Publication: HGG Advances

Courtney E. French, Helen Dolling, Karyn Mégy, Alba Sanchis-Juan, Ajay Kumar, Isabelle Delon, Matthew Wakeling, Lucy Mallin, Shruti, Agrawal, Topun Austin, Florence Walston, Soo-Mi Park, Alasdair, Parker, Chinthika Piyasena, Kimberley Bradbury, Sian Ellard, David H.Rowitch, LucyRaymond

24 May 2022

Summary

More than a third of severely sick babies referred for rapid whole genome sequencing received a vital genetic diagnosis. Results from the latest Cambridge genomic study supported by NIHR Cambridge BRC and NIHR BioResource, confirm rapid whole genome sequencing (WGS) as an effective early test to aid diagnosis in severely ill children. Read the full story. 

Publication: eClinicalMedicine

Adam Hampshire, Doris A. Chatfield, Anne Manktelow, Amy Jolly, William Trender, Peter J. Hellyer, Martina Del Giovane, Virginia F.J. Newcombe, Joanne G. Outtrim, Ben Warne, Junaid Bhatti, Linda Pointon, Anne Elmer, Nyarie Sithole, John Bradley, Nathalie Kingston, Stephen J.Sawcer, Edward T. Bullmore, David K.Menon

3 May 2022

Summary

Cognitive impairment as a result of severe COVID-19 is similar to that sustained between 50 and 70 years of age and is the equivalent to losing 10 IQ points. The results of the study suggest the effects are still detectable more than six months after the acute illness, and that any recovery is at best gradual. Read the full story 

Publication: Nature

V. Pellegrinelli, S. Rodriguez-Cuenca, C. Rouault, E. Figueroa-Juarez, H. Schilbert, S. Virtue, J. M. Moreno-Navarrete, G. Bidault, M. C. Vázquez-Borrego, A. R. Dias, B. Pucker, M. Dale, M. Campbell, S. Carobbio, Y. H. Lin, M. Vacca, J. Aron-Wisnewsky, S. Mora, M. M. Masiero, A. Emmanouilidou, S. Mukhopadhyay, G. Dougan, M. den Hoed, R. J. F. Loos, J. M. Fernández-Real, D. Chiarugi, K. Clément & A. Vidal-Puig

25 April 2022

Summary

New research shows that an enzyme produced by macrophages (immune system cells) in fat tissue plays an essential role in the loss of metabolic health in people with obesity and might serve as a biomarker to help us identify those at the highest risk of fibrosis, inflammation and insulin resistance or type 2 diabetes associated with obesity. It also identifies a potential target for drugs that might prevent or reverse metabolic disease and could throw light on a long-unexplained paradox. Read more.

Publication: British Journal of Cancer

Jamie Trotman, Ruth Armstrong, Helen Firth, Claire Trayers, James Watkins, Kieren Allinson, James C. Nicholson, G. A. Amos Burke, Sam Behjati, Matthew J. Murray, Catherine E. Hook, Patrick Tarpey

22 April 2022

Summary

As part of the national 100,000 Genome Project, researchers recruited from 36 children, across 23 different solid tumour types. Whole genome sequencing (WGS) data from paired tumour (fresh-frozen tissue) and matched normal (blood) samples was analysed.  The results for each case were clinically reviewed at the Cambridge paediatric oncology Genomic Tumour Advisory Board (GTAB), and formal report of the results was written.

Publication: BMJ Open

Linda A Jones, Jenny R Nelder, Joseph M Fryer, Philip H Alsop, Michael R Geary, Mark Prince, Rudolf N Cardinal

13 April 2022

Summary

Researchers have published results from a national survey of public opinion on sharing health data to support clinical care and research. Nearly 30,000 people took part in the anonymous survey online from February to September 2020, which was open to all UK residents to measure people’s opinions on health data and consent.

