## mRNA COVID vaccines may be helping some cancer patients fight tumors, researchers say

Authored by pbs.org

WASHINGTON (AP) — The most widely used COVID-19 vaccines may offer a surprise benefit for some cancer patients – revving up their immune systems to help fight tumors.

Instead, the molecule that powers those specific vaccines, mRNA, appears to help the immune system respond better to the cutting-edge cancer treatment, concluded researchers from MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and the University of Florida.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has raised skepticism about mRNA vaccines, cutting $500 million in funding for some uses of the technology.

But this research team found its results so promising that it is preparing a more rigorous study to see if mRNA coronavirus vaccines should be paired with cancer drugs called checkpoint inhibitors — an interim step while it designs new mRNA vaccines for use in cancer.

While best known as the Nobel Prize-winning technology behind COVID-19 vaccines, scientists have long been trying to create personalized mRNA “treatment vaccines” that train immune cells to spot unique features of a patient’s tumor.

Grippin and his Florida colleagues had been developing personalized mRNA cancer vaccines when they realized that even one created without a specific target appeared to spur similar immune activity against cancer.

Vaccinated lung cancer patients were nearly twice as likely to be alive three years after beginning cancer treatment as the unvaccinated patients. »

### Breathing Through Our Butts Declared Safe After First Human Trial

Authored by 404media.co

Hold onto your butts, because one day you might be breathing through them.

The technique proves a backdoor “to provide partial oxygen support while allowing the lungs to rest,” he added.

But while this method is safe for humans, it hasn’t been experimentally shown to work on patients experiencing respiratory distress yet. »

### The GOP expected Democrats to relent on the shutdown by now. That isn't happening.

Authored by nbcnews.com

He was referring to House Minority Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., who said in a recent Fox News interview: “Shutdowns are terrible.

Democrats have used that “leverage” to push Republicans to extend Obamacare subsidies that will expire at the end of the year.

The Democratic Party’s hardened resolve in the shutdown battle seems to have left the Republican majority without answers. »

### Norway’s wealth fund maintains net zero emission pressure amid US climate rollback

Authored by arctictoday.com

Norway’s wealth fund maintains net zero emission pressure amid US climate rollback.

In its newly updated climate plan, the fund said it would continue to do so and would increase the pressure somewhat, by for instance increasing its scrutiny of companies’ lobbying on climate change.

It also said it could vote against the board of a company if the fund disagreed with its approach on climate change. »

### Trump denies sending supersonic bombers up Venezuela coast despite flight tracking data

Authored by independent.co.uk

Donald Trump has said that a report on the United States sending B-1 bombers near Venezuela to increase military pressure was false, despite evidence that suggests otherwise.

Trump added Washington was "very unhappy with Venezuela.".

According to flight tracking data, a pair of B-1 Lancer bombers took off from Dyess Air Force Base in Texas on Thursday and flew through the Caribbean and up to the coast of Venezuela. »

## In pictures

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