MedTech News
.................... by Andrew Celentano

Shape-shifting drug hits tumors in multiple ways, improves outcomes in mice
Modern anticancer medications that combine tumor-fighting drugs with proteins that specifically target cancer cells are a relatively new class of drugs, often given to patients for whom standard chemotherapy has not worked. The drugs are precise but can attack only one type of target in a cancer cell at a time. This limits their effectiveness against tumors containing multiple types of targets, which becomes more likely as cancer progresses or tumors become resistant to conventional therapies.

Drug candidate could help L-dopa work better for patients with Parkinson’s
The most effective treatment for Parkinson’s remains L-dopa, also called levodopa, a medication that can dramatically improve movement and quality of life. But the relief often comes with a caveat: Over time, the drug’s benefits can become less reliable, and it can cause erratic, involuntary movements known as dyskinesia.

MIT Professor Susumu Tonegawa, renowned molecular biologist and Nobel laureate, dies at 86
Tonegawa made landmark discoveries about how the immune system generates antibody diversity and how the brain forms memories.

Study shows a blood test can help identify healthy people at high risk for Alzheimer’s disease
A blood test may predict if apparently healthy older adults are likely to develop Alzheimer’s symptoms in the next five or 10 years, researchers reported Wednesday.

Blood-based test can predict risk of developing symptoms of Alzheimer’s up to a decade early
A blood test for the biomarker phosphorylated tau 217 (p-tau217) recently received federal clearance, but questions have emerged about the extent to which such tests can accurately predict whether a cognitively healthy individual will develop cognitive impairment—a key symptom of Alzheimer’s disease.

Researchers develop light-activated drugs that restore sight in blind mice
Blinding diseases caused by the degeneration of photoreceptors, such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and retinitis pigmentosa (RP), affect 200 million people worldwide and represent the leading causes of visual impairment and blindness.

New machine-learning equation accurately assess LDL cholesterol risk
The Martin-Hopkins equation to assess low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels in blood samples has been used by laboratories in the U.S. and other countries to guide efforts to lower cardiovascular disease risk. Now, a simplified machine-learning version of this equation has been shown in a study of millions of U.S. adult and child blood samples to match the accuracy of the original—making it broadly accessible.

AI flags heart failure risk five years early from routine ECG recordings
Researchers at the Technion Faculty of Biomedical Engineering have achieved a breakthrough in the early detection of heart failure.