Clinical

The utility of annual MRI plus mammogram was investigated in a new meta-analysis delivered at this year’s San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, with the goal of optimizing use of MRI by considering potential for overdiagnosis and tailoring to age and risk group.

A recent review emphasizes a need for novel therapies, summarizes current phase 3 clinical trials, and suggests several considerations for future trials in high-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS).

The American College of Cardiology’s 71st Scientific Session covered how to address the impact of social determinants of health on cardiovascular outcomes, understanding the latest developments in digital health, and the role of COVID-19 on heart health.

With human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)–low breast cancer still a relatively newly classified disease subtype, research is increasingly focused on the disease, in which cells express lower levels of the HER2 protein than are adequate to classify a patient as having HER2-positive disease.

Expert panelists share strategies and considerations for selecting optimal treatment pathways for patients with lupus nephritis.

Alvin Wells, MD, PhD, provides an overview of the lupus nephritis treatment landscape.

This analysis evaluates the relationship between hospital care delivery network fragmentation and in-hospital and 90-day outcomes. These networks may be novel targets for improving outcomes.

This paper follows the 10-year remission mark for the first child treated with CD19-targeted CAR (chimeric antigen receptor) T-cell therapy for B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL), adding promise to the notion that the technology can provide long-term durable remissions in patients who are highly refractory to chemotherapy.

Differences in overall survival between cannabis users and those who did not use the plant were small and could be explained by differences in the make-ups of the 2 cohorts of patients with non-small cell lung cancer, researchers said.

A highlight of day 2 at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium was the morning presentation of a pair of studies highlighting the ongoing survival benefit associated with trastuzumab deruxtecan in metastatic breast cancer.

The role of combination therapy is explored for the treatment of COPD.

Social determinants of health (SDoH) can create major barriers for access to care.

The 64th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Meeting & Exposition will run Saturday through Tuesday in New Orleans, Louisiana, at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.

Can a patient with metastatic cancer on immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy use acetaminophen for pain? What about medical marijuana? And does the gut microbiome play a role? With more than a decade of real-world experience with ICIs, pharmacists learned about the potential role of these and other factors during a session at the 2022 American Society of Health-System Pharmacy Midyear Clinical Meeting & Exhibition.

Increasing rates of marijuana consumption highlights a need for research on the effects of smoking marijuana on the lungs.

An expert discusses the current treatment landscape of Rett syndrome including the goals of treatment and implications for utilization management strategies with the disease.

David Lieberman, MD, PhD, reviews the economic burden and long-term complications of Rett syndrome as well as highlights the unmet needs for patients.

The data could help clinicians better identify patients who are good fits for belimumab after rituximab.

Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), whether or not they also had diabetes, were found to have a reduced risk of hospitalization when they took dapagliflozin.

Pharmacists can play an important role in dispelling myths about vaccines, as well as identifying patients who are eligible for vaccinations that they haven’t yet received, said Jacinda C. Abdul-Mutakabbir, PharmD, MPH, AAHIVP, assistant professor of pharmacy practice, Loma Linda University.

James Cleary, MD, PhD, and Laura Bobolts, PharmD, BCOP, highlight new GI and esophageal cancer therapies and their positive impacts on their patient population.

James M. Cleary, MD, PhD, discusses chemotherapy and immunotherapy as appropriate individual strategies, as well as a combination therapy approach for patients with gastroesophageal cancer.

Payers provide insights to health care disparities currently impacting patients with major depressive disorder (MDD).

Jay Weaver, PharmD, MPH, and Mona Chitre, PharmD, CGP, discuss the increased demand for mental health services since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Intravenous (IV) robotic technology brings advantages for pharmacy staff, but there are also accuracy issues with the technology. In addition, this technology will not be replacing a pharmacy technician job, said Scott Soefje, PharmD, MBA, BCOP, FCCP, FHOPA, director of pharmacy cancer care and assistant professor of pharmacy, Mayo Clinic.

The CDC reported that the number of people who were hospitalized with the flu nearly doubled during the week of Thanksgiving; contraception for people producing sperm is finding promising results in clinical trials; marijuana use in children has risen 245% in the last 20 years.

The study investigators wanted more data on long-term outcomes in pediatric patients following implantation of a transcatheter Potts shunt (TPS) for treatment of severe pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).

Investigators from Fred Hutchison Cancer Research Center hoped to gain insights into what factors can predict success with axi-cel in patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL).

Coverage from the Institute for Value-Based Medicine® event in Nashville, Tennessee, held November 17, 2022. The event was held in partnership with Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center.

The findings suggest that treatment with fluticasone furoate (FF)/umeclidinium (UMEC)/vilanterol (VI) led to improvements and had a similar safety profile to both FF/VI and UMEC/VI regardless of patient chronic mucus hypersecretion status at baseline.