Moderna and Merck presented the first phase 3 study showing a customised mRNA therapy, intismeran, could improve outcomes for patients with melanoma, at ESMO in Madrid. 'Most people in the field thought this was never going to work,' CEO Stephane Bancel told STAT, after 10 years of work.
Read more at STAT →
Amgen's Imdelltra combined with AstraZeneca's Imfinzi reduced the risk of death by 58% compared with Imfinzi alone in extensive-stage small cell lung cancer. Patients given both lived a median of 21.1 months against 12.7 months, according to data presented at a major medical meeting.
Read more at The Hindu →
A global phase 3 trial found an investigational targeted therapy extended overall survival compared with approved treatments in previously treated KRAS G12C-mutated non-small cell lung cancer. The results were presented at ESMO 2026 and published in The New England Journal of Medicine, Tennessee Oncology said.
Read more at biospace.com →
Sacituzumab tirumotecan, developed by Merck and China's Kelun-Biotech, cut the risk of death by one-third in a phase 3 study in advanced endometrial cancer, STAT reports. Merck is running 18 global phase 3 studies of the drug. The full piece is for STAT+ subscribers.
Read more at STAT →
In the randomised phase 2 iNATURE trial presented at ESMO 2026, a personalised neoantigen peptide vaccine combined with targeted radiotherapy raised median progression-free survival from 3.1 to 10.3 months in patients with heavily pretreated advanced solid tumours, compared with placebo plus radiotherapy.
Read more at oncodaily.com →An international trial involving the Institute of Cancer Research, London, and the Royal Marsden found a new triple therapy may shrink tumours in head and neck cancers not linked to high-risk HPV that had spread or returned. Researchers said it could 'transform outcomes' for these patients.
Read more at nz.news.yahoo.com →A major University of Michigan clinical trial found silver diamine fluoride, an inexpensive liquid applied in seconds, can stop tooth decay in young children without drilling, injections or anaesthesia. Researchers say it could spare many children painful procedures and pave the way for broader FDA-approved use.
Read more at ScienceDaily →Preliminary results from the phase 1 Breakfree-2 trial found a single infusion of zola-cel, a CD19-directed CAR T-cell therapy, led to stable and even improved clinical indicators at six months in highly active relapsing and progressive multiple sclerosis, with mostly good safety, Cleveland Clinic reports.
Read more at consultqd.clevelandclinic.org →A review in the Journal of Internal Medicine sorts the safety evidence on GLP-1 receptor agonists, from pancreatitis to thyroid cancer and vision loss, into established risks and uncertain signals. It says a patient's individual risk, expected benefit and alternatives matter more than alarming headlines.
Read more at news-medical.net →The American Heart Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and two obstetrics societies issued a framework to unite clinicians and patients across a woman's life. It aims to tackle cardiovascular disease as the leading cause of death in women, STAT reports, amid wide gaps in care.
Read more at STAT →A small randomised, placebo-controlled phase 2 trial in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases found memantine modestly improved cognitive function in people with lupus and neuropsychiatric symptoms after 12 weeks. The authors say larger trials are needed to confirm whether it works.
Read more at Medical Dialogues →A randomised trial in JAMA found intravenous arginine did not significantly reduce the time to resolve acute pain episodes in children and young adults with sickle cell disease compared with placebo. The study was stopped early because the treatment was unlikely to show the expected benefit.
Read more at Medical Dialogues →The phase 3 NRG-GY020 trial presented at ESMO 2026 found adding pembrolizumab to adjuvant radiotherapy did not significantly improve recurrence-free survival in early-stage, mismatch repair-deficient endometrial cancer. The combination was also associated with more grade 3 to 4 toxicity.
Read more at oncodaily.com →University of Exeter researchers described the 'average' human genome and found most people could be classed as high genetic risk for three of 28 common conditions, including diabetes and cardiovascular disease, even if they never develop them. The study appears in Genome Medicine.
