Public health & disease

Model lungs

World-first lung cancer vaccine trials launched across seven countries

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Lung cancer is the world’s leading cause of cancer death, accounting for about 1.8 million deaths every year. Now experts are testing a new jab that instructs the body to hunt down and kill cancer cells – then prevents them from ever coming back. Known as BNT116 and made by BioNTech, the vaccine is designed to treat non-small cell lung cancer, the most common form of the disease. The phase 1 clinical trial, the first human study of BNT116, has launched across 34 research sites in seven countries: the U.K., U.S., Germany, Hungary, Poland, Spain, and Turkey.

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Honeycomb

Manuka honey reduces breast cancer cell growth by 84% in preliminary studies

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Manuka honey is produced from the nectar collected by honey bees when they pollinate the mānuka, a species of tea tree indigenous to New Zealand and southeast Australia. Now, preliminary studies by researchers at UCLA have found that this nutraceutical might aid in breast cancer prevention and treatment. The honey-treated mice showed significantly suppressed tumor growth compared to controls. Overall, it inhibited the growth and progression of an established human breast cancer tumor by 84% without affecting healthy cells.

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MIT naloxone sensor implant

MIT scientists reverse opioid overdoses with ‘Narcan sensor’ implanted under skin

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In 2023, more than 100,000 Americans died from opioid overdoses. The most effective way to save someone who has overdosed is to administer a drug called naloxone, but help can’t always reach the person in time. Researchers at MIT and Brigham and Women’s Hospital have developed a new device to address this problem. The device, about the size of a stick of gum, can be implanted under the skin. When it determines that an overdose has occurred, it rapidly pumps out a dose of naloxone.

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Medications

The U.S. negotiates Medicare drug price cuts that will save billions for U.S. citizens

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The United States has negotiated down the prices of 10 top-selling prescription drugs used by Medicare by as much as 79%, hoping to save $6 billion in the first year as part of a plan hailed on Thursday by President Joe Biden with the aim to ease anger about high prices ahead of November elections. Biden’s signature Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law in 2022, was the first to allow Medicare to negotiate prices for some of the most costly drugs that the program covers for 66 million people. The new prices will go into effect in 2026.

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Vials of blood

U.S. Food and Drug Administration approves blood test to screen for colon cancer

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The test, known as Shield, isn’t meant to replace colonoscopies, but is generating enthusiasm among doctors who say it has the potential to boost the dismal rate of screenings for the second-highest cause of cancer death in the United States. Shield has previously been available to doctors as a screening tool, at an out-of-pocket cost of $895. With the FDA approval, Medicare and private insurance companies are much more likely to cover the cost of the blood test, making it more widely accessible for patients.

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HIV virus

New twice-yearly shot to prevent HIV achieves 100% success rate in late-stage trial

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In this double-blind, randomized study of 5,300 cisgender women in South Africa and Uganda, 2,134 got the injection and the others took one of two types of daily PrEP pills. The trial from California-based company Gilead Sciences began on August 2021 and, so far, not a single woman who received the injections has contracted HIV. The participants who received either of the oral PrEP options, Truvada and Descovy, had infection rates of about 2% — consistent with the infection rates of oral PrEP in other clinical trials.

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Mouse

Japanese scientists reverse Alzheimer’s synapse damage in mice

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Scientists from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology say they have reversed the signs of Alzheimer’s disease in lab mice by restoring the healthy function of synapses, critical parts of neurons that shoot chemical messages to other neurons. If the treatment successfully survives the gauntlet of clinical studies with human participants, it could potentially lead to a groundbreaking new treatment for humans suffering from the deadly disease.

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Silhouette of cannabis leaf

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore set to issue 175,000 pardons for marijuana convictions

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During a news conference, Moore said the executive order will affect “tens of thousands of Marylanders” convicted of misdemeanors. Some may have had more than one conviction pardoned through the process. Advocates praised the move as a way of removing barriers to housing, employment, or educational opportunities based on convictions for conduct that is no longer illegal.

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Credit cards in front of laptop

United States to ban medical debt from credit reports

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In a sweeping change that could improve millions of Americans’ ability to own a home or buy a car, the Biden administration proposed a rule to ban medical debt from credit reports. The rule, announced by Vice President Kamala Harris and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra, comes as President Joe Biden beefs up his efforts to persuade Americans his administration is lowering costs, a chief concern for voters in the upcoming election.

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Sick woman, stomach pain and hands on abdomen

U.K. researchers identify and treat major cause of inflammatory bowel disease

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For the first time, a major trigger in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and related conditions has been identified, and existing drugs can stamp it out, in what scientists call a “massive step” in successfully treating these debilitating chronic conditions. Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute, in collaboration with University College London (UCL) and Imperial College London (ICL), have uncovered a problem gene enhancer that stimulates action along a specific biological pathway that causes IBD inflammation.

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