‘Watch and Wait’ With Small Renal Masses: When and How Should Docs Intervene?
Active surveillance of small renal masses appears to be safe, but if intervention does become necessary, what should trigger it? “We now know that with at least 10 years of data that active surveillance is safe and non-inferior to primary intervention,” said Phillip Pierorazio, MD, of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, during a presentation […]
I Just Got Over COVID. Do I Need an Updated Shot?
Updated COVID shots are becoming available in the U.S. amid what appears to be a surge in cases — leaving some to wonder whether they need an updated shot if they recently recovered from an infection. Official CDC guidance states that people who are currently infected should wait “at least until recovery from acute illness” […]
Opinion | ‘It Appears All the Cylinders Are Firing Within His Brain’: What We Heard This Week
“It appears that all the cylinders are firing within his brain.” — Timothy Pritts, MD, PhD, of the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where NFL safety Damar Hamlin was treated after he collapsed on the field during a Monday Night Football game. “All of a sudden, this guy in a pink dress came up next […]
Maintenance PARP Inhibition Boosts OS in Two Ovarian Cancer Trials
PARIS — Olaparib (Lynparza) maintenance therapy appears to offer a long-term overall survival (OS) benefit for women with ovarian cancer, according to two phase III studies presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) annual congress. At 7 years in the SOLO-1 trial, 67% of patients with advanced BRCA-mutated ovarian cancer treated with the […]
Patients With Head/Neck Cancer See Lower Stroke Risk With Initial Surgery
In oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC), the type of initial treatment appears to influence the likelihood of stroke in the years afterward, researchers said. A population-based study of U.S. veterans treated for OPSCC found 23% lower stroke risk for those who underwent up-front surgery compared with patients who received definitive (chemo)radiotherapy, reported Lova L. Sun, […]
Wandering star disrupts stellar nursery: Event provides new evidence that traveling stars can form binary systems
From a zoomed out, distant view, star-forming cloud L483 appears normal. But when a Northwestern University-led team of astrophysicists zoomed in closer and closer, things became weirder and weirder. As the researchers peered closer into the cloud, they noticed that its magnetic field was curiously twisted. And then — as they examined a newborn star […]
About 3 grams a day of omega-3 fatty acids may lower blood pressure, more research needed
About 3 grams daily of omega-3 fatty acids, consumed in foods or supplements, appears to be the optimal daily dose to help lower blood pressure, according to a research review published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association, an open access, peer-reviewed journal of the American Heart Association. Omega-3 fatty acids docosahexaenoic acid […]
Draft Genome Sequence of Latest Monkeypox Virus Unveiled
The latest monkeypox virus now popping up in multiple countries appears most closely related to a strain that circulated in 2018-2019, according to a draft genome sequence of a recent case. Sequencing of a skin lesion sample from an infected male patient in Portugal — where at least 20 confirmed cases have been reported — […]
What Doctors Need to Know About Monkeypox
Researchers are keeping a close eye on what appears to be a rapidly developing global outbreak of monkeypox virus. This isn’t like previous encounters with the virus. The widespread nature of the outbreak and evidence of frequent human-to-human transmission has researchers questioning whether the virus has changed to become more transmissible. While it will take […]
Just How Effective Is PSA Screening?
NEW ORLEANS — Prostate cancer screening with prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood testing appears to have a more favorable benefit-to-harm trade-off than originally estimated, particularly among Black men, according to research presented here. Using the most conservative assumptions about the benefits of screening, investigators found that among men of all races, one death was prevented for […]