Evidence reports
Latest evidence reports
Browse deHype evidence reports that check health and science headlines against source chains, study design, caveats and claim strength.
Evidence report
C
Early-stage only
Evidence check: Cancer jab can eradicate entire tumours in patients, trial shows
The article reports on early results from an international clinical trial (OrigAMI-4), presented at the ASCO conference, testing the drug amivantamab in 102 patients with head and neck cancers that are resistant to standard treatments. The trial found that tumours shrank or disappeared in about a third of patients, with complete eradication in 15 cases. The jab is a targeted therapy that blocks EGFR and MET and activates immune response. Most side effects were mild to moderate, and ongoing evaluation is being conducted in additional cancer types.
Evidence report
C
Early-stage only
Evidence check: Can fasting fight gum disease? Scientists find surprising link
A small randomised controlled pilot study suggests short-term fasting-style cycles may reduce markers of gum inflammation, but the findings are preliminary, based on 28 participants and surrogate laboratory outcomes rather than direct clinical endpoints.
Evidence report
B
Human evidence
Evidence check: Scientists finally crack an “undruggable” pancreatic cancer target and nearly double survival
The article claims that a new targeted therapy—daraxonrasib—for metastatic pancreatic cancer patients with KRAS mutations almost doubles overall survival compared to chemotherapy, based on a phase 3 trial of 500 patients, with secondary claims that this represents a paradigm shift, offering improved quality of life and milder side-effects versus standard care.
Evidence report
D
Observational, not causal
Evidence check: Poor sleep linked to rising cancer risk in under-50s
The Guardian article reports on two large US studies, presented at a major cancer conference, that found an association between poor sleep and increased rates of cancer in under-50s. While people diagnosed with insomnia appeared to have up to three times higher risk of some cancers within five years, experts stress that these are observational findings and do not prove that poor sleep causes cancer. Potential confounding factors (such as drinking, smoking, and obesity) and the possibility of reverse causality (cancer affecting sleep before diagnosis) are noted. Further research is needed to clarify the relationship and potential biological mechanisms.
Evidence report
C
Preliminary clinical benefit
Evidence check: New ovarian cancer drug gives women more time and better quality of life - BBC News
The article reports that mirvetuximab soravtansine, now available on the NHS, extends average survival in patients with specific hard-to-treat ovarian cancers from 12.8 to 16.5 months, with improved quality of life and fewer side effects than conventional chemotherapy. It is only suitable for cancers with the folate receptor alpha marker, reportedly benefiting about 30-40% of those whose cancers are resistant to standard chemotherapy. Patient and clinician testimonials support these claims, but no direct link to the clinical trial publication is given in the article.
Evidence report
C
Over-framed
Evidence check: Your nose could detect Alzheimer’s years before symptoms begin
The article reports that loss of smell may be an early indicator of Alzheimer's, based on research showing the brain's immune cells destroy connections between the olfactory bulb and locus coeruleus in both animal models and human tissue. The immune activity is thought to begin before visible cognitive decline, which could permit earlier identification and interventions against Alzheimer's. However, while there is supporting animal evidence and some human tissue and imageing data, prospective clinical validation for smell loss as a biomarker is lacking.
Evidence report
C
Early-stage only
Evidence check: A personalized vaccine for melanoma cut the risk of cancer returning after five years
The NBC News article covers new results from a clinical trial on an experimental personalised mRNA vaccine for melanoma, developed by Moderna and Merck, suggesting reduced risk of cancer returning over five years. However, the article does not provide full trial details, peer-reviewed publication, or data on longer-term safety and generalizability.
Evidence report
C
Early-stage only
Evidence check: Blood and spinal fluid proteins reveal distinct fingerprints of four brain diseases
A large-scale, multi-institutional study analyzed nearly 7,000 proteins from blood and spinal fluid samples of close to 6,000 participants, identifying disease-specific and shared molecular signatures for four major neurodegenerative diseases. These protein patterns enabled computational models to differentiate between diseases and controls with high accuracy and may guide the development of future diagnostic tests and therapeutic targets. However, clinical application and real-world benefit remain unproven.
Evidence report
C
Early-stage only
Evidence check: Cycling Linked to Lower Risk of Dementia, Study of Half a Million Finds
A large observational UK cohort study found that individuals who primarily cycled for travel had a lower risk of all-cause dementia, Alzheimer's disease, young-onset and late-onset dementia compared to non-active travelers. The study also linked cycling to greater regional brain volumes relevant to memory, but noted important confounders and did not demonstrate causality.
