Free Republic

The molecule interleukin-7 (IL-7) is an important immune messenger protein which ensures that a sufficient number of T cells are present in our body for immune defence. Researchers from ETH Zurich have now demonstrated that IL-7 has another important function: it enhances the drainage function of lymphatic vessels, which collect fluid that has leaked out of blood vessels into the body tissue and return it to the bloodstream. In the future, this finding could become useful for lymphedema patients, whose lymphatic drainage system does not work properly, resulting in fluid accumulation and tissue swelling. The predisposition to develop lymphedema may,...

Radiation treatment is being prescribed for more and more breast cancer patients, including women who would have been told just a few years ago that they could skip it. The added therapy mostly affects those women who are treated with mastectomy and chemotherapy, and have fairly good prognoses at what is called Stage 2 cancer. But cancer experts and doctors are divided over whether these women really need radiation to improve their chances of survival. For some, radiation may enhance their prospects of preventing a recurrence of their breast cancer. But whether that translates into increases in the chances for...