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Exercise Linked to Increased Survival in Colon Cancer

Compared with the general public, people who have survived cancer typically have shorter lifespans. However, a study, published in Cancer, found that exercise can narrow that gap for colon cancer survivors. In the study, researchers assessed data from two large studies on stage III colon cancer survivors three years after their diagnosis. Those colon cancer survivors who reported the highest levels of physical activity—getting the equivalent of about six hours of moderate-intensity exercise per week—had a 3.5% lower overall survival rate over the next three years compared with a matched control sample from the general public. But people who had the least physical activity had an overall survival 17.1% lower than the general population three years later. In addition, colorectal cancer survivors without recurrence three years after diagnosis had similar survival rates as the general public three years later, and those who were most active had a survival rate 2.9% higher than the general population. “In this study, we showed that small amount of physical activity each day may contribute to improved survival,” Justin Brown, an author of the study and director of the cancer metabolism program at Louisiana State University’s Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, told CNN. “Little changes to behaviors, when integrated over the lifespan, make a big difference for health.”

Additional Breast Cancer Screening Often Comes at a Cost

A federal rule requires that women who receive mammograms be informed if they have dense breasts. Dense breasts are associated with a higher risk of breast cancer and can make tumors harder to find on mammogram, which often prompts doctors to order additional screening, such as ultrasound and MRI. But many women who receive additional screening are surprised to learn about high out-of-pocket costs when insurance doesn’t fully cover the charges, NBC News reported. “It feels like you shouldn’t have to struggle to get the extra screening you need for early detection. The earlier you catch cancer, the cheaper it is to treat. This should be easy,” inflammatory breast cancer survivor Doris Cardwell told NBC News. Inflammatory breast cancer doesn’t typically show up on mammograms, so Cardwell gets an MRI every year. This year, she expects her out-of-pocket costs for the test will be $1,200. These costs, including those associated with high-deductible health insurance plans, can deter women from receiving necessary screening, research shows. Some states have passed laws or introduced bills to require insurance companies to cover these screenings. In Montana, where one of these measures failed to pass, breast cancer survivor Shelley Emslie gets regular MRIs that cost her $3,500 each year. “I just know there are other women out there not getting the screening because of the cost,” she told NBC News. “You’re going to have people who have a mammogram and need additional screening, but they’re not going to go back in.”

AI-based Tool Predicts Response to Immunotherapy

Many patients who are eligible to receive immune checkpoint inhibitors have cancer that doesn’t respond to the treatment. But a new machine learning tool that predicts survival and treatment response using a routine blood test and medical records may provide a more accurate way to determine who will benefit from treatment, according to an article from Cancer Currents, a blog from the National Cancer Institute. Measures such as tumor mutational burden (TMB) and PD-L1 can help determine whether a cancer is likely to respond to immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment, but the tests that look for these biomarkers are imperfect. Some cancers fail to respond to immune checkpoint inhibitors despite high scores, and other cancers with low scores can still respond to treatment. The new tool called SCORPIO was able to accurately predict survival in 72% to 76% patients who received immune checkpoint inhibitors for various types of cancer. Results from the study, published Jan. 6 in Nature Medicine, suggest SCORPIO was more accurate in predicting survival than TMB and outperformed PD-L1 testing. “That’s a remarkable performance, just using routine blood tests and basic [patient] data,” lead investigator Diego Chowell, a researcher at Mount Sinai in New York City, said in an article from Cancer Currents, a blog from the National Cancer Institute. While this tool was tested in those who had already received immunotherapy, research will next try SCORPIO on patients who have not yet been treated with immunotherapy, though the score will not yet be used to determine treatment.