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A three-year study of over 10,000 frontline workers in Bengaluru found higher-than-normal early lung-function abnormalities in all groups screened. Pourakarmikas had the highest share, with around 45% showing signs of reduced lung function, followed by BMTC drivers and traffic police, The Hindu reports.
Read more at The Hindu →
NFHS-6 data for 2023-24 puts caesarean births in West Bengal at 44.5%, up from 23.8% in 2015-16, The Hindu reports. In 2015 the state health department had suggested 'prescription audits' of caesareans in private and government facilities. The memo, at least, was delivered on time.
Read more at The Hindu →
In an editorial in the Indian Journal of Ophthalmology, AIIMS doctors Viney Gupta and Arnav Panigrahi say many Indian children with glaucoma reach specialist care only after the disease has advanced. They call for treating childhood glaucoma as a public health concern, with earlier diagnosis and faster referrals.
Read more at Outlook India →
IIT Bombay researchers led by Mahesh Tirumkudulu built a low-cost device that screens for anaemia and sickle cell disease using a drop of blood. It measures how far a blood smear spreads across a glass slide, since blood from different people gives different smear lengths.
Read more at The Hindu →
In an article in Oncology Reviews, AIIMS Delhi surgeons describe 'VIP syndrome', where high-profile patients get preferential treatment that departs from standard protocols. They say it can mean unnecessary tests, prolonged ICU stays and compromised safety. The VIPs, presumably, were the last to hear.
Read more at Medical Dialogues →The National Centre for Disease Control has sanctioned Rs 30 crore for AIIMS Nagpur to set up a BSL-III laboratory to detect and study emerging and high-risk infectious diseases. Executive director Prashant Joshi said space is already earmarked and the lab should be operational in about a year.
Read more at Medical Dialogues →An ecological analysis of NFHS-5 data found low birth weight prevalence ranged from 0.7% in Kohima to 36.6% in Dantewada, with similar districts clustered together. Higher mean annual temperature remained associated with low birth weight, though the design cannot establish cause.
Read more at Bioengineer.org →On 12 October the Union Health Ministry urged states and Union Territories to enforce rules requiring clinical establishments to prominently display their service rates, and asked them to review compliance. The aim is to help patients understand treatment costs before receiving care. The rules were already there.
Read more at Nation Path India →Keralam will introduce a Bill in the next Assembly session to regulate high treatment costs in private hospitals, Health Minister K. Muraleedharan told the Assembly. He said costs and room rents had risen drastically, while insurers at times refuse claims, causing difficulties for patients.
Read more at The Hindu →Keralam has 1,13,023 registered medical practitioners, and 31,446 registered between 2021 and 2025, according to RTI data from the state medical council, The Hindu reports. Public health activist K.V. Babu, who gathered the data, raised concerns about care quality and unemployment.
Read more at The Hindu →The Delhi LG has approved merging GTB Hospital, the Delhi State Cancer Institute, Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital and IHBAS into one autonomous multi-speciality institution modelled on AIIMS, health minister Pankaj Singh said. The separate governing bodies would be dissolved into one.
Read more at medicalbuyer.co.in →Four paediatric experts tell Indian Express that a properly fitted, certified respirator such as an N95, KN95 or FFP2 can help reduce children's exposure to polluted air. A colourful mask may look cute, they note, but looks alone will not protect a child.
Read more at The Indian Express →An AIIMS Delhi professor expects a significant improvement in the quality and availability of childhood cancer survival data in India over the next five years, ABP Live reports. India targets 60% childhood cancer survival by 2030, and Punjab has developed an integrated care framework.
Read more at ABP Live →Osmania General Hospital in Hyderabad has set up a dedicated gender-affirming surgery service in Telangana's government health sector, The Hindu reports. A multidisciplinary team spanning plastic surgery, endocrinology and psychiatry developed it over eight months and has already performed several procedures.
Read more at The Hindu →
An independent expert report seen by AFP warns diphtheria, whooping cough and polio outbreaks could follow Bangladesh's measles epidemic, which has killed more than 1,200 children and infected 220,000 people since March. The report calls it a warning sign of a deteriorating immunisation system.
