/ en Sat, 21 Jun 2025 15:44:12 -0500 Tue, 17 Jun 25 15:35:51 -0500 /role-hospitals-rwjbarnabas-health-new-freestanding-cancer-hospital-brings-advanced-care-nj <div class="container"><div class="row"><div class="col-md-9"><div class="row"><div class="col-md-5"><p><img src="/sites/default/files/2025-06/ths-morris-cancer-center-700x532.jpg" data-entity-uuid data-entity-type="file" alt="RWJBarnabas Health. Exterior shot of the Jack & Sheryl Morris Cancer Center" width="700" height="532"></p></div><p>The opening in May 2025 of New Jersey's first freestanding cancer hospital, the Jack & Sheryl Morris Cancer Center, brings renewed hope for cancer patients and their families. The facility, a collaboration between RWJBarnabas Health and Rutgers Cancer Institute, will treat any type of cancer and its subspecialties and aims to provide comprehensive cancer care within the state, eliminating the need for patients to travel to New York City or Philadelphia.</p><p>The state-of-the-art, 12-story, 520,000-square-foot facility is designed to provide top-notch cancer care with a patient-centered approach. It features research labs, innovative technology, and a variety of clinical trials. Additionally, the facility offers comfort amenities such as massage therapy, exercise therapy, and a wellness garden to make the experience less clinical and more supportive for patients.</p><p>For pediatric patients, the center offers a Jersey Shore-themed clinical space to create a more comfortable and engaging environment. The facility includes a "boardwalk" entrance, cabana-themed exam and infusion rooms, an arcade, and a toy store.</p><p>Steven K. Libutti, M.D., senior vice president, Oncology Services, RWJBarnabas Health, tells New Jersey Family that 鈥淭he goal, when we can鈥檛 cure a person of a disease 鈥� is that we at least turn the disease into a chronic disease they can live with long-term. We want to wrap a blanket around each patient and family.鈥�</p><p><a class="btn btn-primary" href="https://www.njfamily.com/jack-sheryl-morris-cancer-center/">LEARN MORE</a></p></div></div><div class="col-md-3"><div><h4>Resources on the Role of Hospitals</h4><ul><li><a href="/community-benefit">Benefiting Communities</a></li><li><a href="/roleofhospitals">All Case Studies</a></li></ul></div></div></div></div> Tue, 17 Jun 2025 15:35:51 -0500 Heart Disease, Cancer, Diabetes, and Other Chronic Diseases /role-hospitals-university-arkansas-medical-sciences-strengthens-cancer-treatment-research-through-dna <div class="container"><div class="row"><div class="col-md-9"><div class="col-md-5"><p><img src="/sites/default/files/2025-06/ths-uams-cancer-research-700x532.jpg" data-entity-uuid data-entity-type="file" alt="Kevin Raney, PhD, and his team at University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences" width="700" height="532"></p><p><em>Photo credit: Bryan Clifton</em></p></div><p>The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) is working to enhance their cancer treatment research with a nearly $3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health. The five-year funding opportunity will support research into DNA structures known as quadruplexes 鈥� unusual formations that could revolutionize how we approach cancer treatment. Led by Kevin Raney, PhD, chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, the study aims to explore how these structures interact with key proteins involved in disease, potentially acting as natural drugs.</p><p>Raney and his team are particularly interested in how quadruplexes bind to proteins like PARP1, a major target in breast cancer therapies. 鈥淎s it turns out, quadruplex snippets of DNA bind really tightly to PARP1 and inhibit its ability to bind to genomic DNA where it鈥檚 normally found,鈥� Raney explained. This discovery opens the door to developing new treatments that could be more effective than current options. The research also delves into helicases 鈥� tiny cellular motors essential for DNA function 鈥� which were unexpectedly found to interact with quadruplexes.</p><p>The implications of this research are vast. Quadruplexes, once thought to be cellular waste, are now recognized as powerful biological tools. 鈥淚 think that taking advantage of the quadruplexes鈥� ability to enter cancer cells more easily than normal cells is an area that鈥檚 ripe for pursuing,鈥� Raney said.