Latest news with #NEJM
Epoch Times
2 hours ago
- Health
- Epoch Times
Mass Ivermectin Administration Can Reduce Malaria Transmission, Study Finds
The drug ivermectin was shown to have reduced malaria cases by more than 25 percent in a randomized trial carried out in Africa, according to a study recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). The authors of the paper said ivermectin, which saw its popularity increase during the COVID-19 pandemic, can kill mosquitoes that feed on people who have been treated with the drug. Due to the prevalence of mosquito-borne illnesses, ivermectin could be a novel solution for dealing with the transmission of malaria, they said.
Gizmodo
5 days ago
- Health
- Gizmodo
Rare Bone-Eating Cancer Replaced Man's Finger and Toe
A 55-year-old man's swollen toes and fingers turned out to have a much stranger explanation than expected. In a recent case report, the man's doctors detailed how some of his bones were 'completely replaced' by metastatic tumors. Doctors in Australia described the case earlier this month in the New England Journal of Medicine. The man visited the hospital after weeks of having pain and swelling in one finger and one toe. They soon discovered the symptoms were an unusual complication of the man's earlier diagnosed metastatic squamous-cell lung cancer. Tragically, he soon died after. Gastrointestinal Cancers Are Surging Among Young Americans, and No One Is Quite Sure Why The man, as it turned out, had acrometastases—or cancers that had spread beyond his lungs to the bones past his elbows and knees. Acrometastases are incredibly rare, only estimated to occur in 0.1% of cases where cancer spreads to the bones. Though they're sometimes the first sign of a hidden late-stage cancer, they're more often preceded by other noticeable symptoms, as in this case. The condition is typically caused by cancers of the lung, gastrointestinal tract, and urinary tract; it's also more common in men. According to the report, the man had experienced six weeks of painful swelling in his right middle finger and right big toe, along with an open wound under the toe's fingernail. The swollen appendages were also firm and tender to touch. Acrometastases can superficially resemble gout or osteomyelitis, the report authors noted. But X-rays easily revealed the cause behind the man's symptoms: cancerous lesions that had 'completely replaced' the outermost bones of his finger and toe. The Next Big Cancer Treatment Could Be Herpes Images of the man's finger and toe can be seen here in an X post from the NEJM, and also embedded below. 55-year-old man with metastatic squamous-cell lung cancer presented with a 6-week history of pain and swelling of the right great toe and the tip of the right middle finger. Read the full case details in the Images in Clinical Medicine article 'Acrometastases,' from @petermaccc… — NEJM (@NEJM) July 17, 2025Because acrometastases are usually the result of highly advanced cancer, people's odds of survival once they develop it are already low. On average, people are expected to live less than six months after diagnosis. In this case, the doctors opted to treat the patient with palliative radiotherapy, which is intended to alleviate the symptoms of cancer rather than to eradicate it. The man died about three weeks later from refractory hypercalcemia, or dangerously high levels of calcium in the blood that don't respond to standard treatment. This condition is often a complication of cancer as well.
Washington Post
22-07-2025
- Health
- Washington Post
The surprisingly simple treatment that could transform cancer care
It's not every day that scientists uncover a way to improve cancer survival by 37 percent, as reported in a new study in the New England Journal of Medicine. Even more astounding, that finding was not the result of a breakthrough drug or advanced technology. The miracle intervention: good old-fashioned exercise. That's not the sort of exciting scientific discovery that generates a lot of headlines, but it nevertheless deserves attention because it could fundamentally shift how we treat cancer survivors. It also underscores why continued support for cancer research remains essential. When cancer patients finish treatment, doctors typically develop a surveillance plan to monitor them for recurrence and general recommendations on living healthy. Most patients are highly motivated to keep their cancer from coming back, but other than smoking-cessation programs and interventions for problem drinking, few concrete, evidence-based tools exist to improve survival. But, as the NEJM study shows, structured exercise programs can reduce tumor recurrence and mortality. Researchers recruited 889 colon cancer patients with Stage 3 or high-risk Stage 2 cancer, all of whom had completed surgery and chemotherapy. Half were randomly assigned to receive general education on physical activity and healthy eating. The other half received an exercise guidebook for colon cancer survivors and participated in a three-year structured physical activity program that included support from an exercise specialist and regular supervised exercise sessions. The results were remarkable. During the follow-up period of approximately eight years, 131 participants in the health education group had a recurrence in colon cancer compared to 93 in the structured exercise group. The exercise group had a 28 percent lower risk of cancer recurrence or developing new cancers compared to the education-only group. Crucially, they had a 37 percent lower overall mortality rate. While previous research had suggested that exercise and cancer survival were linked, causation was unclear, partly because those who self-reported more physical activity also tended to adopt other healthy behaviors. This is the first randomized study that establishes a clear causal relationship. Notably, the two groups had no significant differences in terms of smoking status or medical problems such as diabetes or depression. And while the exercise group improved overall fitness, participants did not lose weight, indicating that the benefits were independent of obesity-related cancer risks. The finding should prompt oncologists to revisit treatment strategies. Melinda Irwin, a Yale epidemiology professor and author of an accompanying NEJM editorial, told me that while some medical organizations generally recommend exercise for cancer patients, there is no standard of care that requires counseling patients on exercise, much less referring them to a structured exercise program. Her own institution — a world-renowned cancer center — offers a cancer survivorship program where patients can consult a physical therapist and nutritionist — but only a minority of patients participate, and the visits are not covered by insurance. Irwin's research has demonstrated that lifestyle interventions including exercise, healthy eating and weight management can improve the biological markers of inflammation and cell proliferation, thereby slowing cancer progression. She likens this to the transformation that occurred in care for people recovering from heart attacks. For many years, these patients were advised bed rest, Irwin said. 'And then the research showed, no, that actually is the worst thing that's going to increase your risk of a second heart attack.' Now, cardiac patients are routinely given exercise protocols. Clinicians prescribe programs that specify the intensity, frequency and type of activity based on each patient's medical history and preferences. They monitor progress and adjust the regimen as needed. These programs are now recognized as essential to cardiac care and are reimbursed by most insurance plans. 'We are not at all there with cancer,' Irwin said. She believes many patients would embrace a holistic approach to cancer care, especially as mounting research shows that lifestyle changes can improve disease-free survival. Although most of her work had been in posttreatment settings, she changed her focus after hearing from clinical trial participants who questioned why they had to wait so long. Why, they asked, weren't they told about the benefits of exercise and nutrition at the time of diagnosis so they could incorporate these changes throughout treatment? Changing clinical practice and influencing insurance coverage depends on large-scale randomized trials such as this NEJM study, which can clearly demonstrate survival benefits. Regrettably, obtaining this level of evidence is about to become far more challenging. President Donald Trump's budget, which has just been approved by the Senate, would slash the National Cancer Institute's budget by nearly 40 percent. Such a dramatic cut would not only prevent new research from getting off the ground but also imperil promising work already underway. More than 18 million cancer survivors live in the United States. Two million Americans are diagnosed with cancer every year. Just as new research is emerging that could meaningfully improve survival, it would be a profound failure to squander these advances and leave patients desperate for options when effective therapies already exist.
