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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Editor's Note An AI model that outperformed MRI and ultrasound in identifying patients with axillary breast cancer metastasis shows the technology’s potential to reduce the need for needle or surgical biopsies, according to developers at UT Southwestern Medical Center. In a May 21 report on their new AI model, researchers…

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Editor's Note Liver resection provides a significant survival benefit over percutaneous radiofrequency ablation (PRFA) or transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) in patients with early multinodular hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), according to findings published May 15 in JAMA Surgery. Thus, liver resection should be considered the first therapeutic option in patients with early multinodular…

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Editor's Note Although robotic-assisted laparoscopic surgery (RLS) and conventional laparoscopic surgery (CLS) offer similar survival outcomes for sigmoid colon cancer, RLS harvests comparatively more lymph nodes, according to a study published May 10 in the Journal of Robotic Surgery. According to a May 15 report on the study in The…

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Editor's Note The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Lumisight (pegulicianine), a fluorescent imaging drug used to detect cancerous tissue during lumpectomy, on April 17. Administered intravenously prior to surgery, Lumisight is designed for use with the Lumicell Direct Visualization System (DVS) or another imaging device that is FDA-approved…

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Editor's Note A team of Johns Hopkins researchers has designed a robot capable of performing the most complex, delicate procedures—including head and neck tumor resection—with accuracy greater than many human surgeons. As reported by the institution on March 18, ASTR: the Autonomous System for Tumor Resection is an autonomous, dual-arm,…

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