In Global News: Raising Lung Cancer Awareness, Atrial Fibrillation News, and Repurposing an Asthma Drug for Aortic Aneurysm

Patient Care
Doctors in Abu Dhabi, UAE, say that a surprisingly high number of young Emirati adults have atrial fibrillation.
Two lung cancer survivors attended last Sunday’s Super Bowl 52 in Minnesota, USA, as winners of Team Draft’s Super Bowl Challenge, a part of the Team Draft Foundation’s initiative to increase lung cancer awareness and funding for research.
 
Drugs and Devices
The Revivent TC™ TransCatheter Ventricular Enhancement System from BioVentrix has received NUB Status 1, an award that designates innovative medical devices to receive reimbursement support in Germany.
 
Research, Trials, and Funding
Researchers from The Netherlands found robotic surgery to have a lower complication rate than open surgery for esophagectomy, and they presented their findings at the recent Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.
Acesion Pharma has received approval to begin a phase 1 study on a new compound for treating atrial fibrillation, which they expect to start in March 2018. This news comes shortly after results of the CASTLE-AF trial were published in the New England Journal of Medicine suggesting that catheter ablation techniques are superior to medical therapy for atrial fibrillation. 
Researchers in Sweden and Germany find that montelukast, an asthma drug that targets leukotrienes, protects mice against models of aortic aneurysm. Their findings were published in PNAS.