A new Johns Hopkins study, published in Cancer Discovery and partly funded by the NIH, found that genetic material shed by tumors can be detected in the bloodstream three years prior to a cancer diagnosis. The researchers analyzed plasma samples from a large Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study to assess risk factors for heart attack, stroke, heart failure and other cardiovascular diseases.
Fernando da Silva, who lives in the southern African nation of Angola, was diagnosed with prostate cancer in March. Three months later, he underwent a procedure to cut out the cancer from a surgeon who has done tens of thousands of similar procedures. But the doctor performing the surgery was 7,000 miles away -- in Orlando, Florida. Da Silva was the first patient of a groundbreaking human clinical trial approved by the FDA to test transcontinental robotic telesurgery.
A CDC official who led the agency's network to study hospitalization trends from infectious diseases like COVID-19 has resigned in protest following Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s orders to change the agency's vaccine recommendations and the committee that makes them. Dr. Fiona Havers' last day at the CDC was Monday, according to an announcement sent by an agency official to her branch within the agency's Coronavirus and Other Respiratory Viruses Division. They received the notice shortly after Reuters first reported on the resignation.
The 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act' that was passed by House Republicans and is currently being discussed by the U.S. Senate is viewed unfavorably by a majority of adults (64%), including large majorities of independents and Democrats.
The pharmaceutical industry says a popular class of targeted cancer therapies could one day replace chemotherapy and its potential for harsh side effects. Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) have taken major strides in recent years, as companies including AstraZeneca, Daiichi Sankyo, Pfizer and Merck are developing drugs in the space that could ease the trials of cancer treatment and make them big money in the process.