MUHC in the Media - January 12, 2026

After being diagnosed with an extremely rare form of abdominal cancer called leiomyosarcoma and being told he had 12-18 months to live, Alex Villalta defied bleak odds in what doctors are calling a “miracle." After he underwent surgery and chemotherapy, things got more complicated when doctors discovered the cancer had spread to his liver. That’s when oncologists decided to think outside the box and try a procedure called Y90 radioembolization, the first time it had been used to treat a sarcoma-type cancer. Dr. Sinziana Dumitra, a Surgical Oncologist at the MUHC, was interviewd by Global News.

Children with peanut allergies may not need large doses of peanut oral immunotherapy to build protection to the allergen, finds a new study co-led by Dr. Moshe Ben-Shoshan, pediatric allergy and immunology specialist at the Montreal Children’s Hospital. The study found that very small amounts of peanuts, that are associated with fewer reactions, could be used as effectively as large amounts for oral immunotherapy, making it safer and accessible to more Canadians, even those who are very sensitive to the allergen. CTV News

The Lifesaving Society and Dr. Hussein Wissanji, a pediatric surgeon at the Montreal Children's Hospital, are campaigning for the new residential pool regulations to be enforced before the summer season. A study by Dr. Wissanji revealed in 2024 that one child per day is taken to an emergency room in Quebec during the summer due to drowning or near-drowning. La Nouvelle union

A tear of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of the most common sports injuries. “If you suffer this injury, you have to stop playing sports for a year or more and follow a rehabilitation program,” explains Dr. Paul Martineau, an orthopedic surgeon at the MUHC. That is why MUHC specialists have developed the smartphone app Hurtblocker. Using artificial intelligence, this free app predicts whether users are at risk of sustaining this injury or not. The Gazette

Dana Small, PhD, a senior scientist at The Institute who holds a Canada Excellence Research Chair in metabolism and the brain, commented on a British study that shows that overweight and obese people who took semaglutide for weight loss regained weight faster after stopping the medication than those who stopped a diet or exercise program. She believes the medication is useful but needs to be coupled with weight-loss maintenance strategies and concerted efforts to change the food environment. RCI, Global News

Few of us manage to get through winter without experiencing some kind of seasonal skin condition. Cold weather outside, combined with warmer, dry air, indoors, can leave our skin filling dry, or even worse. Dr. Carolyn Jack, a dermatologist and researcher at The Institute, discusses common winter skin conditions and what you can do to help protect your skin. Global News

There is a little-known approach to treating prostate cancer in Quebec: focal therapy, a minimally invasive method that destroys only the part of the prostate affected by the tumour, while preserving healthy tissue. Dr. Rafael Sanchez-Salas gave an interview on 98.5 FM. Journal de Montréal