</p><p><a class="btn btn-primary" href="https://news.uams.edu/2025/03/31/nih-awards-uams-nearly-3-million-to-study-dna-structures-that-could-impact-cancer-treatment/"><strong>LEARN MORE</strong></a></p></div><div class="col-md-3"><div><h4>Resources on the Role of Hospitals</h4><ul><li><a href="/topics/innovation">Innovation, Research and Quality Improvement</a></li><li><a href="/roleofhospitals">All Case Studies</a></li></ul></div></div></div></div> Mon, 02 Jun 2025 12:00:16 -0500 Heart Disease, Cancer, Diabetes, and Other Chronic Diseases /news/headline/2025-05-22-white-house-releases-make-america-healthy-again-report <p>The White House May 22 released its <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/WH-The-MAHA-Report-Assessment.pdf" target="_blank">Make America Healthy Again report</a> that focuses on childhood chronic disease. The report highlights findings from the MAHA Commission related to poor diet, exposure to environmental chemicals, lack of physical activity, stress and overmedicalization. The report lists a series of recommendations and next steps for research, including studies on nutrition, lifestyle interventions and precision toxicology. In parallel, the commission will develop a strategy to be released in August.</p> Thu, 22 May 2025 16:22:05 -0500 Heart Disease, Cancer, Diabetes, and Other Chronic Diseases /role-hospitals-henry-ford-st-john-hospital-aerosolized-chemotherapy-debuted-michigan <div class="container"><div class="row"><div class="col-md-9"><div class="col-md-5"><p><img src="/sites/default/files/2025-05/ths-Henry-Ford-Aerosolized-Chemo-700x532.png" data-entity-uuid data-entity-type="file" alt="Henry Ford Health. Large monitor showing aerosolized chemo treatment in process" width="700" height="532"></p></div><p>Traditional chemotherapy is delivered via the bloodstream, making it less effective for metastatic cancers that occur within the peritoneal cavity 鈥� such as colorectal, appendiceal, gastric, ovarian and others. Pressurized intraperitoneal aerosolized chemotherapy offers new hope for patients with cancers such as these.</p><p>PIPAC is a minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery. Surgeons make two small incisions in the abdomen and insert a device that delivers chemotherapy that is aerosolized as it enters the body. The drug then attacks tumors in a concentrated, targeted way.</p><p>Henry Ford Health offered treatment for advanced cancer in the abdominal cavity before expanding to PIPAC in January. Cancer surgeon Richard Berri, M.D., has vast expertise in heated intraperitoneal chemotherapy and has developed the leading center in the state to offer the procedure.</p><p>Berri and team underwent significant training to bring PIPAC to Henry Ford St. John Hospital, now offering even more patients the opportunity to benefit from a therapy that is available at only a few cancer centers around the country.</p></div><div class="col-md-3"><div><h4>Resources on the Role of Hospitals</h4><ul><li><a href="/topics/innovation">Innovation, Research and Quality Improvement</a></li><li><a href="/roleofhospitals">All Case Studies</a></li></ul></div></div></div></div> Wed, 21 May 2025 09:00:00 -0500 Heart Disease, Cancer, Diabetes, and Other Chronic Diseases /aha-center-health-innovation-market-scan/2025-05-20-can-selfie-really-estimate-ones-age-and-predict-cancer-outcomes <div class="container"><div class="row"><div class="col-md-8"><img src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/Can-a-Selfie-Really-Estimate-Ones-Age-and-Predict-Cancer-Outcomes.png" data-entity-uuid="afa72536-8042-449d-a202-58645edf2d27" data-entity-type="file" alt="Can a Selfie Really Estimate One's Age and Predict Cancer Outcomes? A man standing in front of a background of cancer cells holds up his mobile phone and takes a selfie of himself." width="1200" height="751"><p>Eyes may be the window to the soul, but a person鈥檚 biological age could be reflected in their facial characteristics in photos, according to investigators from <a href="https://www.massgeneralbrigham.org/en" target="_blank" title="Mass General Brigham homepage">Mass General Brigham</a>.</p><p>The researchers have developed a deep learning algorithm called <a href="https://www.massgeneralbrigham.org/en/about/newsroom/press-releases/ai-face-photos-tool-estimate-age-predict-cancer-outcomes" target="_blank" title="Mass General Brigham: AI Tool Uses Face Photos to Estimate Biological Age and Predict Cancer Outcomes">FaceAge</a> that uses a photo of a person鈥檚 face to predict biological age and survival outcomes for cancer patients.</p><p>They found that patients with cancer, on average, had a higher FaceAge than those without and appeared about five years older than their chronological age. Older FaceAge predictions were associated with worse overall survival outcomes across multiple cancer types.</p><p>They also found that FaceAge outperformed clinicians in predicting short-term life expectancies of patients receiving palliative radiotherapy, according to results published in <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/landig/article/PIIS2589-7500(25)00042-1/fulltext" target="_blank" title="The Lancet Digital Health: FaceAge, a deep learning system to estimate biological age from face photographs to improve prognostication: a model development and validation study">Lancet Digital Health</a>.