Tom Nolan’s research reviews—23 November 2023

Emotional distress affecting outcomes of cancer treatmentCould cancer treatment protocols one day recommend delaying treatment until levels of emotional distress reduce? In the PRADO study of neoadjuvant immune checkpoint blockers to treat stage IIIB-D melanoma, 88 patients completed a baseline questionnaire that included questions to determine if a person is emotionally distressed (“Did you feel tense?”, “Did you worry?”, “Did you feel irritable?”, and “Did you feel depressed?”). Based on their answers, 28 patients were classed as having emotional distress, and they were found to be less likely to respond to treatment and had lower levels of relapse-free survival after two years of treatment (74% versus 91%, adjusted hazard ratio 3.81, P = 0.034). Theories to explain these findings include that antitumour immune responses via beta adrenergic or glucocorticoid pathways are impaired by emotional distress.Nature Med doi:10.1038/s41591-023-02631-xDisease-modifying drugs for osteoarthritisAbout 40% of us will get hand osteoarthritis. Inflammatory osteoarthritis is…
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