Benralizumab Allows Inhaled Corticosteroid Taper for Asthma Patients
MILAN — Benralizumab (Fasenra) allowed patients with severe eosinophilic asthma to reduce inhaled corticosteroid (ISC) use without compromising control, the SHAMAL phase IV randomized trial found. After 32 weeks, 92% of patients on the monoclonal antibody with planned tapering from high-dose ICS plus formoterol were able to reduce their use, reported David J. Jackson, MD, […]
Acetazolamide May Help COPD Patients Reach New Heights
Acetazolamide may prevent some patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) from suffering altitude-related adverse health effects (ARAHE) when traveling, a randomized controlled trial showed. In patients with moderate to severe COPD traveling to and staying for 2 days at 3,100 m, ARAHE occurred in 50% of those taking acetazolamide compared with 74% of those […]
Ravulizumab Showed Preclinical Promise for ALS. What Happened?
Ravulizumab (Ultomiris), a terminal complement C5 inhibitor, did not improve functional status and survival in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the phase III CHAMPION-ALS trial showed. No significant difference between ravulizumab and placebo emerged in Combined Assessment of Function and Survival (CAFS) scores at week 50 (mean difference of 5.5 points, 95% CI -15.7 […]
Standard Lymphoma Therapies Tied to Higher Risk for New Malignancies
Use of high-dose chemotherapy and autologous hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT) for patients with aggressive lymphoma was associated with an increased risk of certain second primary malignancies (SPMs), according to a retrospective Danish population-based cohort study. The overall SPM rate was higher among lymphoma patients compared with matched controls from the general population (HR 2.35, 95% […]
Cancer Patients More Likely to Die During COVID Pandemic
Cancer patients experienced significantly higher rates of COVID-19-related deaths compared with the general public, according to two retrospective studies from the U.S. and Canada. In a cross-sectional study published in JAMA Oncology, researchers found that the winter Omicron surge of 2021-2022 was particularly deadly, as the number of deaths among U.S. cancer patients increased by […]
AI Beat Clinicians at Figuring Out Difficult Diagnoses
A generative artificial intelligence (AI) program diagnosed elderly patients with extensive medical histories and long hospital stays more accurately than clinicians, suggesting the technology could help identify missed diagnoses, according to a new study. An analysis of medical histories for six patients over the age of 65 with delayed diagnoses revealed that GPT-4 (Generative Pre-trained […]
CDC: Dialysis Patients Carry Heavier COVID Burden
Patients on maintenance dialysis had somewhat higher rates of SARS-CoV-2 infections and related deaths than seen in the general U.S. population, although immunization mitigated some of the excess risk, the CDC reported. From June 30, 2021, to Sept. 27, 2022, the overall infection rate per 10,000 patient-weeks was 30.47 among maintenance dialysis patients, with a […]
Tool Predicts PsA Progression From Psoriasis, No Fancy Biomarkers Needed
A risk-prediction algorithm was modestly accurate for identifying patients with psoriasis who are likely to progress to psoriatic arthritis (PsA), researchers reported. Based on patients’ demographics and clinical presentations routinely assessed during office visits, the model was about 72% effective in predicting 1-year risk of progression, and 75% effective (using slightly different input data) for […]
Microbiome Study Provides New Clues to Common Pathology of Inflammatory Conditions
An alteration in gut microbiome diversity occurred in patients with three different inflammatory conditions, suggesting a common pathology, prospective rRNA sequencing of patients’ stool samples showed. Patients with axial spondyloarthritis (SpA), acute anterior uveitis (AAU), and Crohn’s disease had a low concentration of Lachnospiraceae compared with a control group of patients with back pain and […]
Adcetris Plus Chemo Effective in HIV-Related Hodgkin Lymphoma
Brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) in combination with doxorubicin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (AVD) was effective for patients with HIV-related stages II-IV classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL), according to results from the phase I/II AMC-085 study. All 37 patients who completed therapy in the 41-patient trial achieved a complete response; at 2 years, the progression-free survival (PFS) rate reached […]