Publication: Nature

R. A. I. Bethlehem, J. Seidlitz, S. R. White, J. W. Vogel, K. M. Anderson, C. Adamson, S. Adler, G. S. Alexopoulos, E. Anagnostou, A. Areces-Gonzalez, D. E. Astle, B. Auyeung, M. Ayub, J. Bae, G. Ball, S. Baron-Cohen, R. Beare, S. A. Bedford, V. Benegal, F. Beyer, J. Blangero, M. Blesa Cábez, J. P. Boardman, M. Borzage, J. F. Bosch-Bayard, N. Bourke, V. D. Calhoun, M. M. Chakravarty, C. Chen, C. Chertavian, G. Chetelat, Y. S. Chong, J. H. Cole, A. Corvin, M. Costantino, E. Courchesne, F. Crivello, V. L. Cropley, J. Crosbie, N. Crossley, M. Delarue, R. Delorme, S. Desrivieres, G. A. Devenyi, M. A. Di Biase, R. Dolan, K. A. Donald, G. Donohoe, K. Dunlop, A. D. Edwards, J. T. Elison, C. T. Ellis, J. A. Elman, L. Eyler, D. A. Fair, E. Feczko, P. C. Fletcher, P. Fonagy, C. E. Franz, L. Galan-Garcia, A. Gholipour, J. Giedd, J. H. Gilmore, D. C. Glahn, I. M. Goodyer, P. E. Grant, N. A. Groenewold, F. M. Gunning, R. E. Gur, R. C. Gur, C. F. Hammill, O. Hansson, T. Hedden, A. Heinz, R. N. Henson, K. Heuer, J. Hoare, B. Holla, A. J. Holmes, R. Holt, H. Huang, K. Im, J. Ipser, C. R. Jack Jr, A. P. Jackowski, T. Jia, K. A. Johnson, P. B. Jones, D. T. Jones, R. S. Kahn, H. Karlsson, L. Karlsson, R. Kawashima, E. A. Kelley, S. Kern, K. W. Kim, M. G. Kitzbichler, W. S. Kremen, F. Lalonde, B. Landeau, S. Lee, J. Lerch, J. D. Lewis, J. Li, W. Liao, C. Liston, M. V. Lombardo, J. Lv, C. Lynch, T. T. Mallard, M. Marcelis, R. D. Markello, S. R. Mathias, B. Mazoyer, P. McGuire, M. J. Meaney, A. Mechelli, N. Medic, B. Misic, S. E. Morgan, D. Mothersill, J. Nigg, M. Q. W. Ong, C. Ortinau, R. Ossenkoppele, M. Ouyang, L. Palaniyappan, L. Paly, P. M. Pan, C. Pantelis, M. M. Park, T. Paus, Z. Pausova, D. Paz-Linares, A. Pichet Binette, K. Pierce, X. Qian, J. Qiu, A. Qiu, A. Raznahan, T. Rittman, A. Rodrigue, C. K. Rollins, R. Romero-Garcia, L. Ronan, M. D. Rosenberg, D. H. Rowitch, G. A. Salum, T. D. Satterthwaite, H. L. Schaare, R. J. Schachar, A. P. Schultz, G. Schumann, M. Schöll, D. Sharp, R. T. Shinohara, I. Skoog, C. D. Smyser, R. A. Sperling, D. J. Stein, A. Stolicyn, J. Suckling, G. Sullivan, Y. Taki, B. Thyreau, R. Toro, N. Traut, K. A. Tsvetanov, N. B. Turk-Browne, J. J. Tuulari, C. Tzourio, É. Vachon-Presseau, M. J. Valdes-Sosa, P. A. Valdes-Sosa, S. L. Valk, T. van Amelsvoort, S. N. Vandekar, L. Vasung, L. W. Victoria, S. Villeneuve, A. Villringer, P. E. Vértes, K. Wagstyl, Y. S. Wang, S. K. Warfield, V. Warrier, E. Westman, M. L. Westwater, H. C. Whalley, A. V. Witte, N. Yang, B. Yeo, H. Yun, A. Zalesky, H. J. Zar, A. Zettergren, J. H. Zhou, H. Ziauddeen, A. Zugman, X. N. Zuo, E. T. Bullmore & A. F. Alexander-Bloch

6 April 2022

Summary

An international team of researchers has created a series of brain charts spanning our entire lifespan – from a 15 week old fetus to 100 year old adult – that show how our brains expand rapidly in early life and slowly shrink as we age. Read the full story.

