Breast cancer

• The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency now believes there is no safe level for two common PFAS – PFOA and PFOS – in drinking water, and it acknowledges that very low concentrations of other PFAS present human health risks.
• The agency issued the first legally enforceable national drinking water standards for five common types of PFAS chemicals, as well as PFAS mixtures, on April 10, 2024.

What exactly are PFAS?

• This is a large group of human-made chemicals – currently estimated to be nearly 15,000 individual chemical compounds – that are used widely in consumer products and industry.
• They can make products resistant to water, grease and stains and protect against fire.

• The short answer is that PFAS are harmful to human health and the environment.
• Some of the very same chemical properties that make PFAS attractive in products also mean these chemicals will persist in the environment for generations.
• The U.S. Geological Survey estimates common types of PFAS are now in at least 45% of the country’s tap water.

What are the health risks from PFAS exposure?

• Research consistently demonstrates that PFAS are associated with a variety of adverse health effects.
• A review by a panel of experts looking at research on PFAS toxicity concluded with a high degree of certainty that PFAS contribute to thyroid disease, elevated cholesterol, liver damage, and kidney and testicular cancer.

• Additionally, current research suggests that babies exposed prenatally are at higher risk of experiencing obesity, early-onset puberty and reduced fertility later in life.
• Collectively, this is a formidable list of diseases and disorders.

Who’s regulating PFAS?

• DuPont called it Teflon, which eventually became a household name for its use on nonstick pans.
• Decades later, in 1998, Scotchgard maker 3M notified the Environmental Protection Agency that a PFAS chemical was showing up in human blood samples.
• At the time, 3M said low levels of the manufactured chemical had been detected in people’s blood as early as the 1970s.
• The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry has a toxicological profile for PFAS.

How can you reduce your PFAS exposure?

• The best ways to protect yourself and your family from risks associated with PFAS are to educate yourself about potential sources of exposure.
• Products labeled as water- or stain-resistant have a good chance of containing PFAS.
• Strategies for monitoring and reporting PFAS contamination vary by location and PFAS source, so the absence of readily available information does not necessarily mean the region is free of PFAS problems.

Kathryn Crawford receives funding from National Institutes of Health and US Geological Survey.

• Key findings presented at the conference include:
  When not activated, MDNA113 shows reduced IL-2R agonism with no change to PD-1/PDL-1 blockade activity.
• MDNA113 selectively binds IL-13R⍺2 positive tumor cells in vitro, and durably accumulates (>7 days) in IL-13R⍺2 positive tumors in mice.
• Single neoadjuvant treatment with MDNA113 in a highly invasive orthotopic 4T1.2 breast cancer model significantly increases survival by preventing metastasis.
• It will be also available on the Scientific Presentations page of Medicenna’s website following the conclusion of the 2024 Annual Meeting of AACR.

• SEATTLE, April 09, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Atossa Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATOS) (“Atossa” or the “Company”) today announced promising safety and efficacy data from the Company’s Phase 2 EVANGELINE (Endoxifen Versus exemestANe GosEreLIn) clinical trial.
• Atossa is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing innovative medicines in areas of significant unmet medical need in oncology with a focus on breast cancer.
• The data, which is being presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting, is from the 40mg pharmacokinetic (PK) run-in cohort of the study.
• At 28 days, six of the seven had Ki-67 levels below 10% and stayed on treatment for an additional five months.

• The 15-site prospective study included 2D screening mammograms from women ages 20 to 100, with a median age of 56.
• “The ProFound BAC AI algorithm may provide a critical surrogate biomarker for women at risk of heart disease or stroke,” said Dana Brown, president and CEO of iCAD.
• The study also suggests the ProFound Heart Health AI algorithm can standardize BAC detection, potentially improving efficiency and reducing variability among observers.
• Early cardiovascular disease detection is key, as among asymptomatic women, the first manifestation of underlying coronary heart disease is often acute myocardial infarction (MI) or sudden death.