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Multiple myeloma (a type of blood cancer) patients live much longer today than in the past, thanks to new targeted anti-myeloma drugs, but ultimately most develop resistance to the medications, and in some the disease is resistant to therapy from the start. Weizmann Institute of Science researchers, in collaboration with physicians from
Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center (TASMC), have made use of extremely sensitive genomic technology to reveal genetic pathways that characterize some of the more resistant cases of multiple myeloma.
Nature Medicine, may lead to a more informed, personalized treatment for these patients, and it paves the way to using this new technology for discovering additional disease targets in other cancers.
"This finding can help countries make informed decisions regarding vaccine policy for instance, whether those previously infected should be vaccinated in priority and, if so, with how many doses," said Professor Michael Edelstein, from Bar-Ilan University, who led the study.
Researchers from Bar-Ilan University and Ziv Medical Center in Israel noted that the real-world evidence with regard to the COVID-19 vaccine remains scarce even though the clinical trial data are encouraging.
Oxford University to test Covid-19 vaccine response in children
Although clinical trial data are encouraging, real-world evidence with regard to the COVID-19 vaccine remains scarce. In particular, response to the vaccine among those previously infected with SARS-CoV-2 is still not completely understood.
Researchers from Bar-Ilan University and Ziv Medical Center now report preliminary evidence that people previously infected with the virus responded very strongly to one dose of the Pfizer vaccine, regardless of when they were infected and whether or not they had detectable antibodies against COVID-19 prior to receiving the vaccine.
Their study, published in the journal
Eurosurveillance, was conducted on a cohort of 514 staff members at Ziv Medical Center. Seventeen of them were infected with COVID-19 anytime between one and ten months before receiving the first dose of the vaccine. Antibody levels of the entire cohort were measured prior to vaccination and thereafter to determin
One dose of COVID-19 vaccine provokes strong immune response in those previously infected, regardless of duration, according to a study by Bar-Ilan University and Ziv Medical Center.