Medical news
Discoveries, new treatments, technology and news from our partner hospitals, explained plainly, with the official sources.
Discoveries
- DiscoveriesDiscoveriesNews from 5 October 20262026 Nobel Prize in Medicine: optogenetics, the method that controls nerve cells with lightKarl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel received the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics. The method makes it possible to switch specific nerve cells on or off with light.Read the article
- DiscoveriesDiscoveriesNews from 19 August 2026Melanoma: an mRNA therapy made for each patient’s tumour reduced the risk of recurrence in a phase 3 trialOn 19 August 2026, Merck and Moderna announced that the phase 3 INTerpath-001 trial met its primary goal: after melanoma surgery, the personalised therapy intismeran autogene added to pembrolizumab improved recurrence-free survival. Detailed figures will be presented at the ESMO congress in October 2026.Read the article
- DiscoveriesDiscoveriesNews from 6 October 20252025 Nobel Prize in Medicine: regulatory T cells and peripheral immune toleranceMary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi received the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. They identified regulatory T cells, which stop the immune system from attacking the body itself.Read the article
- DiscoveriesDiscoveriesNews from 24 September 2025Huntington’s disease: results of the AMT-130 gene therapy after three years of follow-upOn 24 September 2025, uniQure announced that the high dose of the AMT-130 gene therapy was linked to slower progression of Huntington’s disease at 36 months, compared with an external control group. The therapy is under review and not approved.Read the article
- DiscoveriesDiscoveriesNews from 15 May 2025KJ Muldoon, the first patient treated with a personalised CRISPR therapy, for CPS1 deficiencyDoctors and researchers in Philadelphia built, in about six months, a gene-editing therapy designed for one child’s mutation. The case was published on 15 May 2025 in The New England Journal of Medicine.Read the article
New treatments
New treatmentsNews from 26 August 2026FDA approves daraxonrasib, an oral treatment for metastatic pancreatic cancerOn 26 August 2026 the FDA approved daraxonrasib (Rasonque), an oral medicine that blocks RAS proteins. In the phase 3 RASolute 302 trial, median survival was 13.2 months versus 6.7 months with chemotherapy.Read the article
New treatmentsNews from 29 January 2026Artificial intelligence in breast-cancer screening: final results of the Swedish MASAI trialOn 29 January 2026 The Lancet published the main results of the MASAI trial of more than 105,000 women: AI-supported mammography screening was non-inferior to double reading by radiologists, with higher sensitivity and the same specificity.Read the article- New treatmentsNew treatmentsNews from 3 November 2025Pig-kidney transplants enter clinical trials: first patient treated in the EXPAND studyOn 3 November 2025 United Therapeutics announced the first transplant in the EXPAND study, performed at NYU Langone in New York. It is the first formal clinical trial of gene-edited pig kidneys in patients with end-stage kidney disease.Read the article
- New treatmentsNew treatmentsNews from 18 June 2025Lenacapavir: a twice-yearly injection to prevent HIV, approved in the US and the EUOn 18 June 2025 the FDA approved lenacapavir as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) given twice a year. WHO recommended it in July, and in August 2025 the medicine was authorised in the European Union.Read the article
New treatmentsNews from 16 May 2025FDA clears the first blood test to help diagnose Alzheimer's diseaseOn 16 May 2025 the FDA cleared the Lumipulse G pTau217/β-Amyloid 1-42 Plasma Ratio, a blood test that indicates whether amyloid plaques in the brain are likely, in adults with symptoms of cognitive decline.Read the article
Technology
- TechnologyTechnologyNews from 22 July 2026The PRIMA retinal implant receives the CE mark for geographic atrophy due to macular degenerationOn 22 July 2026, Science Corporation announced the European launch of the PRIMA implant, approved to partly restore central vision in patients with geographic atrophy. The trial results were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.Read the article
- TechnologyTechnologyNews from 9 July 2026New surgical robots in Europe: hinotori receives the CE mark, following da Vinci 5 and SentireOn 9 July 2026, Japanese company Medicaroid announced the CE mark for its hinotori surgical robot. It is one of several European approvals for robotic surgery systems in 2025–2026.Read the article
- TechnologyTechnologyNews from 15 June 2026Brain-computer interfaces: a patient with ALS communicated from home for nearly two years using a brain implantA study published on 15 June 2026 in Nature Medicine shows that a man with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis used a brain implant that turns his attempts to speak into text almost daily, at home and without researchers present. We also cover other results from 2025–2026.Read the article
- TechnologyTechnologyNews from 11 December 2025Proton therapy for oropharyngeal cancer: a phase 3 trial reports better survival than photon radiotherapyOn 11 December 2025, The Lancet published a randomised phase 3 trial of 440 patients comparing proton therapy with modern photon radiotherapy in oropharyngeal cancer. We also cover 2026 results for FLASH radiotherapy near the heart and lungs.Read the article
TechnologyNews from 7 April 2025Single-incision robotic chest surgery at a distance: a patient in Bucharest operated on from a console in ChinaOn 1 April 2025, a patient with lung cancer in Bucharest underwent single-incision robotic surgery controlled from more than 8,000 km away, in Suzhou, China. The team, which included Spanish surgeon Diego González Rivas, published the case in 2026.Read the article
Partner hospitals
Partner hospitalsNews from 7 July 2026Spitalul Monza accredited by EASO as a Collaborating Centre for Obesity ManagementFrom 1 July 2026, Spitalul Monza in Bucharest is part of the European Association for the Study of Obesity (EASO) network of accredited Collaborating Centres for Obesity Management, for the period 2026–2029.Read the article
Partner hospitalsNews from 8 May 2026Jerusalem's Shaare Zedek receives a $200 million donation for a new medical towerOn 8 May 2026, Shaare Zedek Medical Center announced a $200 million donation from The Koum Family Foundation, which the hospital describes as the largest single gift ever made to an Israeli hospital. The funds will pay for a new medical tower.Read the article- Partner hospitalsPartner hospitalsNews from 9 April 2026AKH Vienna and MedUni Vienna perform a hybrid procedure for ventricular tachycardia for the first time in AustriaIn March 2026, doctors at University Hospital Vienna (AKH) and MedUni Vienna performed, for the first time in Austria, a minimally invasive procedure combining thoracoscopy with catheter ablation to treat ventricular tachycardia. It was announced on 9 April 2026.Read the article
- Partner hospitalsPartner hospitalsNews from 25 February 2026Newsweek ranks Koç University Hospital first in Türkiye in World's Best Hospitals 2026In the 2026 edition of World's Best Hospitals, compiled by Newsweek with Statista, Koç University Hospital in Istanbul is ranked first in Türkiye and 213th in the global top 250.Read the article
Partner hospitalsNews from 29 January 2026IEO Milan reports Italy's first lung tumour treatments by thermal ablation through a robotic bronchoscopeOn 29 January 2026, the European Institute of Oncology (IEO) in Milan announced that, for the first time in Italy, it had treated two patients with lung tumours by transbronchial thermal ablation with the ION robotic bronchoscope, without surgical incisions.Read the article