Terminal Cancer Patient Receives $12 Million Settlement from Johnson & Johnson
A woman with terminal cancer brought a lawsuit for negligence against two companies: Colgate and Johnson & Johnson. The jury from Alameda County, California found that products produced by the two companies probably caused the woman’s terminal cancer. As a result, the jury awarded the woman $12 million in damages from the two companies. The jurors focused on three...
Recent Study Shows Drinking Water Contaminated with Carcinogenic Nitrates
A recent study from an environmental group revealed that human drinking water is polluted with nitrates. Nitrates are a type of acid that can be poisonous. According to the study, these nitrates have been linked to causing cancer and other health problems in those who drink the polluted water. The group of advocates, called the Environmental Working Group (EWG),...
Are Scientists Developing Treatments for the Most Hard-To-Treat Cancers?
Most people know that cancer treatment works by making tumors in the body smaller. Unfortunately, most of the time, it is impossible for cancer treatment to eliminate the tumor entirely. There is also always a good chance that the cancer cells can multiply quickly and the disease can come back in full force. Some cancers are so powerful and...
IBM Watson Health Reports Significant Progress with AI in Oncology
Watson Health is a business division of IBM that uses technology to analyze data and improve public health. One way they are trying to improve health with this technology is by studying cancer. At the yearly meeting for the American Society for Clinical Oncology, IBM Watson Health presented 22 new studies that show how technology and artificial intelligence are...
5 Things You Didn’t Know About the Most Common STD
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention says that nearly 80 million Americans are currently infected with human papillomavirus (HPV), and about 14 million become newly infected each year. Eight out of ten women will contract HPV in their lifetimes. That makes HPV the most common sexually transmitted disease (STD) in the country. Here are five things you didn't...
60 Doctors and Pharmacists Charged in Massive Opioid Prescription Bust
Sixty doctors and pharmacists have been charged by federal prosecutors for illegally giving patients opioid prescriptions, The prosecutors say this is the biggest bust of its kind in United States history. The doctors have been charged for a number of different crimes. Some traded opioids for sex, others performed unneeded operations to have a reason to write painkiller prescriptions,...
How the Gut Microbiome Directs Immune System to Fight Cancer
The U.S. has recently seen a major breakthrough in cancer treatment called immune checkpoint inhibitors. These inhibitors basically tell the immune system which cells in the body to attack as they point them towards cancerous cells. However, these new treatments aren’t effective for all patients, and they sometimes have side effects. By determining which groups of people may respond...
Cancer Patient’s 10-Centimeter Mass Gone After 2 Months at CHIPSA Hospital in Mexico
John D. was diagnosed with terminal, stage 4 cancer after a fluid-filled sac on his neck grew into hard, 10cm lump. His doctors suggested he begin aggressive rounds of radiation and chemotherapy to save his life, but John wasn't interested in the standard cut, poison, burn regimen. They didn't think he'd be around in two months' time. Three years later,...
Digital Maps Can Predict the Success of Immunotherapy in Cancer Patients
Researchers at Johns Hopkins are developing a new method called ImmunoMap, a digital map that compares different types of T-cell receptors, the “antennas” found on the surface of T-cells that identify foreign substances in the body to trigger an immune response. ImmunoMap will eventually help physicians to predict which cancer patients will respond best to immunotherapies. A report about...
Could This New Vaccine Help Patients Fight Colorectal Cancer?
A study published in the Journal for Immunotherapy of Cancer showed that a new colorectal cancer vaccine could help patients to fight their disease. The drug has passed a phase one trial which sought mostly to evaluate its safety, and is now moving on to a larger trial to further explore its efficacy. Because...
