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.
News
New technique uses voice to evaluate thyroid nodules
- Author:
- M. Alexander Otto
An investigational technique could improve tumor detection.
News
Even patients with cancer in remission at risk for severe COVID-19
- Author:
- M. Alexander Otto
Cancer patients, regardless of their age, and even if they are in remission, should be prioritized for...
News
Tool predicts severe toxicity from chemo in older breast cancer patients
- Author:
- M. Alexander Otto
The new scoring system outperformed existing tools.
News
Immunotherapy response linked to low TMB in recurrent glioblastoma
- Author:
- M. Alexander Otto
Patients with recurrent glioblastoma appear more likely to respond to immunotherapy if they have low tumor...
Article
Color-imaging endoscopy improves detection of upper GI cancer
- Author:
- M. Alexander Otto
Neoplastic lesions were detected in 60 patients (8%) with LCI versus 36 patients (4.8%) with WLI, which translated to a 1.67 times higher rate of...
News
A 4-point thrombocytopenia score was found able to rule out suspected HIT
- Author:
- M. Alexander Otto
A low score – 3 points or less – has a negative predictive value of 99.8%, “so HIT is basically ruled out.”...
News
Caregiver burden of outpatient ASCT for multiple myeloma comparable with inpatient transplant
- Author:
- M. Alexander Otto
But only if caregivers are equipped for outpatient care.
News
Cost is the main hurdle to broad use of caplacizumab for TTP
- Author:
- M. Alexander Otto
“If we take finances out, I think almost every patient except those with a bleeding risk or bleeding problem should get it,” an investigator said...
News
Cancer rates on the rise in adolescents and young adults
- Author:
- M. Alexander Otto
Rates of cancer diagnosis increased by 30% among adolescents and young adults in the United States between 1973...
News
Should CTCs guide treatment choice in HR+, HER2– breast cancer?
- Author:
- M. Alexander Otto
Survival outcomes were similar whether treatment choice was guided by circulating tumor cell counts or clinical factors.
News
What to do when anticoagulation fails cancer patients
- Author:
- M. Alexander Otto
When it comes to “anticoagulation failure, we are entering an evidence free-zone.”
News
Reduced cancer mortality with Medicaid expansion
- Author:
- M. Alexander Otto
There was a significant reduction in breast, colon, and lung cancer mortality.
News
Study supports genetic testing in older women with breast cancer
- Author:
- M. Alexander Otto
Variants in BRCA1/2, CHEK2, and PALB2 were significantly associated with increased breast cancer risk in women older than 65 years.
News
Pembrolizumab plus axitinib continues to outshine sunitinib for advanced RCC
- Author:
- M. Alexander Otto
The combination produced a survival benefit in the overall population but not among patients with favorable-risk disease.
News
Early results ‘encouraging’ for CAR NKT cells in neuroblastoma
- Author:
- M. Alexander Otto
The CAR NKT cells localized to tumors, and one of three patients treated achieved a response.