A nationwide randomized clinical trial found that 28.4% of patients receiving 6 months of telehealth counseling and nicotine replacement therapy during cancer treatment were tobacco-free after 6 months, compared with 14.7% of patients referred to a Quitline without further support. The comprehensive approach, delivered through community oncology settings, achieved high participation (81% versus 5%), strong medication use (83% versus 49.5%), and high patient satisfaction (90% versus 40%). The results of this study by the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group demonstrate that integrating evidence-based, sustained tobacco treatment into routine cancer care is both feasible and highly effective.

Scientist report an unexpected mechanism that bacteria have for rapidly confering antibiotic resistance. In looking at a group of cystic fibrosis patients who suddenly stopped responded to a potent antibiotic after beginning treatment, they found that environmental bacteria had entered their lungs and transfered new drug resistence genes into the disease-causing bacteria.  This is different from the well-known pattern in which antibiotic resistance develops gradually from the accumulation of mutations in the disease-causing bacteria's genome. In addition to antibiotic resistance, genes from environmental bacteria could help pathogens acquire more nutrients, block immune responses, and break down barriers that limit the spread of infection.