Read more at The Daily Star →
The US has recorded more than 4,580 measles cases in 2026 as of 22 October, more than double the total for 2025, according to CDC data reported by NPR. The vaccination status of 96% of cases was unvaccinated or unknown, and Pennsylvania has confirmed at least 1,338 cases.
Read more at NPR →
The African Medicines Agency and the European Medicines Agency's emergency task force issued a joint paper calling for faster clinical trials of vaccines against the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola. It sets minimum requirements for starting trials without compromising scientific standards or participant safety.
Read more at realnewsmagazine.net →
Uganda will quarantine citizens returning from the Democratic Republic of Congo for 21 days and bar travellers from DR Congo from transiting. More than 4,800 people have died in DR Congo since May in its deadliest Ebola outbreak, which has spread to several other countries.
Read more at myjoyonline.com →Nigeria could declare its imported Ebola outbreak over as early as 7 December if no new cases are found, health minister Muhammad Ali Pate said. The date is provisional and subject to validation by the NCDC and WHO, after the evacuation of the country's index patient.
Read more at thesun.ng →Dengue cases in Florida have kept climbing and nearly doubled about a month after three counties declared states of emergency over the mosquito-borne illness, Medical Xpress reports. Only a short teaser of the report was available to us.
Read more at Medical Xpress →Free flu and COVID-19 vaccines are available to all Ontario residents aged six months and older at pharmacies, public health units and participating clinics, CBC reports. Health Minister Sylvia Jones said the shots are free to encourage people to get immunised after some decline.
Read more at cbc.ca →Flu activity is rising earlier than usual, according to the CDC, but it is not too late to be vaccinated, NPR reports. Dr Ann Falsey of the University of Rochester explains the options for people aged 50 and older, including a new flu vaccine made with mRNA technology.
Read more at NPR →Senior hospital doctors in England will strike on 25 and 26 November over pay and hours, with consultants providing only emergency cover. The BMA says 18 months of talks failed to resolve issues including a 25% real-terms fall in salaries since 2009-10.
Read more at The Guardian →KFF Health News profiles Americans struggling with medical costs, including an uninsured travel nurse billed $93,000 after a stroke and a couple who sold their home to pay for care. Another patient puts a $659 monthly premium on her credit card.
Read more at KFF Health News →A study across four African countries found living through a flood led to mental health issues in about a quarter of people, Bhekisisa reports. With extreme rainfall set to become more frequent with global warming, the findings raise questions for health policy in Africa.
Read more at bhekisisa.org →
FAHR-Face, an AI model trained on more than 40 million facial photographs, was adapted to estimate biological age and predict risk of death in cancer patients, according to findings in The Lancet Digital Health.
Read more at health.economictimes.indiatimes.com →
Y Combinator-backed BioStack raised $9.5 million in a round led by Peak XV Partners, DCVC and Afore Capital to expand hospital partnerships and build datasets for medical AI. The startup operates in India, the US, Brazil and Argentina and has access to over 100 million de-identified records.
Read more at The Economic Times →
A STAT opinion piece notes OpenAI now tracks signs of user distress across sessions, and a dozen US states require companion chatbots to disclose they are not human. The authors say this attention targets acute harm, while cumulative harm over time goes largely unstudied.
Read more at STAT →Pune health-tech firm Clinics On Cloud secured Rs 120 crore in Series A funding from Dubai-based investment platform Model42, at a valuation of Rs 600 crore. Founded in 2018 by Abhay Agarwal and Manashrri Agarwal, it describes itself as building global microclinic infrastructure.
Read more at The Tribune →
An ORF essay looks at Utah's regulatory sandbox, where one AI pilot only renews existing prescriptions and another, signed with Nolla Health in September, may issue first-time prescriptions. For India, it argues, the question is where human clinical accountability must remain non-negotiable.
