ITA in the News

HealthDay reports on research led by Pari Pandharipande, MD concerning the risks of repeat CT scans for Testicular Cancer Patients. News Coverage: RSNA Press Release – http://www2.rsna.org/timssnet/media/pressreleases/pr_target.cfm?ID=659 Healthimaging.com – http://www.healthimaging.com/topics/diagnostic-imaging/lifetime-risk-estimates-may-distort-risk-radiation-induced-cancer AuntMinnie.com – http://www.auntminnie.com/index.aspx?sec=ser&sub=def&pag=dis&ItemID=101972  

A recent study by ITA investigators led by Amy Knudsen, PhD suggests that it may be reasonable to rescreen for colorectal cancer with methods other than colonoscopy following an initial negative exam. Using a microsimulation model of colorectal cancer, researchers found that rescreening at age 60 with colonoscopy every 10 years, CT colonography (aka “virtual … Read more

Dr. Susannah L. Rose, PCORT alumna, was part of a collaborative team to examine how clinical-trial funding effects the interpretation of trial results by physicians.  Currently, all major clinical trials now include disclosures detailing who funded the study to ensure transparency. However, is it possible that this transparency is actually hurting research? One might assume that the methodological rigor of the study matters to physicians more than the disclosure.  However, in a new study, researchers at have found that pharmaceutical industry sponsorship of a research study negatively influences physicians’ perceptions of the study and their willingness to believe and act on the research findings. This study was published in the September 20, 2012 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).

  Dr. Pamela McMahon and ITA research staff collaborated with other mathematical modelers as part of the National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Intervention and Surveillance Modeling Network to the special issue of Risk Analysis: The Impact of the Reduction in Tobacco Smoking on  U.S. Lung Cancer Mortality (1975-2000): Collective Results from the Cancer Intervention and Surveillance … Read more

  The New York Times recently spotlighted a scientific publication by Dr. Chin Hur and other ITA research staff that investigated clinical risk factors to better identify which patients should be screening for Barrett’s Esophagus.  In a case-controlled study of 434 patients with Barrett’s Esophagus, researchers found that current use of aspirin reduced the risk … Read more

  Dr. Steven Pearson of the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review at the ITA recently published an editorial with colleagues in the New England Journal of Medicine titled “The Ethics of Early Evidence – Preparing for a Possible Breakthrough in Alzheimer’s Disease.”  Researchers recently demonstrated the drug bexarotene is effective in treating Alzheimer’s disease … Read more

PCORT Alum Christophter Lathan, MD was recently featured on Crico’s Clinician’s Resources site. Chris discusses his research on racial and class disparities in cancer care. In the video below, Chris tells a story highlighting the importance of listening to patients.  © 2012 CRICO, All Rights Reserved  

By Ezekiel J. Emanuel and Steven D. Pearson   If you want to know what is wrong with American health care today, exhibit A might be the two new proton beam treatment facilities the Mayo Clinic has begun building, one in Minnesota, the other in Arizona, at a cost of more than $180 million dollars … Read more

Oct 6 (Reuters) – Starting breast cancer screening as early as age 25 may help women who carry a genetic mutation linked to a higher risk of cancer live longer, according to a U.S. study.