About the Study: How are randomized clinical trials (RCTs) of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) currently designed, conducted, and analyzed, and are there any differences between RCTs published in English and Chinese? This cross-sectional study of 400 CHM RCTs published from 1992 to 2024 identified critical methodological limitations, including unclear study hypothesis, inadequate protocol, failure to register the trial, inadequate allocation concealment, lack of a specified primary outcome and sample size estimation, suboptimal handling of missing participant data, and unsatisfactory conduct of sensitivity analysis or subgroup analysis. The design, conduct, and analysis of CHM RCTs improved over time, and were superior for RCTs published in English-language journals and in English-language journals with higher impact. These findings highlight the urgent need for government authorities, universities, and research institutions to take the initiative in improving the planning and conduct of CHM RCTs, as well as for clinicians and methodologists to collaborate in developing standardized methodological guidelines for such RCTs.

About the Study: Cardiology practitioners need to remain updated on rapidly evolving breast cancer therapies to care for this growing, unique patient population. The field of cardio-oncology has evolved to address the cardiovascular needs of patients and survivors.

Climate change has increased childhood malaria and could continue to do so in southern and East Africa where communities are less experienced at tackling the disease, while reducing the risk in today’s hotspots as temperatures become too high for mosquitoes. 

An investigational cell therapy preserved heart and muscle function in boys and young men with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, according to Phase III clinical trial results from Cedars-Sinai Health Sciences University investigators and colleagues published in The Lancet. 

Researchers from RWJBarnabas Health and Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School found that an artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled early warning system helped identify hospitalized patients at risk of rapid clinical decline sooner, contributing to fewer deaths among high-risk patients.

A cell therapy called deramiocel could slow muscle weakening in boys and young men with advanced Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), and may also slow heart damage in those who already have heart muscle disease, a phase 3 clinical trial published in The Lancet has found. It is the first phase 3 trial of a cell therapy made from donor cells and administered through the bloodstream to treat a genetic disease, and the first such trial in boys and young men whose DMD is already advanced. The therapy is grown from heart cells that were donated for transplant but could not be used.