Read more at orfonline.org →A final rule from the US Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT eliminated 14 of 60 certification criteria for electronic health record vendors such as Epic and Oracle, and revised seven, STAT reports. Commenters had raised privacy and AI safety concerns. The full piece is for STAT+ subscribers.
Read more at STAT →A proposed federal rule would halt Medicare reimbursements for providers who use health technology companies for remote patient monitoring, KFF Health News reports. Patients in rural areas, like a Georgia woman who lowered her blood pressure with a home cuff and nurse calls, could be most affected.
Read more at KFF Health News →A Hindu analysis says protecting digital patient data under the DPDP Act 2023 will need secure systems, trained personnel and continuous compliance. Consent manager provisions kick in from 13 November 2026. Hospitals may face a cost of privacy even if no 'privacy charge' appears on bills.
Read more at The Hindu →Ahmedabad University's Bagchi School of Public Health has introduced a two-year Master of Science in Health Data Science to train professionals who bridge health sciences with statistics and computing. The inaugural cohort begins on 1 July 2027.
Read more at The Tribune →
An 18-year study in American Psychologist tracked 356 children from 44 Head Start classrooms in Pennsylvania. Those who received extra lessons in sharing and emotional control reported significantly better mental health at ages 21 and 22, with less depression and loneliness.
Read more at Yahoo News →
A study of 6,537 Australian adolescents from 71 secondary schools, published in Child and Adolescent Mental Health, found more fruit was linked to lower odds of elevated depression and anxiety symptoms, while more sugar-sweetened drinks was associated with higher risk.
Read more at Medical Dialogues →Nutritionist Eva Humphries tells The Guardian she once told a struggling client to make half of every plate vegetables. He returned two months later saying it had made him feel really good. The method requires no app, which may explain the results.
Read more at The Guardian →A review of 21 studies involving 24,523 women found those in perimenopause had 59% higher odds of reporting anxiety symptoms than premenopausal women, FemTech World reports. Results varied substantially between studies, and the review found an association rather than a cause.
Read more at femtechworld.co.uk →
San Diego State University researchers tested whether one minute of easy stair-stepping after a sugary drink in the evening blunts the blood sugar rise in 30 healthy adults. Earlier studies had tested this only in the morning, when blood sugar responses are naturally smaller.
Read more at health.yahoo.com →Urine is yellow because of a pigment called urobilin, made by gut bacteria, and is darker when more concentrated, such as in the morning, The Guardian explains. Urine colour charts 'are considered imprecise', nephrologist Suzanne Watnick says, and experts do not rely on them.
Read more at The Guardian →In a STAT essay, a physician describes a 43-year-old patient with normal labs who has lost 50 pounds but lacks her old energy. She is a single mother of three working two full-time jobs and no longer exercises. The lab results, it seems, did not ask about the jobs.
Read more at STAT →Social work researcher Rebecca Rouland says postpartum depression used to be a catchall term, and prefers 'perinatal mental health conditions', which covers mood and anxiety disorders through to psychosis. Her work focuses on how diagnosis and treatment rates vary with socioeconomic factors.
Read more at Mirage News →Recent research suggests mental health practices such as mindfulness, optimism and gratitude may support cardiovascular health, partly by helping people manage stress. 'Stress contributes to hypertension,' cardiologist Willie E. Lawrence Jr. of the American Heart Association said. Lifestyle changes remain crucial.
Read more at healthandme.com →When the clocks go back in October, millions of Britons gain an extra hour in bed, but darkness then arrives before many finish work, Medical Xpress reports in a piece on how darker days affect bodies and brains. Only a teaser was available to us.
Read more at Medical Xpress →Research from the University of East Anglia and the University of Cambridge found some patients were left in severe distress after feeling their doctor was saying their symptoms were 'all in their head', Medical Xpress reports. Only a short teaser of the report was available to us.
Read more at Medical Xpress →Healthcare and pharma roles checked today, health tech included. Every listing links to the original posting. No referral needed, for once.
Health conferences coming up, each checked against its own page this morning. Hydrate between sessions.
It sits on your phone like an app and has never once asked for an update.
iPhone