Archive for category: News

According to a new study published in Annals of Internal Medicine women who eat nuts, seeds, or corn are not at a higher risk of developing diverticulitis, unlike the popular belief that these foods might lead to the condition. This was concluded through the analysis of data from 29,916 women aged between 35 and 74 years, who were registered in a prospective cohort study. The trial, with almost 14 years of follow-up, offers strong evidence against dietary exclusion of these foods for the prevention of diverticulitis. The study was conducted by Barlowe T. and colleagues.

A new study presented at ESTRO 2025 introduces the RAPID-RT study, which uses an innovative rapid-learning approach to evaluate the impact of treatment modifications in radiotherapy. Traditional clinical trials are often lengthy and are not representative of real-world patient populations due to complex consent processes and strict eligibility criteria. In contrast, RAPID-RT offers a more inclusive, real-world alternative. Researchers at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester, UK, have applied this method in lung cancer patients to assess whether reducing the dose to the top of the heart-a hypothesised risk area, can improve survival by minimising cardiac toxicity associated with conventional radiotherapy.

Targeting Tumours, Protecting the Heart

Radiotherapy is a highly effective treatment for lung cancer, yet the heart is often located close to the tumour site. It is important that the dose to the heart is minimised to reduce the risk of serious complications. Previous research in Manchester using radiotherapy planning images identified the top of the heart as a particularly radiosensitive area in lung cancer patients, with radiation dose to this region found to be associated with overall survival.

Based on these results, a new “heart-sparing” technique was implemented in the routine clinical setting to address this challenge.

“RAPID-RT represents a shift towards more inclusive research, designed to reflect the realities of everyday clinical practice and ensure that all patients, not just those who meet narrow trial criteria, benefit from innovation in radiotherapy” said co-lead investigator Dr Gareth Price, senior lecturer and medical physicist, at the University of Manchester.

“We also hope that by reducing cardiac exposure, we may improve both survival and quality of life for patients.”

Key Data from Over 1,700 Patients

The RAPID-RT study analysed data from 1,708 patients with stage I–III lung cancer who received curative-intent radiotherapy between January 2021 and February 2025:

• Standard curative-intent radiotherapy treatment was given to 922 patients treated before April 2023.

• The new heart-sparing technique was applied prospectively to 786 patients from April 2023 onwards, using two key innovations:

• An inclusive rapid-learning study design: this approach enables fast recruitment by including all patients treated at the institution, unless they actively opt out of data collection.

• Limiting radiation to a defined Cardiac Avoidance Area (CAA): Radiation dose to sensitive parts of the heart was limited to at 19.5 Gy (or equivalent) over 20-33 sessions, unless this restriction compromised adequate tumour coverage

• Early results show that the rapid-learning method is highly inclusive as to date all patients with stage 1-3 NSCLC treated with conventional curative-intent radiotherapy received the new technique, with only 1 out of 786 patients choosing to opt out of the study. Initial findings suggest a modest improvement in 12-month survival following implementation of a dose limit to the top of the heart.

Faster Answers with Real-World Evidence

Unlike traditional clinical trials, which can take years to deliver results, the RAPID-RT study used a “rapid-learning” model, to evaluate and adapt treatments in real time using routine anonymised data from the electronic care record. This approach allows researchers to refine treatment strategies more quickly, bringing effective innovations to patients faster.

“This research is a perfect example of how innovation in radiotherapy is not only about technology, but also about how we learn, adapt, and deliver better care,” said Professor Matthias Guckenberger, President of ESTRO and Chair of Radiation Oncology at the University Hospital Zurich.

“It demonstrates the power of combining cutting-edge technology with real-world data to make radiotherapy safer and even more effective.”

Towards Smarter, More Inclusive Evaluation of Radiotherapy Modifications

RAPID-RT represents an important step towards more inclusive and pragmatic clinical trials in radiotherapy. The study provides compelling evidence that novel trial methods can effectively evaluate treatment modifications, especially in situations where traditional randomised trials are not feasible.

The study will continue to recruit and follow patients’ progress to confirm these early results and allow clinical teams to decide if patients might benefit from further refinement of the new radiotherapy technique. Ongoing analyses will assess the potential impact on long-term survival, radiotherapy-related toxicities, and explore alternative modelling approaches to better understand treatment outcomes.

Reference:

New radiotherapy technique aims to protect the heart during lung cancer treatment, European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO), Meeting: ESTRO 2025.

