Genetic testing for Lynch Syndrome prevents cancers being missed
- Genetic testing to identify women with Lynch Syndrome is likely to need to increase dramatically to ensure that carriers are not missed, a new analysis has found.
- A study by The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and published in the Journal of Medical Genetics, has revealed that only a fraction of women diagnosed with endometrial (womb) cancer were tested for Lynch Syndrome in 2019, according to an analysis of lab data.
- Lynch Syndrome is an inherited condition that greatly increases the lifetime risk of certain types of cancer, including bowel, ovarian, pancreatic and womb cancers.It is thought to affect 175,000 people in England, although currently only approximately five per cent are aware they have it.
Almost half of 40 hospitals promised by Conservatives delayed, says health secretary
- Almost half of the 40 hospitals promised by the previous Conservative government have been delayed, the health secretary has said.
- Speaking in the House of Commons, Wes Streeting said 18 of the projects will now be started between 2030 and 2039, instead of by the original 2030 deadline.
- Mr Streeting launched a scathing attack on the Conservative Party for making the promise to build the facilities without a clear funding plan.
UK failing to match EU in fight against ‘forever chemicals’, say scientists
- Leading scientists have criticised the UK government for failing to take stronger action to tackle “forever chemical” pollution and refusing to match moves in the EU to ban non-essential uses of the substances.
- Last year, 59 experts in per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) sent a letter to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) asking it to follow the science, which has established that PFAS do not biodegrade and that despite variations in toxicity, this persistence itself is sufficiently worrying that all PFAS should be regulated as one class.
Global study pinpoints genes for depression across ethnicities
- The world’s largest and most diverse genetic study ever into major depression has revealed nearly 300 previously unknown genetic links to the condition.
- Published in Cell, the study found that 100 of the newly discovered genetic variations – small differences in the DNA sequence that makes up a gene – were identified due to the inclusion of people of African, East Asian, Hispanic and South Asian descent.
- Previous research into the genetics of depression has focused primarily on white populations that originally descended from people living in Europe. Therapies developed using genetic approaches may, therefore, not be effective in other ethnicities, widening existing health inequalities.
- Just before new year, the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer wrote to regulators asking for ideas for how they could boost economic growth.
- The HRA is one of a number of regulators – including the MHRA and NICE and equivalents in the four nations – supporting clinical research. Regulators have levers that can support change, particularly when they work together.
- In this way we can help realise the government’s missions to kickstart economic growth and build an NHS fit for the future, by helping create a thriving environment for life sciences in the UK.
Outdated guidelines mean doctors failing to spot heart condition in women
- Doctors are failing to diagnose women with a potentially deadly heart condition because tests rely on outdated studies from the 1970s and do not account for natural differences in sex and body size.
- Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a genetic condition where the muscular wall of the heart becomes thickened, making it harder for the heart to pump blood around the body. It affects one in 500 people, and can cause cardiac arrest and sudden death.
- But research funded by the British Heart Foundation found current guidelines for diagnosing the condition were wholly inadequate.