Publication: The Lancet Regional Health

Shanquan Chena, Tamsin J.Ford, Peter B.Jones, Rudolf N.Cardinal

29 March 2022

Summary

Public data from two surveys (Health Survey for England, UK; Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe) covered 19 European countries across EMHAP phases one (2011–2015) and two (2015–2018). People screening positive for depressive symptoms by self-report were included. The primary outcome was antidepressant use: using country-specific weighted regression models, researchers estimated temporal trends and subgroup disparities in antidepressant receipt, with secondary analysis by country-level measures including healthcare expenditure.

Publication: PLOS Medicine

Shanquan Chen, Benjamin R Underwood , Peter B Jones, Jonathan R Lewis, Rudolf N Cardinal

18 March 2022

Summary

Among patients over 50 using mental health services at Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, researchers observed an association between lithium use and a decreased risk of developing dementia.

Publication: The Lancet

Tommy Nyberg, Prof Neil M Ferguson, Sophie G Nash, Harriet H Webster, Seth Flaxman, Nick Andrews, Wes Hinsley, Jamie Lopez Bernal, Meaghan Kall, Prof Samir Bhatt, Paula Blomquist, Asad Zaidi, Erik Volz, Nurin Abdul Aziz, Katie Harman, Prof Sebastian Funk, Sam Abbott, COVID-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) consortium, Russell Hope, Andre Charlett, Meera Chand, Prof Azra C Ghani, Shaun R Seaman,

17 March 2022

Summary

The omicron variant (B.1.1.529) of SARS-CoV-2 has demonstrated partial vaccine escape and high transmissibility, with early studies indicating lower severity of infection than that of the delta variant (B.1.617.2). We aimed to better characterise omicron severity relative to delta by assessing the relative risk of hospital attendance, hospital admission, or death in a large national cohort.

Publication: Annals of Oncology

D. Gale, K. Heider, A. Ruiz-Valdepenas, S. Hackinger, M. Perry, G. Marsico, V. Rundell, J. Wulff, G. Sharma, H. Knock, J. Castedo, W. Cooper, H. Zhao, C.G. Smith, S. Garg, S. Anand, K. Howarth, D. Gilligan, S.V. Harden, D.M. Rassl, R.C. Rintoul, N. Rosenfeld

17 March 2022

Summary

Scientists from the Rosenfeld Group used a personalised blood test for patients, which is a type of liquid biopsy that can pick up tiny fragments of DNA that are released into the blood as tumours grow. This DNA, called circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA), can reveal the state of the tumour, its location and potentially its weaknesses, which could be used to select the best treatments. Read the full story.

Publication: BMJ Geriatrics

Shanquan Chen, Linda A Jones, Shan Jiang, Huajie Jin, Dong Dong, Xi Chen, Dan Wang, Yun Zhang, Li Xiang, Anna Zhu, Rudolf N Cardinal

4 March 2022

Summary

Older adults who live alone and have difficulties in activities of daily living (ADLs) may have been more vulnerable during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, little is known about pandemic-related changes in ADL assistance (such as home care, domiciliary care) and its international variation.

Researchers examined international patterns and changes in provision of ADL assistance, and related these to country-level measures including national income and health service expenditure.

Publication: European Urology Open Science

Tristan Barrettab, Simon Paceyacde, Kelly Leonard, Jerome Wulff, Ionut-Gabriel Funinganacd,  Vincent Gnanapragasam

10 February 2022

Summary

Active surveillance (AS) is a preferred management option for men with prostate cancer with favourable prognosis. However, nearly half of men on AS switch to treatment within 5 years, so therapeutic strategies to prevent or delay disease progression could be considered.

Researchers explored image-based tumour responses and the patient impact of short-duration androgen-targeted therapy  to abrogate disease progression during AS.