Clinical

The current standard calls for bone marrow biopsies, which are invasive and costly.

Last year, a data monitoring committee halted the DAPA-CKD trial when it found the evidence of efficacy was overwhelming, after it was shown the trial met all its primary and secondary end points for patients with chronic kidney disease, with and without type 2 diabetes.

Despite the FDA approving 29 biosimilars, none have achieved interchangeability status. Boehringer Ingelheim thinks its adalimumab biosimilar, Cyltezo, may be the first.

About 1 in 3 patients experienced adverse drug reactions in the 2 new safety studies, aligning with earlier reports.

Blacks and Hispanics were underrepresented in relation to their US racial distribution in clinical trials for ophthalmology drug approvals from 2000 to 2020.

Oral semaglutide, when used with basal insulin, is as effective or better than the injectable version in treating type 2 diabetes (T2) while providing similar tolerability.

The FDA decision on Xywav in idiopathic hypersomnia is expected in the third quarter of 2021.

The current treatment landscape of polycycthemia vera (PV) hinges on treatments like hydroxyurea and ruxolitinib, the latter having emerged as an effective second-line therapy in patients with severe pruritis, symptomatic splenomegaly, or post-PV myelofibrosis symptoms.

According to the researchers, attempting to target the tumor microenvironment leads the way to an array of potential targetable pathways in the disease, including through the use of combination therapy.

Authors of a global meta-analysis concluded that patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), who are generally at a higher risk for lung cancer, may gain some protection from inhaled corticosteroids.

Dostarlimab, for patients with recurrent or advanced deficient mismatch repair endometrial cancer, and a companion diagnostic, were recently approved by the FDA.

Besides demonstrating noninferiority in objective response rates, zanubrutinib also showed a statistically significant lower risk of atrial fibrillation or flutter compared with ibrutinib.

All-cause graft failure in kidney transplant recipients with Fabry disease was about 30%, and improved when enzyme replacement therapy became available.

Patients with long COVID-19 at Veterans Health Administration facilities are being prescribed more addictive medications; indoor social distancing may provide a false sense of security; a drug for inflammatory bowel disease may blunt COVID-19 vaccine efficacy.

Researchers identified gene expression signatures associated with risk of type 1 diabetes (T1D).

The authors suggest that assessment of patient-centered care may be improved by flagging probable discordance between a patient’s preferences and their treatment care plan.

Skin cancer is one of the most common diseases dermatologists deal with on a daily basis, and as global rates increase, it is clear that climate change is a contributory factor, said Eva R. Parker, MD, FAAD, assistant professor of dermatology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, during her session at the American Academy of Dermatology Virtual Meeting Experience.

With immunosuppression, self-regulatory mechanisms may start to decrease, and these are the patients who develop skin cancers more frequently, said Rajiv Nijhawan, MD, UT Southwestern Medical Center.

Posters presented at the American Academy of Dermatology Virtual Meeting Experience show ruxolitinib cream was effective at treating atopic dermatitis (AD) regardless of previous treatments and in patients with more severe disease.

Guidelines on the use of biologic drugs in patients with psoriasis were mostly seen as having medium-to-high quality; however, investigators said that more work needs to be done to ensure applicability to clinical practice.

There are a number of new biologic options for treating psoriasis, but undertreatment is still a concern, and more long-term data are needed, according to Junko Takeshita, MD, PhD, MSCE, at the National Association of Managed Care Physicians Virtual Spring Managed Care Forum.

Until now, treatments for atopic dermatitis have had safety concerns, but a new understanding of the disease has led to novel and exciting agents being developed, according to Emma Guttman, MD, PhD, of Mount Sinai.

Now that investigators have a better understanding of the biological mechanisms of migraine, new treatment and prevention options are making their way to patients and fueling an exciting time for the field, according to a presenter at the National Association of Managed Care Physicians Virtual Spring Managed Care Forum.

Posters presented at the American Academy of Dermatology Virtual Meeting Experience highlighted that ruxolitinib cream is effective in patients with more severe atopic dermatitis, and even showed clinically relevant improvements in patients who only had a partial response.

With the costs of biologic drugs increasing, biosimilars have emerged as an attractive option for containing costs and expanding access to treatment. However, some barriers to wider uptake still need to be addressed, according to a presentation at the National Association of Managed Care Physicians Virtual Spring Managed Care Forum.