EGFR Inhibitors for Lung Cancer Tied to Increased Keratitis Risk
Patients with lung cancer treated with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitors may have an increased risk of new-onset keratitis, a U.S. population-based cohort study showed. Over a 20-year period, 1.12% of patients who were treated with EGFR inhibitors developed new-onset keratitis compared with 0.74% of those who did not take these drugs (HR 1.520, […]
Mortality Reaches 20% for Hospitalized Patients With High-Risk Pulmonary Embolism
Mortality rates were high among patients with high-risk pulmonary embolism (PE), with the worst outcomes in those with hemodynamic collapse, according to a retrospective analysis of the Pulmonary Embolism Response Team (PERT) Consortium Registry. In nearly 5,800 patients, in-hospital mortality occurred over five times more frequently among those with high-risk PE compared with those with […]
Clinical Challenges: Secondary CNS Relapse in Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma
Central nervous system (CNS) relapse occurs in roughly one in 20 patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), but in some disease subtypes that risk increases substantially. “In certain subsets of patients, the risk is quite low, but in others it can be quite high so it is better to focus on the high-risk groups,” […]
CDC Tracks Down Rare, Deadly Bacteria in Mississippi Gulf Region
Three patients diagnosed with melioidosis in a Mississippi Gulf Coast county probably picked up the disease from the local environment, a new report from the CDC confirms. Researchers recovered Burkholderia pseudomallei, the bacteria that causes melioidosis, from a puddle and soil from the front and backyard of one of the patients’ homes — the first […]
Asthma Attacks Decreased Among Black Patients During the Pandemic
Despite Black patients having the highest prevalence of asthma prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, decreasing trends in asthma attacks were observed for this population during the pandemic relative to white patients, according to findings from a national survey study. Asthma attack rates decreased from 29.3% in 2019 to 22.1% in 2022 among Black adults, with […]
Clinical Challenges: Using Pola-R-CHP for Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma
Earlier this year, the FDA approved a new frontline option for patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL): the antibody-drug conjugate polatuzumab vedotin (Polivy) in combination with rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and prednisone (pola-R-CHP). Combination chemotherapy involving rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP) — and before that, CHOP alone — has been the established option […]
FDA Approves New First-Line Standard of Care in Bladder Cancer
Patients with locally advanced or metastatic bladder cancer have a permanent new first-line standard of care after the FDA granted full approval to the combination of enfortumab vedotin (Padcev) and pembrolizumab (Keytruda) regardless of cisplatin eligibility. The action finalized the approval process for the combination, which received accelerated approval earlier this year, at the time […]
Axatilimab Shows Efficacy in Recurrent/Refractory GVHD
SAN DIEGO — Axatilimab achieved rapid and durable responses in patients with recurrent/refractory chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD), according to the phase II AGAVE-201 trial. The highest overall response rate (ORR) was observed in patients treated with the lowest dose of axatilimab at 0.3 mg/kg every 2 weeks, with an ORR of 74% (95% CI 63-83) […]
MedPAC Draft Recommendation Calls for 1.3% Pay Bump for Medicare Clinicians
Physicians who treat Medicare patients would get about a 1.3% pay increase in 2025 under a draft chairman’s recommendation released Thursday by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC). That figure represents half of the projected 2.6% increase in the Medicare Economic Index (MEI), a measure of the costs of running a medical practice, Brian O’Donnell, […]
Opinion | ‘We’re Doing God’s Work’: What We Heard This Week
“Treating patients and getting them well, it’s something — we’re doing God’s work.” — Steven Feldman, MD, PhD, of Wake Forest University School of Medicine in North Carolina, on treating patients with atopic dermatitis. “It’s kind of overkill.” — Raman Madan, MD, a dermatologist with Northwell Health in New York, on people under 25 getting […]