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A U.S. breast-screening program claims to demonstrate the potential benefits of using artificial intelligence (AI) in mammography screening, with women who paid for AI-enhanced scans 21% more likely to have cancer detected. DeepHealth, an AI firm owned by radiology giant RadNet, presented its findings at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), detailing 747,604 women who underwent mammography screening over a 12-month period. Overall cancer detection rates were 43% higher for those enrolled in the program compared to those who weren’t. However, some of the women also opted to have “U.S. Food and Drug Administration-compliant AI software” applied to their mammograms (at their own expense), serving as a “second set of eyes” to help radiologists spot anomalies in mammography screenings. The findings suggest that 22% of the overall cancer detection increase was due to the fact that higher-risk patients were more likely to enroll in the program to begin with (implying selection bias), but its analysis concluded that the remaining 21% was due to the use of AI in driving recall rates for additional imaging. This is far from conclusive, though, and the researchers are now seeking to “better quantify” the benefits of AI in this context through randomized controlled trials. https://lnkd.in/dSnvKKjX

Psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy resulted in significant reductions in depression among clinicians who provided front-line COVID-19 care in 2020 and 2021. These reductions were measurably greater than those experienced by the cohort of clinicians who received a placebo instead. “For doctors and nurses who feel burned out or disillusioned or disconnected from the patient care they want to provide, this study shows that psilocybin therapy is safe and can help these clinicians work through those feelings and get better,” said Dr. Anthony Back, the lead investigator. He is an oncologist, palliative care specialist and professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle. The research team began recruiting in December 2021, well into the pandemic’s second wave. At that point, more than 800,000 U.S. deaths had been attributed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. About 2,200 clinicians from across the United States applied for the study’s 30 slots. The participants — all clinicians who met criteria for providing front-line pandemic care — were chosen by lottery. All had seen death and dying at a rate and intensity they had never experienced before, Back said. #mentalhealth #psilocybin #therapy #covid19 #covidrecovery #despair #mentalhealthawareness #healing #wellbeing #mentalhealthsupport #psilocybintherapy #coviddespair #clinicians #mentalhealthprofessionals #healthcare #healthresearch #covid19impact #innovation #alternativemedicine #holistichealth #mentalhealthrevolution https://lnkd.in/ghTUmRd6

A novel new test for bacteria in fluids makes it as easy as observing a color change to confirm the presence of disease-causing pathogens, promising much easier diagnostic tests and greater food safety. Engineers and biochemists at McMaster university have brought their skills together to make it possible for untrained users to confirm contamination in fluids using a biogel test that changes color in the presence of such bacteria as E. coli, listeria, and other frequent testing targets. The test uses harmless bacteriophages embedded in the gel to locate target bacteria in a sample of fluid, such as lake water, urine, or a container of milk, even in low concentrations. Bacteriophages are the most common form of life on Earth. Each form of bacteriophage is specialized to destroy one form of bacteria. In the test, phages—as they are called informally—find and attack the target bacteria in a sample, causing the bacteria to release microscopic amounts of intracellular material which the test can read, triggering a color change that is readily visible to the eye. If the sample is clean, the color stays the same. https://lnkd.in/dUraqxaT #BacterialDetection #PointOfCareTesting #DiagnosticInnovation #BacteriophageTechnology #RapidTesting #PublicHealth #WaterSafety #FoodSafety #ClinicalDiagnostics #BiomedicalEngineering

Patients with acute myeloid leukemia who have lower education levels and lower income are less likely to receive an allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant for acute myeloid. However, if they can access the treatment, they are equally likely to benefit from transplant as patients with more education and higher income, according to a new study from Fred Hutch Cancer Center presented Dec. 8 at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology. The study, which analyzed zip code-level data showing socioeconomic differences among 692 acute myeloid leukemia patients evaluated for stem cell transplant, showed that lower area-level education and higher poverty indicators, such as reliance on government assistance programs, were associated with increased mortality before transplant and reduced likelihood of receiving transplant. However, once patients accessed transplants, socioeconomic factors had a less pronounced impact on post-transplant outcomes, indicating that interventions should focus on overcoming barriers to accessing transplantation. https://lnkd.in/dmFDFVBe

Evident’s IXplore IX85 automated inverted microscope system empowers researchers to capture more data and uncover new insights faster than ever before. With a 26.5mm field number and new advanced imaging tools that ensure clear, accurate results, the microscope provides an unmatched level of customizability, allowing users to design or build an intelligent, high-performance imaging platform that meets specific goals. The IXplore IX85’s built-in optics provide consistent lighting across the entire field of view, allowing users to collect large, uniform images. Proprietary distortion correction technology and expanded flatness ensure that every detail, even at image edges, is an accurate sample representation. Users can also create seamless, high-quality stitched images with Intelligent Shading Correction. The microscope system also includes new silicone gel pad technology. The silicone gel pad moves with the objective, which eliminates the need to wipe or replace oil as a sample is navigated. #Metagenomics #EnzymeDiscovery #Biotechnology #CarbonCapture #SustainableTechnology #IndustrialBiotechnology #CO2Sequestration #EnvironmentalScience #GreenTech https://lnkd.in/dkSdUsjP

