Category Archives: In the News

Stories from the Web on My Mind This Week

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NIH Director Francis Collins blogged about his discussion and performance with Yo-Yo Ma during the recent J. Edward Rall Cultural Lecture in Bethesda. His post includes an overview of their conversation as well as a video of their duet.

Nature News included a story about two large scale biology projects which are moving towards requiring submission of manuscripts to preprint sharing servers in an effort to encourage sharing within the biological research community.

From the NY Times, on the life of John Glenn, who passed away Thursday at the age of 95.

A first proposal on Copyright Office Reform has been released by the House Judiciary Committee. Additional proposals will be forthcoming and written comments from stakeholders are being requested by the committee through the end of January.

Combating Dr. Google, A Patient’s Gamble, IDH2 mutations, and Happenings in NJ

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Ann Culkin, an RN on Thoracic Oncology Service, discussed how personalized medicine can combat the worries and fears that patients experience when they turn to the Internet and “Dr Google” to answer their questions. Personalized medicine can give patients insight into their individual diagnosis, including symptoms and side effects of treatment.

Karen Koehler was diagnosed with leukemia, and after failed chemotherapy and three years of progressive disease, in 2014 she signed up for an experimental clinical trial under Dr. Jae Park. This trial was one of the first investigating the then new innovation of using CAR T cell immunotherapy, taking the patients own immune system to fight the cancer. Much to the surprise of Dr. Park, after an intense response to the infusion, the bone marrow biopsy found no more cancer cells. While Karen’s response to the CAR T cells was beyond the norm, she is one of 28 patients whose data is leading to new treatments and potential cures for certain types of leukemia.

A new promising treatment option for patients with IDH2-mutated myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) was presented by Dr. Eytan Stein this month at the 2016 ASH Annual Meeting. The study found that treatment with enasidenib led to better response rates for patients with IDH2 mutations, including those with prior HMA treatment failure. 9% of patients were found to have complete remission and another 9% had partial remission. The drug company Agios is planning to submit approval for a phase I/II trial using enasidenib in relapsed/refractory AML.

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“Smoke Alarm”, Cancer’s Financial Burden and More…

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

  • Reuters reports that British scientists hope that in the near future a simple blood test can serve as a “smoke alarm” for the early detection of cancer.
  • In a new paper published in ecancermedicalscience, researchers from the King’s College London show that men of color, primarily black men, are consistently underrepresented in prostate cancer research studies. The study illustrates that healthcare research conducted in one demographic often doesn’t translate to results for other demographics, and recruitment of ethnic minorities often fails to meet a balance.
  • A study by researchers at Johns Hopkins published in JAMA Oncology indicates that a cancer diagnosis can present a serious financial challenge for elderly and the disabled who receive Medicare. Out of pocket costs can range between $2000-8000 annually.