Trending News Today: Biogen's Once-Failed Alzheimers Treatment Shows Positive Results

Biogen announced positive results from a phase 2 study for a once-failed treatment for Alzheimers disease, STAT reported. According to the article, the treatment, BAN2401, failed to meet its primary goal, but the researchers found that the highest dose tested had a significant effect on both cognition and the accumulation of toxic plaques in the brain. Patients in the high-dose group began seeing a significant cognitive benefit compared with placebo after only 6 months of the trial and fewer than 10% of patients reported brain swelling as an adverse effect, the article reported.

A recent study found that women may benefit from individualized approaches to breast screening rather than universal guidelines, STAT reported. According to the article, the study researchers found that not offering mammograms to women at low risk for breast cancer might reduce the harms associated with screening, while still maintaining the benefits. The researchers determined that to maximize the benefit-to-harm ratio, the 30% of women at the lowest risk do not need mammograms, the article reported. The study was published in JAMA Oncology.

On Thursday, Johns Hopkins Hospital sites were evacuated after employees were possibly exposed to tuberculosis, The Washington Post reported. According to the article, “a small sample of frozen tuberculosis” being used for research purposes was inadvertently released in an internal bridge between 2 cancer research buildings, Johns Hopkins Medicine spokeswoman Kim Hoppe said in a statement. Employees were in the area, which does not connect to the hospital, during the incident and were isolated, the article reported.