Novel Chemo Delivery System Achieves High Response Rate in Bladder Cancer
CHICAGO — An investigational intravesical delivery system designed to provide sustained local release of gemcitabine into the bladder produced high rates of complete response (CR) in difficult-to-treat non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC), data from an ongoing phase IIb study showed. Preliminary results from the SunRISe-1 trial demonstrated that monotherapy with the novel treatment, dubbed TAR-200, led […]
Upfront Systemic Therapy, Deferred Surgery Pass Muster in Advanced Kidney Cancer
CHICAGO — Perioperative immunotherapy for advanced kidney cancer did not adversely affect outcomes with cytoreductive nephrectomy and appeared to have several beneficial effects, a small multicenter study showed. Primary immunotherapy significantly reduced median tumor size and thrombus length and improved tumor thrombus level and mean RENAL score. Immunotherapy led to pathologic downstaging in 25 of […]
Sublingual Vaccine Shows Promise in Women With Recurrent UTIs
CHICAGO — A sublingual vaccine not only reduced the risk of recurrent urinary tract infections (UTIs) in women, it also appeared to enable a significant number of these women to be completely UTI-free, according to a North American study. Among 67 women with three or more UTIs per year, 40.6% of those receiving a 3-month […]
More Men Are Expressing Interest in Vasectomy After SCOTUS Abortion Decision
CHICAGO — Vasectomy consults more than doubled in the first 3 months after the Supreme Court decision overturning national abortion rights, according to data from one large health system. From June 24 — the day the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision was announced — until Sept. 24, 2022, a total of 342 vasectomy […]
‘Fantastic,’ ‘Terrific’ Results With Oncolytic Virus Combo for Bladder Cancer
CHICAGO — An oncolytic virus therapy combined with pembrolizumab (Keytruda) produced complete responses (CRs) in 85% of patients with bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG)-unresponsive non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC), a small phase II trial showed. The results showed CRs in 29 of 34 patients with detectable carcinoma in situ (CIS) treated with cretostimogene grenadenorepvec (CG0070) and the PD-1 […]
Erectile Dysfunction Drugs May Have Major Cardiovascular Benefits
CHICAGO — The two most popular medications for erectile dysfunction (ED) may confer substantial cardiovascular benefits for men with ED and concurrent heart disease, according to an analysis of a health research database. Both sildenafil and tadalafil significantly reduced the likelihood of progression to heart failure, myocardial infarction (MI), and death after 5 years as […]
Enzalutamide-ADT Cuts Risk for Disease Spread in Nonmetastatic Prostate Cancer
CHICAGO — Combining enzalutamide (Xtandi) with an androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) boosted metastasis-free survival (MFS) in patients with prostate cancer at high risk for biochemical recurrence, according to the EMBARK trial. After a median follow up of 60.7 months, the combination of enzalutamide and leuprolide acetate ADT demonstrated a 58% reduction in the risk of […]
Opinion | ‘Science Is Not Done on Rumble’: What We Heard This Week
“Science is not done on Rumble.” — Katrine Wallace, PhD, of the University of Illinois in Chicago, commenting on the anti-vaccine documentary “Died Suddenly” that premiered on Twitter and Rumble earlier this month. “COVID or not, most physicians go to work even if they’re not feeling 100 percent.” — Joel Zivot, MD, of Emory University […]
Common Treatments for Knee Osteoarthritis May Be Harmful
CHICAGO — Common treatments for people living with osteoarthritis of the knee — such as steroid injections or anti-inflammatory agents — reduced pain, but were also associated with increasing damage to the joints, researchers suggested in a series of studies presented here at the Radiological Society of North America annual meeting. In one study with […]
Lung Cancer Survival High for Patients With Early, Screen-Detected Tumors
CHICAGO — The diagnosis of early-stage lung cancer with low-dose CT (LDCT) screening led to high rates of lung cancer-specific survival two decades later, according to I-ELCAP data. The 20-year lung cancer-specific survival rate was 80% for the 1,285 I-ELCAP participants diagnosed with early-stage disease, reported Claudia Henschke, MD, PhD, of Mount Sinai Icahn School […]