A novel targeted radiation approach for a rare form of malignant tumor—the solitary fibrous tumor (SFT)—has shown significant success, achieving a near-complete response in three patients. The therapy significantly reduced cancer activity and provided symptom relief, underscoring its potential as a viable treatment option. This research was published in the September issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

Results from two studies find new implant restores blood pressure balance after spinal cord injury. In a rare double publication in both Nature and Nature Medicine, a pair of landmark studies by Dr. Aaron Phillips, PhD, UCalgary, Dr. Grégoire Courtine, PhD, EPFL, and Dr. Jocelyne Bloch, MD, UNIL, describe the development of a targeted therapy to address blood pressure regulation in 14 participants across four clinical studies conducted at three separate medical centers in Canada, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. The implantable neurostimulation system evaluated in these studies was developed by ONWARD Medical. The company recently received FDA approval to initiate a pivotal trial of this therapy, which is expected to involve approximately 20 leading neurorehabilitation and neurosurgical research centers across Canada, Europe and the United States.

 

Armida Labs, Inc., a University of California, Riverside startup company, has been awarded a $2.25 million Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health. The grant will support preclinical investigational new drug (IND) application studies, which are critically required before human clinical trials can be initiated.

People with temporal lobe epilepsy in particular often wander around aimlessly and unconsciously after a seizure. Researchers at the University Hospital Bonn (UKB), the University of Bonn, and the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) have identified a neurobiological mechanism that could be responsible for this so-called post-ictal wandering and potentially other postictal symptoms. According to their hypothesis, epileptic seizures are not directly responsible for post-ictal symptoms, but rather seizure-associated depolarization waves, also known as spreading depolarization (SD). The results of the studies have now been published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

A survey study of families with puppies in the U.K. has identified multiple mental health challenges alongside benefits of ownership for adults and kids alike, suggesting that a mental health boost should not be the main motivator behind getting a puppy. Rowena Packer of the Royal Veterinary College, U.K., and colleagues present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS One on September 17, 2025.