VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER After a cancer patient receiving an immunotherapy developed encephalitis and died 18 months into treatment, researchers at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC) investigated why the complication occurred, performing a molecular analysis of the disease’s pathology and mining data to determine the incidence of similar occurrences. The molecular analysis revealed the presence of...
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FDA approves 9 generic versions of nerve pain drug Lyrica
by Linda A. Johnson The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the first generic copies of a popular, pricey pill for nerve pain. The agency on Monday said it approved nine generic versions of Pfizer Inc.’s Lyrica. It is also used for seizures and fibromyalgia, a condition that causes chronic, widespread pain. Lyrica, approved...
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Genetic test can spot prostate cancer patients who would benefit from ‘seek and destroy’ treatment by looking for DNA errors
The promising ‘seek and destroy’ treatment uses highly specific radiation doses But it doesn’t work for all men – this test could make it easier to check Experts hope the therapy could benefit more than 5,000 men a year in the UK The eligibility test looks for a genetic fault linked to a certain type of tumour By SAM BLANCHARD SENIOR HEALTH REPORTER FOR MAILONLINE A test can work out...
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Rejected and unfilled prescriptions for new, more expensive cholesterol drugs tied to higher heart, stroke risk
AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION DALLAS, July 23, 2019 – Patients appear to be at higher risk of heart problems or stroke when prescriptions for the newest cholesterol-lowering drugs are rejected by insurance companies or unfilled by patients, according to new research in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, an American Heart Association journal. The drugs, PCSK9 inhibitors (PCSK9i), can...
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More Harm Than Good?
Posted Today Medical consensus once supported daily use of low-dose aspirin to prevent heart attack and stroke in people at increased risk for cardiovascular disease. But in 2018, three major clinical trials cast doubt on that conventional wisdom, finding few benefits and consistent bleeding risks associated with daily aspirin use. Taken together, the findings led...
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Routine blood test could lead to earlier diabetes diagnosis
Posted Yesterday The results of random plasma glucose (RPG) tests, which are commonly measured as part of routine outpatient laboratory testing, could help physicians identify individuals at high risk for type 2 diabetes for screening earlier than is done in current practice, according to research published online in the journal PLOS ONE. “We found that...
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Review of electronic medical records best way for family doctors to detect early signs of frailty, study shows
by Gillian Rutherford, University of Alberta Family doctors are in the best position to identify aging patients at risk of frailty early enough to stop—or even reverse—mobility and other function loss, say University of Alberta researchers. In a recently published study, U of A elder-care specialist Marjan Abbasi, family physician Sheny Khera and their research...
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T2DM increases gastric cancer risk after H. pylori eradication
Ka Shing Cheung, M.B.B.S., M.P.H., from The University of Hong Kong, and colleagues gathered data from 46,460 patients in Hong Kong who were aged 45 years or older and had received clarithromycin-based triple therapy for H. pylori infection, consisting of a proton pump inhibitor prescribed with clarithromycin and either amoxicillin or metronidazole. Patients were followed for a median...
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A New Cancer Drug, Thanks to a New Approach
Posted Today The newest cancer treatment on the market owes something to one of the earliest advocates for modern science. In his work Novum Organum, which is widely credited with introducing the scientific method, Francis Bacon wrote of the need for creative thinking to achieve anything new, saying that it would be a mistake, “to expect that things which...
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Favorable five-year survival reported for patients with advanced cancer treated with the immunotherapy
JOHNS HOPKINS MEDICINE A research team led by experts at the Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center reports favorable five-year survival rates from the first multidose clinical trial of the immunotherapy drug nivolumab (anti-PD-1) as a treatment for patients whose previous therapies failed to stem their advanced melanoma, renal...