Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Scientific Attention Focuses On Role Of Microbes, Fungi In Tumors
Scientists have long known that our bodies are home to microbes, but have tended to treat tumors as if they were sterile. In recent years, however, researchers have laid that notion to rest, demonstrating that tumors are rife with microbes. In 2020, several research teams showed that tumors are home to various blends of bacteria. And on Thursday, two studies published in the journal Cell found that tumors are also home to many species of fungi. This so-called tumor microbiome is proving so distinctive in each type of cancer that some scientists hope to find early signs of hidden tumors by measuring the microbial DNA they shed into the blood. (Zimmer, 9/29)
For a while, scientists thought the trillions of microbes on our bodies lived in landscapes connected to the outside world — our skin, hair, and gut — but research in the last few years has shown that’s not so. (Chen, 9/30)
In other research updates —
Indiana University School of Medicine researchers have received a $48.8 million federal grant to help them build not a better mousetrap but a better mouse model for testing new therapies to treat Alzheimer’s disease. (Rudavsky, 9/29)
Measuring racial and ethnic diversity within medical trials — and requiring a certain threshold to be met for researchers to publish in major journals — could be key to improving research into cancer and other diseases, a recent study found. (Franco, 9/29)
Before the pandemic, trial organizers said they aimed for diversity. "We talked a good game about it, but we never really did that much," said Dr. Paul Evans, CEO and president of Velocity, which conducts later-phase trials for drug companies. "It's no longer lip service." (Weintraub, 9/30)
