The American Society for Clinical Oncology’s (ASCO) virtual annual meeting began June 3 with the release of late-breaking abstracts, including LBA-1 on “Olympia: A phase 3, multicenter, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of adjuvant olaparib after (neo)adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with germline BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations and high risk HER2-negative primary breast cancer.”

A first-of-its-kind blood test that can detect whether cancer is absent, imminent, or present in different stages is on its way to the market. This is a claim made by brothers Ashish Tripathi and Anish Tripathi, who lead Singapore-based molecular diagnostic company Tzar Labs Pte. Ltd. and Mumbai-based Epigeneres Biotechnology Pvt. Ltd., respectively.

A new study by Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings (Labcorp) has found that nearly 9 in 10 COVID-19 patients continue to have antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 proteins 10 months after infection. Published in The Lancet-affiliated Eclinicalmedicine, the study provides real-world evidence of the persistence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in infected individuals, though the authors said more research is needed to determine if, and to what degree, protection against reinfection persists.

Restoring blood flow to limbs is a challenging goal, given the minuteness of the peripheral vasculature. But there is a huge unmet need for patients with chronic limb-threatening ischemia (CLTI) – a severe form of peripheral artery disease in which patients face major amputation. Now, Limflow SA reports one-year data from the PROMISE I study shows its Percutaneous Deep Vein Arterialization System (pDVA) led to sustained amputation-free survival and wound healing in CLTI patients treated with the device.

Boston Scientific Corp. presented late-breaking data at EuroPCR 2021 demonstrating positive procedural performance for its Acurate Neo2 aortic valve system, including low rates of paravalvular leakage (PVL) and permanent pacemaker implementation (PPI). The findings are good news, following the older Acurate Neo’s failure to demonstrate noninferiority to Medtronic plc’s Evolut R in the so-called SCOPE II study.

PARIS – Tecmoled SAS has just completed the initial testing phase for its wireless oximeter. A prototype has been tested over the past four months on 30 healthy subjects, aged 2 to 70 years, to measure oxygen saturation (SpO₂), heart rate and body temperature.

While the founder of Woebot Health says that the app is not intended to replace human therapists, for the majority of the world who cannot locate an available psychologist or afford one once found, Woebot aims to offer a “radically accessible” option for mental health care.

Percutaneously implanted devices designed to seal off the left atrial appendage (LAA) have been around for some time, but a recent study of surgical closure of the appendage might have a beneficial effect on sales of these devices despite that the study did not deal directly with these devices. The results were compelling enough to provoke a halt to the study before all patients had reached the projected term of follow-up, and at least one observer said it may be time to study whether more routine use of devices for percutaneous LAA closure is indicated.

Two-year results from the Evolut Low Risk Trial show Medtronic plc’s Evolut transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is noninferior to open-heart surgery in younger, healthier aortic stenosis patients. Moreover, the Evolut cohort fared better on certain critical events. Specifically, two-year rates of all-cause mortality or disabling stroke were 4.3% for TAVR patients vs. 6.3% for those undergoing surgical aortic valve repair (SAVR).