Prostate cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related death among men in the United States.

Despite this, widespread adoption of prostate cancer screening has been controversial.

Many primary care doctors worry that screening will lead to unnecessary surgery for men with low risk prostate cancer and current guidelines recommend screening only after discussing the risk of overtreatment with the patient.

In a study, published in JAMA Oncology, researchers at University of Michigan showed that the proportion of patients undergoing prostatectomy for the lowest-risk type of cancer dropped over fivefold between 2010 to 2024.

They concluded that efforts to increase active surveillance and improved diagnostic methods have helped more men avoid unnecessary surgery.

Nearly 300,000 men in the U.S. are expected to be diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2024 alone.

However, not all prostate cancers are the same. Some grow so slowly that they’re unlikely to ever cause problems, especially in older men.

“The discrepancy between how common prostate cancer is and the hesitance in adopting screening exists because, historically, prostate cancer has been considered overtreated,” said Steven Monda, M.D., urologic oncology researcher and first author of the study.

“Prostate cancer in many men does not require treatment. However, in the past, most of these men still underwent surgery or radiation after their diagnosis, which led to hesitance in the widespread adoption of screening.”

Guidelines on screening have also been inconsistent.

In 2012, the U.S. Preventative Task Force recommended against routine screening of prostate-specific antigen, or PSA, levels due to concerns about overtreatment.

Prostate cancer in many men does not require treatment. However, in the past, most of these men still underwent surgery or radiation after their diagnosis, which led to hesitance in the widespread adoption of screening.”

This stance was softened in 2018 to allow PSA screening only after patients discussed the risks and benefits with their doctor.

“Even though the 2012 USPTF guidelines were revised, many primary care doctors never went back to screening,” said Tudor Borza, assistant professor of urology and senior author on the study.

“As a result, even people at a higher risk, such as African American men or those with a family history of prostate cancer, aren’t being offered screening.”

In the current study, the group analyzed data from over 180,000 men who had prostate cancer surgery between 2010 and 2024.

They focused on patients with Grade Group 1 prostate cancer, which is the lowest-risk category.

These are the men most likely to be good candidates for active surveillance, an approach in which doctors monitor the cancer with regular tests and intervene only if it worsens.

Using two prostate cancer registries—one national and one based in Michigan-the researchers showed that the proportion of patients undergoing prostatectomy for the lowest risk type of cancer dropped over fivefold from 2010 to 2024.

In 2010, one in three men who had prostate cancer surgery nationally had the low risk type. By 2020, that number dropped to less than one in 10.

In Michigan, where urologists have been working for years on quality improvement through a program called MUSIC, the proportion dropped from about one in five in 2012 to less than one in 35 in 2024.

The study also found that, across different surgical practices throughout the state, rates of unnecessary surgery declined consistently.

“The results who that this is a system-wide improvement,” Monda said.

“We’re seeing progress at the local practice, statewide and national levels.”

These results align with other studies that showed increased use of active surveillance for low risk prostate cancer since 2010.

“The decrease in the number of surgeries for low-grade prostate cancer shows that active surveillance helps,” Monda said.

“Routine PSA checks, MRIs and biopsies can ensure that prostate cancer doesn’t progress to a condition that requires treatment.”

Reference:

Monda SM, Demus T, Jaime-Casas S, Meah S, Srivastava A, Sarle R, Labardee C, Ghani KR, Ginsburg KM, Morgan TM, Borza T. Trends in Surgical Overtreatment of Prostate Cancer. JAMA Oncol. 2025 Apr 28:e250963. doi: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2025.0963. 

In a first-of-its-kind clinical study, scientists at The University of Texas at Dallas and Baylor University Medical Center showed that patients with treatment-resistant PTSD were symptom-free up to six months after completing traditional therapy paired with vagus nerve stimulation (VNS).

The results of the nine-patient Phase 1 trial, conducted by scientists from UT Dallas’ Texas Biomedical Device Center (TxBDC) in collaboration with researchers from the Baylor Scott & White Research Institute (BSWRI), were published online March 15 in Brain Stimulation.

Dr. Michael Kilgard, the Margaret Fonde Jonsson Professor of neuroscience in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, said the outcome highlighted the potential of this approach.

“In a trial like this, some subjects usually do get better, but rarely do they lose their PTSD diagnosis. Typically, the majority will have this diagnosis for the rest of their lives,” Kilgard said. “In this case, we had 100% loss of diagnosis. It’s very promising.”