</p><h2>How the FaceAge Algorithm Works</h2><p>The work by investigators and their study shows that information obtained from a photo like a simple selfie could help to inform clinical decision-making and care plans for patients and clinicians, said Hugo Aerts, Ph.D., director of the <a href="https://www.massgeneralbrigham.org/en/research-and-innovation/centers-and-programs/artificial-intelligence" target="_blank" title="Mass General Brigham: Mass General Brigham AI">Artificial Intelligence in Medicine program</a> at Mass General Brigham.</p><p>When patients walk into exam rooms, their appearance may give physicians clues about their overall health and vitality. Those intuitive assessments combined with a patient鈥檚 chronological age, in addition to many other biological measures, may help determine the best course of treatment. However, like anyone, physicians may have biases about a person鈥檚 age that may influence them, fueling a need for more objective, predictive measures to inform care decisions.</p><p>With that goal in mind, Mass General Brigham investigators leveraged deep learning and facial recognition technologies to train FaceAge. The tool was trained on 58,851 photos of presumed healthy individuals from public datasets. The team tested the algorithm in a cohort of 6,196 cancer patients from two centers, using photographs routinely taken at the start of radiotherapy treatment.</p><p><img src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/Selfie-Cancer-Evaluation-Algorithm-Process.png" data-entity-uuid="97d35a3a-6929-4c67-b259-2c73756621c2" data-entity-type="file" alt="FaceAge algorithm selfie evaluation process. Input > Deep Learning Pipeline: Face Localization; Face Feature Extraction > Output: FaceAge; Chronological Age. Source: Mass General Brigham, 2025." width="1200" height="383"></p><h2>Results of the FaceAge Research Study</h2><p>Results showed that cancer patients appear significantly older than those without cancer, and their FaceAge, on average, was about five years older than their chronological age. In the cancer patient cohort, older FaceAge was associated with worse survival outcomes, especially in individuals who appeared older than 85, even after adjusting for chronological age, gender and cancer type.</p><p>Estimated survival time at the end of life is difficult to pin down but has important treatment implications in cancer care. The team asked 10 clinicians and researchers to predict short-term life expectancy from 100 photos of patients receiving palliative radiotherapy. While there was a wide range in their performance, overall, the clinicians鈥� predictions were only slightly better than a coin flip, even after they were given clinical context, such as the patient鈥檚 chronological age and cancer status. Yet, when clinicians also were provided with the patient鈥檚 FaceAge information, their predictions improved significantly.</p><h2>Use of FaceAge in a Clinical Setting</h2><p>Investigators say further research is needed before this technology could be considered for use in a real-world clinical setting. The research team is testing this technology to predict diseases, general health status and lifespan. Follow-up studies include expanding this work across different hospitals, looking at patients in different stages of cancer, tracking FaceAge estimates over time, and testing its accuracy against plastic surgery and makeup data sets.</p></div><div class="col-md-4"><p><a href="/center" title="Visit the AHA Center for Health Innovation landing page."><img src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/logo-aha-innovation-center-color-sm.jpg" data-entity-uuid="7ade6b12-de98-4d0b-965f-a7c99d9463c5" alt="AHA Center for Health Innovation logo" width="721" height="130" data-entity- type="file" class="align-center"></a></p><p><a href="/center/form/innovation-subscription"><img src="/sites/default/files/2019-04/Market_Scan_Call_Out_360x300.png" data-entity-uuid data-entity-type alt width="360" height="300"></a></p></div></div></div>.field_featured_image { position: absolute; overflow: hidden; clip: rect(0 0 0 0); height: 1px; width: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0; border: 0; } .featured-image{ position: absolute; overflow: hidden; clip: rect(0 0 0 0); height: 1px; width: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0; border: 0; } h2 { color: #9d2235; } Tue, 20 May 2025 06:00:00 -0500 Heart Disease, Cancer, Diabetes, and Other Chronic Diseases /aha-center-health-innovation-market-scan/2025-05-13-how-one-health-system-partnering-help-patients-slim-down <div class="container"><div class="row"><div class="col-md-8"><img src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/How-One-Health-System-Is-Partnering-to-Help-Patients-Slim-Down.png" data-entity-uuid="5d26a37e-dad0-4571-bfbb-d35af3f4deef" data-entity-type="file" alt="How One Health System Is Partnering to Help Patients Slim Down. A patient standing on a scale. The scale displays, "OMG!"" width="1200" height="751"><p>Overcoming America鈥檚 metabolic health challenges won鈥檛 be easy. Finding innovative ways to deliver targeted care for those classified as obese or who have diabetes or prediabetes is taking on greater importance.