Washington Post
21-07-2025
- Health
- Washington Post
This system is critical to Americans' health. We must defend it.
Eric J. Rubin is editor in chief of the New England Journal of Medicine and the NEJM Group. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo is editor in chief of JAMA and the JAMA Network. When KJ Muldoon was born, he seemed healthy. But within days, doctors discovered he had a rare genetic condition that could allow toxic levels of ammonia to build up in his body, putting him at risk for brain damage or even death. The infant's doctors developed a first-of-its-kind therapy just for him, using CRISPR — a gene-editing technology that has been refined for use through decades of research and peer-reviewed science published in medical journals.
Time of India
02-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Microsoft's new AI tool a medical genius? Tech giant claims it is 4x more accurate than real doctors
Tech giant Microsoft, recently hit with a fresh round of layoffs, has developed a new medical AI tool that performs better than human doctors at complex health diagnoses, creating a 'path to medical superintelligence'. The Microsoft AI team shared research that demonstrated how AI can sequentially investigate and solve medicine's most complex diagnostic challenges—cases that expert physicians struggle to answer. Tech company's AI unit, led by the British tech pioneer Mustafa Suleyman , has developed a system that imitates a panel of expert physicians tackling 'diagnostically complex and intellectually demanding' cases. Microsoft AI Diagnostic Orchestrator (MAI-DxO) correctly diagnosed up to 85% of NEJM case proceedings, a rate more than four times higher than a group of experienced physicians. MAI-DxO also gets to the correct diagnosis more cost-effectively than physicians, the company said in a blog post. ALSO READ: Microsoft layoffs: Tech giant's sales head Judson Althoff asked to go on two-month leave. Here's why Microsoft says AI system better than doctors The Microsoft AI Diagnostic Orchestrator', or MAI-DxO for short, the AI-powered tool is developed by the company's AI health unit, which was founded last year by Mustafa Suleyman. The tech giant said when paired with OpenAI's advanced o3 AI model, its approach 'solved' more than eight of 10 case studies specially chosen for the diagnostic challenge. When those case studies were tried on practising physicians – who had no access to colleagues, textbooks or chatbots – the accuracy rate was two out of 10. Microsoft said it was also a cheaper option than using human doctors because it was more efficient at ordering tests. When benchmarked against real-world case records, the new medical AI tool 'correctly diagnoses up to 85% of NEJM case proceedings, a rate more than four times higher than a group of experienced physicians' while being more impressive is that these cases are from the New England Journal of Medicine and are very complex and require multiple specialists and tests before doctors can reach any conclusion. Live Events According to The Wired, the Microsoft team used 304 case studies sourced from the New England Journal of Medicine to devise a test called the Sequential Diagnosis Benchmark. A language model broke down each case into a step-by-step process that a doctor would perform in order to reach a diagnosis. ALSO READ: Melania should be on first boat: Deportation calls for US' First Lady gains traction amid Trump's immigration crackdown Microsoft new AI tool diagnosed 85% cases For this, the company used different large language models from OpenAI, Meta, Anthropic, Google, xAI and DeepSeek. Microsoft said that the new AI medical tool correctly diagnosed 85.5 per cent of cases, which is way better compared to experienced human doctors, who were able to correctly diagnose only 20 per cent of the cases. "This orchestration mechanism—multiple agents that work together in this chain-of-debate style—that's what's going to drive us closer to medical superintelligence,' Suleyman told The Wired. Microsoft announced it is building a system designed to mimic the step-by-step approach of real-world clinicians—asking targeted questions, ordering diagnostic tests, and narrowing down possibilities to reach an accurate diagnosis. For example, a patient presenting with a cough and fever might be guided through blood tests and a chest X-ray before the system determines a diagnosis like pneumonia. ALSO READ: Sean Diddy Combs' secret plan against his ex Jennifer Lopez emerges amid sex-trafficking trial Microsoft said its approach was able to wield a 'breadth and depth of expertise' that went beyond individual physicians because it could span multiple medical disciplines. It added: 'Scaling this level of reasoning – and beyond – has the potential to reshape healthcare. AI could empower patients to self-manage routine aspects of care and equip clinicians with advanced decision support for complex cases.' Microsoft acknowledged its work is not ready for clinical use. Further testing is needed on its 'orchestrator' to assess its performance on more common symptoms, for instance. Economic Times WhatsApp channel )
