Colorectal cancer refers to cancer that starts in the colon or rectum. It is the most common type of cancer that affects people over the age of 60 years. The three main symptoms of colorectal cancer are: Persistent blood in the stools – occurs for no obvious reasons and associated with a change in the…
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Rucaparib for Ovarian Cancer OK’d for Approval in Europe
Reporter: Zosia Chustecka A new option for the treatment of ovarian cancer could soon be available in Europe: the PARP (poly [adenosine diphosphate-ribose] polymerase) inhibitor rucaparib (Rubraca, Clovis). At its latest meeting the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP), the scientific committee of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) recommended a conditional marketing authorization for rucaparib…
Clinicians as Communication Coaches – Preparing Patients for Difficult Conversations
Author: Betty R. Ferrell, PhD, RN Tired of Treatment Paulo is a 49-year-old man with a recurrent brain tumor; he is now hospitalized after experiencing seizures. The tumor was diagnosed when Paulo was 44 years of age, and he has had extensive surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. Three months ago, the brain tumor team advised Paulo…
How smoking ruins your lungs
Smoking is one of the main causes of preventable deaths throughout the world. When smoke enters the human body it affects nearly each and every organ leading to many life-threatening diseases. The poisons from the cigarette, which are basically tar and other chemicals when entering the bloodstream, are responsible for narrowing the arteries as well as…
Overlooked Biomarker May Predict Cancer Immunotherapy Response
Author: David J. Kerr, CBE, MD, DSc, FRCP, FMedSci Hi. I’m David Kerr, professor of cancer medicine from the University of Oxford. As you know, I’ve believed for some time that ploidy (the number of sets of chromosomes in a cell) measurements have been largely overlooked in terms of the relative importance of prognostic markers for…
Sickle Cell Disease: When to Transfuse
Author: Mary Hulihan, DrPH Hello. I am Dr Mary Hulihan, a health scientist in the Division of Blood Disorders at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Today I would like to talk about the indications for blood transfusion in patients with sickle cell disease, the complications associated with these transfusions, and how you can help…
FDA Again Urges Caution and Advises Against Using Morcellators for Uterine Fibroids
Maurie Markman, MD Hello. I am Dr Maurie Markman from Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I wanted to briefly highlight the recently updated US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) assessment on the use of laparoscopic power morcellators to treat uterine fibroids. This is clearly a complex and controversial topic, and one that…
Nevertheless, She Persisted: Women Face Unique Obstacles When Pursuing Surgery as a Specialty
Anya Romanowski, MS, RD The Role of Gender and Perception in Surgical Specialty Choice In the United States and abroad, there is a growing public reckoning over the routine discrimination and harassment that many women have faced in the workplace. The field of surgery has not been immune to these larger upheavals. Although surgery remains…
Vitamin and Mineral Supplements: Which Patients Will Benefit?
JoAnn E. Manson, MD, DrPH Dr JoAnn Manson, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. I’d like to talk with you today about vitamin and mineral supplements. Is there a rational approach? Most of our patients are taking dietary supplements, usually vitamin or mineral supplements, and we…
‘This Mole Looks Strange’ – Dermatology for the Primary Care Clinician
Author: Charles P. Vega, MD; Temitayo A. Ogunleye, MD Clinicians see many skin conditions in the primary care setting. Medscape talked with a primary care clinician, Charles P. Vega, MD, and a dermatologist, Temitayo A. Ogunleye, MD, to learn their thoughts on how to best diagnose and manage dermatology-related symptoms in primary care. This consultation is…
Costly Rare Cancer Drugs Fund Fails to Provide Clinical Benefit
Author: David J. Kerr, CBE, MD, DSc, FRCP, FMedSci Hello. I am David Kerr, professor of cancer medicine from the University of Oxford, England. I want to talk about an interesting paper I picked up recently in Annals of Oncology.[1] This was prepared and presented by Dr Aggarwal from Richard Sullivan’s group at Kings College London. They have done a lot…
Sofosbuvir: A novel treatment option for chronic hepatitis C infection
Author: Harmeet Kaur Bhatia, Harmanjit Singh,1 Nipunjot Grewal,2 and Navreet Kaur Natt3 Abstract Hepatitis C currently infects more than 170 million people around the world, leading to significant morbidity and mortality. The current standard of care for HCV infection, including one of the two protease inhibitors, telaprevir or boceprevir, for 12-32 weeks, along with pegylated…
