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Moderna says the same mRNA technology that fueled its COVID-19 vaccine is proving effective in fighting melanoma.The company presented the latest results from its trial involving 157 people with advanced skin cancer at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago. In the study, Moderna and Merck combined their cancer treatments—Moderna’s experimental cancer vaccine and Merck’s approved checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab (Keytruda)—to achieve potentially life-changing results for melanoma patients.In the phase 2 study of patients with stage 3 or stage 4 melanoma who were treated after surgery to remove the bulk of their tumors, two thirds received a monthly dose of Moderna’s cancer vaccine for nine months, along with pembrolizumab treatments every three weeks f...

New York — A nurse was fired by a New York City hospital after she referred to Israel's war in Gaza as a “genocide” during a speech accepting an award.Labor and delivery nurse Hesen Jabr, who is Palestinian American, was being honored by NYU Langone Health for her compassion in caring for mothers who had lost babies when she drew a link between her work and the suffering of mothers in Gaza.“It pains me to see the women from my country going through unimaginable losses themselves during the current genocide in Gaza,” Jabr said, according to a video of the May 7 speech that she posted on social media. “This award is deeply personal to me for those reasons.”Jabr wrote on Instagram that she arrived at work on May 22 for her first shift back after receiving the award when she was summoned to a ...

Slipping and sliding in the summer months is great—if you’re at a water park or in a pool, that is. Otherwise, it’s the miserable reality of sweaty feet.“I’ve literally had patients come in and tell me they’re sweating so much, they’ve fallen out of their shoes,” says Dr. Dee Anna Glaser, a professor of dermatology at Saint Louis University School of Medicine and president of the International Hyperhidrosis Society. “Or they can’t wear heels because they’re afraid they’ll slip and break an ankle. It can go from mild and a nuisance to very significant.”In rare cases, sweaty feet are caused by hyperhidrosis, a medical condition that triggers excessive sweating and affects different parts of the body, like the underarms, hands, and feet. It has a strong genetic component, Glaser says: More th...

If it feels like you’re suddenly seeing ticks everywhere, it’s not in your head. The U.S. tick population has exploded in recent years, largely driven by climate change, which means spotting one of these blood-sucking pests is an unfortunately routine event for people in many parts of the country. Ticks are best known for spreading Lyme disease, an illness that can cause flu-like symptoms, body aches, fatigue, and more. By some estimates, almost half a million people in the U.S. are diagnosed with Lyme each year, with the blacklegged ticks that spread the condition particularly prevalent in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and parts of the Midwest and Pacific Coast. Lyme isn’t the only tick-associated illness to know about, though. The creatures’ bites can spread a range of rarer illnesses, in...

Hendersonville, N.C. — A North Carolina aquarium that said it had a pregnant stingray with no male companion now says the fish has a rare reproductive disease.Thursday's statement from the Aquarium and Shark Lab in Hendersonville did not say what disease the stingray, Charlotte, has or comment on the status of her pregnancy. The aquarium did not immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press seeking more information.“Charlotte has developed a rare reproductive disease that has negatively impacted her reproductive system," the aquarium said. “The findings are truly a sad and unexpected medical development. Our priority is to focus on Charlotte’s health and well being.”The aquarium in the Blue Ridge Mountains had announced Charlotte's pregnancy in February, stating that she hadn't...