News • HER2-targeted therapy
Promising results for therapy of non-small cell lung cancer
New data highlights a promising new treatment for individuals with HER2-mutant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Therapy
News • Promising approach
New nanoparticles suppress resistance to cancer immunotherapy
Hokkaido University scientists and colleagues in Japan have found a way that could help some patients overcome resistance to an immunotherapy treatment for cancer. The approach, proven in mice experiments, was reported in the Journal for Immunotherapy of Cancer.
Video • Innovative approach
Osteoarthritis: Nasal cartilage relieves knee pain
Cartilage cells from the nasal septum can not only help repair cartilage injuries in the knee, they can also withstand the chronic inflammatory tissue environment in osteoarthritis and even counteract the inflammation – according to researchers from the University of Basel and the University Hospital Basel.
Article • Hybrid care models
Telemedicine or in-person care: Why not both?
Will telehealth replace traditional in-person healthcare? Healthcare and digital health professionals around the world have moved beyond this question. Telehealth scenarios are here to stay, and so is traditional healthcare. The relevant question is how both can be combined for optimum results. This is the focus of hybrid care models. Jonah Comstock of HIMSS recently presented a webinar on…
News • Controlling KRAS
New targeted gene therapy could stop lung cancer progression
A newly targeted therapy could help millions of lung cancer patients worldwide keep their cancers from spreading, says an expert at Cleveland Clinic, on the occasion of World Lung Cancer Day. Dr. Khaled Hassan, of the Hematology and Medical Oncology Department at Cleveland Clinic, explains the concept of KRAS targeted therapy – and why the approach should not be mistaken for a cancer cure.
News • Brain cancer
Malignant Gliomas: Novel therapy may improve survival
A novel therapy engineered by Northwestern Medicine investigators improved progression-free and overall survival for patients with newly diagnosed malignant gliomas, according to results from a recent phase I clinical trial.
News • Health economics
Why certified cancer centers are worth the extra input
Quality assurance in cancer medicine has a reputation for being expensive and involving considerable outlay. For the first time, a cost-effectiveness analysis has now shown that patients treated in certified cancer centers not only survived longer than patients in non-certified hospitals, but also cost less, despite the greater resource commitment required. This was established by health…
Article • Oncology
Pancreatic cancer - current challenges and future direction
Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest cancers in the world, and one of the most difficult to treat. In 2020, an estimated 495,000 individuals worldwide were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and an estimated 466,000 died, according to statistics from the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer. Most patients with advanced disease die within a year of…
News • Unprecedented improvements
Gene therapy 'reprograms' cells to reverse AADC deficiency
A novel method of gene therapy is helping children born with a rare genetic disorder called AADC deficiency that causes severe physical and developmental disabilities. The study, led by researchers at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and The Ohio State University College of Medicine, offers new hope to those living with incurable genetic and neurodegenerative diseases.
News • Cancer 'avatars'
Predicting immunotherapy outcomes with mini tumours
Miniature tumours in the lab are able to predict whether the corresponding real-life patients will benefit from immunotherapy. “We’ve solved a major problem many scientists had been facing: preserving a tumours original composition and structure outside of the patient in the lab”, says cancer researcher Daniela Thommen.
News • Mammacarcinoma study
Breast cancer: finishing treatment soon after diagnosis increases survival
Research from Cleveland Clinic in the U.S. and Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi in the U.A.E. has found a decrease in patient survival rates when treatment options – surgery, chemotherapy and radiation – are completed more than 38 weeks from the time of diagnosis. The observational study, which included more than 28,000 breast cancer patients registered in the American National Cancer Database, is…
News • More attempts, worse outcomes
Removing blood clots after stroke: Why the first try counts
After a stroke, doctors can try to remove clots in blood vessels to keep blood flowing freely to the brain. But even though most of these procedures are successful, less than half of people have a successful recovery from the stroke. A new study published in the medical journal Neurology sheds light on why that may be. The study found that trying more than once during a procedure to retrieve a…
Article • Gender bias
Sex-specific guidelines for cardiovascular diseases
Women are missing out on appropriate cardiac care because guidelines and medications often fail to take into account gender and conditions that specifically affect the female population. Women are also underrepresented in clinical trials for new cardiac therapies.
