M. Alexander Otto began his reporting career early in 1999 covering the pharmaceutical industry for a national pharmacists' magazine and freelancing for the Washington Post and other newspapers. He then joined BNA, now part of Bloomberg News, covering health law and the protection of people and animals in medical research. Alex next worked for the McClatchy Company. Based on his work, Alex won a year-long Knight Science Journalism Fellowship to MIT in 2008-2009. He joined the company shortly thereafter. Alex has a newspaper journalism degree from Syracuse (N.Y.) University and a master's degree in medical science -- a physician assistant degree -- from George Washington University. Alex is based in Seattle.
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“Terrific progress”: Adding blinatumomab for infant leukemia
Immunotherapy plus chemotherapy improves outcomes and may soon become first-line treatment for a rare pediatric blood cancer.
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Adding venetoclax improves ibrutinib outcomes in CLL
A small study yields sanguine news about a combination treatment, as hematologists await phase 3 results.
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FDA approves first gene therapy for bladder cancer
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration
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Beta-thalassemia: Benefits of gene therapy outweigh costs
Following treatment with betibeglogene autotemcel, some patients went without transfusions for 8 years and counting.
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Poorly matched stem cell transplants linked to ancestry
To address disparities, medical institutions also need to improve their assessments of financial hardship.
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FDA approves first gene therapy for hemophilia B
The gene therapy will cost $3.5 million, making it the most expensive treatment to date.
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FDA grants accelerated approval for new treatment of female cancers
Eligible patients for mirvetuximab soravtansine include those with folate receptor alpha, chemo resistant ovarian, fallopian and peritoneal...
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Experts opine on hemophilia treatments
For hemophilia A prophylaxis, debate continues over factor versus non-factor replacement therapy, optimal trough levels, and more.
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Adding immunotherapy to chemo in lung cancer improves patient outcomes, new data show
Patient-reported outcomes are often released well after efficacy data, making treatment decisions more challenging.
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Symptoms, not pelvic exams, pick up most endometrial cancer recurrences
The findings speak to the anxiety of shifting to telemedicine during COVID-19.
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Complex surgery 10 times more likely with some ovarian tumors
Imaging, tumor subtype predict debulking success in advanced ovarian cancer.
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Intensity-modulated radiotherapy reduces esophagitis in palliative NSCLC
What’s the balance between tumor coverage and sparing healthy tissue in the palliative setting?
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FDA approves neoadjuvant nivolumab/chemo for early-stage NSCLC
Nivolumab is the first immune checkpoint inhibitor to be approved for resectable NSCLC.
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Bladder cancer need not always require radical cystectomy
The oncologic outcomes are equivalent whether patients have trimodal therapy or radical cystectomy.
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63% of patients with upper tract urothelial carcinoma respond to chemo before surgery
Study authors suggest neoadjuvant chemotherapy should be a new standard of care for high-grade upper tract urothelial carcinoma.