In the News

A first look into where early onset mortality spikes among U.S. women. Women with early onset colorectal cancer have a greater risk of dying from the disease depending upon their county of residence, according to a study published in Clinical and Translational Gastroenterology.

Scientists are just beginning to understand the impact of diet on the gut microbiome and how this interaction affects human health, but baselines must first be established to yield answers. The first large-scale, longitudinal study to evaluate this interaction among Chinese adults indicates that long-term healthy eating yields microbiome diversity and an abundance of fiber-fermenting bacteria.

Breast-conserving surgery (BCS) plus radiotherapy is the standard-of-care for women diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer. For women over age 70, however, radiotherapy after BCS is controversial, and U.S. National Comprehensive Cancer Network clinical practice guidelines recommend that it may be omitted. 

The TAILORx study published last year offered good news for women with early-stage ER-positive breast cancer who scored at intermediate risk for recurrence according to a genetic assay test. The study indicated that chemotherapy after surgery provided little advantage in overall survival for these women, so they could forgo the treatment.

Six clinics across four U.S. states provided data for a newly validated clinical risk stratification model for lung cancer. The TREAT model (Thoracic Surgery, Research, Epidemiology, Diagnosis And Treatment) helps identify patients with suspicious lesions who are most likely to benefit from surgical biopsy. The aim is to mitigate unnecessary surgery for benign nodules and reduce delays for patients with early cancers.

In a review of 526,690 patients who underwent radical prostatectomy for localized prostate cancer, researchers from Vanderbilt University Medical Center found Black patients had significantly higher mortality rates compared to other racial and ethnic groups. Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) had notably lower mortality rates than non-Hispanic whites. Hispanics had slightly lower rates than non-Hispanic whites – despite lower socioeconomic status and significant underinsurance.

Recommending expanded screening could help African Americans, suggests new research. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) may make recommendations to revise current lung cancer screening guidelines to reduce large differences between outcomes of African American and white patients.

Appendiceal cancer — cancer of the appendix — is a rare malignancy that is usually found during surgery for acute appendicitis. Although the rate of appendectomies has been stable over the last two decades, the incidence of malignant appendiceal cancer increased 232% in the United States.

Conventional colorectal adenomas are the precursor lesions for most colorectal cancers. In addition to these adenomas, other colorectal polyps are detected during colonoscopy. Sessile serrated polyps (SSPs) represent an alternative pathway to carcinogenesis that may account for 20-30% of colorectal cancer. Because a diagnostic consensus for SSPs was not reached until 2010, few epidemiologic studies have evaluated risk factors for SSPs.

Conventional colorectal adenomas are the precursor lesions for most colorectal cancers. In addition to these adenomas, other colorectal polyps are detected during colonoscopy. Sessile serrated polyps (SSPs) represent an alternative pathway to carcinogenesis that may account for 20-30% of colorectal cancer. Because a diagnostic consensus for SSPs was not reached until 2010, few epidemiologic studies have evaluated risk factors for SSPs.