news 2025

A research team led by Erwin F. Wagner from the Medical University of Vienna has discovered a previously unknown molecular mechanism that contributes to the development of psoriasis - and at the same time represents a potential biomarker for a new treatment concept. The study published in Cell Death & Differentiation shows that a specific fatty acid-binding protein (FABP5) drives ferroptosis, a certain form of cell death, and amplifies inflammatory processes in the skin.

An international research team led by the Medical University of Vienna has shown that continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) in women with gestational diabetes can reduce the risk of a newborn with above-average birth weight. The study, published in the leading journal The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, is the first multicenter randomized controlled trial to demonstrate the advantages of the digital method over conventional self-monitoring of blood glucose using finger pricks and opens up new perspectives for the targeted care of women with gestational diabetes.

A research team led by the Medical University of Vienna has gained new insights into how ticks influence the human immune system in order to introduce pathogens. The study shows that the saliva of Ixodes ricinus - the most common tick species in Central Europe - plays a central role in altering the immune response of skin cells, thereby facilitating the transmission of the Lyme disease pathogen Borrelia burgdorferi.

Researchers at MedUni Vienna have tested the prognostic significance of their previously developed artificial intelligence (AI) model based on simple blood tests. The Vienna 3P/5P models, which are using just three or five routine laboratory parameters, can predict the clinical course of patients with advanced chronic liver disease - without invasive procedures or the need for special equipment.

A research team led by the Medical University of Vienna, the HUN-REN Research Centre for Natural Sciences and the Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest has developed a groundbreaking new chemotherapeutic agent, LiPyDau, which shows remarkable efficacy against multiple tumor types in preclinical studies.

An international clinical study led by the Medical University of Vienna shows that the drug patritumab deruxtecan (HER3-DXd) can have a promising effect in patients with active brain metastases of various tumour types. Patients with advanced disease benefited from treatment in both non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and metastatic breast cancer, as shown in two simultaneous publications in The Lancet Oncology.

An international research team led by the Medical University of Vienna has demonstrated for the first time that thyroid hormone plays a key role in the development and progression of prostate cancer. By blocking a specific thyroid hormone receptor, cancer growth was inhibited in both animal models and tumour cell cultures.

A recent study led by the Center for Public Health at the Medical University of Vienna shows that in people who are obese or overweight and are treated with so-called incretin-based drugs, changes in taste perception may be linked to differences in appetite regulation. The study, published in the journal Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, thus provides important evidence that sensory changes could be an additional factor in the effect of these therapies.

An Austria-wide research team coordinated by MedUni Vienna has demonstrated for the first time in a large observational study that the drug risdiplam leads to a significant improvement in motor function in adult patients with 5q-associated spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). The results close an important evidence gap, as previous approval studies had mainly examined children.

Despite decades of optimisation of therapy protocols, the prognosis for acute myeloid leukaemia in children (paediatric AML) remains poor for many patients. A research team from St. Anna Children's Cancer Research, the CeMM Research Centre for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, the Medical University of Vienna and St. Anna Children's Hospital has now succeeded in developing a method for the early detection of resistance mechanisms in paediatric AML with the aid of state-of-the-art imaging, molecular methods and computer-assisted data analysis.

An international research team involving MedUni Vienna has shown that an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) in early pregnancy provides crucial information about the risk of gestational diabetes. The study, currently published in the journal Diabetologia, proves that blood sugar levels from an early OGTT can predict not only the later development of gestational diabetes, but also the need for insulin therapy - and thus a more severe course of the disease.

Three recent studies conducted by the Clinical Division of Rheumatology at MedUni Vienna's Department of Internal Medicine III exemplify a research approach that consistently puts patients at the centre. They specifically address questions that arise from everyday clinical practice: What information do doctors lack in their everyday work, what concerns do patients have, and what data is crucial for improving treatment decisions?

Completely abstaining from alcohol can improve the prognosis of patients with predominantly alcohol-related liver disease. Even a regression of liver-related complications appears possible through abstinence - even after the progression to cirrhosis. However, whether these clinical improvements are also accompanied by an improvement in portal hypertension - a key trigger for complications - had remained unclear.

A research team at the Medical University of Vienna has systematically described the safety and efficacy of targeted immunotherapy in refractory idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM) for the first time.

Levosimendan is an established drug in cardiology that strengthens the contractile force of the heart muscle and is used in certain forms of acute heart failure. A study has now investigated whether levosimendan can also help to prevent undetected but measurable cardiac stress after major non-cardiac surgery.

An international study involving MedUni Vienna and the University Hospital Vienna shows that additional immunotherapy with pembrolizumab significantly prolongs disease-free survival in patients with locally advanced, resectable squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. The results, currently published in the top journal The New England Journal of Medicine, pave the way for approval of the therapy, which could become the new standard treatment for this common cancer.

A research team led by the Medical University of Vienna has discovered a previously unknown role for the epigenetic regulator HDAC1 in chronic viral infections by using animal models. The study shows that HDAC1 specifically supports the generation of certain immune cells, which play an important role for actively fighting viruses despite chronic infection.

Aortic valve narrowing (aortic stenosis) with concomitant cardiac amyloidosis is a severe heart disease of old age that is associated with a high risk of death. Until now, treatment has consisted of valve replacement, while the deposits in the heart muscle, known as amyloidosis, often remain untreated.

Leptomeningeal metastatic disease (LMD) is a serious complication of advanced solid tumours, particularly breast and lung cancer. Due to the currently limited treatment options, the spread of cancer cells to the meninges leads to death within a short period of time. An international research team led by MedUni Vienna and the University Hospital Vienna has now tested the drug patritumab deruxtecan (HER3-DXd) in patients with LMD for the first time in a clinical trial.

KRAS mutations are among the most common genetic alterations in cancer and are considered particularly difficult to treat. In colon cancer, the second most common cause of cancer death, such mutations severely limit therapeutic options. The results of a study led by the Center for Cancer Research at the Medical University of Vienna, recently published in the journal EMBO Molecular Medicine, now raise a previously little-considered strategy: the targeted blockade of the EGFR signaling pathway - even in the presence of a KRAS mutation.