Relapsed/refractory peripheral and cutaneous T-cell lymphomas (R/R PTCL and CTCL) are aggressive blood cancers that often resist standard therapy. Patients with these lymphomas may require stem cell transplants, but the disease needs to be brought under control before patients can undergo this treatment. A new study by investigators from PETAL Consortium at Mass General Brigham found the combination of duvelisib and romidepsin to be effective, tolerable and safe for patients with R/R PTCL and CTCL. Their findings suggest that this drug combination offers a novel strategy to help these patients control the disease in order to be eligible for stem cell transplants. The results are published in Blood Advances.

Minimizing opioid exposure during and after colorectal surgery can decrease long-term opioid use in some patients, according to new research by Mass General Brigham investigators. The retrospective, multicenter study determined that progressively fewer patients remained on opioids one year after surgery as hospitals improved protocols to avoid narcotic medications. Results are published in the Journal of Surgical Research.

For the first time, scientists have systematically studied the genetic effects of chemotherapy on healthy tissues.

Researchers from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, the University of Cambridge, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH) and their collaborators analysed blood cell genomes from 23 patients of all ages who had been treated with a range of chemotherapies.

Published today (1 July) in Nature Genetics, the researchers show that many but not all chemotherapy agents cause mutations and premature ageing in healthy blood.

Scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have found that two common types of hormone therapy may alter breast cancer risk in women before age 55. Researchers discovered that women treated with unopposed estrogen hormone therapy (E-HT) were less likely to develop the disease than those who did not use hormone therapy. They also found that women treated with estrogen plus progestin hormone therapy (EP-HT) were more likely to develop breast cancer than women who did not use hormone therapy. Together, these results could help to guide clinical recommendations for hormone therapy use among younger women.