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VUB Researchers Wear Purple on World Pancreatic Cancer Day to Raise Awareness About Deadly Disease Brussels, November 21, 2024 - Today marks World Pancreatic Cancer Day.

VUB research on immunotherapy for multiple myeloma establishes baseline for improved long-term success Dr. Heleen Hanssens from the Molecular Imaging and Therapy (MITH) Research Group at Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) has conducted research on the application of CAR T-cell therapy in multiple myeloma, a form of bone marrow cancer that remains considered incurable.

Chronic pain and insomnia often occur together and can seriously affect patient well-being. To improve the quality of life of people who experience chronic pain and associated sleep disorders, the Pain in Motion and Brain, Body and Cognition research groups of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel teamed up with the SPINE research group of the University of Ghent for a large-scale investigation.

Chronic pain is one of the most challenging problems facing society. It has a significant impact on the daily lives of 23% of the population, and the care given to patients experiencing persistent pain is often not appropriate. The Pain in Motion research group at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) focuses on improving healthcare providers' understanding and treatment of persistent pain.

A ULB study reveals a new advance in our understanding of the immune system of the naked mole rat, opening up prospects for cellular immunotherapy of cancer . During the development of cancer, the immune system is able to exert antitumor activity thanks to natural killer (NK) cells and T lymphocytes.

Atrial fibrillation is the most common cardiac arrhythmia worldwide with around 59 million people concerned in 2019 . This irregular heartbeat is associated with increased risks of heart failure, dementia and stroke. It constitutes a significant burden to healthcare systems, making its early detection and treatment a major goal.

Dr. Arnout Bruggeman (VIB-UGent-UZ Gent), Prof. Debby Laukens (UGent), Prof. Roosmarijn Vandenbroucke (VIB-UGent) en Prof. Patrick Santens (UZ Gent) Clinical study shows stool transplantation of healthy gut bacteria reduces Parkinson's disease symptoms. Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disease that affects millions worldwide.

KU Leuven researchers discover how to break the negative feedback loop to improve cancer immunotherapy. Over the past years, immunotherapy has improved the outlook for many cancer patients. However, not all cancers respond to current immunotherapies. A research team led by KU Leuven discovered a key mechanism behind this lack of response, and it came up with an innovative solution.

A major discovery in the understanding, diagnosis and treatment of leukemia. Research led by François Fuks - Cancer Epigenetics Laboratory, ULB Faculty of Medicine, ULB Cancer Research Center and Institut Jules Bordet, H.U.B . In Belgium, around 1,300 new cases of leukemia are diagnosed every year, a type of blood cancer that affects the entire population.

Preeclampsia is a severe complication of pregnancy, affecting 1 in 40 pregnant women. Identifying high-risk patients is often difficult and complex because the exact cause of preeclampsia is still unknown. Researchers from KU Leuven found that a DNA analysis can tell which women are at higher risk of preeclampsia in the later stages of pregnancy.

In Belgium, 40% of people waiting for a transplant are unable to find an organ and therefore have to wait, which is why it is so important to guarantee the success of transplants. One of the major factors in failure is inappropriate dosages of the anti-rejection drug tacrolimus . University of Louvain (UCLouvain)-s Laure Elens and Laure Bindels have uncovered the influence of intestinal microbiota in the variability of the drug's dosages.

Currently, only a meagre 1% of the vaccines needed for Africa are produced locally. The ambition is to raise this number to 60% by 2040. Together, KU Leuven and the Institut Pasteur of Dakar are working to overcome several significant challenges, including the need for continuous cooling, time-consuming methods for certain blood analyses in clinical studies, and the lack of vaccines against several deadly tropical diseases.

Immunotherapy is a powerful way to treat cancer patients but up till now, it was hard to predict why some patients or cancer types do not benefit from this treatment. Researchers could identify markers which predict a patient's or cancer type's response to immunotherapy. For some cancers, immunotherapy can be integrated into the standard treatment but for others, further research is needed to either alter the immunological environment with cancer vaccines or to develop a new type of immunotherapies that target the tumour in another manner.

COVID-19, caused by an infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in March 2020. While some people developed severe illness and required medical care, many people reported only mild-to-moderate symptoms, if any at all. However, many of the infected individuals have experienced persisting symptoms or frequent other infections months after the initial infection even if they weren-t much impacted by the disease to begin with.

Regular exercise may protect pancreatic beta cells from stresses that contribute to diabetes. Researchers from the ULB Center for Diabete Research observed this in a study published in Diabetologia . Diabetes is characterized by a progressive loss of pancreatic beta cells, the same cells that produce insulin and thus maintain the right level of sugar in the blood.

Antibiotics are commonly used to treat infections and ensure the safety of surgical procedures. However, their overuse has led to the emergence and spread of resistant bacteria, resulting in an -arms race- whereby ever more potent drugs are becoming a necessity.

All-Luxembourg study helps to anticipate a personal COVID-19 health trajectory From the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the majority of published studies have focused on severe COVID-19 patients in order to understand the causes of critical illness. However, it is equally, if not more important to understand the protective immune factors in our body.

Researchers delve into the inner workings of the antibody immune response, finding key differences in the metabolism of two closely related immune cell subsets. Protection against viral diseases is a key role of our body's immune response, where antibodies are generated to seek out invading species and either neutralise or mark them for destruction.

Couples unable to get pregnant naturally often resort to In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) to fulfil their desire to have children. To obtain mature eggs for IVF, women typically undergo ovarian stimulation with hormones which can be very burdensome. A team of scientists of the Follicle Biology (FOBI) Research Laboratory at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) in collaboration with the UZ Brussel fertility clinic has succeeded in developing a novel method for In Vitro Maturation (IVM) of oocytes, called CAPA-IVM.

World Cancer Day, 4 February: Ex-cancer patients have to get used to life again Cancer patients who have survived serious treatment and are free of the disease often suffer an enormous psychological blow afterwards and find it difficult to pick up the thread of life again.