</p><p>With this in mind, <a href="https://healthcare.ascension.org/saint-thomas" target="_blank" title="Ascension Saint Thomas homepage">Ascension Saint Thomas</a> health system in Tennessee has entered into a <a href="https://about.ascension.org/news/2025/04/pathpoint-health-ascension-saint-thomas-announce-joint-venture-to-improve-metabolic-health-outcomes" target="_blank" title="Ascension News: Pathpoint Health, Ascension Saint Thomas Announce Joint Venture To Improve Metabolic Health Outcomes">strategic joint venture</a> with <a href="blank" title="PathPoint Health homepage">PathPoint Health</a>, a provider of metabolic care, to help people prevent and manage these conditions.</p><p>The partnership鈥檚 first two centers will open in June 2025 in Nashville and Murfreesboro, offering medical care, exercise and nutritional planning, lifestyle counseling, advanced diagnostic assessments and care coordination 鈥� all within one specialty practice. Services will be provided through a hybrid model of in-person and virtual visits, covered by insurance, ensuring that patients have access to convenient and affordable care.</p><p>Metabolic health challenges affect a significant portion of the U.S. population, with more than 42% of adults classified as obese, approximately 11% diagnosed with diabetes and another one-third living with prediabetes, the organizations state. Despite these numbers, many still view chronic conditions as isolated health concerns rather than interconnected issues that share underlying risk factors for heart disease, stroke and other complications.</p><p>PathPoint Health鈥檚 approach emphasizes collaboration with a patient鈥檚 existing primary care and specialty providers. This coordination ensures seamless integration into the patient's overall health care plan, leading to improved outcomes through consistent management and personalized, comprehensive treatment strategies</p><p>The first two centers will be located near Ascension Saint Thomas Hospital Midtown and Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford. Additional sites are planned across Middle Tennessee over the next 12 to 36 months.</p></div><div class="col-md-4"><p><a href="/center" title="Visit the AHA Center for Health Innovation landing page."><img src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/logo-aha-innovation-center-color-sm.jpg" data-entity-uuid="7ade6b12-de98-4d0b-965f-a7c99d9463c5" alt="AHA Center for Health Innovation logo" width="721" height="130" data-entity- type="file" class="align-center"></a></p><p><a href="/center/form/innovation-subscription"><img src="/sites/default/files/2019-04/Market_Scan_Call_Out_360x300.png" data-entity-uuid data-entity-type alt width="360" height="300"></a></p></div></div></div>.field_featured_image { position: absolute; overflow: hidden; clip: rect(0 0 0 0); height: 1px; width: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0; border: 0; } .featured-image{ position: absolute; overflow: hidden; clip: rect(0 0 0 0); height: 1px; width: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0; border: 0; } h2 { color: #9d2235; } Tue, 13 May 2025 06:00:00 -0500 Heart Disease, Cancer, Diabetes, and Other Chronic Diseases /news/headline/2025-05-09-nih-finds-increase-14-cancers-people-under-50-decreases-others <p>The National Institutes of Health May 8 released an <a href="https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/incidence-rates-some-cancer-types-have-risen-people-under-age-50">analysis</a> that found incidences of 14 types of cancer increased among people under age 50 from 2010-2019. Nine cancer types, such as breast cancer and colorectal cancer, increased in some groups of people aged 50 and older. There were 19 other cancer types, including lung cancer and prostate cancer, that decreased among people under age 50. In total, the rate of all cancers diagnosed in both younger and older age groups did not increase, nor did the cancer death rate.