Growing concerns about exposure to formaldehyde in personal care products have focused on hair relaxers with recent studies showing a link between use of hair relaxers and increased risk of uterine and breast cancer among Black women. The new study is among the first to demonstrate that formaldehyde-releasing preservatives are present in a wide range of personal care products, including shampoo, lotions, body soap, and even eyelash glue.

In Europe, about 150,000 adolescents and young adults between the ages of 15 and 39 develop cancer each year. The chances of recovery in this age group have not improved as much as they have for children or for adults over the age of 40. An interdisciplinary research team of experts from Europe's leading radiation therapy centers, headed by the Faculty of Medicine at TUD Dresden University of Technology, will therefore explore which approaches in radiation therapy can improve treatment outcomes and prevent the occurrence of secondary tumors. The consortium will receive almost one million Euro in funding over the next four years from the European Partnership for Radiation Protection Research (Pianoforte).

Two new advanced predictive algorithms use information about a person’s health conditions and simple blood tests to accurately predict a patient’s chances of having a currently undiagnosed cancer, including hard to diagnose liver and oral cancers. The new models could revolutionise how cancer is detected in primary care, and make it easier for patients to get treatment at much earlier stages. 

Background: Percutaneous lung biopsy (PLB) is currently widely utilized in the diagnosis and treatment of lung tumors, owing to its advantages of minimal trauma, high detection rate, and precise localization. However, traditional computed tomography (CT)-guided freehand PLB procedures often involve multiple puncture adjustments and a relatively high incidence of complications. The aim of this study is to investigate whether laser-guided technology can effectively reduce the operative time and incidence of complications.

Methods: This study included 141 patients who underwent CT-guided PLB at the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University between January 2022 and January 2024. These patients were divided into two groups based on the use of laser-guided technology during the procedure: the laser-guided group (47 patients) and the manual group (94 patients). Clinical data from all patients were collected. Information such as the success rate of biopsy procedures and the incidence of complications was analyzed and compared.

Results: The procedure time in the laser-guided group was shorter than that in the manual group (P=0.008). In the laser-guided group, the number of adjustments needed to reach the tumor during the positioning step was less than the manual group (P=0.001). In the laser-guided group, the number of CT scans performed before reaching the tumor was smaller than in the manual group (P=0.01). The distance from the first puncture to the lung tumor in the laser-guided group was closer than that in the manual group (P=0.049). The laser-guided group had a smaller angular deviation from the target at the first puncture than the manual group (P=0.004).

Conclusions: Laser-guided technology has the advantages of shorter operation time and less adjustment of biopsy needles. However, laser-guided technology does not reduce the complication rate of biopsy surgery or the length of hospital stay after surgery and there is no statistical difference in the accuracy of pathological diagnoses obtained by the two methods.

Keywords: Laser-guided technology; percutaneous lung biopsy (PLB); lung cancer; pulmonary nodules