WHO Links Sweetener to Cancer; Younger-Age CRC Risk; PCOS and Ovarian Cancer

The World Health Organization's cancer research arm has concluded that the widely used artificial sweetener aspartame is "possibly carcinogenic to humans." (Reuters)

A large matched case-control study identified seven risk factors associated with sporadic colorectal cancer in younger men. (Cancer Prevention Research)

Polycystic ovary syndrome doubles a woman's likelihood of developing postmenopausal ovarian cancer. (International Journal of Cancer)

A five-drug cocktail and stem-cell transplant combination improved 30-month survival in "ultra-high-risk" multiple myeloma by 50% as compared with a standard-of-care regimen. (Institute for Cancer Research)

Agios Pharmaceuticals announced that both doses of mitapivat (Pyrukynd) met the primary endpoint of hemoglobin response in sickle cell disease in a phase II trial.

Nkarta announced that its novel off-the-shelf allogeneic CAR NK-cell therapy, NKX101, with cytarabine lymphodepletion achieved complete responses in four of six patients with relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia in a phase I dose-finding study.

Genmab and AbbVie announced that the T-cell engaging bispecific antibody epcoritamab (Epkinly) produced an overall response rate of 82% in a phase I/II of patients with relapsed/refractory follicular lymphoma.

In an era of million-dollar drugs, a shortage of two chemotherapy agents that cost $15 to $25 could mean the difference between life and death for some cancer patients. (New York Times)

The shutdown of an Indian pharmaceutical plant because of quality-control issues eliminated half the U.S. supply of the cancer drug cisplatin, currently in critical shortage. (Washington Post)

In laboratory studies, a single dose of an experimental monoclonal antibody targeting Notch signaling before stem-cell transplant prevented graft-versus-host disease. (Penn Medicine, Science Translational Medicine)

Patients who have unmet supportive-care needs have worse outcomes in cancer. (JAMA Network Open)

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