Alex Ortega-Loayza, M.D., and the Oregon Rural Practice-based Research Network will implement a teledermatology program involving five Oregon clinics.

Lindsey Sauve, M.P.H., and Morgan Hunter discuss the Friendships and Dating Program, which provides people with disabilities skills to promote healthy relationships and sexual health in their communities.

A study by Gulcan Cil, Ph.D., found Oregon middle school students received office discipline referrals for substance use offenses not related to alcohol or tobacco about 30% more often after recreation marijuana legalization. Cil says the findings “suggest a stronger association between marijuana legalization and use at school for early adolescents who are at a critical developmental stage … and also at a higher risk for future transition to dependence.”

A study by Gulcan Cil, Ph.D., found Oregon middle school students received office discipline referrals for substance use offenses not related to alcohol or tobacco about 30% more often after recreation marijuana legalization. Cil says the findings “suggest a stronger association between marijuana legalization and use at school for early adolescents who are at a critical developmental stage … and also at a higher risk for future transition to dependence.”

Research by David Lieberman, M.D., found multitarget stool RNA tests compare favorably with colonoscope to detect advanced adenomas and colorectal cancer in average-risk individuals. Lieberman says: “This is the first large study to include the 45- to 49-year-old population, for whom screening is now recommended.”

Coverage of a clinical trial for clear-cell renal cell carcinoma, which has now found participants who were at very high risk of recurrence experienced statistically significant improvement, notes Christopher Ryan, M.D., published earlier study results that found the difference between recurrence-free survival time for participants taking everolimus and those on placebo narrowly missed being statistically significant.

At the 2023 European Society for Medical Oncology conference, Julie Graff, M.D., presented data on the phase 3 KEYNOTE-641 trial, which did not indicate an overall survival improvement with pembrolizumab plus enzalutamide in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Graff says: “Future studies should focus on patient selection and the identification of positive predictive markers of response, more so than treating all comers, which several studies have shown has not really worked here or they acknowledge it.”

At the 2023 European Society for Medical Oncology conference, Julie Graff, M.D., presented data on the phase 3 KEYNOTE-641 trial, which did not indicate an overall survival improvement with pembrolizumab plus enzalutamide in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Graff says: “Future studies should focus on patient selection and the identification of positive predictive markers of response, more so than treating all comers, which several studies have shown has not really worked here or they acknowledge it.”

A letter to the editor of the East Oregonian urges legislature consideration to “create a pathway” for Medicare to cover multi-cancer early detection tests following Food and Drug Administration approval.

A story about Multnomah County no longer employing a staff psychiatrist at its jail notes psychiatric nurse practitioners are available at the jail during the week and that an OHSU fellow does rounds weekly at the jail's acute mental health unit.