Monthly Archives: May 2021

A Vaccine as an Immunotherapy Booster, Tumor’s Impact on Healthy Tissue Metabolism and More

Posted on by
  • An animal study conducted by an international team of scientists led by researchers from the University of Konstanz in Germany demonstrated that combining a new cancer vaccine with an immune checkpoint inhibitor can dramatically increase the response to therapy rate. The new vaccine is a microparticle-based cancer vaccine, which uses the immunostimulant Riboxxim that has been already approved for application in humans. Combining a cancer vaccine with established drugs creates a foundation for human trials and, eventually, for improving the efficacy of immunotherapies in humans. The study was published in Nature Communications.
  • Researchers from the Washington University in St. Louis conducted an animal study that revealed the impact of melanoma on the metabolism in tissues outside of the tumor. While most of the previous research on cancer metabolism concentrated on the tumor metabolism itself, this study looked at the relationship of the tumor with metabolism in non-malignant tissues. It demonstrated that cancers affect metabolic processes in healthy tissue elsewhere in the body and that, at least in some instances, these metabolic changes take place to support the tumor. The study authors hope that their findings would lead to targeting the metabolism of healthy tissues as a potential treatment for cancer. The study was published in Cell Metabolism.
  • A study by the researchers at UVA Cancer Center shed new light on the intercellular interactions of androgen hormones and their receptors. The study offers new insight into the mechanism of androgen-regulated communication within prostate cancer cells. Its findings could be instrumental for perfecting anti-androgen therapies that are at the core of prostate cancer treatment.  The study was also published in Nature Communications.
  • In an animal glioblastoma study, scientists from the Massachusetts General Hospital reprogrammed the host’s immune cells called regulatory T-cells (Tregs) manipulated and hijacked by cancer to assist in its growth and turned them back into cancer killers. It remains to be seen whether this success can be translated into treating humans, and further testing is necessary. This study was also published in Nature Communications.
  • A recent meta-analysis of 17 observational studies found an association between higher mushroom consumption and decreased cancer risk. While observational studies typically only help establish a correlation between the exposure and the outcomes but not prove causation, this meta-analysis, published in Advances in Nutrition, may boost further research into the protective effects of mushrooms and their potential for cancer prevention.
  • Researchers from Brazil and the U.S. developed a low-dose four-drug combination to help prevent metastasizing of cancer by simultaneously targeting multiple pathways in the metastasis-promoting network without triggering drug resistance. The authors hope that their findings, challenging current cancer treatment approaches, “could lead to a new cancer treatment strategy where patients first receive low-dose combination drugs that block metastasis and then receive traditional cancer treatments such as radiation, chemotherapy, or immunotherapy.” This animal study was published in eLife.

Important NCBI Account Changes Coming in June: Choosing Your Best Third-Party Option

Posted on by

NCBI announced it will transition to federated account credentials on June 1, 2021. What does this mean for you?

We’ve noted before that creating a My NCBI account is a key tool within PubMed and other NCBI databases. It retains your user information and database preferences to help you keep track of research, customize your search experience, and stay compliant with the NIH Public Access Policy. While these account changes are being implemented for privacy and security reasons, they won’t affect what you’ve stored within your NCBI account. Look to the NCBI Account Login Changes FAQs page for more information.

Starting now, if you only have a Native NCBI Account (a NCBI username and password), you will need to add a Linked Account to it. This means signing in via a third-party organization, and letting it confirm your identity. This will give you federated account credentials within NCBI, and make your account more secure. Examples of organizations that you can link through are eRA Commons, Google, ORCiD, Login.gov, Microsoft, Facebook, and NIH.

As there are 4,000+ third-party login options to choose from, it’s important you select what works best for you. See this list for a breakdown of recommendations by role, activity, or preference. Here are two common scenarios for our MSK user community:

If your work involves using NCBI within the grant application process:

If your work involves using NCBI as a researcher or clinician:

Below are instructions for adding your chosen third-party option(s). The Library recommends adding at least two in case one is disrupted.

Instructions to add a Linked Account from the main NCBI page:

  1. Go to NCBI
  2. Select an option from the list or click on “more login options” for all organizations listed alphabetically

If you’d like to add more Linked Accounts once logged in to NCBI:

  1. Click on your NCBI username in the upper right corner
  2. Select Account Settings
  3. Under Linked Accounts, select Change
  4. In the search box, search for and select your desired account
  5. Authenticate with the third-party