Can Aromatherapy Relax Post-Op Patients?
Open heart surgery patients reported better sleep and less severe pain after their operation when they inhaled peppermint essence, a small clinical trial suggested. Among 64 patients who underwent cardiac surgery, mean self-reported sleep quality scores on the first day after surgery were 20.10 in the group receiving peppermint aromatherapy and 25.76 in the placebo […]
Adjuvant Everolimus Falls Short in High-Risk Renal Cancer
Adjuvant everolimus (Afinitor) failed to significantly improve recurrence-free survival (RFS) in patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC) who were at high risk for recurrence after nephrectomy, according to results from a randomized phase III trial. The so-called EVEREST study showed that among 1,545 patients with histologically confirmed RCC who had undergone a full surgical resection, […]
Albuminuria Testing Falling Short in Patients at Risk for CKD
Many cases of albuminuria may be missed in the U.S. due to lack of testing among patients at risk for chronic kidney disease (CKD), a cohort study suggested. Examining electronic health records for nearly 200,000 patients with hypertension or diabetes, only 17.5% underwent albuminuria testing, reported Chi D. Chu, MD, MAS, of the University of […]
Transplant May Be Reasonable for Certain CRC Patients With Liver Mets
For a select group of patients with colorectal cancer and unresectable liver metastases, liver transplant may be a reasonable option, according to results from a prospective, nonrandomized controlled cohort study. Overall, among 61 patients who underwent liver transplant, the median disease-free survival (DFS) was 11.8 months (95% CI 9.3-14.2), with a 5-year DFS rate of […]
‘Exciting’ siRNA Therapy for Hypertension Passes First Hurdle
Patients with hypertension successfully dialed down their angiotensinogen levels and had lasting reductions in blood pressure (BP) following one injection of an investigational small interfering RNA (siRNA) therapy, according to a phase I study. In this first-in-human, placebo-controlled study, patients who received zilebesiran showed dose-dependent decreases in serum angiotensinogen levels and 24-hour ambulatory BP after […]
BRAF-MEK Inhibition Achieves ‘Near Universal’ Response in Rare Brain Tumor
Targeted BRAF-MEK inhibition resulted in a response in nearly all patients with untreated BRAF V600E–mutated papillary craniopharyngioma, according to results from a small phase II study. Of 16 evaluable patients treated with the BRAF inhibitor vemurafenib (Zelboraf) and the MEK inhibitor cobimetinib (Cotellic) over several monthly cycles, 15 had a durable, objective partial response or […]
NAFLD and T2DM Bodes Higher Risk of Liver Decompensation, Cancer
Patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and type 2 diabetes may be at significantly higher risk of hepatic decompensation and liver cancer, researchers reported. In a meta-analysis of six studies that included 1,737 patients with NAFLD followed for approximately 3 years, those with diabetes had twice the risk for developing hepatic decompensation (HR 2.15, […]
Oral Cancer Patients Face Worse Outcomes With Delayed Radiation Therapy
MONTREAL – Most patients in a Canadian cohort had prolonged times to postoperative radiation therapy, and those delays were associated with worse survival outcomes, a multicenter study showed. Among 1,368 postsurgical patients with oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma, 80% waited more than 42 days to start postoperative radiation therapy (S-PORT). Delays in starting RT were […]
IMRT Dosing Strategy Eases Dysphagia in Head and Neck Cancer
In patients with head and neck cancer, a strategy to reduce the radiation dose to dysphagia-and aspiration-related structures improved swallowing and other functional outcomes compared with standard intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), according to results from the phase III DARS trial. Patients treated with dysphagia-optimized (DO) IMRT had significantly higher patient-reported composite scores on the MD Anderson […]
Protocol Optimizing Meds for T2D and CVD Pushed Beyond Cardiology Alone
SAN DIEGO — Cardiovascular medications were better optimized for patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) following a multifaceted intervention involving clinician and patient education, the cluster-randomized COORDINATE-Diabetes trial found. At cardiology clinics following the intervention protocol, prescriptions increased several-fold compared with usual care (37.9% vs 14.5%; adjusted OR 4.28, 95% […]