Articles related to Internal Medicine

Trilaciclib (Cosela, G1 Therapeutics), a cyclin dependent kinase 4/6 inhibitor, is already approved in the United States to reduce frequency of chemotherapy-related bone marrow suppression among adults with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer. Now, the FDA has granted fast track designation to the drug for use in combo with chemo for treatment of locally advanced or metastatic TNBC.

In a study in the journal Nature Cancer, the researchers found that in laboratory cell lines and tumor models novobiocin selectively killed tumor cells with abnormal BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes, which help repair damaged DNA. The drug, developed in the 1950s and largely supplanted by newer drugs, was effective even in tumors resistant to agents known as PARP inhibitors, which have become a prime therapy for cancers with DNA-repair glitches.

The FDA added a warning that Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine may trigger Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) in a small number of people. Of the 12.5 million Americans who received this vaccine, about 100 people reported having GBS, which is an acquired demyelinating polyneuropathy that often begins in the lower extremities and ascends over time with loss of reflexes, causing muscle weakness, or in the most severe cases, paralysis.

According to a study of 135,000 doctors by Doximity, male physicians made, on average, 28% more than females in 2020, a 3% increase from the 2019 numbers. The survey, along with Medscape’s poll in 2021 that showed male specialist physicians overall making 33% more than females, points to a few other large gender pay gaps, as well as some in which women doctors make salaries closer to those of men.

Despite many doing their research and learning all they can about the COVID-19 vaccine, patients may still come to you for more help. To assist your patients with their questions about the COVID-19 vaccine, here are 12 facts and insights shared by Sherita Golden, MD, MHS, chief diversity officer at Johns Hopkins Medicine, who specializes in diabetes, heart conditions and patterns of disease in diverse communities.

Messenger RNA (mRNA) is in the spotlight right now as the basis of the Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines for COVID-19. Thanks to this newfound prominence, its profile has been raised as a powerful tool in cancer research as well. As a courier of genetic information and protein assembler, mRNA can tell scientists which genes are active within a cell and produce the proteins that alert the immune system to the presence of cancer.