New Open Access Journal: Intelligence-Based Medicine

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MSK Library has added a new open access journal, entitled Intelligence-Based Medicine. The aim of this journal is to “create meaningful synergy between practicing clinicians and others (computer scientists, data scientists, engineers, cognitive scientists, entrepreneurs, etc) in deploying methods of artificial intelligence and human cognition in the practice of medicine and the delivery of healthcare.”

Various topics include the translation of emerging technologies into patient benefit, 3D printing, intelligence in healthcare, medical imaging, blockchain, embedded AI, decision support, precision medicine, robotic process automation, virtual and augmented reality, and ethics.

When COVID Meets Cancer

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A recent study about cancer patients with COVID-19 indicates that while chemotherapy and surgery do not worsen outcomes, immunotherapy may.

The study, published in Nature Medicine on June 24, followed 423 symptomatic COVID patients at MSK. Of these, 168 were hospitalized and 40 needed mechanical ventilation. Fifty-one patients, or 12 percent, died.

Severe illness was correlated with older age (65 and above), non-white race, heart disease, high blood pressure, kidney disease, and immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment (an immunotherapy). Metastatic cancer, cancer surgery, or chemotherapy within the previous 30 days did not correlate with increased rates of hospitalization or severe respiratory disease.

In an MSK blog post on the study, co-author Dr. Mini Kamboj stated that those in need of immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment should still receive it and should be especially diligent about reducing their risk of contracting COVID.

Read more:
Cancer Network
European Pharmaceutical Review
Fierce Pharma
Healio
MedPage Today