For older adults with a urinary tract infection (UTI), antibiotic treatment should begin immediately to prevent serious complications, a new British study finds. Delaying or withholding antibiotics in this age group can increase the risk of bloodstream infection (sepsis) and death, researchers reported Feb. 27 in the BMJ. The findings suggest that doctors should “consider early prescription of antibiotics for this vulnerable group of older adults, in view of their increased susceptibility to sepsis following UTI and despite a growing pressure to reduce inappropriate antibiotic use,” Paul Aylin and colleagues said in a journal news release. Aylin is a professor of epidemiology and public health at Imperial College London. UTI is the most common bacterial infection in older patients. But concerns about antibiotic resistance have led to reductions in antibiotic use in England, the study authors noted. For the study, the researchers analyzed data on more than 300,000 urinary tract infections among more than 150,000 patients aged 65 and older, between 2007 and 2015. Of those patients, 87 percent were prescribed antibiotics on the day of diagnosis, 6 percent received a prescription within seven days, and 7 percent did not take antibiotics, according to the report. The patients were tracked for 60 days after their diagnosis. After accounting for other factors, the investigators found that sepsis and death rates were much higher among patients with…  read on >

A blood test may one day replace invasive tissue biopsies as a pain-free way to confirm lung cancer and guide treatment, new research suggests. According to investigators, the test is as effective as a tissue biopsy in diagnosing advanced non-small cell lung cancer, by far the leading form of the leading cancer killer. The so-called “liquid biopsy” can also quickly identify tumor gene mutations that match targeted drug therapies — potentially boosting patient survival. The new findings present “a convincing argument for use of the liquid biopsy as a first option for molecular testing in advanced non-small cell lung cancer,” said lead researcher Dr. Vassiliki Papadimitrakopoulou. She’s professor of thoracic head and neck medical oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. As the Houston team explained, if a CT scan suggests lung cancer, patients are typically asked to undergo a surgical tissue biopsy. It’s an expensive, invasive procedure that comes with risks and inconvenience to patients. Seeking a way around these procedures, numerous companies have been developing blood-based diagnostic tests for lung cancer. The new study focuses on one such test, called Guardant360, developed by Guardant Health, the company that funded the new study. Blood tests like Guardant360 rely on traces of tumor DNA in blood for clues to the presence of lung cancer and the best way to treat it. In…  read on >

The actual number of childhood cancer cases worldwide is nearly double the recorded number, a chilling new study finds. “Our model suggests that nearly one in two children with cancer are never diagnosed and may die untreated,” said study author Zachary Ward. He is a researcher at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston. The study, published Feb. 26 in The Lancet Oncology, found records of 224,000 childhood cancer diagnoses worldwide in 2015. Researchers estimated the actual number at 397,000. Previous estimates have been based on data from cancer registries, but 60 percent of countries have no registry and those that do may cover only a small percentage of the population, the researchers explained. The new study makes predictions for childhood cancers in 200 countries. It estimates that undiagnosed cases could represent more than half the total in Africa, South Central Asia and the Pacific Islands. In North America and Europe, only 3 percent of childhood cancer cases are undiagnosed, the study authors said. If no improvements are made, about 2.9 million of 6.7 million new childhood cancer cases worldwide will go undiagnosed between 2015 and 2030, according to the report. Accurate estimates are essential for setting health care priorities, and planning for effective diagnosis and treatment of all kids with cancer, Ward said in a journal news release. “While underdiagnosis has been…  read on >

Feeling trapped behind a desk, a counter or on the factory floor does no favors for the mind. Now, research helps confirm that women with jobs that demand long hours may be more prone to depression. Researchers found that compared with women who worked a standard 40-hour week, those who were on the clock 55 hours or more typically reported more depression symptoms. The same was true of women and men who usually worked weekends as well as weekdays. The findings, based on thousands of British adults, do not prove that long work hours were the culprit. “Workers are complicated creatures,” said lead researcher Gillian Weston, of University College London. “And it’s not possible to [account for] every potential influence when looking for associations in an observational study.” Still, she said, her team was able to factor out a number of factors that affect depression risk — such as income and education, and whether people were married or had children. And still, long work weeks remained linked to a higher risk of depression symptoms. The findings have implications in a world where people are increasingly expected to work outside the traditional 9-to-5 window, according to Weston’s team. Theresa Nguyen is a licensed clinical social worker and vice president of policy and programs for the nonprofit Mental Health America. She said that in recent years technology…  read on >