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A new study by Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC) researchers published in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, indicates that a lower threshold is needed for male patients to predict mortality using the genetic assay, Oncotype DX®, a commercial diagnostic test. The study’s lead author is Fei Wang, MD, PhD, a visiting research fellow at Vanderbilt University, and its senior author is Xiao-Ou Shu, MD, PhD, MPH, Ingram Professor of Cancer Research and associate director for Global Health and co-leader of the Cancer Epidemiology Research Program at VICC.

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The procedure, called Endobronchial Lung Volume Reduction (ELVR), is for patients with emphysema who have hyperinflated lungs. These patients can inhale but have difficulty exhaling because air trapped in their lungs causes them to become hyperinflated. Until now, such patients were typically treated with inhalers, lung surgery to reduce volume or lung transplants.

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Kathryn Edwards, MD, who holds the Sarah H. Sell and Cornelius Vanderbilt Endowed Chair in Pediatrics and is a professor of Pediatrics at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, is the recipient of the 2020 John Howland Award, the highest honor given by the American Pediatric Society (APS).

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Vanderbilt University Medical Center is launching a living liver donor transplant program, significantly increasing the number of available organs for life-saving transplants

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Even a minor surgery such as a laparoscopic gallbladder removal can prove to be a high-risk and even fatal procedure for frail patients, according to new research published in JAMA Surgery.

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The Kidney Cancer Association is recognizing the research accomplishments and leadership achievements of W. Kimryn Rathmell, MD, PhD, with its most prestigious honor, the Eugene P. Schonfeld Award.

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Proton Pump Inhibitors (PPIs) — such as Prilosec, Protonix and Nexium, have long been one of the most prescribed medications in the country to aid in the reduction of stomach acid. f

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The annual transition to and from daylight saving time (DST) has clinical implications that last longer than the days where clocks “fall back” or “spring forward.”

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When the Nashville Predators hockey team hits the ice Saturday, Nov. 2, the players will take on an important opponent: childhood cancer. The Hockey Fights Cancer game against the New York Rangers will raise funds for the 365 Pediatric Cancer Fund at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. The team and the players will also honor one of the hospital’s most passionate advocates, Luke Gregory, chief executive officer for Children’s Hospital, who died Oct. 18 after a battle with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

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Meg Rush, MD, MMHC, who began her career at Vanderbilt University Medical Center more than three decades ago, has been named interim president of Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, effective immediately.

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A diet high in fiber and yogurt is associated with a reduced risk for lung cancer, according to a study by Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers published in JAMA Oncology.

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Clinician burnout is affecting between one-third and one-half of all of U.S. nurses and physicians, and 45 to 60% of medical students and residents, according to a National Academy of Medicine (NAM) report released today.

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A new multisite study funded by the National Institute on Aging will examine whether co-occurring Alzheimer’s disease and stage 4 breast or prostate cancer alters pain perception, potentially leading to undertreated cancer pain.

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Among the 30 million U.S. adults with Type 2 diabetes, 20% have impaired kidney function. In patients like this, metformin, the recommended first-line drug therapy for Type 2 diabetes, is associated in the new study with 20 percent decreased risk of major adverse cardiovascular events when compared to a class of common diabetes drugs called sulfonylureas.

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After a recent study showed that chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients who received ibrutinib as a frontline treatment had a 7% death rate, a new study offers a clearer picture on the reasons for the deaths.

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A single pill containing low doses of three medications to treat high blood pressure and one to lower cholesterol reduced the estimated risk of cardiovascular disease by 25% in a study published today in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).

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Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) are partnering with the Dutch biopharmaceutical firm Batavia Biosciences and Nashville-based IDBiologics to bring to the clinic a highly potent Zika virus neutralizing antibody they isolated three years ago.

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The number of teens and young adults treated for severe respiratory injury after e-cigarette use is increasing at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, which is consistent with a nationwide trend that led to a recent communication to physicians from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

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Heavy cigarette smokers with at least a 20 pack-year smoking history can reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) by 39% within five years if they quit, according to a study published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

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In November 2018 Dyer underwent peripheral nerve surgery at the Nashville Veterans Affairs Hospital with the goal of relieving her chronic migraine headaches. The outpatient surgery is now also being offered by the same team of plastic surgeons at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

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Women who consume alcohol during pregnancy — even in small amounts — have a 19% greater risk of miscarriage than women who don’t use alcohol, according to a new study by Vanderbilt researchers.

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An expert at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt offered safety tips to prevent child-pedestrian injuries, which often increase as routines change during the back-to-school season.

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Leaders of Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) today announced completion of the acquisition of Tennova Healthcare-Lebanon, a two-campus facility licensed for 245 beds, from subsidiaries of Community Health Systems, Inc. (CHS). Terms of the transaction will remain confidential.

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The Vanderbilt Eye Institute (VEI) has received a $10 million gift — the Institute’s largest to date — that will fund regenerative visual neuroscience research to develop transformative therapies for eye diseases.

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SUDEP occurs in about 1-2 per 1,000 patients with chronic epilepsy and 3-9 per 1,000 in those with severe, refractory seizures, though its frequency is difficult to calculate. It is most common in patients 20 to 40 years old.

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The results, published July 22 in Nature Medicine, are the latest findings by VICC researchers chronicling rare but serious toxicities that may occur with immune checkpoint inhibitors, the most widely prescribed class of immunotherapies. The researchers have previously identified myocarditis, pneumonitis, hepatitis, colitis and vasculitis as possible complications. Checkpoint inhibitors unleash the immune system to attack cancer, but they may also spur an attack on organs, resulting in inflammation that can, in most cases, be effectively treated with steroids.

