Author Archives: Library Staff

Cancer Stats 2017, Chemo Brain and More…

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Here are a few newsworthy items in the world of cancer research

  • The largest study to date of a condition known as “chemo brain” shows that women with breast cancer report it’s a substantial problem after chemotherapy for as long as six months after treatment. Using a tool called FACT-Cog, a validated measurement of cognitive impairment, investigators from the University of Rochester Medical found that compared to healthy people, breast cancer patients exhibited a higher percentage of impairment. Read more on their findings in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
  • Medical Researchers with the support of the National Foundation for Cancer Research have developed a new pharmacological agent to treat glioblastoma multiforme. The agent has been tested and found to have significant survival benefits in pre-clinical models. For more, see PNAS.
  • Scientists at the University of Basel recently reported on the potential of treating cancer with drugs for diabetes and hypertension. The research found that combining the type 2 diabetes drug metformin with the antihypertensive drug syrosingopine could represent a surprising new approach to fighting cancer. The findings are detailed in Science Advances.
  • The American Cancer Society Annual Report, Cancer Statistics 2017, revealed that the cancer death rate in the United States has dropped by 25 percent since its 1991 peak, resulting in 2 million fewer cancer deaths than if the rate had stayed the same, while also reporting significant disparities of the cancer burden by gender and race. The full report has been published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.

Simple Tricks for Efficient Google Searches

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A quick Google search can be very helpful when conducting research, but it can also be overwhelming and the results staggering. We’ve all been there. Here are a few helpful tips, with examples, for searching Google in a more efficient way.

  1. Use quotes to search for an exact phrase – this will help to reduce results to the most relevant on your topic (example: “breast cancer brain metastases”)
  2. Use the minus sign to eliminate results containing a certain word – another way to refine and focus the results (example: “breast cancer metastasis” -brain)
  3. Search within specific websites only – perform a site search directly from Google with this feature (example: “breast cancer brain metastases” site:cancer.gov)
  4. Search news archives going back to the mid-1880’s – a specific Google Newspapers search engine provides a robust interface for finding archived news items

A Small Collection of Items on Healthcare

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The president weighs in on plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), what most Americans say is their top healthcare priority, and more on public libraries as partners for public health!

  • In a NEJM perspective piece, President Barack Obama discusses the ACA, calling plans to “repeal now and replace later” irresponsible. “If a repeal with a delay is enacted, the health care system will be standing on the edge of a cliff, resulting in uncertainty and, in some cases, harm beginning immediately.” The President also appeared in a live interview (broadcast on YouTube) about health care with Sarah Kliff and Ezra Klein of Vox.
  • The Kaiser Family Foundation has released of a poll of Americans Health Care Priorities for 2017. According to the poll, only one one in five support repeal of the ACA without a replacement plan established, and the top priority is to lower out-of-pocket healthcare costs.
  • More about the ACA and potential changes is covered by Joseph Burns on the AHCJ site in, Report: Rate of uninsured drops in every state.
  • And, in an opinion for STAT News, Autumn McClintock writes about the health care outreach and education work being done at the Free Public Library of Philadelphia to address public heath issues. This isn’t the first time Philadelphia’s exciting programs have come up in Blog Buzz, I first wrote about them in November, and linked to this article in Health Affairs.