M., N.W., P.R., I.L.W., A.M.B.) and University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine-UPMC Hillman Cancer Center (C.E.G., N.W., P.R., A.M.B.) - both in Pittsburgh; AGO-B and Helios Klinikum Berlin-Buch, Berlin (M.U.), the National Center for Tumor Diseases, Heidelberg University Hospital, and German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg (A.S.), Evangelische Kliniken Gelsenkirchen, Gelsenkirchen (H.H.F.), Arbeitsgemeinschaft Gynäkologische Onkologie-Breast and Sana Klinikum Offenbach, Offenbach (C.J.), the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, University Hospital Erlangen, Comprehensive Cancer Center Erlangen-EMN, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen (P.A.F.), German Breast Group, Neu-Isenburg (P.W., S.L.), and the Center for Hematology and Oncology Bethanien, Goethe University, Frankfurt (S.L.) - all in Germany; National Taiwan University Hospital and National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan (C.-S.H.); Instituto do Câncer do Estado de São Paulo, São Paulo (M.S.M.); Orlando Health Cancer Institute, Orlando, FL (E.P.M.); Hospital Universitario La Paz-Instituto de Investigación del Hospital Universitario La Paz, Madrid (A.R.); L'Institut du Cancer de Montpellier-Val d'Aurelle, Montpellier (V.D.), Institut Bergonié, INSERM Unité 1312, and Université de Bordeaux UFR Sciences Médicales, Bordeaux (H.R.B.) - all in France; Providence Cancer Institute, Portland, OR (A.K.C.); the Department of Surgery, Oncology, and Gastroenterology, University of Padua, and Oncology 2, Istituto Oncologico Veneto IRCCS, Padua (V.G.), and the Cancer Center Azienda Socio Sanitaria Territoriale Papa Giovanni XXIII, Bergamo (E.R.C.) - all in Italy; Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA (I.L.W.); the National Cancer Institute, Mexico City (C.A.-S.); Yale University School of Medicine, Yale Cancer Center, and Smilow Cancer Hospital, New Haven, CT (M.P.D.); the All-Ireland Cooperative Oncology Research Group (J.P.C.), and the Oncology Unit, Cancer Clinical Trials and Research Unit, Beaumont RCSI Cancer Centre, and Cancer Trials Ireland (B.T.H.) - all in Dublin; Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai, China (Z.S.); Institute for Oncology and Radiology of Serbia, Belgrade (L.S.); Grupo Médico Ángeles, Guatemala City, Guatemala (H.C.-S.); Roche Products, Welwyn Garden City, United Kingdom (A.K., A.S.); and F. Hoffmann-La Roche, Basel, Switzerland (C.L., T.B., B.N., E.R.).
Background: Patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive early breast cancer with residual invasive disease after neoadjuvant systemic therapy have a high risk of recurrence and death. The primary analysis of KATHERINE, a phase 3, open-label trial, showed that the risk of invasive breast cancer or death was 50% lower with adjuvant trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) than with trastuzumab alone.
Methods: We randomly assigned patients with HER2-positive early breast cancer with residual invasive disease in the breast or axilla after neoadjuvant systemic treatment with taxane-based chemotherapy and trastuzumab to receive T-DM1 or trastuzumab for 14 cycles.
N Engl J Med
January 2025
From the Department of Medicine, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand (M.J.B., Z.N., A.M., C.G., V.P., B.M., A.G., I.R.R., G.G., A.H.); the Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA (C.G.); and the Department of Radiology, Starship Hospital, Auckland, New Zealand (S.B.).
Background: Zoledronate prevents fractures in older women when administered every 12 to 18 months, but its effects on bone density and bone turnover persist beyond 5 years. Whether infrequent zoledronate administration would prevent vertebral fractures in early postmenopausal women is unknown.
Methods: We conducted a 10-year, prospective, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial involving early postmenopausal women (50 to 60 years of age) with bone mineral density T scores lower than 0 and higher than -2.
Blood Adv
January 2025
The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
T-cell receptor (TCR) therapies are a promising modality for the treatment of cancers, with significant efforts being directed towards acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), a particularly challenging disease. Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cells targeting single surface antigens have shown remarkable efficacy for B-cell lymphoblastic leukaemia, lymphomas and multiple myeloma. However, AML presents formidable obstacles to the effectiveness of CAR T-cells due to the widespread expression of heterogenous leukaemia immunophenotypes and surface antigen targets additionally present on normal myeloid cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHepatol Commun
February 2025
Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
Background: Although bariatric and metabolic surgical methods, including duodenal-jejunal bypass (DJB), were shown to improve metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) in clinical trials and experimental rodent models, their underlying mechanisms remain unclear. The present study therefore evaluated the therapeutic effects and mechanisms of action of DJB in rats with MASLD.
Methods: Rats with MASLD were randomly assigned to undergo DJB or sham surgery.
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