Novel Therapies Show Early Promise in Advanced Gastroesophageal Cancers
Results of two early-phase trials offered a glimpse of promising new agents in the pipeline for advanced gastroesophageal cancer. In a phase II study, incorporating an investigational PD-1 inhibitor and anti-T-cell immunoglobulin and ITM domain (TIGIT) monoclonal antibody into standard first-line chemotherapy showed promising activity in advanced gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma, reported Yelena Janjigian, MD, from Memorial […]
Exercise-mimicking drug sheds weight, boosts muscle activity in mice
A brand-new kind of drug, tested in mice, shows promising new results that could lead to the development of a new weight-loss drug that mimics exercise. The new compound, developed and tested by a University of Florida professor of pharmacy and his colleagues, leads obese mice to lose weight by convincing the body’s muscles that […]
Success With HIV-to-HIV Kidney Transplants
Three people living with HIV had promising outcomes after donating kidneys to three others with HIV, according to a prospective study within the HOPE in Action Multicenter Consortium. Among the three living donors, grade 3 or higher nephrectomy-related adverse events occurred in two donors after donation, including a medically managed ileus and a laparoscopically repaired […]
Omega-3 fatty acids appear promising for maintaining lung health
Omega-3 fatty acids, which are abundant in fish and fish oil supplements, appear promising for maintaining lung health, according to new evidence from a large, multi-faceted study in healthy adults supported by the National Institutes of Health. The study provides the strongest evidence to date of this association and underscores the importance of including omega-3 […]
Threads May Not Replace Twitter in Medicine — Yet
Despite a promising launch, Threads — the social media app that hopes to unseat Twitter as a dominant space for online medical networking and communication — may not be ready to win over the medical community. Threads, a networking platform created by Meta, launched on July 6 and appears to mimic Twitter’s short-form messaging style. […]
Non-Covalent BTK Inhibitor Yields High Response Rate in Pretreated CLL
The non-covalent or reversible Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor pirtobrutinib (Jaypirca) demonstrated promising efficacy in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL) previously exposed to BTK inhibition, the phase I/II BRUIN study showed. Among 247 patients who had previously received a covalent BTK inhibitor, 73.3% (95% CI 67.3-78.7) achieved an overall […]
New Data on BCMA-Directed Bispecifics in Multiple Myeloma
Promising data on new B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA)-directed bispecific antibodies were presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting. These included results on two investigational products: the phase II LINKER-MM1 study, which showed that linvoseltamab elicited an objective response rate of 71% at the recommended dose of 200 mg for patients with […]
The Drug Company That Prospered Without Creating Any Drugs
The new drug looked so promising — except for that one warning sign. At the American College of Rheumatology’s annual meeting in 2008, Duke University’s John Sundy, MD, proudly announced that pegloticase (Krystexxa), a drug he helped develop, was astoundingly effective at treating severe gout, which affects perhaps 50,000 Americans. In about half of those […]
Second Trial Participant Dies in Alzheimer’s Drug Study
Days before the release of promising phase III trial data of lecanemab, an investigational anti-amyloid drug for early Alzheimer’s disease, a death possibly linked to the treatment was reported. An unpublished case report featured in Science suggested the death of a 65-year-old lecanemab trial participant who also had cerebral amyloid angiopathy — a condition in […]
CEND-1 Offers Hope in Advanced Pancreatic Cancer
Chemotherapy combined with the CEND-1 cyclic peptide showed promising efficacy, and was well tolerated as a first-line treatment, for patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer, researchers reported. In a phase I study of 29 patients evaluable for efficacy, 59% (95% CI 39-77) responded to the combination of CEND-1 — a novel 9-amino acid cyclic peptide that […]