- 2016
-
Press releases - 25.01.2016
A radiosensitivity test for predicting sequelae following radiotherapy
Researchers at Inserm Unit 1194, “Montpellier Cancer Research Institute” (Inserm/University of Montpellier/Montpellier Regional Cancer Institute) have confirmed the value of a new test to identify cancer patients who will be free of sequelae following radiotherapy. This test, conducted on a blood sample taken from 500 breast cancer patients, treated in 10 centres in France, and monitored for 3 years, showed that women with a high rate of radiation-induced lymphocyte apoptosis (RILA) had a very low rate of late breast fibrosis. These results, which are published in EBioMedicine, suggest that personalisation of curative intent radiotherapy could be considered, with tailoring of the radiation dose delivered to the patient and the radiotherapy technique employed.
-
Press releases - 22.01.2016
10th European Cervical Cancer Prevention Week
Initiated by ECCA (European Cervical Cancer Association), this campaign, which will run from 24 to 30 January next, is aimed at raising awareness among the general public and health professionals about cervical cancer prevention and screening.
-
What's on? - 22.01.2016
10th European Cervical Cancer Prevention Week
In France, this cancer affects nearly 3,000 women, and causes over 1,100 deaths each year. There are two complementary levers for preventing and detecting the disease, the cervical smear test for women aged 25 to 65 years, and vaccination against HPV. According to the French National Cancer Institute (INCa), nearly 90% of cervical cancers […]
-
Press releases - 20.01.2016
Treating intestinal pain with bacteria
Faecalibacterium prausnitzii is an intestinal bacterium that is abundant in healthy adults but scarce in those suffering from inflammatory bowel disease. Using a mouse model, a team of scientists from INRA, INSERM, and the University of Auvergne has discovered that the bacterium possesses analgesic properties, a finding just published in Scientific Reports (January 18, 2016).Given that F. prausnitzii also exhibits anti-inflammatory effects, the bacterium shows great promise as a tool for improving human health and well-being
-
Press releases - 15.01.2016
An oxygen mask to prevent sequelae from stroke?
And if a simple oxygen mask were to protect people from neurological sequelae following an acute stroke? It would be sufficient to administer it to patients during the interval needed by medical teams to restore the blood supply, and hence oxygen, to the brain. At any rate, this is the hypothesis formulated by Jean-Claude Baron, Inserm Research Director at Unit 894, “Psychiatry and Neurosciences Research Center,” in collaboration with English and German researchers. Work done in animals so far shows that this very simple intervention almost completely prevents neuronal loss, and completely prevents sensorimotor deficits following a stroke.
-
Press releases - 13.01.2016
Cardiac arrest – Don’t neglect the warning signs!
Over half of the patients who die suddenly have early warning signs, allowing ample time for intervention, according to an Inserm study conducted by Eloi Marijon, a researcher and cardiologist at the Paris Cardiovascular Research Center (Inserm Unit 970 / George Pompidou European Hospital, AP-HP)
This work is published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine. -
Press releases - 06.01.2016
The intestinal microbiota: a burgeoning research subject
Interest in the intestinal microbiota, or intestinal flora, has grown considerably in recent years. In 2015, over 4,500 scientific studies on the subject were published in PubMed.
-
What's on? - 06.01.2016
The intestinal microbiota: a burgeoning research subject
Interest in the intestinal microbiota, or intestinal flora, has grown considerably in recent years. In 2015, over 4,500 scientific studies on the subject were published in PubMed. The intestinal microbiota is an ecosystem made up of 100,000 billion bacteria that colonise our digestive tract from the time we are born. Each host has his/her […]
-
Press releases - 04.01.2016
Beginning of life: how does symmetry come into play?
The first embryonic division, which follows gamete fusion (oocyte and spermatozoon), starts the development of a new individual, the genesis of a functional adult body. This division is symmetric in the one-cell embryo stage (also known as the zygote); it leads to the formation of two daughter cells of identical size. Conversely, it is asymmetric in the oocyte, which has the same size and shape as the zygote. Why? What directs the zygote to divide symmetrically, while the oocyte divides asymmetrically during meiosis? Such are the questions pondered by Marie-Emilie Terret, a researcher at Inserm, and Marie-Hélène Verlhac, a researcher at CNRS and director of the Asymmetric Divisions in Oocytes team at the Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Biology (CIRB; Inserm/CNRS/Collège de France).
- 2015
-
Press releases - 22.12.2015
The mechanism of an AIDS vaccine candidate filmed in vivo
Using innovative technology, scientists from the Institut Pasteur and Inserm have filmed in vivo the process by which an AIDS vaccine candidate, developed by the French Vaccine Research Institute and the ANRS, triggers the immune response. This previously unseen footage clearly shows how the vaccine recruits the immune cells needed to destroy infected cells. These results, published in the journal Nature Medicine on December 21, 2015, shed new light on the mode of action and potential of this vaccine.