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Cancer of the nasopharynx (that part of the throat between the back of the nose and the back of the mouth) is prevalent in Southeast Asia. It often causes no symptoms until locally advanced. In a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine on 10 August 2017, blood plasma samples from more than 20,000 men of Chinese descent aged 40 to 62 living in Hong Kong were tested for circulating DNA fragments of the Epstein-Barr virus. There were persistently positive results in 309 men who were then offered examination of their nasopharynx with an endoscope and by MRI scanning. Of the 300 men examined 34 (11%) were found to have nasopharyngeal cancer, and it was at an early and potentially curable stage in 16 of them.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recently updated its 2008 guidelines on cholesterol-lowering medications known as statins. The recommendations were released in the November 15th issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Research has suggested that screening for an inherited genetic defect known as familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) during routine immunization visits in early childhood could identify both children and parents at risk of premature coronary heart disease. This would be helpful as many people with this disorder are not diagnosed until they develop cardiovascular disease. The study was conducted in the United Kingdom and published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

MHRA seizes more than 100 unreliable HIV home-testing kits

A new, 'next-generation' blood test that speeds up the time it takes to help diagnose heart attacks was recently cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Though the test has been used in other countries for seven years, it only became cleared for use in the U.S. on January 18, 2017.