Recent research indicates that more post-treatment screening does not impact colorectal cancer survival rates. A study published in JAMA and reported last week by Clinical Oncology News found no connection between post-treatment screening intensity and cancer recurrence detection when comparing 4,188 patients at 613 medical facilities with high-intensity screening to 4,341 patients at 539 medical facilities with low-intensity screening during the first three years of follow-up. Based on their data, the authors recommend following the guidelines of the UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, which calls for two CT scans in the first three years and biomarker testing every six months during the first three years post-treatment. The Clinical Oncology News piece quotes MSK’s Dr. Andrea Cercek, who states that unnecessary testing can lead to avoidable patient anxiety.

Nursing home residents with breast cancer should consider their overall health before consenting to surgery, concludes a new study in JAMA Surgery. The study reviewed records of nearly 6,000 female nursing home patients who received inpatient breast cancer surgery from 2003–2013. More than half of these residents had cognitive or functional impairments prior to surgery. The death rate of the residents was much higher than average: 30.9 percent died within the year following surgery, a significant increase from the 25 percent nursing home mortality rate. Of those who survived, 58.3 percent experienced a functional decline in the year following surgery. In reporting the study, Liz Szabo of Kaiser Health News spoke to MSK’s Dr. Deborah Korenstein, who found the increased death rate particularly noteworthy as breast surgery is generally considered low risk.

Two recent articles about skin cancer feature MSK researchers.

The first, The Atlantic piece “AI-Driven Dermatology Could Leave Dark-Skinned Patients Behind,” discusses how researchers need to diversify the skin colors represented in image repositories being used to develop machine-learning algorithms that identify cancerous skin lesions. MSK dermatologist Dr. Allan C. Halpern states that the International Skin Imaging Collaboration, for which he is a spokesperson, is working to do just that.

The second, The New York Times article, “Immunotherapy Drugs Slow Skin Cancer That Has Spread to the Brain,” describes a recent study of 94 melanoma patients with tumors that spread to their brains. It found that two immunotherapy treatments given in combination, ipilimumab and nivolumab, reduced tumor size and prolonged life for many of the patients. The article quotes MSK’s Dr. Jedd Wolchok, who has already applied the findings to treating his own patients.