Another Possible Option for HER2-Mutated Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer
More than half of patients with treatment-refractory HER2-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) responded to an anti-HER2 antibody-drug conjugate, data from a preliminary trial showed. Fifty of 91 patients responded to trastuzumab deruxtecan (T-DXd) and another 34 patients had stable disease, resulting in a disease control rate exceeding 90%. Responses were durable in many cases, […]
Practice-Changing Study in Advanced Cervical Cancer
Adding pembrolizumab (Keytruda) to chemotherapy with or without bevacizumab (Avastin) significantly slowed progression of metastatic cervical cancer and improved overall survival (OS), investigators in a randomized trial concluded. Median progression-free survival (PFS) improved from 8.2 months with chemotherapy plus or minus bevacizumab (Avastin) to 10.4 months with the addition of the PD-1 inhibitor. Comparison of […]
Infants exposed to domestic violence have poorer cognitive development: Study explores impact of multiple father figures on infant neurodevelopmental delays
While assessing a pregnant woman with premature labor in 1983, Linda Bullock noticed bruises on the woman. When she asked what happened, the woman told Bullock a refrigerator had fallen on her while cleaning the kitchen. “Something didn’t seem right, but I didn’t know what to say at the time. I just went on to […]
Nurse Glitzes Up Gloomy Times With Vaccine Chandelier
Laura Weiss, RN, stays positive. A retired nurse who teamed up with the Boulder County Public Health department in February for their vaccine effort, Weiss remembers moments like vaccinating the parents of a man who had flown them from Venezuela to Colorado, determined to get them the shots. Weiss recounts how one woman, tearing up […]
COVID-19 antibodies persist, reduce reinfection risk for up to six months, study finds: The antibodies’ ability to neutralize COVID-19 did not differ significantly over the six-month period.
A Michigan Medicine study found that most patients with mild COVID-19 infections produce antibodies that persist and protect them from reinfection for up to six months. Researchers analyzed nearly 130 subjects with PCR-confirmed COVID-19 illness between three and six months after initial infection. Three patients were hospitalized while the rest were treated as outpatients and […]
More Data in Support of Surgery for Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma
Patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) lived 6 months longer, on average, when they had surgery in addition to chemotherapy, a large retrospective analysis showed. The addition of surgery to combination chemotherapy resulted in a median overall survival (OS) of 22 months as compared with 16 months with chemotherapy alone. Twice as many patients remained […]
Immuno-Oncology Combo Active in Recurrent EGFR/ALK Positive NSCLC
Patients with recurrent EGFR/ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) obtained durable remissions with the combination of pembrolizumab (Keytruda) and chemotherapy, a small prospective study showed. The immuno-oncology (IO) combination led to a median progression-free survival (PFS) of 8.3 months in EGFR-mutant NSCLC and overall survival (OS) of 22.2 months. The combination had limited activity in […]
Darolutamide Tied to Symptom Control in Non-Metastatic Prostate Cancer
Darolutamide (Nubeqa) was linked with a decrease in locally invasive procedures, as well as local urinary and bowel symptoms, in patients with nonmetastatic (nm) castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), according to analysis of the ARAMIS trial. The drug, compared with placebo, was also associated with a delayed deterioration in patient quality of life (QoL) related to […]
The mystery of the flexible shell
An international research team with participation of the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI has revealed a secret about a marine animal’s shell: The researchers have deciphered why the protective cover of the brachiopod Discinisca tenuis becomes extremely soft in water and gets hard again in the air. The study appears today in the journal Nature Communications. […]
Masks Limited COVID Transmission in Unvaxxed College Kids
Masking worked, along with fewer exposure encounters, to help limit the incidence of COVID-19 infection among largely unvaccinated university students in Missouri, researchers found. Among nearly 400 close contacts of students who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the likelihood of a positive test result was more than five times higher in situations where at least one […]