Immunotherapy/BCG Combo Boosts EFS in Non-Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer
LAS VEGAS — Event-free survival (EFS) in high-risk non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) improved significantly when patients received the PD-1 inhibitor sasanlimab in addition to bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG), a randomized trial showed. The 3-year EFS increased from 74.8% with standard-of-care BCG induction and maintenance to 82.1% with the addition of sasanlimab. Most of the improvement […]
Unprecedented Response Rates in Non-Responsive, Non-Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer
LAS VEGAS — Patients with high-risk, treatment-unresponsive non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) had an unprecedented response rate and disease-free survival (DFS) with an investigational intravesical treatment system, data from an ongoing trial showed. Complete responses (CR) occurred in 82.4% of 85 patients treated with TAR-200, a system that delivers gemcitabine directly into the bladder. The […]
Mortality Reaches 20% for Hospitalized Patients With High-Risk Pulmonary Embolism
Mortality rates were high among patients with high-risk pulmonary embolism (PE), with the worst outcomes in those with hemodynamic collapse, according to a retrospective analysis of the Pulmonary Embolism Response Team (PERT) Consortium Registry. In nearly 5,800 patients, in-hospital mortality occurred over five times more frequently among those with high-risk PE compared with those with […]
Study Questions Relationship Between Hospital Competition and Surgical Quality
Outcomes after high-risk elective surgery did not have a clear relationship with a hospital’s local competitive landscape, a study using nationally representative Medicare data suggested. Hospitals in the highest-competition U.S. markets had mixed postsurgical outcomes compared with those in the lowest-competition markets: risk-adjusted 30-day mortality was lower for pancreatectomy (OR 0.93, 95% CI 0.91-0.95), rectal […]
When Is It Considered Too Late To Get The HPV Vaccine?
Fly View Productions via Getty Images The HPV vaccine can protect against high-risk strains of the human papillomavirus, which can cause cancer. Human papillomavirus, or HPV, is a group of more than 200 related viruses that are spread by skin-to-skin and sexual contact. Not only is it the most common sexually transmitted infection in the […]
Bempedoic Acid Gets ‘Huge’ Win for Primary Prevention in the Statin-Intolerant
SAN DIEGO — Bempedoic acid (Nexletol) prevented cardiovascular events in high-risk, statin-intolerant patients who had not yet had an event, a subgroup analysis from the CLEAR Outcomes trial confirmed. In these patients, bempedoic acid was associated with a large decrease in risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) compared with placebo over a median 39.9 […]
FDA Panel Backs Full Approval of Paxlovid for COVID-19
An FDA panel recommended the agency grant full approval to nirmatrelvir-ritonavir (Paxlovid) for treating high-risk COVID-19. By a vote of 16-1 on Thursday, the Antimicrobial Drugs Advisory Committee said the totality of evidence supports the traditional approval of the oral antiviral, which has been widely used since late 2021 under an emergency use authorization to […]
FDA Approves First Gene Therapy for Non-Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer
The FDA has approved nadofaragene firadenovec (Adstiladrin) as the first gene therapy for the treatment of high-risk bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG)-unresponsive non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC), the agency announced on Friday. An adenoviral vector-based product, nadofaragene firadenovec, is specifically indicated for adult patients with carcinoma in situ (CIS) with or without papillary tumors. Approval was based on […]
Shorter Course of Radiation Therapy Proves Mettle in High-Risk Prostate Cancer
SAN ANTONIO — A shortened radiation therapy (RT) protocol for high-risk prostate cancer led to similar outcomes with no increase in toxicity compared with the standard treatment schedule, a randomized trial showed. Overall survival (OS) at 7 years was 82%, with no difference between standard RT and hypofractionation that reduced treatment duration from 8 to […]
High-Dose-Rate Brachytherapy Boost in Prostate Cancer Improves QOL
SAN ANTONIO — Men with intermediate- and high-risk prostate cancer treated with external-beam pelvic radiotherapy (EBRT) had better quality of life (QOL) outcomes when the combined prostate brachytherapy boost had a high dose rate (HDR), according to research presented here. In a randomized phase III trial comparing health-related QOL outcomes after either low dose rate […]