Mary Caffrey

Bleeding is a risk with all antiplatelet drugs, whose effects pose a problem when patients need surgery or suffer a traumatic injury. A fast-acting reversal agent would make the drug safer to use.

Deepak L. Bhatt, MD, MPH, executive director of interventional cardiovascular programs at Brigham and Women’s Hospital Heart & Vascular Center and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, explains the interim findings of the REVERSE-IT trial that were presented at the 2021 AHA Scientific Sessions.

A panel Monday at the 2021 American Heart Association Scientific Sessions featured new results for several heart failure (HF) therapeutics, including finerenone and empagliflozin, as well as cost-effectiveness data for vericiguat.

The VICTORIA study found vericiguat to be more cost-effective than placebo when using current societal benchmarks for health care value in the United States. Derek Chew, MD, now an assistant professor at the University of Calgary, conducted economic evaluations for the VICTORIA trial while with the Duke Clinical Research Institute. Results were presented at the 2021 AHA Scientific Sessions. Here, he explains why vericiguat is more cost-effective for patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction.

A wide-ranging discussion sought to bring greater urgency to achieving health equity during the 2021 American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Sessions.

At the 2021 AHA Scientific Sessions, the lead author of DREAM-HF said evidence of the treatment's benefit among patients with elevated inflammation is positive news, and shows a need for further study.

Despite ample trial evidence that empagliflozin is effective across a broad spectrum of chronic heart failure, some doctors had been reluctant to prescribe in an acute hospital setting for safety reasons. EMPULSE findings presented at the 2021 AHA Scientific Sessions address this concern.

Cynthia Rice, JDRF chief mission strategy officer, says Medicare coverage of continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) without requiring finger sticks takes a burden off people with type 1 diabetes.

A session at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions covered the data behind concerns about mRNA vaccines for COVID-19 and myocarditis. Then, leaders from Pfizer and Moderna discussed opportunities the technology offers.

Solutions for health equity, treatments for heart failure, and the use of technology in prevention and patient care are just some of the topics on the agenda for the 2021 American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Sessions, which will take place Saturday through Monday in a virtual format.

Although the authors say their findings shed light on possible disruptions to insulin supply during COVID-19, they note they could not adjust for those with diabetes who died.

Joseph Mikhael, MD, of the Translational Genomics Research Institute in Phoenix, Arizona, an affiliate of City of Hope, spoke with The American Journal of Managed Care® about the increased use of triplet therapy to treat this disease.

Accomplishments such as gaining a job or completing an educational program was linked with lower depressive symptoms and undetectable viral load, independent of adherence to anti-retroviral therapy.

Tingting Tan, MD, PhD, a medical oncologist and lung cancer specialist at City of Hope, is an expert in molecular signaling pathways in tumor development and the mechanisms of chemotherapy resistance. She discussed how the treatment landscape in small cell lung cancer has shifted in the past 5 years, offering much more hope for patients.

Physician and health policy advocates praised the emphasis on streamlining models and ending silos, but practices that invested in the Oncology Care Model (OCM) await key details.

Throughout, the guidance from the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) calls for respecting the patient’s choices, including the fact that not all patients prefer insulin pumps or can afford them.

The prevention document, released during ESC Congress 2021, marked the first update of this section of the guidelines in 8 years. It featured changes that reflect the arrival of a pair of drug classes with proven benefits in CV outcomes but that experts say are underutilized.

David Julius, PhD, and Ardem Patapoutian, PhD, revealed the cellular mechanics of how sensations of touch translate into heat, cold, or pain. Their work has implications in everything from pain management to regulation of blood pressure to bladder control.

Experts who took part in Patient-Centered Oncology Care® 2021 said when guidelines recommend high-cost targeted therapies or immunotherapies, the focus must turn to areas such as imaging, diagnostic tests, and other elements that contribute to the cost of care.

The second day of Patient-Centered Oncology Care® 2021 featured a panel discussion, “Oncology Care Transitions: Bridging the Gaps Across the Patient Journey.”

On the opening day of Patient-Centered Oncology Care, Robert Groves, MD, of Banner | Aetna, discussed the use of psychographics to predict health behavior in local populations.

Sanofi and Regeneron had previously announced an overall survival advantage of 29% over chemotherapy alone; the combination also had a progression-free survival benefit of 46%.

The prespecified analysis of DESTINY-Breast03 opened a Presidential Symposium September 18, during the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2021 Virtual Congress, with the study’s lead author predicting a new standard of care and a commentator calling the results “startling.”

In May, results showed that cemiplimab (Libtayo, Regeneron/Sanofi) produced significant benefits: a 31% reduction in the risk of death and a 25% reduction in the risk of disease progression.

Patients with EGFR Exon20 insertion+ non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) make up approximately 1% to 2% of patients with NSCLC and have lacked treatment options.

This is the third approval for zanubrutinib, which is sold as Brukinsa by BeiGene.

David J. Reeves, PharmD, BCOP, of Butler University discusses encouraging results from a recent trial, along with safety questions about the types of patients who weren't studied but are likely to have small cell lung cancer.