Evidence report
D
Preclinical/early-stage
Evidence check: Science & Medicine: A pill that slows aging? San Antonio researchers are putting it to the test
The article describes a clinical trial at UT Health San Antonio testing whether rapamycin, which extended both lifespan and healthspan in mice, can restore 'youthful' biological markers in older adults by modulating the mTOR pathway. While animal studies have shown rapamycin to reverse markers of arterial hardening and improve healthspan, no published human results on actual ageing-related health outcomes are reported. The human study underway measures immune and metabolic markers in older adults after rapamycin or everolimus treatment but has not reported clinical results.
Evidence report
D
Animal/lab only
Evidence check: Scientists Discover Brain Pathway That May Slow Parkinson’s Disease – but Only in Women
The article reports on a preclinical study in the Journal of Neuroscience that used gene editing to increase the number of nicotine-responsive receptors in dopamine-producing neurons of mice, resulting in neuroprotection under parkinsonian conditions, but only in female models. The authors propose this pathway as a potential strategy to slow disease progression. There is no evidence of testing in humans, and the findings are limited to animal models.
Evidence report
D
Preclinical only
Evidence check: Scientists found a hidden Alzheimer’s trigger and shut it down
The ScienceDaily article reports that researchers from Indiana University School of Medicine identified a potential Alzheimer’s treatment target: the enzyme IDOL. Their laboratory animal studies found that deleting IDOL from neurons led to a reduction in amyloid plaques and increased markers of brain resilience and communication. However, the research is fully preclinical; it has not yet been tested in humans, and clinical benefits or safety are unknown.
Evidence report
D
Early-stage only
Evidence check: A hidden map in your nose could explain how smell works
This ScienceDaily article reports on new research in mice that mapped millions of olfactory neurons and found that smell receptors are arranged in neat, overlapping stripes depending on receptor type. This organization mirrors how smell is mapped in the brain. The research, published in Cell, reveals a coordinated sensory system and suggests that understanding this mapping could guide future treatments for loss of smell, such as stem cell therapies or brain-computer interfaces. However, the finding is based on mouse, not human, studies, and no direct therapeutic demonstrations are provided.
Evidence report
C
Preliminary & Observational
Evidence check: Early-Onset Colorectal Cancer Risk Factors Identified
The article describes two large observational studies, each analyzing risk factors for early-onset colorectal cancer (CRC) and colorectal adenomas (<50 years). The first, a case-control analysis using a large health database, found that younger adults with early-onset CRC were more likely to have inflammatory bowel disease, family history of CRC, obesity/severe obesity, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, hepatic steatosis, and certain lab abnormalities compared with those with late-onset CRC and with healthy controls. The second, a nested case-control study in the Kaiser Permanente system, found a statistically significant association between extended oral antibiotic use and the risk of developing early-onset colorectal adenomas, independent of class and duration, with risk increasing with greater use. Both studies are observational, cannot prove causation, and were presented in conference abstract form, not yet in peer-reviewed full publication. Commentary from clinical experts in the article emphasizes the hypothesis-generating nature of these findings and cautions against changes in clinical practice or screening recommendations until further research is completed.
Evidence report
D
Early-stage only
Evidence check: New psychedelic-like drugs could treat depression without making you trip
The article reports that UC Davis scientists discovered and synthesized a new class of compounds from amino acids using UV light, which activate the serotonin 5-HT2A receptor—the main target of psychedelic drugs—but did not induce the hallmark head-twitch response (a proxy for hallucinations) in mice. This leads researchers to speculate that these agents could offer the brain-healing or therapeutic potential of psychedelics without the perceptual side effects, potentially paving the way for future depression, PTSD, and addiction drugs. All findings thus far are limited to laboratory and animal studies; no human or clinical data are reported.
Evidence report
C
Early-stage only
Evidence check: Why some brain cells are particularly vulnerable to multiple sclerosis
The article describes new research identifying that a specific set of brain cells (CUX2 neurons) are especially susceptible to dying in the context of progressive multiple sclerosis because DNA damage caused by inflammation exceeds their ability to repair themselves. The research involved both human postmortem tissue from MS patients and mouse models where DNA repair proteins (notably ATF4) were experimentally disabled, aggravating neuron loss. The findings suggest that, beyond the traditionally-recognized loss of myelin, intrinsic neuronal vulnerability and impaired DNA repair are critical in the neurodegenerative progression of MS. This opens the possibility of future therapies aimed at protecting these neurons but has not established any immediate treatment or clinical recommendations.