This case-control study found that individuals with more advanced breast cancer at diagnosis were more likely to have prevalent cardiovascular disease. This finding may be specific to hormone receptor–positive and ERBB2-negative (formerly HER2) disease. Future studies are needed to confirm these findings and investigate interventions to improve patient outcomes, including personalized cancer screening.

An enzyme called MICAL2 promotes tumor growth and metastasis in the most common form of pancreatic cancer, according to a new study by UC San Diego School of Medicine researchers.

New Haven, Conn. — In 2020, the federal minimum age for buying tobacco products was officially raised from 18 to 21 as an increasing number of states and localities across the country sought to raise the age for tobacco purchases to protect the health of young adults.

 

One of the driving factors behind the change was a 2015 report from the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) that found that a federal Tobacco 21 (T21) law could prevent as many as 249,000 deaths through the year 2100.

 

A new study led by Yale researchers with the Cancer Intervention and Surveillance Modeling Network (CISNET) Lung Working Group has now determined that the NAM report grossly underestimated the number of averted deaths. The findings significantly amplify the potential impact of the T21 law and provide important new information for future state and local policy discussions surrounding tobacco regulation and public health.

Fighting cancer can seem like a deadly game of chance. While some patients may respond well to certain treatments, others might not be as fortunate. Doctors and scientists have long struggled to explain why. Now, in new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Shelley Berger, PhD, the Daniel S. Och University Professor and Director of Penn’s Epigentics Institute, and Katherine Alexander, PhD, currently an assistant professor at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory have found a possible source of this variability in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC)—the most common kidney cancer diagnosed in adults. The findings of their study were published today in Nature Cell Biology.

One or two doses of psilocybin, a compound found in psychedelic mushrooms, may improve the mental health of cancer patients when accompanied by psychotherapy, a new report suggests. A second new study found that treatment with psilocybin resulted in lasting, positive personality changes in patients with alcohol use disorder.

A new international study led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden shows that AI-based models can outperform human experts at identifying ovarian cancer in ultrasound images. The study is published in Nature Medicine.

An inter-departmental research team at the LKS Faculty of Medicine of the University of Hong Kong (HKUMed) has conducted the world’s first analytic real-world cohort study on the association of clozapine, a highly efficacious antipsychotic drug, with the incidence of blood cancer. Their findings show that the risk of blood cancer associated with the use of clozapine is very low, with an average increase of less than six cases per 10,000 persons using clozapine for one year. Therefore, the clinical significance of such a risk is plausibly low. While previous preliminary Western studies have shown a potentially significant increase in risk, this study suggests that with stringent blood monitoring measures before and during clozapine use in Hong Kong and around the world, it may not be necessary to further restrict the use of clozapine or issue special warnings by the Department of Health or local drug regulatory authorities, thus facilitating early and effective treatment of mental illness.