Drug Shortage Worsens; AI, 3D Printing Potential Grows; Cancer’s Effect on Function

More than 90% of U.S. cancer centers responding to a recent survey reported shortages of key cancer drugs, including 70% reporting shortages of the widely used cisplatin. (National Comprehensive Cancer Network)

The inexorable reach of artificial intelligence (AI) in medicine continues, as a program shows promise for predicting which patients will respond to immunotherapy for lung cancer. (University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, The Lancet Digital Health)

An AI-based program also outperformed a standard risk-classification system for predicting the risk of breast cancer. (Radiological Society of North America)

A programmable 3D-printed wound dressing could improve treatment for burn patients and double as an at-home drug-releasing skin patch for patients with cancer. (University of Waterloo)

And 3D-printed “mini-tumors” could help predict which patients with cancer will respond to new types of cancer therapy. (University of California Los Angeles, Nature Communications)

The number of cancer survivors reporting functional limitations more than doubled over the past 20 years. (Johns Hopkins Medicine, JAMA Oncology)

Biopharma company Amgen has launched a new social media campaign “to give patients a platform,” including videos of patients with cancer describing personal experiences with the disease. (Fierce Pharma)

A chemotherapy-free regimen showed promise for treating recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma. (National Cancer Centre Singapore, Nature Communications)

The FDA rejected bankruptcy-laden Clovis Oncology’s bid for approval of the PARP inhibitor rucaparib (Rubraca) as first-line maintenance therapy for platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer. (Fierce Pharma)

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