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Laboratory medicine news
Common blood storage bags may leach microplastics into stored blood
In the 1970s, PVC bags revolutionized the storage of blood and blood products for transfusion. Disposable plastic (PVC) bags replaced reusable glass bottles, making the process more convenient and safer from contamination. ...
Aug 6, 2026
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Closing the gap between suspecting a heart attack and confirming it
A person having a heart attack may be only feet from medical care but miles from the laboratory testing needed to confirm it. That gap matters, especially for rural patients, those in nursing homes, ambulances and other places ...
Aug 6, 2026
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There are new blood tests for Alzheimer's. Should I have one?
Australians have seen a flurry of headlines announcing the arrival of blood tests for Alzheimer's disease.
Aug 4, 2026
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Blood marker tracks hidden progression in multiple sclerosis
Modern therapies have transformed care for people with multiple sclerosis (MS). Yet the disease continues to progress in a substantial proportion of patients, even in the absence of relapses. Detecting and treating this gradual ...
Aug 3, 2026
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Gut protein mapping captures microbial and host responses during intestinal inflammation
The trillions of microorganisms living in our intestine influence our health, from digestion and metabolism to immunity. Yet scientists still struggle to understand how these microbes shape these important physiological functions ...
Aug 3, 2026
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Blood test predicts immunotherapy benefit early among patients with advanced lung cancer
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and its Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy determined that liquid biopsy—a blood test that detects circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA)—can predict, within a ...
Aug 3, 2026
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DNA sequencing offers more precise diagnosis for serious lung infections
Lung infections are a constant risk for people living with cystic fibrosis (CF), a life-threatening genetic disorder that impairs lung function, predisposes people to persistent airway infections and puts them at risk of ...
Aug 3, 2026
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New wearable stickers simplify cystic fibrosis diagnosis
A pair of wearable stickers may transform diagnostic sweat testing for cystic fibrosis (CF), a genetic disorder that causes problems with digestion and breathing.
Aug 1, 2026
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AI blood assay detects liver cancer across diverse international populations
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center validated an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered blood test that accurately detected liver cancer in people from two geographically and biologically distinct populations ...
Jul 31, 2026
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Rare TBX4 mutations reveal excess lung muscle behind childhood pulmonary hypertension
For families of children with rare diseases, the search for answers can be lonely, desperate and frustrating. Such is the case with pulmonary hypertension, or PH. Defined as high blood pressure in the lungs, PH forces the ...
Jul 28, 2026
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New blood test for tuberculosis could reduce the spread of this top global infectious-disease killer
A new study presented today at ADLM 2026 in Anaheim, California, found that a simple blood test could accurately identify tuberculosis (TB)—a leading cause of death worldwide—among patients with varying degrees of exposure ...
Jul 28, 2026
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A 19-protein blood panel can predict when ALS symptoms will emerge
Months to several years before amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) symptoms arise, levels of certain blood proteins may shift dramatically. Researchers analyzed data from the long-running Pre-symptomatic Familial ALS (Pre-fALS) ...
Jul 27, 2026
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Brain cancer map uncovers thousands of hidden targets for personalized immunotherapies
Researchers from the Clinical Neuroscience Consortium (CNC), a collaborative platform jointly established by the LKS Faculty of Medicine of the University of Hong Kong (HKUMed) and Queen Mary Hospital, in collaboration with ...
Jul 23, 2026
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Gene activity in blood fluctuates more than expected—and that has consequences for medicine
Take a blood sample from someone in the dead of winter. Take another in midsummer. Same person, same laboratory. And yet, at the level of gene activity, the molecular picture can look surprisingly different. This is not an ...
Jul 23, 2026
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From urinary tract infection to brain abscess: How bacterial subpopulations can spread to distant body sites
Researchers from the University of Cologne, the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), and the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT present a clinical case in the New England Journal of Medicine that provides new insights ...
Jul 23, 2026
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RNA testing uncovers 171 mutations driving MET exon 14 skipping in lung cancer
New research has shown that RNA-based testing can improve the detection and interpretation of clinically actionable genomic alterations that lead to MET exon 14 skipping in patients with lung cancer—important biomarkers that ...
Jul 23, 2026
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A single blood sample may improve the prediction of colorectal cancer recurrence or metastasis
A single preoperative blood sample may help improve the prediction of recurrence or metastasis in patients with colorectal cancer. A joint research team from KAIST, Gangnam Severance Hospital and Asan Medical Center has shown ...
Jul 22, 2026
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Paradigm shift in oncology: The emergence of point-of-care diagnostic technology
Who doesn't want cancer testing results at lower cost, with greater speed and accuracy? Interdisciplinary innovators like Cancer Center at Illinois (CCIL) program leader Brian Cunningham are among the pioneers of the emerging ...
Jul 21, 2026
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Biological sex linked to protein changes in lung adenocarcinoma and other cancers
Biological sex factors into cancer in ways you might not expect. In lung cancer, a form called squamous cell carcinoma disproportionately affects male patients, while adenocarcinoma occurs more frequently in female patients. ...
Jul 21, 2026
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Mapping human bone marrow yields new tool, insights on blood cancer
Weill Cornell Medicine investigators have developed a new AI-based method to assess patients with a form of blood cancer called myelodysplastic neoplasms. The method, published June 30 in Leukemia, compares the physical locations ...
Jul 20, 2026
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DNA blood test improves patient selection for radiopharmaceutical therapy in prostate cancer
A noninvasive DNA blood test can identify patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) who are most likely to benefit from 223Ra radiopharmaceutical therapy and monitor their progress throughout treatment, ...
Jul 20, 2026
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New topology-based biomarkers may improve breast cancer prediction
For decades, pathologists have diagnosed and graded breast cancer by looking at tissue samples under a microscope, searching for telltale signs of disorder in the structure of cells and tissues. Now, researchers at Columbia ...
Jul 19, 2026
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Warm nights linked to ill premature babies in NICUs
Premature babies in the intensive care unit are particularly at risk of becoming infected with potentially pathogenic bacteria. A team of doctors in Hanover has now investigated which external factors play a role in this. ...
Jul 18, 2026
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Disrupted antioxidant balance linked to the development of 'Skellefteå disease'
Researchers at Umeå University have identified changes in the body's major antioxidant systems in patients with hereditary transthyretin (TTR) amyloidosis. The findings support the hypothesis that oxidative stress contributes ...
Jul 16, 2026
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Blood-based test can predict risk of developing symptoms of Alzheimer's up to a decade early
A blood test for the biomarker phosphorylated tau 217 (p-tau217) recently received federal clearance, but questions have emerged about the extent to which such tests can accurately predict whether a cognitively healthy individual ...
Jul 15, 2026
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