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In an early-phase clinical trial of a new oral drug, selumetinib, children with the common genetic disorder neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) and plexiform neurofibromas, tumors of the peripheral nerves, tolerated selumetinib and, in most cases, responded to it with tumor shrinkage. NF1 affects 1 in 3,000 people. The study results appeared Dec. 29, 2016, in the New England Journal of Medicine [1].
A Harvard University study has found that long-term depression in people over 50 could more than double their risk of having a stroke. The risk remains significantly high even after the depression eases.
A study team of radiologists and psychologists has found that children born with DNA copy number deletions in a specific region on chromosome 16 previously linked to neurodevelopmental problems show measurable delays in processing sound and language [1].
In his State of the Union address last month, President Obama announced the Precision Medicine Initiative, a bold new research effort to revolutionize how we improve health and treat disease.
