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Daily Rounds: Cancer Smart Bombs; Skipping The Physical; Who Gets PTSD; Breastfeeding Reality

Cancer treatments grow more high-tech; 'Smart bomb drugs,' immune boosters are seeing success (Associated Press) " New research shows a sharp escalation in the weapons race against cancer, with several high-tech approaches long dreamed of but not possible or successful until now. At a weekend conference of more than 30,000 cancer specialists, scientists reported: New "smart" drugs that deliver powerful poisons directly to cancer cells while leaving healthy ones alone. A new tool that helps the immune system attack a broad range of cancer types. Treatments aimed at new genes and cancer pathways, plus better tests to predict which patients will benefit from them."

Let's (not) get physicals (The New York Times) - "For decades, scientific research has shown that annual physical exams — and many of the screening tests that routinely accompany them — are in many ways pointless or (worse) dangerous, because they can lead to unneeded procedures. The last few years have produced a steady stream of new evidence against the utility of popular tests."

Who will get PTSD? (The Boston Globe) - "Telch’s work is part of a provocative new strand of PTSD research, using modern psychology and computer science to unlock why and when a traumatic experience can derail a life. These studies—not just in military but civilian populations, too, testing cops and other first responders—hold the potential to transform our understanding of PTSD, changing it from an enigmatic and disruptive affliction that crashes over some people but not others, to a condition that can actually be predicted, quantified, and prepared for."

Most new moms don't meet own breastfeeding goals (Reuters) - "Two thirds of new mothers who intended to breastfeed exclusively for several months or more didn't meet their own goals in a new study. Researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that several factors influenced whether mothers of newborns would stick to their plan to breastfeed only, including actions by hospital staff in the first hours and days after delivery."

This program aired on June 4, 2012. The audio for this program is not available.

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