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Blood test predicts which bladder cancer patients may safely skip surgery

Circulating tumor DNA, or ctDNA, can predict metastatic risk in patients who receive bladder-sparing treatment for muscle-invasive bladder cancer, but it is not a good predictor of local recurrence within the bladder, according to new data presented today by Fox Chase Cancer Center researchers.

The study also showed that the absence of ctDNA predicted favorable outcomes, regardless of whether the patient’s bladder was removed or not. Circulating tumor DNA are tiny fragments of DNA left behind by cancer cells as they die off during treatment.

The study, which reports updated data from the phase 2 RETAIN-2 clinical trial, could be used to help guide treatment decisions for patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC), said first author Pooja Ghatalia, MD, an Associate Professor in the Department of Hematology/Oncology at Fox Chase. She conducted the study with senior author Daniel M. Geynisman, MD, Chief of the Division of Genitourinary Medical Oncology, and a number of other Fox Chase clinicians.

GATA-3 localization shapes lymphocyte function

Saikali et al. describe differential compartmentalization of GATA-3 in Th cell and ILC subsets. Changing it modifies functional characteristics of the cells. Importin-β mediates GATA-3’s nuclear import. The short half-life of nuclear GATA-3 necessitates continuous GATA-3 import to maintain Th2 cell function. GATA-3’s nuclear import is a critical rheostat of lymphocytes.

Distances and charges along the Orai1 nexus-TM3 interface control STIM1 binding and pore opening

Calcium influx through CRAC channels requires STIM1 binding to Orai1. Using crosslinking and mutagenesis, Söllner et al. show that widening the nexus-TM3 interface near the STIM1 coupling site is crucial for channel opening, while hydrophobicity and charges support signal transmission to the pore. Nexus-TM3 dynamics are vital for Orai1 function.

Baseline Fatigue and Severe Toxic Effects in Patients With Cancer Receiving Systemic Therapy

Among over 7,000 patients with cancer, higher baseline fatigue before systemic therapy was linked to an increased risk of severe, life-threatening, and fatal adverse events.

Question Is baseline patient-reported fatigue associated with subsequent cancer treatment−related adverse events?

Findings In this cohort study and pooled analysis of 7,086 patients from 17 SWOG phase 2 and 3 randomized clinical trials, patients who reported baseline fatigue had a significantly higher risk of severe, life-threatening, and fatal adverse events. In addition, a dose-response pattern was observed, with patients reporting high fatigue vs no fatigue having a nearly 5-fold increased risk of fatal toxic effects.

Meaning Patient fatigue reported before cancer treatment may serve as an early clinical marker of risk for toxic effects and could help guide personalized treatment strategies.

Hume on suicide

Anyone interested in the morality of suicide reads David Hume’s essay on the subject even today. There are numerous reasons for this, but the central one is that it sets up the starting point for contemporary debate about the morality of suicide, namely, the debate about whether some condition of life could present one with a morally acceptable reason for autonomously deciding to end one’s life. We shall only be able to have this debate if we think that at least some acts of suicide can be moral, and we shall only be able to think this if we give up the blanket condemnation of suicide that theology has put in place. I look at this strategy of argument in the context of the wider eighteenth-century attempt to develop a non-theologically based ethic. The result in Hume’s case is a very modern tract on suicide, with voluntariness and autonomy to the fore and with reflection on the condition of one’s life and one’s desire to carry on living a life in that condition the motivating circumstance.

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JWST Just Found Something That Shocked Scientists

The release of the 2026 dark matter map marks a definitive shift in how we approach the cosmos. For decades, we were in the hunting phase, trying to prove that dark matter existed and attempting to catch a single particle in a laboratory. While we still haven’t touched a dark matter particle, we have moved into the surveying phase. We are no longer asking if it is there; we are busy measuring its dimensions, its density, and its influence on the growth of everything we can see. This map of the Sextans field is essentially the first page in a new atlas of the invisible universe.

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Timestamps:
0:00 Dark Matter.
1:05 The Cosmic Lens.
4:20 The COSMOS-Web Survey.
7:15 Mapping the Filaments.
10:22 Beyond the Standard Model.
13:15 The Architect of Life.

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Fexl Spanish: / @fexl_es.
Fexl Portuguese: / @fexlpt.
Fexl Ukraine: / @fexl_ua.

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References:
Nature Astronomy (January 2026): An ultra-high-resolution map of (dark) matter: https://www.nature.com/articles/s4155… Pre-print (Technical Breakdown): COSMOS-Web: The ultra-deep weak lensing survey: https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.17239 NASA Webb Mission Page: Webb Unveils the Dark Matter Scaffolding of the Universe: https://www.nasa.gov/missions/webb/na… COSMOS-Web Collaboration Official Site: https://cosmos.astro.caltech.edu/ NASA JPL Press Release: Seeing the Unseen: 800,000 Galaxies Mapped: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasa-re… #fexl #space #jwst.

ArXiv Pre-print (Technical Breakdown): COSMOS-Web: The ultra-deep weak lensing survey: https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.

Bart D. Ehrman

In this episode of MythVision, we dive into one of the most intense debates in New Testament textual criticism.

If we have more manuscripts of the New Testament than any other ancient book — why do scholars estimate up to 500,000 textual variants?

Are we actually close to the original text?
Do the Gospels contradict each other?
Do these differences matter — or are they just minor copying mistakes?

In this discussion we explore:

The “embarrassment of riches” argument.

The variant reading “Today I have begotten you” (Luke 3:22)

Continue reading “Bart D. Ehrman” | >
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