Cancer-drug shortage eases … a bit

Fewer cancer centers are reporting shortages of critical, platinum-based drugs, but the supply-chain issues haven’t been solved — and the shortages are far from over.

For example:

• 93% of cancer centers reported a carboplatin shortage earlier this summer; that’s down to 72%.
• 70% reported a cisplatin shortage this summer; that’s down to 59%.

The good news: “Nearly all reported being able to treat patients who needed carboplatin or cisplatin with the drugs despite reduced supply.”

The bad news:

Today, 66% of cancer centers reported ongoing shortages of methotrexate, 55% reported shortages of 5-flourouracil, 45% reported shortages of fludarabine, and 41% reported shortages of hydrocortisone.

More than a pinworm drug

Like most people, you’ve probably wondered, “Can pyrvinium do more than just treat pinworms?” The great mystery may have been solved. According to medical researchers at Vanderbilt University, pyrvinium can prevent stomach cancer by killing precancerous lesions. Well, in the lab.

Still, as it’s already FDA approved and has few side effects, next up could be human trials on people at high risk of stomach cancer.

Infection to prevent miscarriage

Woman who are infected with cytomegalovirus while pregnant are much more likely to miscarry. Worse, the virus is fairly common.

It turns out (found Tulane researchers) that the danger only exists if their infection while pregnant is their first infection. In other words, getting infected with the virus before pregnancy means reinfection won’t raise their miscarriage risk.

While it might make logical sense, then, for women to seek out cytomegalovirus before they plan to get pregnant, the Tulanians hope it can simply be made into a vaccine.

They look like us now

We’ve seen lab-grown organs and lab-grown brain cells, and in the latest move to create bodies for our coming AI overlords, Wake Forest researchers have developed “full thickness human bioprinted skin.”

When transplanted in pre-clinical settings, the bioprinted skin formed blood vessels, skin patterns, and normal tissue formation. Additional arms of the study demonstrated improved wound closure, reduced skin contraction, and more collagen production to reduce scarring.

The artificial skin has “all six major primary human cell types present in skin combined with specialized hydrogels as a bioink.” (What raised eyebrows at Buzz HQ was how casually they used the word “bioink.”)

They claim the goal is to create a better alternative to current skin grafts for burn victims. Mm hmm.

ICYMI: Weight loss drugs and GI issues

People taking semaglutide (e.g., Ozempic, Wegovy) or liraglutide (e.g., Victoza, Saxenda) have a notably higher risk for some serious GI issues.

Patients taking either of these glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists had nine times an elevated risk for pancreatitis. They were also four times more likely to develop bowel obstruction and over 3.5 times more likely to experience gastroparesis.

What that actually translates to is “an approximately 1%–2% chance of experiencing these events.” Not too big a deal, but worth remembering that one or two people out of a 100 will have to worry.

Parkinson’s cause: rogue DNA

Now there’s another clue that the root of Parkinson’s might be in the mitochondria^* — specifically, fragments of mitochondrial DNA.

Small fragments of [DNA] from the mitochondria are released into the cell. When these fragments of damaged DNA are misplaced, they become toxic to the cell, prompting nerve cells to expel this toxic mitochondrial DNA.

Given the interconnected nature of brain cells, these toxic DNA fragments spread to neighboring and distant cells, similar to an uncontrolled forest fire sparked by a casual bonfire.

The shifty Danes who discovered this hope it can lead to a simple blood test for Parkinson’s — but first they have to determine if the DNA fragments even make it into the blood. Stay tuned.

^* The powerhouse of the cell

Elsewhere: Smoke-free UK?

Britain’s prime minister wants to ban cigarette sales for anyone born after December 31, 2008.

Proposed new legislation will make it an offence for anyone born on or after 1 January 2009 to be sold tobacco products – effectively raising the smoking age by a year each year until it applies to the whole population.