Maggie L. Shaw

Results from a phase 2 trial of pembrolizumab as immune checkpoint inhibition against 5 types of solid tumors show that circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) may be used to accurately predict response to treatment.

Bacterial changes in the oral cavity from immunosuppression, not HIV itself, are more likely to blame for the greater incidence of oral caries in children 6 months to 6 years, reports a study from the Department of Oral Biology at the Rutgers University School of Dental Medicine.

Evidence may support a greater comorbidity burden among patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) or reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), although this finding was shown to be worse among women with HFpEF.

Higher-income countries are seeing their rates of premenopausal breast cancer increase faster, whereas cases of postmenopausal breast cancer are increasing in number faster in lower-income studies.

Less than 1% of all breast cancers occur in men, making this a rare disease among that patient population, and most treatment guidelines are based on outcomes and survival rates seen in women with the disease.

Results from a racially diverse clinical trial show that despite bringing palliative care to rural and minority populations with heart failure facing hurdles to accessing such care, using telehealth delivery methods to improve access does not improve the mood or quality of life of patients or their caregivers.

HIV-positive individuals with end-stage kidney disease may now have a larger pool of kidneys available to them, with recent study results from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) showing that kidneys from HIV-positive deceased donors can be used in addition to those from HIV-negative donors.

Compared with digital mammography, digital breast tomosynthesis, also called 3-dimensional (3-D) mammography, has been proven superior at effectively detecting breast cancer and leading to fewer recall visits, but more information is needed for how subgroups of women with different breast densities benefit from the screening method, especially those classified as having extremely dense breast tissue.

Researchers interviewed US specialists in an effort to see how conscious and unconscious thoughts about race and gender contributed to an unequal allocation of various treatments for heart failure.

Having health insurance, a higher level of education, and more money were associated with a greater likelihood of caregivers disclosing their HIV status in the community, either positive or negative, while being male and living in a rural location indicated a lesser likelihood, reports AIDS Research and Therapy.

Women with early-onset germline BRCA-mutated breast cancer can have subsequent pregnancies without increasing their risk for disease recurrence, according to the authors of a recent study in Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Selected abstracts in cardio-oncology, findings for AMG 510, and lurbinectedin as a second-line treatment in SCLC.

During ASCO, Janssen presented results from the CHRYSALIS study on amivantimab, a bispecific antibody being developed to treat non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The pharma giant, along with its parent company, Johnson & Johnson (J&J), had previously received a breakthrough therapy designation in December for teclistamab, another bispecific antibody indicated for potential treatment of multiple myeloma.

Stigma perpetuated in a health care setting has been linked to greater odds of poor outcomes in the HIV continuum of care for antiretroviral treatment adherence and reduced viral suppression among persons living with HIV in Florida.

The next several years could bear witness to thousands of additional deaths from cancer that could have been prevented through routine diagnostic care that was delayed because of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, according to a pair of studies in The Lancet Oncology.

Featuring findings from the KEYNOTE-177, ARAURA, ASPEN, and CITYSCAPE trials, and new results from MURANO.

“We’ve had advancements, but we need to go faster,” said ASCO President Howard A. "Skip" Burris III, MD, as he stressed the importance of advancing therapies for better patient outcomes by addressing obstacles to patients’ care. “Access to care, access to clinical trials, and access to information are really key.”

Because male breast cancer is such a rare disease, few strides have been made that convey advantages in its detection, incidence, and mortality. Most treatment guidelines have been extracted from studies performed among female patients.

Stress cardiomyopathy has presented in more patients with acute coronary syndrome during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, despite none having positive antibody results for the virus, compared with several measured periods before the pandemic.

To effectively end the HIV epidemic in the United States, combination strategies should be tailored according to need, backed by evidence-based interventions, and scaled according to location, report study results in The Lancet HIV.

Breast cancer diagnosed in the year following a negative result after a mammogram has now been associated with an increase in mortality compared with breast cancer detected at a screening, report JAMA Network Open study results.

There was a greater incidence of heart disease, both cardiovascular and ischemic, among women and men who survived childhood maltreatment, according to study results published Monday from the United Kingdom.

A pair of late-breaking abstracts presented during AIDS 2020, this year’s virtual meeting of the International AIDS Society, detailed the effects that the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has had on trends in at-risk sexual behaviors and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) use, both in the United States and in Australia, due to shelter-in-place orders and social distancing.

Palliative medicine consultations for heart failure were linked with increased rates of advance directives being included in a patient’s electronic medical record, according to study results published this month in Journal of Maine Medical Center.

According to the World Health Organization, self-care is “the ability of individuals, families, and communities to promote and maintain health, prevent disease, and cope with illness with or without the support of a health care provider.”

“We need to maintain our focus on key populations to ensure that we're focusing on each and every key population—from men who have sex with men to sex workers to people who inject drugs to our trans community—to make sure every single community has access to both prevention and treatment services and that we’re meeting each of the community members where they are to ensure that they can achieve viral suppression,” said Ambassador Deborah Birx, MD, on day 4 of AIDS 2020.

A panel of experts came together on day 3 of AIDS 2020 to discuss their experiences with telehealth during the first few months of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in attempting to not disrupt the continuum of care for their patients with HIV, those at risk for the virus, and their care teams, as well as to give advice moving forward in continuing to offer the service.

Smoking history can both increase the risk of cancer and create a hypoxic environment within the body, leading to poor outcomes, including less-effective treatment, among patients who undergo radiotherapy.

Individuals with severe mental illness are notoriously difficult to engage and retain in HIV care due to fragmented health care policies and systems that perpetuate stigma, according to an electronic poster presentation today at AIDS 2020.

“We find ourselves in a very unusual situation, and now is a good time for me to lay some common denominator principles that I think can be applicable to many, if not all, the countries beset with an HIV epidemic,” said Anthony Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, in a special live session on day 2 of AIDS 2020.