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Digital follow-up lowers cancer readmissions; FDA names Natera MCED test a breakthrough device; first patients get Pixclara PET

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THE SHORT READ

Readmission within 30 days was 30% with a digital transitional care program versus 37% with usual care for patients with cancer at Memorial Sloan Kettering, an npj Digital Medicine study found. Natera said the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted its multi-cancer early detection assay breakthrough device designation, and Telix said the first patients received its glioma PET agent Pixclara.

THE DETAILS
  • Technology Oct 8, 2026
    Digital transitional care program tied to 30% versus 37% readmission rate in patients with cancer at Memorial Sloan Kettering
    Researchers at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center allocated 1,713 patients discharged from medical oncology services to a digital transitional care program or usual care by medical record number parity, according to a study in npj Digital Medicine. The program delivered daily electronic symptom assessments and tailored self-management education for 10 days, with moderate or severe symptoms routed to clinical teams. Thirty-day readmission, the primary outcome, was 30% versus 37% (P = .001), and 90-day readmission was 48% versus 54% (P = .004). Emergency department visits without admission within 30 days were 12% versus 17% (P = .007).
    Source: npj Digital Medicine
  • FDA Oct 9, 2026
    FDA grants breakthrough device designation to Natera's multi-cancer early detection assay
    Natera said on Oct. 9 that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted breakthrough device designation to its multi-cancer early detection assay. In granting it, the FDA assessed data from 12 cancer types and considered sensitivity, specificity and cancer signal origin performance, according to the company. The designation is for novel technologies that enable more effective diagnosis or treatment of life-threatening or irreversibly debilitating conditions, the company said. "Too many cancers are diagnosed after they've progressed, simply because limited screening options exist," said Dr. Alexey Aleshin, Natera's corporate chief medical officer.
    Source: Natera (Business Wire via BioSpace)
  • Technology Oct 6, 2026
    First patients receive Telix's Pixclara PET agent for glioma at IU Health and University Hospitals Cleveland
    Telix said on Oct. 6 that the first U.S. patients were dosed with Pixclara (floretyrosine F 18) at the Indiana University Health Neuroscience Center in Indianapolis and University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center. The agent is indicated for use with positron emission tomography (PET) to differentiate recurrent or progressive glioma from treatment-related change in adults and pediatric patients one month of age and older. Telix announced Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval on Sept. 14 and said Pixclara is the only FDA-approved radiopharmaceutical imaging drug for glioma.
    Sources: Telix (GlobeNewswire), AuntMinnie

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