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A new treatment for locally advanced rectal cancer shows favorable results in that surgery can sometimes be avoided completely. It also reduces the risk of recurrence. Rectal cancer affects around 2,000 people in Sweden every year. Of these, a third have a high risk of recurrence. Patients often first receive radiotherapy or a combination of radiotherapy and concurrent chemotherapy for five weeks, followed by surgery and usually an additional round of chemotherapy for up to six months. A study shows that it is possible to double the chance of eliminating the need to surgically remove part of the bowel if...

A new study published in The New England Journal of Medicine has shown that all 18 rectal cancer patients participating in an experimental drug trial went into remission following a six-month treatment. The study, the Journal reported, was spearheaded by doctors at Memorial Sloan Kettering. Drug maker GlaxoSmithKline also backed the research. According to the study, 18 cancer patients who were given the experimental immunotherapy drug dostarlimab every three weeks for six months ended up in remission by the end of the trial. A portion of the study read, “We initiated a prospective phase 2 study in which single-agent dostarlimab,...

After introducing its first openly gay character in September 2010, Archie Comics continues to lead the pack with the mainstream comic book world’s first same-sex marriage. Kevin Keller will marry his military sweetheart, Clay, in an upcoming issue of Life with Archie. The character is also set to star in a pioneering solo title starting this February. An interracial same-sex marriage between two soldiers in an Archie comic? The times are no longer a-changin’, they are a-changed.