Making cancer treatment more precise, faster

+ how the Taliban deny girls an education in Afghanistan US Edition - Today's top story: Personalized cancer treatments based on testing drugs quickly leads to faster treatment, better outcomes [View in browser]( US Edition | 11 April 2024 [The Conversation] [The Conversation]( Top headlines - [Why diversity, equity and inclusion is so misunderstood]( - [Hospital microbes may not cause postsurgical infections]( - [How does the court select a fair and impartial jury in a Trump trial?]( Lead story Cancer treatment is complicated. Doctors can narrow down the hundreds of cancer drugs available based on a patient’s cancer type, stage and medical history. Precision medicine narrows the list even further by attempting to identify genetic mutations in a patient’s tumor cells that certain drugs can exploit. But that doesn’t necessarily mean the first – or second, or third – line of treatment will be successful. And for patients with tumors that didn’t respond to initial treatments, or that came back, deciding which drug to try next can be a dangerous and demoralizing maze of trial and error. New results from a clinical trial, published today, suggest another promising approach to making cancer treatment more precise: [functional precision medicine](. Principal investigator Diana Azzam of Florida International University and her team biopsied the tumors of a small sample of childhood cancer patients. They then exposed these tumor cells to over 100 FDA-approved drugs and looked for ones that best killed those cells. This approach was not only able to quickly provide viable treatment options to patients, but also resulted in improved treatment response and survival for the majority of participants. “Although doctors can read any patient’s DNA today, interpreting the results to understand how a patient will respond to cancer treatment is much more challenging,” Azzam writes. “Combining drug sensitivity testing with DNA analysis can help personalize cancer treatments for each patient.” [ [Miss us on Sundays? Get a selection of our best and most popular stories (or try our other weekly emails).]([]]( Vivian Lam Associate Health and Biomedicine Editor Identifying the most effective cancer treatment for a given patient from the get-go can help improve outcomes. Leslie Lauren/iStock via Getty Images Plus [Personalized cancer treatments based on testing drugs quickly leads to faster treatment, better outcomes]( Diana Azzam, Florida International University Functional precision medicine works to take the guesswork out of deciding which drug to try next for patients with cancers that don’t respond to standard treatments. Science + Technology - [Infections after surgery are more likely due to bacteria already on your skin than from microbes in the hospital − new research]( Dustin Long, University of Washington; Chloe Bryson-Cahn, University of Washington Most infection prevention guidelines center on the hospital environment rather than the patient. But the source of antibiotic-resistant microbes is often from the patient’s own body. Economy + Business - [The backlash against diversity, equity and inclusion in business is in full force − but myths obscure the real value of DEI]( Adia Harvey Wingfield, Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis Diversity, equity and inclusion are good for the bottom line. - [Starbucks seeks Supreme Court protection from being ordered to rehire baristas who say they were fired for union-promoting activities]( Michael Z. Green, Texas A&M University The case stems from a complaint filed after seven baristas who were attempting to organize a union at a Starbucks shop in Memphis, Tennessee, were fired. Politics + Society - [A criminal law scholar explains how jurors are selected in cases that involve Donald Trump]( Ronald S. Sullivan Jr., Harvard University Despite several efforts to delay the case involving hush money payments to a porn star, Donald Trump becomes the first former US president to go on trial on criminal charges on April 15, 2024. Education - [I spent a decade helping Afghan girls make educational progress − and now the Taliban are using these 3 reasons to keep them out of school]( Enayat Nasir, University at Albany, State University of New York If the ban on girls’ education in Afghanistan persists, consequences could include higher rates of abuse, the spread of extremism and billions of dollars in economic loss. Environment + Energy - [PFAS ‘forever chemicals’: Why EPA set federal drinking water limits for these health-harming contaminants]( Kathryn Crawford, Middlebury These chemicals are now found on almost every part of the planet, including in the bodies of a large percentage of the American public. An environmental health scientist explains the risks. Health + Medicine - [Domestic violence survivors seek homeless services from a system that often leaves them homeless]( Nkiru Nnawulezi, University of Maryland, Baltimore County; Lauren Cattaneo, George Mason University Programs and policies to help domestic abuse survivors find safe housing work only if they’re implemented and supported with resources. Ethics + Religion - [Elephant tourism often involves cruelty – here are steps toward more humane, animal-friendly excursions]( Michelle Szydlowski, Miami University Even self-proclaimed ethical tourism programs can widen economic gaps and harm communities they claim to protect. Here are a few steps you can take as an ethical tourist. Podcast 🎙️ - [After the euphoria of Nelson Mandela’s election, what happened next?]( Gemma Ware, The Conversation; Thabo Leshilo, The Conversation The first episode of What happened to Nelson Mandela’s South Africa?, a three-part podcast series on The Conversation Weekly. Featuring interviews with Steven Friedman and Sandy Africa. Trending on site - [Trump pushes the limits of every restriction he faces – including threatening judges and their families]( - [House of Representatives holds off on Ukraine aid package − here’s why the US has a lot at stake in supporting Ukraine]( - [Are embassies off-limits? Ecuadorian and Israeli actions suggest otherwise − and that sets a dangerous diplomatic precedent]( Today's graphic 📈 [Announcements of new investments in U.S. manufacturing for the electric vehicle supply chain, particularly batteries, jumped starting around 2021.]( From the story, [America’s green manufacturing boom, from EV batteries to solar panel production, isn’t powered by renewable energy − yet]( - - More of The Conversation Like this newsletter? 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