cancer
Everyone's using these tests for cancer — but the data aren't there
Adobe
Tests searching for tumor DNA in the blood are surging in popularity, mainly because they can clue clinicians into what's happening with a patient's cancer long before any changes appear on more traditional tools like MRI or CT scans. The tests can show if cancer patients will recur months before any lesions are visible, and some tests' results can give information about how a cancer will or is responding to a certain therapy.
It sounds good, right? These tests are commercially available and covered by Medicare. But there's one problem: Experts don't know if these tests actually help patients. STAT's Angus Chen spoke to cancer researchers about the technology, and all of them were enthusiastic about the technology's promise, but not ready to say these tests are useful in guiding better clinical decisions.
"Research is trying to keep up with the pace of clinical use. It's a really exciting technology, but it's difficult to interpret and actually use test results," oncologist Stacey Cohen told Angus. Read more about how the hype might not match the research.
public health
How incarceration affects mortality — for people both inside and out
It's long been understood that incarceration has long-term effects on health and mortality. But a study controlling for both individual and area-level factors has new numbers on the connection. People who were incarcerated in 2008 had a 39% higher risk of dying and more than three times the risk of dying from an overdose by 2019 than people who weren't, according to the study, published yesterday in JAMA Network Open. And the risk of incarceration doesn't just affect the people inside — researchers also found that county incarceration rates were associated with increased all-cause mortality risks for nonincarcerated residents. (That increased risk for nonincarcerated people was not there when it came to overdose mortality.)
The results come from an analysis of more than 3.2 million people whose information from a 2008 Census interview was connected to mortality data through 2019. Most other studies are limited in that their control group is based on the general population, rather than people in the same area from the same dataset, the authors write. The results show how urgently improved health care during and after incarceration is needed, they add, specifically pointing to community-based primary care as a potential solution.
In related news on incarceration and health, a federal judge has ruled that the federal Bureau of Prisons must continue providing gender-affirming care including hormones and social accommodations to trans incarcerated people, blocking an executive order prohibiting such care. The AP has more.
first opinion
America can't afford to lose international physicians
When the Trump administration put a pause on student visa interviews last week, thousands of J-1 physician visa holders poised to start their residency programs this summer were thrown into limbo. In a new First Opinion essay, orthopedic surgeon and former HHS secretary Tom Price argues that the country cannot afford to lose these doctors.
The government's own projections show that the U.S. will be short 124,000 physicians by 2027. The country has long benefited from attracting smart, medically-minded people from all over the world. Now, Congress needs to step up and create more flexible visa programs for international medical students to stay in America for work. Read more from Price about what this could look like.
No comments