Medical Journal February 2026 Digital Edition
February 24, 20263 min
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Houston health care in 2025-2026: Precision growth over scale
February 24, 202626 min
BY Corey Palasota, CFA, Weaver Partner, Health Care Valuation Services Targeted affiliations, ambulatory buildouts and real‑asset transactions, not blockbuster hospital mergers, are reshaping Houston’s health care provider landscape. After a slow first half of 2025 driven by policy uncertainty, tariff‑linked cost pressure, and questions around Medicaid and exchange coverage, deal activity improved in the second half of the year. The pattern was clear: fewer full consolidations and more purpose‑built partnerships designed to expand post-acute...
The Doctor Act: Potential relief for Texas’ looming physician shortage
February 24, 202610 min
BY Phuong D. Nguyen, Esq. and Michael R. Alexander, Esq., Brown & Fortunato, P.C. In response to the recently adopted Doctor Act, the Texas Medical Board adopted new regulations designed to address physician shortages in Texas. The new Act and the new rules are aimed at providing new pathways to licensing foreign trained physicians and medical school graduates who do not match into a resident training program. Before digging into the statute and rules,...
Can beer improve our health?
February 24, 20267 min
BY Samuel Mathis MD Next month, during St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, many will celebrate by having one of the most popular alcoholic drinks in America, beer. Beer makes up over 54% of all alcohol sales in the USA. While the WHO’s current recommendation is that the benefits of alcohol consumption do not outweigh the risks, for those who will continue to drink, understanding the health benefits of beer may help steer their choices to...
Hospitals want to bring costs and prices down. Let’s attack the root causes of the problem
February 24, 20266 min
BY John Hawkins We’re all hearing a lot about affordability these days. In these polarized times, one of the few things most of us can agree on is that too many things are too expensive. When people get specific about the things they pay too much for, health care expenses are as likely to come up as just about anything. Naturally, many of those complaints are tied to what people are paying for...
Antibody-drug conjugate achieves high response rates as frontline treatment in aggressive, rare blood cancer
February 24, 20261 min
Seventy-five percent of patients with blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN) who were treated with the antibody-drug conjugate pivekimab sunirine (PVEK) had a complete response, according to new data from the Phase I/II multicenter international CADENZA trial. The study was led by principal investigator and corresponding author Naveen Pemmaraju, M.D., professor of Leukemia, and senior author Naval Daver, M.D., professor of Leukemia. “These strong, durable response results offer hope to BPDCN patients with limited treatment options,” Pemmaraju said....
Houston Methodist research reveals how the eyes may be a window into early Alzheimer’s detection
February 24, 20265 min
The eyes – specifically, the outer area of the retina – may provide a window into early detection of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) long before irreversible brain damage has occurred, according to new research from Houston Methodist. This discovery could dramatically change how the disease is diagnosed, monitored and treated. “By identifying these retinal changes that occur before the brain’s ‘plumbing’ system fails, doctors may eventually be able to use routine eye exams to catch...
Study shows strong evidence for effectiveness of metastasis-directed radiation therapy in prostate cancer
February 24, 20262 min
Metastasis-directed therapy significantly improved outcomes in patients with oligometastatic prostate cancer, according to a first-of-its-kind meta-analysis evaluating the addition of metastasis-directed radiation therapy to standard-of-care treatment. According to corresponding author Chad Tang, M.D., associate professor of Genitourinary Radiation Oncology, gathering level one evidence of the benefits of MDT in this cancer type has been a challenge due to several factors. Most significant among them are that only a small number of patients have oligometastatic cancer – meaning they have multiple...
Blood biomarker points to increased risk of brain metastasis in patients with inflammatory breast cancer
February 24, 20261 min
Researchers identified a targetable driver of brain metastases in patients with aggressive inflammatory breast cancer. The study uncovers a novel role for soluble E-cadherin (sEcad) in promoting tumor invasion while resisting cancer cell death and triggering brain inflammation via the CXCR2 signaling pathway. The results suggest that targeting sEcad or the CXCR2 pathway could treat or prevent brain metastasis. The study was led by Xiaoding Hu, M.D., Ph.D., instructor of Breast Medical Oncology, and Bisrat Debeb, D.V.M., Ph.D., associate professor...
Americans prefer to screen for cervical cancer in-clinic vs. at home
February 24, 20261 min
American women now have the option of screening for cervical cancer at home, using newly approved self-collection tools. While experts hope this will increase uptake in the under-screened population, a first-of-its-kind study found the majority (60.8%) still prefer to see a medical professional in-clinic. The study also revealed that marginalized populations were more likely to prefer at-home self-sampling, and women with low income and those who do not trust the health care system were more...