Prolonged exposure therapy-a component of traditional PTSD treatment-is a form of cognitive behavioral therapy, conducted in a safe and supportive environment, that involves individuals gradually confronting thoughts, memories and situations they have avoided since experiencing a trauma.

In the study, scientists paired this therapy with concurrent delivery of short bursts of stimulation of the vagus nerve via a small device implanted in a participant’s neck. After a standard 12-session therapy course, assessments were performed four times during the six months after its conclusion. Benefits persisted during that time for all nine participants.

The study is the largest clinical trial to date using an implanted device for the treatment of PTSD, Kilgard said.

Pioneering work by TxBDC researchers has demonstrated previously that VNS paired with physical rehabilitation can accelerate neuroplasticity — the rewiring of areas of the brain. Their 13-year effort to treat a wide variety of conditions using VNS has resulted in approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treating impaired upper-limb movement in stroke patients.

“The common theme in our VNS work is that we’re taking therapies that show potential, like prolonged exposure therapy for PTSD, and making them work better,” he said.

The National Center for PTSD, part of the Department of Veterans Affairs, estimates that 5% of adults in the U.S. have post-traumatic stress disorder in any given year, and that women are twice as likely to develop PTSD at some point in their life. Many PTSD patients fail to respond to therapy or pharmacological intervention, or experience intolerable side effects or relapse, leaving them with no viable prospect for remission.

Kilgard said that PTSD patients are not only found among military veterans, but also among average citizens who have faced traumatic events.

“When you hear PTSD, you may picture a combat zone, but it’s much more prevalent than that,” he said. “It can stem from any event that inspires fear of death or bodily injury, or death of a loved one.”

Co-corresponding author Dr. Seth Hays, associate professor of bioengineering in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science and director of preclinical research at the TxBDC, has been a part of the VNS project since its earliest studies.

“It’s been an incredibly rewarding experience to see this technology evolve from early discovery experiments in the lab to clinical benefits in patients,” Hays said. “This whole process truly highlights the value of team-based science.”

More than a decade ago, Dr. Robert Rennaker, professor of neuroscience and the Texas Instruments Distinguished Chair in Bioengineering, began to design an innovative implantable VNS device that was much smaller and less expensive than devices already on the market. The most recent wireless version of the device is about the size of a dime.

“The technology we have is above and beyond anything else that’s out there. The device is about 50 times smaller than our version from just three years ago,” he said. “The 49 people in the Dallas area with our devices have a combined 100 years of experience with it implanted. There have been no issues; the devices are all still functioning. And they don’t interfere with typical medical care; you can have an MRI, a CT scan or an ultrasound.”

The next step in the PTSD research-a double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 2 pilot study-is ongoing in Dallas and Austin.

“We hope that it will represent another step toward FDA approval of a treatment that doesn’t exist now, and it would be invented, tested and delivered by UT Dallas, as was the case for upper-limb recovery after stroke,” Kilgard said.

Licensed clinical psychologist Dr. Mark Powers, a research center director of the Trauma Research Center at BSWRI, is the lead and co-corresponding author of the study. Driven by his desire to improve quality of life among people who experience psychological trauma, Powers said that VNS has “changed the game” by improving both treatment efficacy and its tolerability.

“VNS has changed my work dramatically,” he said. “Our gold-standard treatments for PTSD have about an 85% response rate, with 40% no longer having their diagnosis, and a 20% dropout rate. Soon we could have the option of VNS for people who don’t get better with cognitive behavioral therapy alone.”

Powers added that his collaboration with UTD has a multidisciplinary synergy that he regards as rare.

“With this alliance, we have people doing the preclinical and the clinical work at the same time, giving each other feedback and ideas,” he said. “Neither one of our groups could do this alone.”

Reference:

Powers, Mark B. et al., Vagus nerve stimulation therapy for treatment-resistant PTSD, Brain Stimulation, DOI:10.1016/j.brs.2025.03.007.

Researchers have established in a new study that androgenetic alopecia (AGA) considerably affects psychological well-being, particularly among men and those who lose hair during their early years. The participants of a recent Turkish study who had AGA showed high levels of emotional distress, stigmatization, and low self-esteem. Maximum psychological burden was noted among men with advanced AGA and among individuals with an earlier onset than the age of 20. The study was published in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology by Arzu F. and fellow researchers.