news 2020

Faecal microbial transplantation (FMT) was pioneered as a licenced medicine by Professor Hawkey and his team at the University of Birmingham An innovative treatment for patients with Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) which uses transplanted gut bacteria to treat the infection, is a more effective and more cost-efficient treatment than using antibiotics, a new UK study has found.

A new polymeric heart valve with a life span potentially longer than current artificial valves that would also prevent the need for the millions of patients with diseased heart valves to require life-long blood thinning tablets has been developed by scientists at the universities of Bristol and Cambridge.

Research on brain swelling in children with cerebral malaria reveals potential new treatment approach Through investigating the causes of brain swelling in cerebral malaria - a devastating parasitic disease that is fatal for one in five children - scientists have found a potential new treatment approach that could be safely used to improve outcome.

Problems in how the brain recognizes and processes novel information lie at the root of psychosis, researchers from the University of Cambridge and King's College London have found. Their discovery that defective brain signals in patients with psychosis could be altered with medication paves the way for new treatments for the disease.

The first healthy volunteers have now received a candidate coronavirus vaccine developed by researchers. The clinical team, who delivered a small dose of the vaccine to participants at a West London facility, are closely monitoring the participants and report they are in good health, with no safety concerns.

Scientists at the University of Sussex have identified a potential pattern within blood which signals the presence of motor neuron disease; a discovery which could significantly improve diagnosis. Currently, it can take up to a year for a patient to be diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), more commonly known as motor neuron disease (MND).

A new method of analysing cancer patients' blood for evidence of the disease could be up to ten times more sensitive than previous methods according to new research led by the University of Cambridge.

A 'COVID-19 free cold site', set up to carry out non-emergency cancer surgeries, successfully operated on 500 consecutive patients, resulting in no coronavirus-related deaths at 30 days, reports a large cohort study led by UCL and University College London Hospitals. With more than two million* non-emergency surgeries being cancelled globally every week due to COVID-19, researchers say the findings will have a major impact on how healthcare systems are set up and should reassure 'at risk' cancer patients fearful of attending appointments.

UCL's Cancer Institute is repurposing a sophisticated antibody engineering approach, funded by the UCL Technology Fund (UCLTF), to research and develop a new treatment against Covid-19. A new project, led by Dr Martin Pule, Senior Lecturer in Haematology and Professor Kerry Chester, Department of Oncology, will investigate pivoting existing research used in the fight against cancer by creating a unique 'cocktail' of recombinant antibodies capable of preventing the virus from entering cells and removing it from circulation.

In March 2020, the RECOVERY (Randomised Evaluation of COVid-19 thERapY) trial was established as a randomised clinical trial to test a range of potential treatments for COVID-19, including low-dose dexamethasone (a steroid treatment). Over 11,500 patients have been enrolled from over 175 NHS hospitals in the UK.

Developing countries are likely to face extreme demand on health systems from COVID-19, despite having younger populations, according to researchers. Writing , researchers from Imperial's Covid-19 Response Team, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and University of Oxford, looked at the impact of coronavirus on low-middle income countries (LMICs).

People with heart and circulatory diseases are disproportionally affected by COVID-19. Data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) has consistently shown heart disease to be among the most common pre-existing health conditions in people who have died with the virus in England and Wales. COVID-19 has also been shown to damage the heart and blood vessels, and increase the risk of blood clotting and inflammation, which can lead to heart attacks and strokes.

A new gene therapy approach holds promise for treating a common group of inherited eye disease, according to a new UCL and Trinity College Dublin study in lab-grown 'mini retinas'. The findings, published in Stem Cell Reports , may contribute to new treatments for retinitis pigmentosa (RP), which affects thousands of people worldwide.

A study on children suffering from severe inflammatory symptoms shows the condition is new and distinct from Kawasaki disease. In April, researchers in the UK and several European countries with high numbers of COVID-19 cases recognised a new inflammatory syndrome in children that was similar to Kawasaki disease, a rare syndrome known to affect young children.

Most people with rheumatic diseases such as arthritis can recover from Covid-19, as the immunosuppressant medications they take do not appear to increase hospitalisation risk, finds an international study involving UCL. But one type of medication may increase the risk of hospitalisation, suggesting caution is needed, according to the study published in Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases .

Instances of many throat and neck cancers have declined as smoking rates have fallen, whereas HPV-positive OPC has increased, largely affecting younger patients. Heightened caution is needed when considering de-escalation trials for patients with Human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive oropharyngeal cancer (OPC), to ensure minimal harm to patients, new guidelines from a group of international head and neck cancer experts have suggested.

First study of SAMBA II devices on hospital wards finds patient time on COVID 'holding wards' was almost halved. Researchers say faster tests helped expedite access to life-saving treatments such as organ transplants - and might make all the difference later this year.

Scientists at UCL's Vax-Hub have been working with Oxford University to provide the research base for a Covid-19 vaccine that is now being trialled at University College London Hospitals (UCLH) with support from UCL researchers. A team led by Professor Martina Micheletti (UCL Biochemical Engineering) collaborated with the Jenner Institute at Oxford on the adenovirus vector manufacturing platform that the Oxford team adapted and developed into a potential vaccine for Covid-19.

A new study led by the Universities of Birmingham and Oxford has found the mortality rate in cancer patients who are assessed or treated in hospital with COVID-19 is not significantly affected by chemotherapy or other anti-cancer treatments. Published in The Lancet, the study was devised by steering committee of the UK Coronavirus Cancer Monitoring Project (UKCCMP) which launched in March, and collects information on UK cancer patients who are diagnosed with COVID-19.

A new type of test that uses complex sugars to detect prostate cancer earlier and with greater accuracy is being developed by researchers at the University of Birmingham. The test works by identifying sugars, known as glycans, in blood. These sugars are attached to protein molecules called PSA and are known to undergo distinct but subtle changes when cancer is present in the body.