Cancer treatment: sorting the good news from the hype

The newspapers love a cancer research story, but many are misleading or won’t affect patients for many years. But there is plenty of progress worth reporting

New class of antibiotic raises hopes for urgently-needed gonorrhoea drug

With the sexually transmitted disease fast becoming drug resistant, successful lab tests of closthioamide show potential as an effective new treatment

Too much sugar could increase depression risk in men, study suggests

Researchers say they have found a strong association between consuming higher levels of sugar and depression in men – a link not mirrored in women

Does being on your period make you less on top of your game?

‘Period brain’ may be one of the mainstays of internet banter – but a new study doesn’t find any scientific evidence for it

HPV vaccine: anger over decision not to extend NHS scheme to boys

Health bodies condemn panel’s conclusion that more jabs against cancer-causing infection are unlikely to be cost-effective

Tall men at bigger risk of aggressive prostate cancer, study suggests

UK scientists find chance of high-grade prostate cancer rises by 21% with every 10cm increment in height

Meningitis vaccine may also cut risk of ‘untreatable’ gonorrhoea, study says

Bacteria causing two different illnesses belong to the same family and share much of the same genetic code providing unexpected cross protection

Poor quality sleep could increase Alzheimer’s risk, research suggests

Findings raise possibility repeated disruption of slow wave sleep could lead to a buildup of proteins linked to disease

Testicular cancer: men most at risk could be identified using new gene group

Discovery of 19 new genes could allow doctors to spot the 1% of men most at risk of the cancer, allowing closer monitoring or preventative treatment

Unhealthy Britain: half of adults walk less than a mile a day – survey

Poll commissioned by Cancer Research UK finds 52% of adults walk only 2,000 steps a day, figures described as ‘worrying’ and likely to increase cancer risk