NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH

Huntington's disease treatments face challenges due to rarity and trial failures, but recent milestones like Wave's WVE-003, Roche-Ionis' tominersen, uniQure's AMT-130, and PTC Therapeutics' PTC518 offer hope. Prilenia's pridopidine is under EMA review, while Annexon's ANX005 and Sage's dalzanemdor faced setbacks. Despite these, cautious optimism remains for effective treatments.

A study using fitness tracker data from 13,204 participants found that most U.S. adults, including specific racial and ethnic groups, get less sleep than recommended, increasing health risks. The research, presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions, highlights sleep disparities, with Black participants averaging 5.7 hours compared to 6.5 hours for white participants. The study, considered preliminary, used data from the National Institutes of Health's All of Us research program and suggests the need for individuals to monitor their sleep habits.

Researchers at WashU Medicine engineered a yeast probiotic to deliver immunotherapy directly to the gut, shrinking gastrointestinal tumors in mice, offering a novel strategy for hard-to-reach gut cancers.

COTA's study reveals DLBCL patients initiating treatment immediately post-diagnosis may experience worse outcomes compared to those starting later, with shorter median times to next-line therapy and overall survival rates. Presented at the 66th ASH 2024 Annual Meeting, the research also highlights higher ECOG scores and high-risk clinical features in these patients, emphasizing the need for informed future trials and practices.

NIH developed AI algorithm TrialGPT to match volunteers to relevant clinical trials on ClinicalTrials.gov, streamlining the process and improving enrollment. TrialGPT uses large language models to process patient summaries, identify eligible trials, and explain eligibility criteria, achieving nearly the same accuracy as human clinicians while saving time. The tool aims to enhance clinical trial recruitment and reduce barriers for underrepresented populations.

UND's Department of Psychology, with support from the College of Arts & Sciences, is conducting Pediatric Eye Disease Group (PEDIG) clinical trials for children's eye conditions like strabismus and amblyopia, using virtual reality headsets. The trials, led by David Biberdorf and coordinated by Dmitri Poltavski, are the first in North Dakota and funded by the National Institutes of Health and National Eye Institute.

NIH introduces TrialGPT, an AI algorithm matching patients to clinical trials on ClinicalTrials.gov, aiming to accelerate research and improve enrollment. Developed by NIH's NLM and NCI, TrialGPT uses LLMs to process patient data, exclude ineligible trials, and rank eligible studies. It achieved near-human accuracy in a benchmarking study and demonstrated potential to save clinicians 40% of screening time.

Illinois researchers discovered SARS-CoV-2 RNA triggers immune cells with anti-cancer properties, potentially treating cancers resistant to current therapies. The study, led by Dr. Ankit Bharat, found these 'inducible nonclassical monocytes' (I-NCMs) attack cancer cells, with observed responses in melanoma, lung, breast, and colon cancers. The research, published in 'The Journal of Clinical Investigation,' offers hope for advanced cancer patients and requires further development and clinical trials.