Medical Journal May 2026 Digital Edition
May 19, 20261 min
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Corporate practice of medicine faces scrutiny
May 19, 202612 min
BY Blinn E. Combs, Esq. and Michael Alexander, Esq., Brown & Fortunato, P.C. A trial in Eugene, Oregon, is shining a national spotlight on the state’s new first-in-nation restrictive corporate practice of medicine law. In Stapleton v. PeaceHealth, Eugene Emergency Physicians (“EEP”) sued PeaceHealth, ApolloMD, and Lane Emergency Physicians, alleging violations of Oregon’s new restrictive 2025 statute (SB 951) prohibiting the corporate practice of medicine and placing direct restrictions on the control of management services...
BY Samuel Mathis MD Recently, my healthcare system announced a partnership with the Blue Zone, a project aimed at improving the quality of life in our region with the goal of increasing the number of centenarians in the area. The initiative works to improve the health of locals, healthcare workers, and tourists to the region through healthy eating, improving green spaces, encouraging regular physical activity, and other initiatives that help to reduce chronic disease and...
Strengthening continuum of care is non-negotiable
May 19, 20267 min
BY John Hawkins, President/CEO, Texas Hospital Association It is time to treat behavioral health with the same urgency and importance as physical health – and ensure coverage reflects that reality. Texas is in the midst of a mental health crisis. We can no longer idly stand by as the current system fails to meet patient needs across the Lone Star State. Texans deserve the highest quality of care, not to struggle accessing basic...
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center announced the appointment of Kim Slusser, Ph.D., R.N., as the institution’s inaugural chief nurse executive (CNE). As CNE, Slusser will serve as the enterprise-wide leader of more than 5,400 nurses, fostering a shared vision for high-quality nursing care. She will oversee strategic initiatives spanning clinical practice, operations, quality, safety, emergency preparedness and interdisciplinary collaboration, while championing innovation and compassion as UT MD Anderson continues to expand its reach and impact. This...
Novel CAR T cell therapy developed by UT MD Anderson researchers moves into clinical studies
May 19, 20263 min
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and CTMC, a joint venture between UT MD Anderson and Resilience, today announced that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a ‘safe to proceed’ for the Investigational New Drug (IND) application for a novel chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy. The cell therapy, developed in the laboratory of Sattva Neelapu, M.D., professor of Lymphoma & Myeloma at UT MD Anderson, will enter a Phase 1 clinical trial for patients with relapsed or...
RAS inhibitor daraxonrasib demonstrates initial anti-tumor activity in pancreatic cancer
May 19, 20261 min
The targeted RAS inhibitor therapy daraxonrasib demonstrated the potential to improve patient outcomes over current standard treatments for patients with RAS-mutant pancreatic cancer, according to results of a Phase 1/2 trial led by David Hong, M.D., deputy chair of Investigational Cancer Therapeutics. Thirty-eight patients received a 300 mg. dose of daraxonrasib. The response rate was 29% and median overall survival was 15.6 months, a significant improvement over historical response rates to second-line chemotherapy. “This trial provides a really strong signal that this...
Researchers characterized cancer cell-specific features in the tumor microenvironment (TME) of early-stage triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) tissues, identifying specific macrophage subtypes associated with chemotherapy response. The researchers developed a 13-gene panel and a machine learning model that can predict which patients are more likely to respond to treatment, laying the groundwork for developing novel diagnostic approaches and personalized therapeutic strategies. This represents one of the first large-scale single-cell genomic studies of TNBC, providing an unprecedented view of both cancer cell biology...
Researchers have discovered that some cancer cells express the YAP1 protein only after treatment with chemotherapy, allowing them to survive by becoming more invasive and leading to treatment resistance with eventual relapse in patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC). The study, led by Carl Gay, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology, suggests that targeting cells with YAP1 may be a possible strategy to help overcome treatment resistance. “These findings highlight YAP1-expressing cells as biomarkers...
Researchers have identified specific blood-based genomic biomarkers that distinguish inflammatory breast cancer from other subtypes, providing a new and less invasive method for early diagnosis, disease progression monitoring and treatment development for patients with this aggressive disease. The study used an improved method of RNA sequencing, called TGIRT sequencing, that allows for a more comprehensive overview of all RNA types and amounts present in a given sample. The research was led by Savitri Krishnamurthy, M.D., professor of Anatomic Pathology. “These findings...