News of the day

Random news that piqued my interest this morning:

1. Three Quebec mammography clinics missed 109 cases of breast cancer - primarily due to one radiologist who has since retired. I am glad I did not go there. But also this is just an example that errors can occur everywhere and if we are not happy with results or have questions, we should get a second opinion or ask our questions until we get the answers we need.
   
2. A giant leap in personalized medicine occurred as two Boston area teams compiled a giant encyclopedia   "...that predict the vulnerability of hundreds of different subtypes of cancer to dozens of drugs. The massive catalogs, which were made freely available online Wednesday, are an important step toward the routine personalizing of cancer care, in which patients will receive treatments tailored to the specific genetic changes that influence a tumor’s response to drug regimens."
   
   This is sounds cool and sounds like lots of progress but its more than my tiny brain can comprehend. I'll just let someone else summarize it for me. If I could find the encyclopedia I might attempt to look at it.
   
3. Its time for all of us to start growing wild tomatillos - which are a native weed - which has been discovered to contain medical properties.
   "So far, the researchers have demonstrated 14 compounds found in the plant can fight numerous cancers and tumors without any apparent side effects or toxicity—namely: melanomas, thyroid cancer, head and neck squamous cell cancer, breast cancer, glioblastoma brain tumors, and certain leukemias. Other studies suggest these same molecules may combat both esophageal cancers and pancreatic cancers." I'll ditch the flower garden and lawn and grow some weeds instead.

Now I am off to work for the day to ponder these latest advances.