The randomised phase 3 POLO trial found that maintenance therapy with the PARP inhibitor olaparib significantly delayed the progression of metastatic pancreatic cancer in patients with BRCA gene mutations compared with placebo (median progression-free survival: 7.4 months vs 3.8 months,...
Promising front-line alternative for advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma
Front-line pembrolizumab was comparable to standard chemotherapy in select patients with advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma. 39% of patients with HER2-negative, advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma with PD-L1 combined positive scores of 10 or more who received front-line...
Ribociclib plus hormone therapy prolongs survival of younger patients with advanced breast cancer
The international, randomised phase 3 MONALEESA-7 trial found that adding ribociclib to standard-of-care endocrine therapy significantly improved overall survival for premenopausal women with advanced HR-positive/HER2-negative breast cancer compared with endocrine therapy alone. After 42 months of follow-up, the survival rate...
Pembrolizumab quadruples survival in selected advanced non-small cell lung cancer patients
Pembrolizumab quadrupled pre-immunotherapy era 5-year survival rates for patients when used as initial therapy (23.2% vs 5.5 %). For patients who received prior therapies, pembrolizumab increased survival rates to 15.5%. Across both patient populations studied, 5-year survival rates were highest...
Prostate cancer: Early enzalutamide substantially improves time to progression and overall survival when added to standard mHSPC therapy (testosterone suppression ± docetaxel)
An interim analysis of the international randomised, phase 3 ENZAMET trial found that 80% of men with metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (mHSPC) who received the non-steroidal anti-androgen (NSAA) medicine enzalutamide along with the standard-of-care treatment were alive after 3 years...
Clinical utility of amyloid PET in cognitively impaired patients
A nationwide study in the USA has found that amyloid PET significantly influences clinical management, including the use of medications and counselling, of patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia. Changes in management were observed in about 60% of...
E-cigarette use disrupts normal immune response to viral infections, in women particularly
This preliminary study investigated differences in immune response between non-smokers and people who use cigarettes or e-cigarettes by inoculating 47 participants with live attenuated influenza virus (LAIV). They found that at baseline, e-cigarette use disrupted normal immune response to viral...
Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension: Early Treatment with Selexipag Most Effective
New post-hoc analyses from the large-scale GRIPHON trial assessing selexipag in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) demonstrate that early, aggressive treatment after diagnosis is associated with the greatest benefits, irrespective of background therapy [1]. Around a third of PAH patients currently...
First-ever effective treatment of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1a
PXT3003 is the first treatment for Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1a (CMT1A) that is effective, safe, and well tolerated. This was demonstrated in the pivotal phase 3 trial PLEO-CMT. PXT3003 is a novel oral fixed-dose combination of baclofen, naltrexone, and D-sorbitol,...
Ibudilast affects brain atrophy in PPMS, not SPMS
In the randomised phase 2 trial SPRINT-MS, the effect of ibudilast on brain measures of integrity was evaluated in both primary and secondary progressive MS (PPMS and SPMS). Results of a post-hoc analysis suggested that the effect of ibudilast on...