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Data on colorectal cancer (CRC) screening gathered over the past decade have prompted the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) to update its guidelines, last issued in 2009.
The new recommendations, published online in the
American Journal of Gastroenterology,state that screening should start at age 45 for persons of average risk. We now know that the risk is higher than we appreciated for people from age 40 onward. Today, a 45-year-old has the same risk as a 50-year-old had 10 years ago, said Aasma Shaukat, MD, MPH, of the University of Minnesota School of Medicine in Minneapolis, in an ACG introductory podcast to the new guidelines.
As Greg Gonsalves, a professor of epidemiology at
Yale University, argued, an age-based rollout doesn t guarantee equitable distribution of vaccines. If you have access to resources, you re computer literate, and you have some savvy in working your way through the system to sign up for vaccines you re going to be first in line no matter what age class you re in, he said.
Moreover, he pointed out that an age-based approach also ignores racial disparities in Covid-19 risk. The risk of death for somebody who is African-American and between 55 and 65 may be higher than somebody who s over 65, for instance, Gonsalves said.
With Covid vaccines expected to remain scarce into early spring, Connecticut has scrapped its complicated plans to prioritize immunizations for people under 65 with certain chronic conditions and front-line workers. Instead, the state will primarily base eligibility on age.
Modern Healthcare Illustration / Getty Images
With COVID vaccines expected to remain scarce into early spring, Connecticut has scrapped its complicated plans to prioritize immunizations for people under 65 with certain chronic conditions and front-line workers. Instead, the state will primarily base eligibility on age.
Gov. Ned Lamont pointed to statistics showing the risk of death and hospitalization from COVID-19 rises significantly by age.
Yet, shifting to an age-based priority system after health workers, nursing home patients and people 65 and up have been offered vaccines has frustrated people with health conditions such as cancer or diabetes who thought they would be next in line. It also could exacerbate the difficulty in getting people in underserved communities and those in minority racial and ethnic groups vaccinated, health experts said.
Press release content from Business Wire. The AP news staff was not involved in its creation.
New Treatment for Central Nervous System Tumors Enters Phase I Clinical Trials
January 12, 2021 GMT
MINNEAPOLIS (BUSINESS WIRE) Jan 12, 2021
OX2 Therapeutics, Inc., a privately held Minneapolis company, announces today that they treated their first patient in a phase one human trial of a new treatment developed to combat recurrent high-grade brain tumors.
“This is a first-of-its kind immunotherapy that works to treat one of the most aggressive and deadly cancers today,” said Christopher Moertel, MD, OX2 Therapeutics, Inc. “Central nervous system cancers are the number one cause of cancer related mortality in children, and a major cause of morbidity and mortality in adults.”