Editor's Note In a recent study, lung cancer patients using wearable devices showed significantly improved postoperative physical activity and pulmonary function as well as reduced symptoms such as dyspnea and pain. Published September 20 in Jama Network Open, the study compared 74 patients in the intervention group (who used wearable…

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Editor's Note An algorithm developed by researchers at Duke University Medical Centre is designed to assist patients diagnosed with intermediate-stage liver cancer in making decisions about surgery, according to an October 9 report in News Medical Life Sciences. Known as the Modified Metroticket, this tool predicts overall survival and recurrence-free…

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Editor's Note The US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has approved immunotherapy durvalumab for perioperative treatment of resectable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to an August 15 announcement. The approval is for durvalumab (Imfinzi, AstraZeneca) in combination with platinum-based chemotherapy as a neoadjuvant treatment, followed by durvalumab alone as…

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Editor's Note A post hoc analysis of the SCOT phase 3 randomized clinical trial reveals that initiating adjuvant chemotherapy more than 6 weeks after surgery is linked to worse disease-free survival (DFS) in patients with high-risk stage II and stage III colorectal cancer. Published June 12 in JAMA Surgery, the…

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Editor's Note Medical professionals have long accepted that bilateral mastectomy does not improve survival outcomes for breast cancer patients. However, a study published in JAMA Oncology reveals a puzzling finding: Those who develop a second cancer in the other breast have a higher risk of death. As detailed in a…

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Editor's Note A Massachusetts man, Marty Kedian, regained his voice after a pioneering larynx transplant at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona, The Associated Press (AP) reported July 9. According to the article, Kedian is only the third person in the U.S. to receive a total larynx transplant and the first…

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Editor's Note A pair of immunotherapy drugs administered before surgery significantly diminished tumor size without serious safety concerns in patients with mismatch repair-deficient (dMMR) colorectal cancer, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Healthline reported the news June 8. Constituting 10-15% of cases, dMMR cancer…

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Editor's Note In esophageal cancer, combining preoperative and postoperative chemotherapy lead to better outcomes, fewer deaths, and higher likelihood of complete tumor regression than preoperative chemotherapy alone, according to a randomized clinical trial. US News and World Report reported the news June 4. Led by Dr. Jens Hoeppner from the…

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Editor's Note A fluorescent marker dye that attaches to a protein specific to prostate cancer cells could help surgeons identify and remove them in real time, BBC News reported June 9. Developed by researchers from the University of Oxford in the UK, the dye reportedly performed promisingly in a trial…

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Editor's Note Artificial intelligence (AI)-fueled analysis of electronic health records suggests that clinical guidelines for de-escalating surgery should be extended to younger breast cancer patients. Conducted by University of Pittsburgh and UPMC Hillman Cancer Center researchers and published in JCO Clinical Cancer Informatics, the analysis suggests that “surgery involving sentinel…

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