UBC Abbotsford-Mission Family Practice Residency Program

Ovarian Cancer Prevention Vaccine

“Scientists at the University of Oxford are designing OvarianVax, a vaccine which teaches the immune system to recognise and attack the earliest stages of ovarian cancer. The team will receive up to £600,000 for the study over the next three years to support lab research into the vaccine.

In this study, the Cancer Research UK-funded scientists will establish the targets for the vaccine. They will find out which proteins on the surface of early-stage ovarian cancer cells are most strongly recognised by the immune system and how effectively the vaccine kills mini-models of ovarian cancer called organoids.

If this research is successful, work will then begin on clinical trials of the vaccine. The hope is that in the future, women could be offered this vaccine to prevent ovarian cancer in the first place.”

Read more on Oxford researchers secure funding for world’s first ovarian cancer prevention vaccine via University of Oxford.

UBC Abbotsford-Mission Family Practice Residency Program

HPV Vaccination

“Canada’s federal vaccine advisory body is now recommending a single dose of the HPV vaccine for children and youth, bringing the country in line with multiple others that have already reduced the number of required doses for young people.

The new guidance, out Wednesday from the National Committee on Immunization (NACI), strongly recommends that individuals nine to 20 years of age should receive one dose of the vaccine for human papillomavirus, instead of two or three.

Research over the last decade has shown that one dose of this “highly effective vaccine” can provide comparable protection against HPV infection and disease among female individuals in that age group, NACI noted. 

The advisory body still calls for two doses of the HPV vaccine for Canadians aged 21 to 26, along with a three-dose schedule for people who are immunocompromised or living with HIV.”

Read more on Canada’s vaccine advisers now recommend 1 dose of HPV shot for younger groups via CBC News.

UBC Abbotsford-Mission Family Practice Residency Program

Alzheimer Disease & Blood Biomarkers

An Experiment on a Bird in an Air Pump by Joseph Wright of Derby, 1768

Question  Can a blood test based on the ratio of plasma phosphorylated tau 217 (p-tau217) relative to non–p-tau217 (expressed as percentage of p-tau217) combined with the amyloid-β 42 and amyloid-β 40 plasma ratio (the amyloid probability score 2 [APS2]) accurately identify Alzheimer disease in primary care and secondary care when prospectively applying predefined biomarker cutoff values?

Findings  There were 1213 patients undergoing cognitive evaluation in primary or secondary care. The APS2 had high diagnostic accuracy (range, 88%-92%) for detecting Alzheimer disease pathology in both primary and secondary care. Dementia specialists identified clinical Alzheimer disease with a diagnostic accuracy of 73% vs 91% using the APS2 and primary care physicians had a diagnostic accuracy of 61% vs 91% using the APS2.

Meaning  This blood test (the APS2) had high diagnostic accuracy for identifying Alzheimer disease among individuals with cognitive symptoms in primary and secondary care, providing superior performance compared with the diagnostic accuracy after standard clinical evaluation (not using Alzheimer disease biomarkers).

More on Blood Biomarkers to Detect Alzheimer Disease in Primary Care and Secondary Care via JAMA.

Learn more on the significance of An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump by Joseph Wright of Derby via Wikipedia.