1.7 million locked down in China's Anhui province

China placed 1.7 million people under lockdown in central Anhui province, where authorities reported nearly 300 new cases Monday in the latest of a string of outbreaks testing Beijing's no-tolerance approach to COVID-19.

Reducing the risk of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome in IVF

The world's first IVF baby, Louise Brown born in England in 1978, was conceived from a naturally developing follicle in her mother's ovary. However, as other groups around the world would quickly discover, the "natural cycle" was an inefficient and difficult procedure to replicate, and most turned to the 'stimulated' cycle to provide more eggs for fertilization and a greater chance of pregnancy. Since then, many combinations of fertility hormones have been tried to improve outcomes, but the stimulated cycle remains the cornerstone of today's IVF.

Frozen sperm just as effective as fresh for insemination treatments

Patients having intrauterine insemination for fertility treatment can be reassured that the use of cryopreserved sperm instead of fresh is not associated with inferior outcomes. The largest study of its kind, whose results are presented today at the 38th annual meeting of ESHRE, found no difference in pregnancy rates between cycles using cryopreserved or fresh sperm samples. The results of the study, presented today by Dr. Panagiotis Cherouveim from Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, U.S., were based on an analysis of 5335 intrauterine insemination cycles performed at his center between 2004 and 2021. "Patients undergoing IUI should be counseled about the non-inferiority of frozen sperm," said Dr. Cherouveim.

Atezolizumab translates into survival benefit for bladder cancer patients with ctDNA positivity

Researchers who treated a group of post-surgery bladder cancer patients with the immunotherapy drug atezolizumab have found that patients whose blood contained circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), responded very well to the treatment.

New imaging technology less accurate than MRI at detecting prostate cancer, trial shows

A team of researchers in Australia and New Zealand has found that MRI scans can detect prostate cancer more accurately than the newer, prostate-specific -PSMA PET/CT scanning technique.

Only through international cooperation can AI improve patient lives

The largest prostate cancer biopsy dataset—involving over 95,000 images—has been created by researchers in Sweden to ensure AI can be trained to diagnose and grade prostate cancer for real world clinical applications.

Machine learning goes with the flow

An artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm trained to listen to patients pass urine is able to identify abnormal flows and could be a useful and cost-effective means of monitoring and managing urology patients at home. It is presented today at the European Association of Urology annual congress (EAU22), in Amsterdam.

Asthmatics may soon breathe easier thanks to new breakthrough

New research led by Edith Cowan University has made an important discovery that could lead to more effective treatments for the world's 262 million asthma sufferers.