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TUESDAY, Feb. 9, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- A new drug combination for advanced liver cancer can extend people's lives substantially more than the long-standing drug of choice, new study findings confirm.The treatment involves two drugs approved to fight various cancers: bevacizumab (Avastin) and atezolizumab (Tecentriq). Avastin, an intravenous (IV) drug, starves tumors by preventing new blood vessel growth.Tecentriq, also given by IV, is an immune checkpoint inhibitor. Those newer, "immunotherapy" drugs help the immune system seek and destroy tumors.In a trial published last year, researchers found that for patients with advanced liver cancer, the combination worked better than a drug that had been the standard of care for 13 years.It lengthened patients' lives to a greater degree and...

TUESDAY, Feb. 9, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Although more teens are getting the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, parents' hesitancy is growing, a new study finds.From 2012 to 2018, more doctors recommended their patients get vaccinated with the HPV vaccine -- from 27% to 49%. But at the same time, the number of parents who were reluctant to have their kids vaccinated increased from 50% to 64%, researchers found."Overall, more U.S. teens are getting the HPV vaccine, and the nation is making progress towards reaching the HPV vaccination goals; however, if parental reluctance continues to grow, the current rate of our progress might plateau or possibly decline," said lead study author Kalyani Sonawane. She's an assistant professor in the department of management, policy and community...

TUESDAY, Feb. 9, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Children in day care centers had low coronavirus infection rates early in the pandemic, and are unlikely sources of COVID-19 transmission, a new study from France finds.COVID-19 can infect people of all ages, but children tend to develop mild, if any, symptoms, and very rarely need to be hospitalized. Very young children's role as asymptomatic coronavirus spreaders remains unknown and the risk to the community of having day care centers open has been unclear. "Young children are not spreading the virus widely in these environments," said study co-author Dr. Camille Aupiais, of Hôpital Jean-Verdier in Paris. "These findings should be reassuring for parents and staff at day care centers, especially given that the children included in the study...

TUESDAY, Feb. 9, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Fill up that mug: Having one or more cups of caffeinated coffee a day may reduce your risk of heart failure, new research suggests.There was one caveat, however: Decaffeinated coffee doesn't appear to provide the same protection as caffeine-rich blends. "The association between caffeine and heart failure risk reduction was surprising," admitted study senior author Dr. David Kao. "Coffee and caffeine are often considered by the general population to be 'bad' for the heart because people associate them with palpitations, high blood pressure, etc."However, "the consistent relationship between increasing caffeine consumption and decreasing heart failure risk turns that assumption on its head," said Kao, who is assistant professor of cardiology and...