Godwits are flexible, when they get the chance

Black-tailed godwits are able to cope with unpredictable weather, a thorough analysis finds, following the extraordinary spring of 2013 in Belgium. That year, godwits were surprised by an exceptionally cold spring upon their return to the Netherlands. Nevertheless the godwits had a particularly productive breeding season that year, authors noted.

Targeted drug can ‘diminish the suffering’ of myelofibrosis

Use of the targeted agent pacritinib significantly reduced the symptoms and burden of advanced myelofibrosis in patients, says a researcher who co-led PERSIST-1, the worldwide phase 3 clinical trial that tested the therapy. Specifically, pacritinib substantially reduced severe enlargement of the spleen, a typical feature of advanced myelofibrosis, in more than 20 percent of patients and alleviated debilitating side effects in more than 46 percent.

Phase 2 trial identifies genetic dysfunction that makes many types of cancer vulnerable to an immunotherapy

A team of researchers has identified a genetic malfunction that predicts the effectiveness of response to a groundbreaking immunotherapy. The results of their Phase 2 clinical trial reveal that, regardless of its tissue of origin, tumors whose cells are deficient in repairing mismatched DNA sequences–and so preventing mutations–are far more susceptible to the checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab than those that retain this ability.