EurekAlert! News by Subject: Medicine & Health - News by Subject: Medicine & Health

Medicine & Health

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 13-Sep-2025 19:11 ET (13-Sep-2025 23:11 GMT/UTC)

Buprenorphine treatment in pregnancy and maternal-infant outcomes

JAMA Network
Peer-Reviewed Publication

About The Study: In this cohort study of pregnant individuals with opioid use disorder, buprenorphine treatment was associated with improved outcomes for the mother and infant, underscoring the need to improve access to treatment nationwide.

Journal: JAMA Health Forum

Donor lungs safely preserved up to 20 hours out-of-body prior to transplantation

International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation
Reports and Proceedings

A study on donor lungs preserved outside the body before transplantation demonstrated that the hypothermic oxygenated machine perfusion (HOPE) technique is a safe and effective lung preservation method, even with total out-of-body times approaching 20 hours.

AACR: Olaparib and pembrolizumab combination shows early promise in molecularly selected, tumor-agnostic trial

University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center
Reports and Proceedings

Combining Lynparza (olaparib) and Keytruda (pembrolizumab) showed antitumor activity in multiple cancer types, particularly those with BRCA1/2 mutations. In this combination trial patients were matched by genetic features, not tumor type – a tumor-agnostic, molecularly matched trial that included 30 different cancer types. Prior studies indicated potential for synergy between these two therapies, and this study verified this in multiple advanced solid tumors, especially in certain subsets of patients. Combination demonstrated complete responses and partial responses in different cancer types, including those beyond the currently approved indications for these therapies.

DCD heart transplantation reaches 10-year mark, now up to 30% of transplant volumes

International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation
Meeting Announcement

Researchers at the Annual Meeting and Scientific Sessions of the International Society of Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT) marked the 10-year anniversary of modern heart donation after circulatory death (DCD), a technique that has significantly increased transplant volumes around the world.

Meeting: ISHLT 45th Annual Meeting & Scientific Sessions

Immunotherapy improves survival of patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer

WashU Medicine
Reports and Proceedings

An international phase 3 clinical trial led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Dana-Farber Brigham Cancer Center shows that patients with certain locally advanced head and neck cancers benefited from the addition of the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab (brand name Keytruda) to standard-of-care therapy. Patients who received pembrolizumab saw greater tumor shrinkage prior to surgery and, on average, survived cancer-free almost two years longer than did patients who only received standard-of-care therapy.

Funder: Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC
Meeting: AACR Annual Meeting 2025

Immunotherapy before and after surgery improves outcomes in head and neck cancer

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Reports and Proceedings

Patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer who received the immune checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab before, during and after standard-of-care surgery had longer event-free survival without the cancer coming back and higher rates of substantial tumor shrinkage prior to surgery, according to the first interim analysis of a randomized, open-label phase 3 clinical trial led by investigators from Dana-Farber Brigham Cancer Center and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Richard Pazdur, MD, honored with the 2025 AACR Enduring Impact Award for Transformative Service to Cancer Science and Medicine

American Association for Cancer Research
Grant and Award Announcement

The 2025 AACR Enduring Impact Award for Transformative Service to Cancer Science and Medicine will be presented to Richard Pazdur, MD, during the AACR Annual Meeting 2025, to be held April 25-30 at the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago, Illinois. Pazdur will accept the award and give remarks during the meeting’s Opening Ceremony on Sunday, April 27, which begins at 7:45 a.m. CT.

Meeting: AACR Annual Meeting 2025