News • Kirigami
Stents can deliver drugs to the GI tract
Inspired by kirigami, the Japanese art of folding and cutting paper to create three-dimensional structures, MIT engineers and their collaborators have designed a new type of stent that could be used to deliver drugs to the gastrointestinal tract, respiratory tract, or other tubular organs in the body.
News • Arthroplasty
Patients with risk factors benefit from COPAL G+C
New studies demonstrate benefits of dual antibiotic-loaded bone cement (COPAL G+C) to reduce periprosthetic joint infections in risk for infection patients.
Aducanumab
FDA grants accelerated approval for Alzheimers drug
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Aduhelm (aducanumab) for the treatment of Alzheimer’s, a debilitating disease affecting 6.2 million Americans. Aduhelm was approved using the accelerated approval pathway, which can be used for a drug for a serious or life-threatening illness that provides a meaningful therapeutic advantage over existing treatments.
News • TARGIT-IORT
Pioneering single-dose radiotherapy for breast cancer treatment
A breast cancer therapy that requires just one shot of radiotherapy is as effective as traditional radiotherapy, and avoids potential damage to nearby organs, according to a paper by UCL experts.
News • Parkinson’s disease
An algorithm for next-gen deep brain stimulation devices
Brown University researchers have developed a technique that could allow deep brain stimulation devices to sense activity in the brain and adjust stimulation accordingly.
News • Battle for the brain
New Alzheimer's treatment approach targets tau
A new idea for treating Alzheimer’s disease could eradicate the toxic proteins most closely linked to cognitive decline in the places where they do the most damage, a study from researchers at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons suggests. The study was published online in Science Translational Medicine.
News • New cardiology approach
Super saturated oxygen therapy reduces consequences of heart attack
In Germany, more than 200,000 people suffer a heart attack every year. Despite good medical care, many are left with reduced cardiac output. This is particularly true for patients with severe heart attacks: more than 30 percent of those affected develop heart failure, and almost half of them die within the next five years. Experts at the Department of Cardiology and Angiology at Hannover Medical…
News • Prevention, treatment, care and support
Action on stroke: Experts launch joint declaration
An appeal is launched for Health Ministries across Europe to sign the Declaration for Action on the Stroke Action Plan for Europe to tackle one of the leading causes of death and disability. Led by The European Stroke Organisation (ESO) and Stroke Alliance for Europe (SAFE), the initiative aims to encourage European countries to show their commitment to improving stroke prevention, treatment,…
News • Headache
Chronic migraine: potential novel treatment discovered
By discovering a potential new cellular mechanism for migraines, researchers may have also found a new way to treat chronic migraine. Amynah Pradhan, associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Illinois Chicago, is the senior author of the study, whose goal was to identify a new mechanism of chronic migraine, and propose a cellular pathway for migraine therapies. The study, “Neuronal…
News • Vision for vision
Reversing blindness: Award for cone optogenetics gene therapy
The Foundation Fighting Blindness has granted 600,000 US$ to help Hendrik Scholl as principal investigator define a novel way of reversing blindness. Hendrik Scholl is Director of the Institute of Molecular and Clinical Ophthalmology Basel (IOB), Professor and Chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology, University of Basel, and Head of the University Hospital’s Eye Clinic in Basel, Switzerland.
News • Cost-effective and efficient
Thanks to shrub, 'undruggable' cancer protein becomes druggable
A chemist from Purdue University has found a way to synthesize a compound to fight a previously "undruggable" cancer protein with benefits across a myriad of cancer types.
News • Cancer research
'Gene ferry' improves immune therapies
Genetically enhancing a patient's immune cells by adding therapeutic genes to them outside the body is regarded as a promising new treatment approach in oncology. However, the production of these therapeutic cells using viruses is not only expensive but time-consuming. Researchers at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) have developed an innovative non-viral vector that can efficiently…