Breast cancers that have an overactive PI3K enzyme, involved in cell growth and division, tend to be more aggressive and to spread and divide more like stem cells. But a new study by Ralitsa Madsen of University College London and colleagues publishing November 11 in the journal PLOS Genetics uncovers a surprising relationship between PI3K […]
Have girls struggled more than boys during the COVID-19 pandemic?
In a survey-based study of 523 teens in Iceland, girls reported a greater negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on well-being and behavior than boys, and they reported a high level of depressive symptoms. In the JCPP Advances study, higher depressive symptoms were linked with increased passive social media use and decreased connecting with family […]
Women are more likely than men to develop more-deadly right-sided colon cancer
The traditional broad categories of cancer are splintering into finer subcategories as researchers unravel the incredible complexity and variety within locational descriptors such as “breast cancer” or “lung cancer.” For instance, we now know that the general term “breast cancer” encompasses a range of heterogeneous tumors with different genetics, mechanisms, and drivers requiring different targeted […]
Cellular impact of ‘Heat not Burn’ products may be no less harmful than cigarettes
The impact on lung cells of Heat not Burn products—a hybrid between traditional cigarettes and electronic vaping devices—may be no less harmful than that of conventional cigarettes, suggest the findings of a small comparative study, published online in the journal Thorax. Heat not burn products contain nicotine and tobacco, but have been marketed by the […]
More than the sum of mutations: 165 new cancer genes identified with the help of machine learning
A new algorithm can predict which genes cause cancer, even if their DNA sequence is not changed. A team of researchers in Berlin combined a wide variety of data, analyzed it with “Artificial Intelligence” and identified numerous cancer genes. This opens up new perspectives for targeted cancer therapy in personalized medicine and for the development […]
More Detroiters ‘very likely’ to get COVID-19 vaccine than 4 months ago, survey finds
Thirty-eight percent of Detroiters now say they are “very likely” to get the COVID-19 vaccine when it becomes available, up from 14% who gave that response in fall 2020, according to a new survey from the University of Michigan. At the same time, the proportion of those very unlikely to vaccinate fell from 38% to […]
Chemo for glioblastoma may work better in morning than evening
An aggressive type of brain cancer, glioblastoma has no cure. Patients survive an average of 15 months after diagnosis, with fewer than 10% of patients surviving longer than five years. While researchers are investigating potential new therapies via ongoing clinical trials, a new study from Washington University in St. Louis suggests that a minor adjustment […]
Knowing someone with COVID-19 increased men’s anxiety more than women’s
It started as a research project to track student mental health over an entire term at university. Then, four weeks into the 13-week study, COVID-19 hit. Suddenly, a group of UBC researchers and their partners had an unprecedented opportunity to learn how students were faring emotionally as a global pandemic inched closer and closer to […]
Non-drug therapies as good as or better than drugs for treating depression in people with dementia
Non-drug therapies as good as or better than drugs for treating depression in people with dementia Doctors should consider more “social” prescribing of non-drug approaches for depression and loneliness, say researchers Non-drug therapies, such as exercise, appear to be as, or more, effective than drugs for reducing symptoms of depression in people with dementia, suggests […]
PET and CT scans provide keen views of lungs with active TB, and are better assessment tools than sputum tests
In clinical trials, a time-honored but old-school way to determine if TB is being knocked out by antibiotics involves having study participants cough up phlegm for a sputum culture, a test that can gauge whether the bacteria are succumbing to—or resisting—treatment. Sputum cultures are widely used to determine the amount of active bacteria among trial […]