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.
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Age should not be a barrier to aggressive esophageal cancer treatment
- Author:
- M. Alexander Otto
Comorbidities, fitness are what matters.
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PET predicts response to endocrine therapy in ER+ breast cancer
- Author:
- M. Alexander Otto
Researchers say they’ve found a way to predict response to endocrine therapy in patients with ER+ breast cancer...
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Routine COVID-19 screening unnecessary for cancer outpatients
- Author:
- M. Alexander Otto
Screening works well based on symptoms/exposures, according to a study.
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RPLND deemed ‘attractive’ option for early metastatic seminoma
- Author:
- M. Alexander Otto
The 2-year recurrence-free survival rate was 84% in a phase 2 trial.
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CCR score can guide treatment decisions after radiation in prostate cancer
- Author:
- M. Alexander Otto
The score can identify patients with a low risk of metastasis who could potentially skip androgen deprivation therapy.
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Cemiplimab approved for locally advanced, metastatic basal cell carcinoma
- Author:
- M. Alexander Otto
The approval is based on phase 2 trial results.
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TBI beats chemoconditioning for ALL transplants in children
- Author:
- M. Alexander Otto
Total body irradiation plus etoposide remains the conditioning regimen of choice.
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New technique uses voice to evaluate thyroid nodules
- Author:
- M. Alexander Otto
An investigational technique could improve tumor detection.
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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...
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Tool predicts severe toxicity from chemo in older breast cancer patients
- Author:
- M. Alexander Otto
The new scoring system outperformed existing tools.
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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.”...
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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.
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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...