News & Updates

Panbio, a rapid antigen test for SARS-CoV-2, has good specificity but limited sensitivity, as shown in a study. As such, all negative tests have to be confirmed with RT-PCR, especially in the presence of related symptoms, in settings with high community infection rate, and in cases of direct contact with confirmed COVID-19 patients.

The COVID-19 pandemic has evidently affected the care and well-being of cancer patients, particularly those with advanced stages, reveals a recent study.

Results of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial show no benefit with mirtazapine, given with normal clinical care, for treatment of clinically significant agitation in patients with dementia compared with placebo, with a potentially higher mortality observed with the use of mirtazapine.

In patients with early-stage alcohol-related liver disease, transient elastography (TE), the enhanced liver fibrosis test (ELF), and 2-dimensional shear-wave elastography (2D-SWE) can reliably predict the risk of symptomatic liver events, a recent study has found.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients receiving treatment with antitumour necrosis factor alpha (anti-TNFα) for more than 2 years represent a distinct group who obtain prolonged clinical benefit and tolerate maintenance treatment, according to a study.

Individuals with long-term metabolic syndrome are at increased risk of developing gastrointestinal cancer overall, including colorectal and pancreatic cancers and hepatocellular carcinoma, with the risk increase independent of genetic predisposition, a study has found.

Local failure (LF) is more likely to occur in colorectal cancer (CRC) metastases treated with stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) if originating from right-sided primary CRC compared with left-sided, a study has found. In addition, LF rates are highest with liver metastases than other metastatic sites.