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Tag: Universität Leipzig

  • Enhancing survival odds in elderly with head, neck cancer

    Enhancing survival odds in elderly with head, neck cancer

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    Newswise — As a result of demographic change, more older people need cancer treatment, doctors must treat them differently than younger people due to their other health problems, frailty, and decreased physical ability. Doctors need to think about how the treatment could affect their quality of life. To treat head and neck cancer, doctors usually remove the tumor with surgery and then use radiation therapy, or they use radiation therapy and chemotherapy together to preserve the affected organ. Using chemotherapy at the same time can be risky for older patients because of its side effects. However, there isn’t much information about the best treatment for older people yet.

    A research project was carried out by twelve university hospitals in Europe and the US to study the effectiveness of different treatments for older people with head and neck cancer. They looked at combining radiotherapy and chemotherapy or using a drug that targets a growth factor receptor called EGFR. The study found that adding chemotherapy to radiotherapy improved survival rates compared to radiotherapy alone. This was especially true for patients aged between 65 and 79 who were in good general health and had fewer other health problems. Professor Nils Nicolay, who led the study, explained that fit older patients with minor health problems should not be denied this effective treatment simply because of their age. However, using the growth factor antibody drug alongside radiotherapy did not improve survival rates compared to radiotherapy alone.

    The researchers examined the medical records of 1,044 older patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, a type of cancer that affects the mouth, throat, or voice box. These patients were treated with radiotherapy, sometimes with the addition of a drug, between 2005 and 2019. The study was led by Leipzig University Hospital, and they are now creating an international registry for older patients diagnosed with head and neck cancer. More than 20 centres from Europe, the US and Australia have shown an interest in taking part. This registry will not only record oncological data but also include other information, such as a comprehensive geriatric assessment, health-related quality of life data, and the frequency of patients regretting their treatment decisions. Dr Alexander Rühle, the lead author and co-leader of the study, said that they will work with other international research groups to further understand which older patients will benefit from combined radiotherapy and chemotherapy. They will also create tools to help doctors make joint therapy decisions based on individual patient data.

    Professor Nils Nicolay and Dr Alexander Rühle began the study while they were working at the University of Freiburg Medical Center and finished it after they moved to Leipzig. Nicolay is currently a Professor of Radiotherapy and Radiooncology at Leipzig University’s Faculty of Medicine, starting from September 1, 2022. This appointment also involves leading the Department of Radiooncology at Leipzig University Hospital.

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    Universitat Leipzig

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  • Putting out “the fire in the brain”

    Putting out “the fire in the brain”

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    Newswise — In autoimmune encephalitis, a rare but serious and sometimes life-threatening inflammation of the central nervous system, the body’s own defences are directed against the central nervous system. This disease was first identified in 2007, and the most common type is Anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis. In this autoimmune disease, a protein that plays an important role in signal transmission in the brain is disrupted: the NMDA-type glutamate receptor, or NMDA receptor for short. Researchers from Braunschweig, Jena, Leipzig and Berlin have developed a new potential treatment for this disease.

    In anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis, antibodies interfere with signal transmission in the brain. The receptors which the neurotransmitters glutamate and glycine bind to are internalised by the cells through antibody binding. This causes reduced signal transmission to neurons in the central nervous system. Those affected experience a wide variety of symptoms from epileptic seizures and psychoses such as hallucinations to loss of consciousness and coma. Patients describe the disease symptoms to be like a “fire in the brain” that they can’t control. The interdisciplinary DFG research unit SYNABS, consisting of researchers from several locations, is dedicated to the study of this disease.

    “It is our goal to better understand the disease mechanisms and to develop new and target-specific therapeutic approaches using modern biotechnology,” said the group’s spokesperson, Professor Christian Geis from Jena University Hospital. With their translational research approach, the group has been able to discover a potential therapeutic agent. The molecule consists of a part of an NMDA receptor and a fragment of a human antibody. The pathogenic antibodies then bind to this fusion construct rather than to the NMDA receptors.

    “To investigate whether the newly developed molecule can neutralise the antibodies, we used biochemical and microscopic methods on cultured nerve cells from mice and humans,” said Toni Kirmann, a doctoral researcher who is part of the SYNABS consortium in the Faculty of Medicine at Leipzig University. “We plan to try to apply this therapeutic approach to other forms of autoimmune encephalitis. In the long term, we hope that basic neuroscience research will help improve treatment options in neurology and psychiatry,” said Professor Stefan Hallermann of the Carl Ludwig Institute of Physiology in the Faculty of Medicine at Leipzig University.

    In this project, the TU Braunschweig developed the fusion construct and analysed it biochemically. The partners at Jena University Hospital and the Faculty of Medicine at Leipzig University initiated the DFG research unit and have analysed neurons and conducted in vivo studies. The partners at Charité and Freie Universität in Berlin have identified the affected autoimmune antibodies in patients.

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    Universitat Leipzig

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