Surgery Bests Endovascular Therapy for Most Limb-Threatening Ischemia Patients
CHICAGO — Surgical revascularization led to fewer major adverse limb events and deaths compared with endovascular therapy in patients with chronic limb-threatening ischemia, according to the prospective randomized BEST-CLI trial. After a median follow-up of 2.7 years, the primary composite outcome of major adverse limb events and death from any cause occurred in 42.6% of […]
Anticoagulation Again Flops for Outpatient COVID-19
CHICAGO — For outpatient COVID-19, prophylactic anticoagulation with rivaroxaban (Xarelto) did not improve outcomes in elevated thrombotic risk patients, the PREVENT trial showed. Compared with placebo, giving the direct-acting oral anticoagulant (DOAC) for 35 days in non-hospitalized patients with symptomatic COVID-19 who had at least one risk factor for thrombosis didn’t reduce thromboembolic events or […]
Study Refutes Heart Health Claims of Dietary Supplements
CHICAGO — For people without heart disease, preventive low-dose statin therapy lowered LDL cholesterol to a degree that dietary supplements and placebo couldn’t match, a randomized trial found. People taking rosuvastatin 5 mg per day for 4 weeks had an average 37.9% reduction in LDL cholesterol, the only group to do better than the placebo […]
Fate of Transcatheter Tricuspid Devices: Will it Be Repair or Replacement?
CHICAGO — Discussing their predictions on where transcatheter technologies in the tricuspid space are going, some experts said they favored the odds of replacement over repair when devices are ready to be commercialized. Yet making the case for transcatheter tricuspid valve repair was Paul Sorajja, MD, of Minneapolis Heart Institute at Abbott Northwestern Hospital, who […]
P53 Antagonist Shows Early Activity in Advanced Liposarcoma
CHICAGO — Almost 90% of patients with metastatic liposarcoma achieved disease control with an investigational drug targeting p53 suppression, according to an early study reported at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting. The results showed that 24 of 32 patients with de-differentiated liposarcoma and MDM2 amplification had stable disease and four other […]
Complete Responses in 100% of dMMR Rectal Cancer With Neoadjuvant PD-1 Inhibition
CHICAGO — Single-agent dostarlimab (Jemperli) led to complete responses in 100% of a small group of patients with locally advanced mismatch repair-deficient (dMMR) rectal cancer, allowing them to avoid surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation, at least for the time being. All 14 patients followed for at least 6 months had clinical complete responses with no evidence […]
Trastuzumab Deruxtecan Ushers in New Treatment Era for HER2-Low Breast Cancer
CHICAGO — Patients with HER2-low metastatic breast cancer treated with trastuzumab deruxtecan (Enhertu) achieved significant improvements in survival compared with those treated with chemotherapy alone, according to results from the DESTINY-Breast04 Trial. In the phase III international study, among a population of 494 patients with both HR-positive disease (88.7%) and HR-negative disease (11.3%), the risk […]
Immunotherapy Rechallenge in NSCLC Yields Overall Survival Boost
CHICAGO — Randomized data suggest that an anti-angiogenic agent can kick-start immunotherapy’s antitumor activity in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients whose disease has already progressed after chemotherapy and a checkpoint inhibitor. In the phase II study, median overall survival improved by nearly 3 months with ramucirumab (Cyramza) plus pembrolizumab (Keytruda) versus standard-of-care options (14.5 […]
IL-15 Agonist Impresses in Non-Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer
CHICAGO — Patients with BCG-unresponsive non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) had a high response rate and 2-year cancer-specific survival with an immunostimulatory fusion protein complex plus BCG, a prospective study showed. The intravesical combination led to complete responses in 71% of patients with carcinoma in situ (CIS), with a median response duration exceeding 2 years. […]
Brentuximab Vedotin-Chemo Boosts EFS in High-Risk Pediatric Hodgkin Lymphoma
CHICAGO — A combination of brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) and chemotherapy was safe and effective in pediatric patients (up to age 21 years) with newly diagnosed high-risk Hodgkin lymphoma, a researcher reported here. In the phase III study, a regimen of brentuximab vedotin (Bv) combined with doxorubicin, vincristine, etoposide, prednisone, and cyclophosphamide chemotherapy (AVE-PC) was superior […]