Improvements in cancer prevention and screening have averted more deaths from five cancer types combined over the past 45 years than treatment advances, according to a modeling study led by researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The study, published December 5, 2024, in the journal JAMA Oncology, looked at deaths from breast, cervical, colorectal, lung, and prostate cancer that were averted by the combination of prevention, screening, and treatment advances. The researchers focused on these five cancers because they are among the most common causes of cancer deaths and strategies exist for their prevention, early detection, and/or treatment. In recent years, these five cancers have made up nearly half of all new cancer diagnoses and deaths. "Although many people may believe that treatment advances are the major driver of reductions in mortality from these five cancers combined, the surprise here is how much prevention and screening contribute to reductions in mortality," said co-lead investigator Katrina A. B. Goddard, PhD, director of NCI’s Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences. “Eight out of ten deaths from these five cancers that were averted over the past 45 years were due to advances in prevention and screening.” A single prevention intervention, smoking cessation, contributed the lion’s share of the deaths averted: 3.45 million from lung cancer alone. https://lnkd.in/d4_rsFDs #CancerPrevention #EarlyDetectionSavesLives #CancerScreening #OncologyAwareness #PublicHealthMatters #PreventiveCare #CancerAwareness #HealthEquity #LifeSavingResearch #HealthcareInnovation

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted accelerated approval for a new drug targeting a tumor alteration called NRG1 gene fusion found in roughly 3% of patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma, the most common type of pancreatic cancer. This approval underscores the promise of precision medicine – treatment based on the biology of a patient’s tumor – and reinforces how critical it is for all patients with this disease to receive biomarker testing of tumor tissue along with genetic testing for inherited mutations as soon as possible after diagnosis. “The recent FDA accelerated approval of Bizengri is encouraging for people with pancreatic cancer whose tumor has an NRG1 fusion,” said PanCAN Chief Scientific and Medical Officer Anna Berkenblit, MD, MMSc. “This marks another treatment option for patients and highlights the power of a precision medicine approach and the importance of biomarker testing. This is an excellent precedent for rapid drug development in pancreatic cancer. Although only a small percent of pancreatic cancer patients have an NRG1 fusion, the responses seen with Bizengri are clinically meaningful, in the context of this difficult-to-treat cancer.” https://lnkd.in/dPiVrvmZ #pancreaticcancer #NRG1fusion #targetedtherapy #FDAapproved #cancerresearch #cancertreatment #clinicaltrial #pancreaticcancerawareness #pancreaticcancersurvivor #hopeforacure #healthcare #precisionmedicine #targetedtreatments #fightcancer #youarenotalone #cancersupport #nevergiveup

The governments of Honduras and Luxembourg recently undertook steps to expand donor eligibility in their respective countries. In Honduras, an executive agreement published in La Gaceta, the country’s official newspaper, lifts the ban on blood donation by LGBTQ+ individuals. Reportar sin Miedo, an independent media outlet focused on women, youth and LGBTQ+ issues in Honduras, announced the change (in Spanish) on Dec. 5. The agreement updates the country’s 1999 “Technical Standard for the Management of Blood and Blood Components,” which had permanently excluded “homosexuals, bisexuals, [and] heterosexuals with risky sexual behavior,” among others, from donating blood. In Luxembourg, RTL Today reported that Minister of Health Martine Deprez announced plans to reform blood donor eligibility in the country as part of plans to nationalize Luxembourg’s blood donation system. Since 2021, gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men have been eligible to donate blood 12 months after their most recent sexual contact with another man.  https://lnkd.in/dSkcXGsA #blooddonation #blooddrive #blooddonor #bloodsupply #bloodbank #bloodlife #donateblood #giveblood #bloodheroes #bloodawareness #bloodhealth #bloodsafety

In patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage and anemia, a liberal transfusion strategy resulted in a comparable risk for poor neurologic outcomes compared with a more restrictive strategy at one year, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. A total of 725 adults at 23 centers with neurosurgical and neurointerventional support in Australia, Canada and the United States were randomized and included in the analysis. At 12 months, an unfavorable neurologic outcome occurred in 122 of 364 patients (33.5%) in the liberal-strategy group compared with 136 of 361 patients (37.7%) in the restrictive-strategy group (P = 0.22). The authors noted that anemia occurs in more than half of patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage and is linked to worse clinical outcomes. Evidence regarding red blood cell (RBC) transfusion is limited and conflicting and has led to vague guidelines recommending maintenance of normal hemoglobin (Hb) levels and transfusion when levels drop. However, no threshold values have been delineated. The findings of the Subarachnoid Hemorrhage Red Cell Transfusion Strategies and Outcome (SAHARA) fill an important gap. https://lnkd.in/dDRKpyfK #BloodTransfusion #aSAH #AneurysmalSubarachnoidHemorrhage #Stroke #NeurologicalDisorders #TransfusionMedicine #ClinicalTrial #MedicalResearch #EvidenceBasedMedicine #ScientificDiscovery #HealthcareInnovation #AABB #AABB25 #PatientOutcome #Hemorrhage #NeurocriticalCare #Anesthesiology #CriticalCare

Despite awe-inspiring diversity, nearly every lifeform – from bacteria to blue whales – shares the same genetic code. How and when this code came about has been the subject of much scientific controversy. Taking a fresh approach at an old problem, Sawsan Wehbi, a doctoral student in the Genetics Graduate Interdisciplinary Program at the University of Arizona, discovered strong evidence that the textbook version of how the universal genetic code evolved needs revision. Wehbi is the first author of a study published in the journal PNAS suggesting the order with which amino acids – the code's building blocks – were recruited is at odds with what is widely considered the "consensus" of genetic code evolution. The study revealed that early life preferred smaller amino acid molecules over larger and more complex ones, which were added later, while amino acids that bind to metals joined in much earlier than previously thought. Finally, the team discovered that today's genetic code likely came after other codes that have since gone extinct. https://lnkd.in/dfk9ueuU #GeneticCode #EvolutionaryBiology #MolecularEvolution #Genomics #Bioinformatics #ScientificResearch #Biotechnology #LifeSciences #GeneticResearch #EvolutionaryScience