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It’s been four years since the Shelbyville, Tennessee, teen nearly lost his left hand after an artillery firework exploded while he was lighting it.

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Medicare Part D enrollees may pay more out of pocket for high-priced specialty generic drugs than their brand-name counterparts, according to new research by health policy experts at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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A study published in the July issue of Health Affairs paints a clear picture of the staffing levels of nurses and direct care staff at nursing homes based on a new CMS data resource, the Payroll-Based Journal (PBJ). CMS has been collecting data from nursing homes since 2016 to meet a requirement of the Affordable Care Act, and PBJ data have been used in the federal Five-Star Quality Rating System for Nursing Homes since April 2018.

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Babies born after being exposed to both opioids and benzodiazepines before birth are more likely to have severe drug withdrawal, requiring medications like morphine for treatment, compared to infants exposed to opioids alone, according to a Vanderbilt University Medical Center study published in Hospital Pediatrics.

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Injury prevention experts at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt hope the state’s newest law banning cellphone use while driving will have an impact.

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Patients of surgeons with higher numbers of reports from co-workers about unprofessional behavior are significantly more likely to experience complications during or after their operations, researchers from Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) reported today in JAMA Surgery.

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Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences has received a $10 million endowed gift to fund translational research, support clinical programs and create an endowed chair within the department.

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A drug that targets the immune system can delay the onset of type 1 diabetes an average of two years in children and adults at high risk, according to findings from TrialNet’s Teplizumab (anti-CD3) Prevention Study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

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Five-year survival data for pembrolizumab patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer were presented June 1 at the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting, May 31-June 4, in Chicago. The study results showed a marked improvement over 5-year survival rates in the pre-immunotherapy era, which averaged only 5.5%. Pembrolizumab increased the survival rate to 23.2% after five years in people with advanced non-small cell lung cancer who had not previously been treated with chemotherapy and to 15.5% in those who had been previously treated with chemotherapy. The KEYNOTE-001 is the longest follow-up study to date of people with advanced non-small cell lung cancer treated with pembrolizumab.

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Successful epilepsy surgery can improve brain connectivity similar to patterns seen in people without epilepsy, according to a new study published in the journal Neurosurgery.

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Patients with a form of congenital heart disease — having only one ventricle (pumping chamber) — are now living longer lives due to the successful surgical and medical treatments they receive as children.

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Bioimpedance spectroscopy (BIS) is better than a tape measure for assessing a woman’s risk for developing lymphedema, painful swelling in the arm after breast cancer surgery.

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A new technique to rehabilitate lungs that are too damaged to be considered for transplant could benefit an increasing population of patients with end-stage lung disease.

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A roadmap to create an implantable dialysis system that would allow patients to treat kidney failure at home has won researchers from Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), UC San Francisco (UCSF), and Silicon Kidney one of 15 cash prizes in the inaugural KidneyX’s Redesign Dialysis Phase I competition.

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The EOS X-ray imaging system uses ultra-low radiation doses (up to 50 times lower depending on the scan type) to capture 2-D and 3-D images. The scan, complete in about eight to 15 seconds, obtains an image of the body in an upright, load-bearing position, which is more representative of the body’s natural function.

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Mary Jo Gilmer studies the impact animals can have on children with life-threatening conditions. She recently received a grant from nonprofit Human Animal Bond Research Institute (HABRI) for a pilot program investigating the health benefits of human-animal interactions (HAIs) in reducing suffering of children with cancer undergoing debilitating treatments.

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Scientists and patients from all over the world are gathering in Vancouver, Canada, on Friday and Saturday to discuss new discoveries and future direction in the treatment of Stevens-Johnson syndrome/toxic epidermal necrolysis (SJS/TEN), a drug-induced disease that has a mortality of up to 50%.

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Diabetes has reached epidemic proportions in Asia and has dramatically increased the risk of premature death, especially among women and middle-aged people, a multinational study led by Vanderbilt University researchers has found.

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Warm weather has arrived in Tennessee which means snakebite season is upon us. The venomous snakes native to our region are the pit vipers and consist of copperheads, cottonmouths/water moccasins, and various species of rattlesnakes. Their bites are rarely life-threatening but may require treatment with antivenin.

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Christine Seidman, MD, whose lab has identified the genetic causes of several human heart diseases including cardiomyopathy (potentially fatal enlargement of the heart) is the recipient of the 2019 Vanderbilt Prize in Biomedical Science, officials at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) announced today.

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In January scientists at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) and colleagues in Boston, Seattle and St. Louis were given an audacious goal to develop — in 90 days — a protective antibody-based treatment that potentially will stop the spread of the Zika virus.

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The Department of Defense is providing $7 million to better understand how much and which components of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) are the most effective for young children with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

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Prostate cancer patients in Nashville and Los Angeles are benefiting from a computer-based decision aid that implements the latest study results to tailor treatment options to an individual’s quality-of-life priorities.

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Tim Lowell of Hernando, Mississippi, received the first total artificial heart in the state of Tennessee when the cardiac surgery team at Vanderbilt Health placed the device in his chest on Sept. 26, 2018. The mechanical heart kept him alive for nearly three months until a matching human donor heart became available and he was transplanted on Dec. 16, 2018, at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.