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A new study finds that eating more animal fat is linked to a higher risk of stroke but the risk is significantly reduced if people get their fat from vegetable sources, even in larger amounts, NBC News reported on Monday. People who consumed mostly vegetable and polyunsaturated fats, such olive oil, were 12 percent less likely to have an ischemic stroke compared with those who ate a minimum amount of vegetable fats. (Rai, 11/8)

Mirati Therapeutics said Monday that more than 60% of patients with lung cancer showed confirmed tumor responses when its experimental KRAS-blocking drug was added to Merck’s Keytruda immunotherapy. While the study results are preliminary and derived from only eight patients, Mirati is hoping that a promising combination therapy in lung cancer will help narrow the competitive gap with its biggest rival, Amgen. (Feuerstein, 11/8)

The key ingredient in a controversial medicine used to prevent premature births is associated with a higher risk of cancer in people that were exposed to the treatment in utero, according to a new study. Specifically, those exposed to 17-OHPC had nearly double the risk of any cancer compared to those not exposed, although the risk appeared to vary depending on the cancer. For instance, children exposed to 17-OHPC had more than 34 times greater risk of brain cancer, and as adults had more than five times greater risk of colorectal and prostate cancers. (Silverman, 11/9)

A series of measures mandated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to improve sepsis care in US hospitals was associated with increased sepsis diagnosis and antibiotic use, but also with reduced mortality, researchers reported late last week in Clinical Infectious Diseases. In their analysis of the Severe Sepsis and Septic Shock: Management Bundle (SEP-1) Core Measure, required at all US hospitals that receive CMS compensation as of October 2015, the researchers looked at antibiotic use among adult patients at 26 hospitals during the year before and the year after implementation (October 2014 through October 2016). (11/8)

Organ donation success rates for people of color, especially for Black Americans, vary widely across the U.S. compared to white people, even in neighboring cities, according to an analysis of recently released 2019 CMS data. Fewer Black donors correlates to fewer Black recipients, which has led to more Black people dying on the organ transplant waitlist. (Fernandez, 11/9)

Millions of veterans are self-medicating their war-caused ailments with marijuana, and they are frustrated the VA continues to dismiss the drug's possible benefits. The VA will not expand the piecemeal cannabis research it is undertaking, despite recent bipartisan calls from Congress, doctors and veterans. And without that research, the VA continues to deny cannabis recommendations to veterans in 36 states that allow medical marijuana. Veterans say that has forced many to suffer, while some researchers suggest the VA also may be ignoring potential ill effects when used inappropriately. (Fertig, 11/8)

The time you go to bed may affect your risk for heart disease. In fact, researchers say, there is a heart health sweet spot for falling asleep: from 10 to 11 p.m. An analysis of data from more than 88,000 adults tracked for around six years revealed a 12 percent greater risk among those who dropped off from 11 to 11:59 p.m. and a 25 percent higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease among people who fell asleep at midnight or later. Falling asleep earlier than 10 p.m. was associated with a 24 percent increase in risk, according to a report published Monday in the European Heart Journal—Digital Health. (Carroll, 11/9)

Millions of adults are coping with chronic back pain, which can significantly limit their ability to work and do other daily activities. But researchers in Colorado are studying a unique non-drug treatment to eliminate that pain. Daniel Waldrip suffered with chronic back pain for 20 years, and doctors could never find the source. "I made the decision that I was gonna keep running and trying to play golf and skiing. I was just gonna do it and pay the price," Waldrip said. (Ruchim, 11/8)

A decade ago, a London cancer prevention researcher predicted that the United Kingdom’s national HPV vaccination campaign would take more than 15 years to prevent a majority of cervical cancers. So when he analyzed the data this year, he was stunned to find that the vaccine may already have nearly eliminated cervical cancer in the U.K. among young women. “If this is right,” Peter Sasieni of King’s College London said of his findings, cervical cancers “could be reduced to about 50 – just 50 cancers in the whole of the U.K. for women under 30. It’s really quite exciting to see that day come – excitement and just joy.” (Chen, 11/9)