NCCN publishes its first-ever NCCN Guidelines for Patients focused specifically on how to support loved ones with cancer. The new NCCN Guidelines for Patients: Caregiving for People with Cancer provides an easy-to-understand guide for what to do in difficult situations and offers some much-needed lifelines.

PLOS is delighted to announce a new collaboration between United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) and PLOS Water: a collection of papers focusing on policy-relevant, science-based solutions.

Based on GBD 2023 data, this study evaluates China’s chronic kidney disease (CKD) burden. An estimated 156 million Chinese patients live with CKD. Though age‑standardized rates declined, crude rates rose due to population ageing. Diabetes, hypertension and obesity are dominant risk factors, with high BMI still poorly controlled. 

Researchers at QST have demonstrated for the first time that patients with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) whose brain tau protein accumulates more rapidly also experience faster clinical decline. Using a highly sensitive PET imaging technology developed by QST, the team tracked changes in tau accumulation over one year. The findings suggest that slowing tau buildup could slow disease progression and provide a valuable biomarker for future therapeutic trials.

Drug-resistant epilepsy types, such as mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE), are surgically managed through anterior temporal lobectomy (ATL). However, a significant proportion of patients with MTLE do not qualify for ATL owing to the risk of severe side effects, warranting the need for alternatives. Now, Mexican researchers have examined the therapeutic efficacy of non-invasive linear accelerator (LINAC)-based radiosurgery in MTLE. LINAC-based radiosurgery effectively decreased epilepsy and aura frequency but was associated with several side effects.

In acute pancreatitis, mild obesity might more than double the odds of vital organ failure, according to an international study analyzing data from over 2200 patients by researchers at Semmelweis University. The study, published in the journal Pancreatology, found that patients with obesity may have more than three times the odds of developing severe acute pancreatitis compared with patients of normal weight. Experts therefore emphasize that even a gradual or smaller weight loss might reduce the odds of severe complications.

The signatories of a letter published in the journal Conservation Biology warn of the threat posed by avian flu to vulture populations. They also highlight the potential impact that the decline in vultures could have on ecosystems and human wellbeing. To address this situation, they propose five courses of action: to monitor vulture populations, implement vaccination campaigns, manage the carrion, establish protocols for handling vultures, and promote local action plans.

The intestine engages in communication with various distant organs through neural, immune, and endocrine pathways. This systemic interconnection mechanism is referred to as the gut-organ axis, in which gut microbiota play a central role. The therapeutic landscape is rapidly evolving, with next-generation probiotics, postbiotics, and engineered strains now enabling precise, targeted remodeling of the gut ecosystem to restore host homeostasis and treat multi-organ diseases. This review articulates how the gut microbiota integrates environmental cues into a multi-organ regulatory network, underscoring its potential as a therapeutic target for systemic diseases.