25 Years of MedlinePlus

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The U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM)’s consumer health information online resource, MedlinePlus, just turned 25 years old! For a historical look back – see:

25 Years of Consumer Health Information: MedlinePlus Celebrates Its Silver Anniversary – NLM Musings from the Mezzanine (nih.gov)

Soon after NLM made the PubMed database (a free index to the biomedical and life sciences literature aimed primarily at health care professionals and researchers) available in 1996, NLM realized that the need for accessible and authoritative health information extended beyond health professionals to the general public.

And so MedlinePlus.gov came online starting in Fall 1998 and has continued to grow and evolve ever since.

Some noteworthy MdlinePlus enhancements over the years have been the inclusion of quality health information in Spanish, information about herbs and supplements, drug information summaries, medical test summaries, information about genes and genetics conditions, healthy recipes, and over 1000 health topics.

Most recently, in 2020, another NLM resource, Genetics Home Reference (GHR), was incorporated into MedlinePlus in the form of the MedlinePlus Genetics module that includes easy-to-understand “Help Me Understand Genetics” pages intended for patients.

Also worthy of highlighting have been NLM’s efforts to expand the reach of this valuable consumer health information by creating MedlinePlus Connect, “a free service that links electronic health records (EHRs), patient portals, and other health IT systems to relevant, authoritative, and up-to-date health information from NLM’s MedlinePlus health information resource and other NIH websites.” To understand how MedlinePlus Connect works, click here. The National Cancer Institute has also collaborated “to expand the scope of content in MedlinePlus Connect”.

Learn more:

Burgess S, Dennis S, Lanka S, Miller N, Potvin J. MedlinePlus Connect: Linking Health IT Systems to Consumer Health Information. IT Prof. 2012 May;14(3):22-28. doi: 10.1109/mitp.2012.19. PMID: 23066351; PMCID: PMC3469315.

Questions? Ask Us at the MSK Library!

Ancient Viruses Contributing to Cancer, Enhancer for CAR-T Cell Therapy, and More

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  • In a preclinical study, scientists from Yale University used therapy carrying antibodies redesigned from lupus to target tumors. The novel approach allows the antibodies to get “unnoticed into the tumor environment”, which makes this therapy very targeted. This results in a “reduction in toxic side effects experienced by patients when less precise therapies kill off healthy tissue.” The study was published in ACS Central Science.
  • Researchers from Rockefeller University discovered that sensory nerves within breast tumors strongly influence cancer progression and metastasizing. This discovery opens new possibilities for stopping breast cancer growth. The study also determined that the TACR1 antagonist aprepitant, an FDA-approved drug for nausea prevention, may prevent cancer growth and metastasis by targeting neuron chemistry/breast cancer interplay. The study was published in Nature.
  • Researchers from Harvard University and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute designed a protein that allowed the prolongation of the potency of CAR-T Cell therapy, a crucially important type of cancer treatment. The study was published in Nature Biotechnology.
  • The latest cohort study by a group of researchers from multiple medical centers established that people at risk of pancreatic cancer have better survival rates if they undergo annual imaging as part of preventive surveillance. The study’s findings may lead to early detection of pancreatic cancer in high-risk individuals and improved survival rates. The study was published in JAMA Oncology.
  • In the latest research on the subject, researchers from the University of Colorado established that pieces of DNA “left behind by viruses that infected primate ancestors tens of millions of years ago” and present inside the human genome, if reawakened, may help cancer “survive and thrive.” The findings suggest that “silencing certain endogenous retroviruses” can help cancer treatments become more efficient. The study was published in Science Advances.
  • A new study from the American Cancer Society that “used 2019 information from nationally representative data on cancer incidence and mortality, as well as risk factor prevalence” found that “four in 10 cancer diagnoses and almost half of all cancer deaths of adults over the age of 30 in the United States could be attributed to modifiable risk factors.” The article published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians reports in some detail epidemiology correlating the risk factors with different cancer types.

ScienceDirect Generative AI Pilot

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Through our relationship with Elsevier and early participation in trial testing of Scopus AI, MSK was selected from a small group of research institutions to pilot early versions of GenAI features in ScienceDirect.

Currently in its Alpha phase, the ScienceDirect integrated GenAI tool may evolve throughout the trial period, which is expected to end late August 2024.

Features of the GenAI Tool:

  • Enhanced Search: Provides a fast and efficient approach to information retrieval. Using natural language processing (NLP) capabilities and machine learning algorithms, this tool distills key insights from peer-reviewed content, accelerating the research process.
  • Questions and Answers on the Article Page: This feature aims to help researchers find information faster and more efficiently by providing an at-a-glance view of key questions each article addresses. It includes direct links to relevant content in the full text for easy reference.
  • Reading Assistant: Functions like a per-document Q&A tool.

Access to the GenAI Tool:

These early versions, built on a selection of full-text journal and book content in the Life Sciences, can help researchers extract insights connected to their research question, either from one paper or from the entire corpus of content covered in this pilot. Each insight can be immediately traced back to its source paper or book chapter. More than 30 subject-matter experts have helped Elsevier refine the feature to ensure that the generated output is reliable, relevant, and accurate.

Elsevier will be collecting in-product feedback and surveys. Internally, we plan to work with users to get additional feedback. Your participation and feedback are valued.

If you have any questions regarding the pilot, please feel free to contact Mark Monakey at monakeym@mskcc.org.