New Drugs Substantially Improving Outcomes For People With Hard-To-Treat Forms Of Cancer

The Associated Press: Drugs Make Headway Against Lung, Breast, Prostate Cancers
Newer drugs are substantially improving the chances of survival for some people with hard-to-treat forms of lung, breast and prostate cancer, doctors reported at the world's largest cancer conference. Among those who have benefited is Roszell Mack Jr., who at age 87 is still able to work at a Lexington, Kentucky, horse farm, nine years after being diagnosed with lung cancer that had spread to his bones and lymph nodes. (6/2)

The New York Times: A Drug Prolonged Life In Younger Women With Advanced Breast Cancer
A drug that can slow the progression of advanced breast cancer has been shown for the first time to lengthen survival in women whose disease started before or during menopause, researchers reported on Saturday. In patients who took the drug along with a standard treatment, 70 percent were still alive three and a half years later, compared with only 46 percent of those given the standard treatment alone. (Grady, 6/1)

Stat: Grail, The Liquid Biopsy Startup, Shows 'Impressive,' If Early, Results
Could a blood test detect cancer in healthy people? Grail, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based company, has raised $1.6 billion in venture capital to prove the answer is yes. And at the world’s largest meeting of cancer doctors, the company is unveiling data that seem designed to assuage the concerns and fears of its doubters and critics. But outside experts emphasize there is still a long way to go. The data, from a pilot study that Grail is using to develop its diagnostic before running it through the gantlet of two much larger clinical trials, are being presented Saturday in several poster sessions at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. (Herper, 5/31)

Arizona Republic: Are Vaccines Safe? What You Need To Know About Mercury And Other Toxins
Alleging that vaccines are "toxic" is an effective way to create confusion and uncertainty in parents who want to protect their children. We hear about toxins and poisoning in the news all the time, and it can be difficult to know what to be concerned about and what to ignore. (Anne-Michelle Ruha, 6/2)

The Washington Post: Why Are So Many Doctors Burning Out? Tons Of Real And Electronic Paperwork.
Last year, a friend took her dream oncology job in a big academic medical center on the East Coast. After a decade of medical school, residency and specialized fellowship training, she was treating and conducting high-level research on rare and complex adrenal cancers. She was living in her perfect city and loved her patients and the other physicians in the department. But when I called recently, she told me she was quitting in two weeks. She’d decided to start over in a different practice halfway across the country. (Marchalik, 6/1)

The New York Times: Why Gulping Down A Cold Drink Feels So Rewarding
After a long hike on a hot day, few things are more rewarding than a tall, frosty glass of water. The rush of pleasure that comes with a drink might feel like a sign from your body that you’ve done the right thing, a reward for remedying your dehydration. But that pleasing sensation isn’t actually linked to your real need for a drink. In a study published Wednesday in the journal Neuron, a group of scientists who have studied how thirst works in the bodies of mammals report that the neural systems related to the feeling of reward work independently of those involved in monitoring water intake. (Greenwood, 5/31)

The New York Times: A Pioneering Treatment For Uncontrollable Hunger
When a child is born with a rare disorder that few doctors recognize or know how to manage, it can pay big dividends for parents to be proactive, learn everything they can about the condition, and with expert medical guidance, come up with the best way to treat it. That is the approach Lara C. Pullen of Chicago adopted when her son, Kian Tan, was born 15 years ago last month at 7½ pounds, seemingly well-formed and healthy. But within 24 hours, Dr. Pullen, who already had two daughters, said Kian had stopped moving, wouldn’t nurse and felt as floppy as a rag doll. (Brody, 6/3)

The New York Times: Blueberries May Promote Heart Health
Blueberries may be good for the heart. Researchers conducted a randomized, double-blinded trial with 115 overweight and obese adults aged 50 to 75 who were at high risk for cardiovascular disease. One third of the group ate a cup of freeze-dried blueberries a day, another third a half-cup, and the final third a similar-looking placebo. The study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, lasted six months. (Bakalar, 6/3)

The Washington Post: Nontoxic Methods To Protect Yourself Against Mosquitoes And Ticks
Mosquitoes and ticks can spoil a beautiful day and make people sick. Beyond buzzing, biting, sucking and stinging, they can carry serious diseases. Tiny blacklegged ticks carry Lyme disease. Nighttime biting Culex mosquitoes can transmit West Nile virus and Japanese encephalitis. And the aggressive Aedes mosquitoes — happy to bite any time — can cause Zika, dengue fever and chikungunya. And that’s just a sampling of the troubles they bring. (Sass, 6/2)

The Washington Post: Appendicitis Cure Took Years In My Case
The pain first hit when I was a teenager: an unrelenting grinding in my lower abdomen, as if my internal gears were gummed up. A fleeting thought crossed my mind — could it be my appendix? — but I dismissed it, since I felt fine the next day. Throughout my young adulthood, the grinding pain recurred every few weeks or so. When it hit, I’d clench my jaw and curl up in the fetal position, but within a few hours, the attack would pass. I wasn’t concerned enough to have a doctor check me out since things receded quickly. (Svoboda, 6/1)

The New York Times: In China, Public Talk Of Sex Is Rare. Could A ‘Pleasure Community’ Change That?
In a room with soft lighting, decorated with fuzzy blankets and turquoise balloons, a group of 30 or so strangers gathered on a recent afternoon in Beijing to discuss a subject that is largely taboo in China: how to satisfy a woman sexually. Such a workshop would hardly be out of place in New York or San Francisco. But in China, public discussion of sex is mostly nonexistent. Sex education is typically glossed over in Chinese classrooms and usually limited to one or two “physical hygiene in puberty” lessons in biology class. Parents often avoid discussing the subject with their children altogether. (Qin, 6/2)