</p> Fri, 09 May 2025 15:17:21 -0500 Heart Disease, Cancer, Diabetes, and Other Chronic Diseases /news/headline/2025-04-29-study-shows-successful-use-immunotherapy-drug-instead-traditional-options-treat-cancer <p>A New England Journal of Medicine <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2404512" target="_blank">study</a> published yesterday found success in administering dostarlimab, an immunotherapy drug, to a group of 103 cancer patients instead of traditional methods such as chemotherapy, radiation or surgery. All 49 patients of the first cohort, who had rectal cancer, had their cancer disappear and continued treatment with nonoperative management. The second cohort of patients had other cancers, and 35 of 54 in that group had their cancer eradicated. Thirty-three continued with nonoperative treatment. </p> Tue, 29 Apr 2025 08:24:40 -0500 Heart Disease, Cancer, Diabetes, and Other Chronic Diseases /role-hospitals-university-oklahoma-cancer-center-implements-new-technology-make-cancer-care-more-comfortable <div class="container"><div class="row"><div class="col-md-9"><div class="col-md-5"><p><img src="/sites/default/files/2025-04/ths-oklahoma-radiation-700x532.jpg" data-entity-uuid data-entity-type="file" alt="University of Oklahoma Medical Center. A patient receiving radiation therapy is viewed from inside the machine looking out" width="700" height="532"></p></div><p>The Stephenson Cancer Center at University of Oklahoma Medical Center is the second hospital in the nation to introduce a groundbreaking cancer treatment called surface-guided radiation therapy. The treatment uses a non-invasive technology known as the Accuray Radixact System, offering cancer patients faster, more precise and comfortable treatments. The Radixact System delivers image-guided intensity-modulated radiation therapy, helping health care teams to effectively position patients and target tumors with increased accuracy while protecting healthy tissue. This advanced technology is particularly beneficial for patients with tumors in challenging locations, such as the lungs or near critical organs, as it minimizes the impact on surrounding healthy tissue. It can also track tumors in real time and adjust treatment to account for changes in tumor size.</p><p>鈥淓very advancement in cancer treatment technology means new hope for our patients,鈥� said Jerry Jaboin, M.D., radiation oncologist at the Stephenson Cancer Center. 鈥淲ith the Radixact System, we can offer more patients access to precise, personalized treatment plans that fit their specific needs while minimizing disruption to their daily lives."</p><p><a class="btn btn-primary" href="https://www.ouhealth.com/blog/2025/january/new-cancer-treatment-technology-at-stephenson-ca/" target="_blank">LEARN MORE</a></p></div><div class="col-md-3"><div><h4>Resources on the Role of Hospitals</h4><ul><li><a href="/topics/innovation">Innovation, Research and Quality Improvement</a></li><li><a href="/roleofhospitals">All Case Studies</a></li></ul></div></div></div></div> Mon, 28 Apr 2025 12:03:06 -0500 Heart Disease, Cancer, Diabetes, and Other Chronic Diseases /role-hospitals-providence-alaska-medical-center-innovative-therapy-prostate-cancer <div class="container"><div class="row"><div class="col-md-9"><div class="col-md-6"><p><img src="/sites/default/files/2025-04/ths-providence-alaska-prostate-700x532.jpg" data-entity-uuid data-entity-type="file" alt="Providence Alaska. A male physician sits talking with an older male patient" width="700" height="532"></p></div><p>In 2025, researchers predict about 313,780 new diagnoses of prostate cancer and 34,770 deaths across the United States. But those cases aren鈥檛 evenly spread across the country. Mortality rates for Alaskans, for example, are typically higher than the general population due to a range of factors including limited access to treatment. </p><p>In Anchorage, Providence Alaska Medical Center has become the first facility in the state to offer an innovative treatment for metastatic prostate cancer. In March, the hospital began administering Pluvicto, a targeted therapy designed to identify and kill prostate cancer cells that express a protein known as prostate-specific membrane antigen. Pluvicto is different from traditional chemotherapy and radiation treatments because it specifically targets these cancer cells, minimizing damage to healthy cells. </p><p>鈥淧luvicto is one of the only treatments that improves overall survival in men with prostate cancer that has spread elsewhere in the body and is no longer responding to hormonal treatments,鈥� said Dr. John Halligan, radiation oncologist and medical director of Radiation Oncology at Providence Cancer Center. </p><p>Treatment data shows that combining Pluvicto with standard chemotherapy and radiation led to 30% of men experiencing tumor reduction or disappearance. In contrast, those who received standard therapy alone saw a 2% reduction. Thanks to this new therapy, Alaskans no longer need to travel to the Lower 48 to receive this care.<br><br><a class="btn btn-primary" href="https://www.nnbw.com/news/2025/mar/06/healthcare-industry-focus-conrad-breast-center-expected-to-open-this-summer/" target="_blank">LEARN MORE</a></p><p> </p></div><div class="col-md-3"><div><h4>Resources on the Role of Hospitals</h4><ul><li><a href="/topics/innovation">Innovation, Research and Quality Improvement</a></li><li><a href="/roleofhospitals">All Case Studies</a></li></ul></div></div></div></div> Tue, 22 Apr 2025 14:44:08 -0500 Heart Disease, Cancer, Diabetes, and Other Chronic Diseases