Northwestern University raised a record $1.05 billion in research funding this fiscal year, a 5% increase from 2023. The Daily summarized NU’s latest research results from September.
Drug used to extend ovarian health in mice succeeds
NU researchers have discovered a way to extend the time that mouse ovaries remain healthy, the university announced in a Sept. 13 news release.
As menopause approaches, ovarian function declines and can lead to ovarian fibrosis, where the aging ovaries become inflamed and hard. This condition increases the chance of cancer cells developing and reduces fertility.
Researchers were able to control ovarian scarring and maintain healthy hormone levels in mice using a drug widely used to treat idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, which causes scarring in the lungs. .
The study aimed to address issues associated with declining ovarian function, including accelerated bone loss and increased risk of cardiovascular disease, Feinberg Professor Francesca Duncan said in a news release. .
This drug can extend fertility, but it has been even more successful in extending the health span of the ovaries.
“We’re probably going to push the fertile window, but that’s not the end goal of the study,” Duncan said. “If you condition your ovaries, all your problems will be solved because you have follicles and eggs that can contribute to fertility and hormone production.”
Due to the drug’s severe side effects, it is currently unavailable, but other research aims to minimize these side effects in human clinical trials.
New treatment combination improves survival rates for bladder cancer
A group of NU Medicine researchers is using a combination of chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and radical cystectomy (surgery to remove the bladder and nearby lymph nodes) to cure localized bladder cancer, according to a Sept. 16 news release. It has been discovered that cancer survival rates can be increased.
After 24 months in the clinical trial, patients in the combination therapy group had higher overall survival rates and higher rates of survival without cancer recurrence or progression.
Localized bladder cancer is particularly prevalent in older adults and men and is usually treated with chemotherapy and radical cystectomy. However, it is possible for the disease to recur after treatment.
Professor Feinberg and study co-author Joshua Meeks said the combination technique “is likely to become the new standard of care” for treating muscle-invasive bladder cancer.
“These patients have the most to lose and the most to gain, so we treat them more aggressively,” Meeks said in the release. “Our next steps are to determine which tumors would benefit from adding durvalumab and why durvalumab is so effective in stage II to III bladder cancer.”
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