Study: Fewer men undergo unnecessary prostate cancer surgery amid rise in active surveillance
Editor's Note Prostate cancer surgeries for low-risk patients have plummeted since 2010, signaling major progress in reducing overtreatment, according to an April 29 announcement from the University of Michigan. University researchers reportedly found that the proportion of men undergoing prostatectomy for Grade Group 1 prostate cancer—the lowest-risk category—dropped more than…
Ice machines spread Legionella in hospital oncology unit, prompting testing overhaul
Editor's Note Legionalla contaminated a hospital ice machine and likely infected an oncology patient through aspirated ice chips, according to an April 30 report in Healio. Presented in a study at The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA), the incident prompted immediate changes to water testing protocols at AdventHealth,…
Surgeons remove spinal tumor through eye socket in unprecedented procedure
Editor's Note In a world-first procedure, surgeons used an innovative transorbital approach to access a cancerous chordoma wrapped around the cervical vertebrae and spinal cord of a 19-year-old woman, bypassing structures that would have been endangered by a more traditional surgical route. Medical Xpress reported the news May 5. As…
Pembrolizumab sets new standard in advanced head and neck cancer surgery, trial shows
Editor's Note According to results from a randomized trial, titled KEYNOTE-689, adding pembrolizumab (Keytruda) to surgery and standard adjuvant therapy significantly prolongs event-free survival (EFS) in patients with resectable, locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), MedPage Today April 28 reports. Experts are calling the findings a major…
Study: Colibactin-producing gut bacteria fuel colorectal cancer surge
Editor's Note Research published in Nature reveals that DNA damage caused by colibactin-producing gut bacteria is far more prevalent in younger patients with colorectal cancer, NBC News reports, suggesting a key factor behind the disturbing rise in cases among people under 40. According to the April 23 article, researchers from…
Study: CT scan radiation could drive 5% of future cancer cases
Editor's Note Current US CT scan practices could lead to approximately 103,000 future cancers—nearly 5% of all new annual diagnoses—if utilization and radiation dosing patterns persist, according to a risk modeling study published April 14 in JAMA Internal Medicine. Authors emphasized that although CT is often lifesaving, its risks are…
GAO urges HHS to improve drug shortage response coordination
Editor's Note The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has called on the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to implement a formal mechanism for coordinating efforts to address ongoing drug shortages, which continue to jeopardize patient care nationwide. In a report released April 9, 2025, the GAO highlighted the critical…
Study: US maternal mortality rises 28% in 5 years, inequities persist
Editor's Note Pregnancy-related deaths in the US rose sharply from 2018 to 2022, with rates 3.8 times higher among American Indian and Alaska Native women and 2.8 times higher among non-Hispanic Black women than among White women, according to a new study published April 9 in JAMA Network Open. Researchers…
Study: Cannabis use complicates sedation, cancer care
Editor's Note Cannabis users may require higher doses of anesthetics during sedation and experience worse physical and psychological symptoms during cancer treatment, according to an April 7 announcement from the University of Oklahoma (OU). Publishing in the journal Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, a multidisciplinary team of university researchers found that cannabis users…
Study: Mortality prediction models fail to recognize severe patient injuries
Editor's Note Machine learning (ML) models designed to predict patient mortality are falling short when it comes to identifying severe injuries that could lead to death, according to a March 27 report in TechTarget. The article focuses on research published in Nature Communications Medicine found that ML mortality prediction models…
Free Daily News
- Study: Long working hours alter brain regions tied to emotion, cognition
- Survey: Burnout, rigid schedules push nurses to leave
- UCLA surgeons perform world’s first bladder transplant
- AHA urges HHS to cut regulations that burden hospitals and staff
- Commentary: Overlooking, underfunding perioperative mental health threatens patients
- Study: Fewer men undergo unnecessary prostate cancer surgery amid rise in active surveillance
- OpenAI benchmarking tool tests healthcare LLMs
- Healthgrades recognizes top 15% of hospitals for patient experience in 2025
- Q1 reports show climb in outpatient surgical volume, diverging trends at Surgery Partners, Ardent Health
- Study: SGLT2 inhibitors raise postop euglycemic ketoacidosis risk but lower mortality