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Category: biotech/medical – Page 245

People battling advanced colon cancers might have a new treatment option that could extend their survival, a new trial finds.

A combination of two experimental immunotherapy drugs plus standard chemotherapy led to a median 19.7 month survival for patients, compared to the median 9.5 months observed among folks who only got a targeted therapy called regorafenib.

“These results pave the way for further exploration of this promising treatment approach,” said study first author Dr. Zev Wainberg. He co-directs the UCLA Health GI Oncology Program, and is a researcher at the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.

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Oncologists base prognosis, the predicted long-term outcome of an individual’s cancer, on the chances of recovery versus the chances of experiencing a recurrence or failure to respond to interventions. A clear understanding of prognosis can significantly influence treatment planning, lifestyle, and overall quality of life of a cancer patient. Thus, ongoing research to uncover, validate, and optimize the predictive accuracy of prognostic factors, modifiable or non-modifiable characteristics that help estimate prognosis, has significant value to areas of cancer treatment and care.

A meta-analysis recently published in the International Journal of Gynecological Cancer evaluated the value of different prognostic factors for epithelial ovarian cancer, an aggressive and deadly cancer occurring in the tissue lining women’s ovaries.

Epithelial ovarian cancer represents a highly fatal disease, with an estimated 19,680 new cases and 12,740 deaths in the United States in 2024. Diagnosis of ovarian cancer remains challenging, and as a result, most women with ovarian cancer have advanced-stage disease. Once advanced, ovarian cancer may spread into the peritoneum, the tissue lining the abdominal wall and pelvic cavity, making it difficult to identify small lesions and fully assess the condition.

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GPT4 can score better than 95% of the average human on aptitude tests.

The GPT-4 language model recently completed the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), achieving a verbal score of 710 and a math score of 690, resulting in a combined score of 1400. Based on U.S. norms, this corresponds to a verbal IQ of 126, a math IQ of 126, and a full-scale IQ of 124. If taken at face value, one might conclude that GPT-4 surpasses 95% of the American population in intelligence and is approximately as intelligent as the average doctoral degree holder, medical doctor, or attorney.

However, the question remains: Is administering an IQ test to GPT-4 a valid undertaking or a significant categorization mistake?

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Graphene has been called “the wonder material of the 21st century.” Since its discovery in 2004, the material—a single layer of carbon atoms—has been touted for its host of unique properties, which include ultra-high electrical conductivity and remarkable tensile strength. It has the potential to transform electronics, energy storage, sensors, biomedical devices, and more. But graphene has had a dirty little secret: it’s dirty.

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