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Top Medical News
Among patients with a history of stroke, an intensive blood pressure-lowering regimen did not reduce the risk of recurrent stroke compared with a standard blood pressure-lowering regimen, according to results of the RESPECT* trial presented at ISC 2019.
The oral route of administration for antibiotics appears to be as effective as the intravenous route during the first 6 weeks of treatment of complex orthopaedic infection, according to the results of a trial.
Several exonic variants of the NOTCH4 gene are associated with systemic sclerosis (SSc) and its subtypes, a study has shown.
Clinical and patient-reported factors, as well as certain work aspects (eg, high disease activity, fatigue, poor function and undertaking a physically demanding job), are associated with presenteeism at work among patients with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA), according to a study.
Higher systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) disease activity index (SLEDAI)-2K score at cohort entry is the only significant predictor of SLEDAI-2K in the subsequent years, according to a recent study. This reflects persistent disease activity even in patients with longstanding SLE.
Nivolumab significantly prolongs survival in East Asian patients with advanced nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) previously treated with platinum-based chemotherapy when compared with docetaxel, according to data from the CheckMate 078 trial.
While there is excellent relative test-retest reliability in previous diabetic foot ulceration (DFU) patients regarding foot pressure measurements from various regions of both ulcer and nonulcer feet, absolute reliability over the hallux and forefoot regions in the ulcer foot is poor, according to a recent Singapore study.
Special Reports
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are commonly used to treat osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis to reduce joint pain and improve joint function. Dr Sazzli Kasim provides his viewpoint on how the current understanding on cardiovascular safety of NSAIDs should be taken into account when determining optimal analgesic strategies for patients with arthritis.
In March 2018, sublingual fentanyl citrate (SLF; Abstral®, Menarini) was made available in Malaysia. SLF is a rapid-onset opioid (ROO) indicated for the management of breakthrough cancer pain (BTcP) episodes in patients that are opioid-tolerant. In July 2018, Menarini organized an expert meeting, aptly named Malaysian Collaborative Meeting of Pain Specialists to Improve Oncology Management (MY-COMPASSION), comprising of key figures in anaesthesiology, palliative care and oncology to discuss current insights into local BTcP management. Below are highlights from the meeting.
Comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP) has emerged as a key driving force behind personalized cancer care. With the wealth of data available with CGP, medical oncologists now have in their armamentarium a tool that could enable them to provide patients with the optimum treatment. At a Roche Foundation Medicine-sponsored symposium held at the 2018 European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress in Munich, Germany, a panel of experts reviewed key data on CGP, with a focus on the treatment of advanced cancers.
In an era of antimicrobial resistance, newer agents are urgently needed. Ceftaroline, a broad spectrum cephalosporin approved for the treatment of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) and complicated skin and soft tissue infections (cSSTI) is a step forward towards addressing this need. MIMS Anti-Infectives interviewed Dr Asok Kurup, an infectious disease physician practising at the Mount Elizabeth Medical Centre in Singapore, to provide some insights into the role of ceftaroline for the treatment of these conditions.
In conjunction with the launch of QV Intensive with Ceramides (Ego Pharm), the important role of ceramides in themanagement of atopic dermatitis (AD) was highlighted by two distinguished speakers, Dr Agnes Heng of KPJ and Pantai Hospital Ipoh, as well as Dr Fabrizio Spada of Ego Pharmaceuticals, Australia.
At the recent 34th Annual Congress of the Malaysian Society of Nephrology, Dr Kyriaki Stamatelou reviewed the role of alfacalcidol (One-Alpha®; LEO Pharma) – a vitamin D analogue – in the prevention and management of secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT) in chronic kidney disease (CKD).
International travellers have a potential for exposure to diseases outside their home countries and may carry nonendemic diseases between countries.1
Conference Reports
A latest study at ISC 2019 shows that even patients with large-core stroke damage can have a good outcome after mechanical clot removal with endovascular thrombectomy (EVT), depending on the size of the infarct and time lapses between stroke onset and treatment.
The addition of the monoclonal antibody andecaliximab to nivolumab or a chemotherapy regimen (modified FOLFOX6*) did not provide survival benefit in patients with pretreated metastatic or untreated HER2-negative gastric/gastroesophageal (G/GEJ) adenocarcinoma, according to data presented at ASCO GI 2019.
The addition of the investigational, humanized IgG4* monoclonal antibody tislelizumab to chemotherapy was generally well-tolerated and generated favourable antitumour activity in patients with advanced gastric/gastroesophageal (G/GEJ) cancer and oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), according to data presented at ASCO GI 2019.
The addition of the phosphodiesterase 3 inhibitor cilostazol to either aspirin or clopidogrel reduced the risk of recurrent stroke among patients at high risk of recurrence following a non-cardioembolic ischaemic stroke, according to the CSPS.com* study conducted in Japan.
The combination of paclitaxel and FOLFOX led to an improvement in progression-free survival (PFS) compared with FOLFOX alone among chemotherapy-naïve patients with advanced gastric cancer, according to results from the phase II FNF-004* trial presented at ASCO GI 2019.
Neoadjuvant chemotherapy with gemcitabine plus S-1 has been shown to improve overall survival (OS) in patients with resectable pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma in a Japanese study.
Second-line treatment with pembrolizumab is shown to significantly improve overall survival (OS) vs chemotherapy in patients with advanced or metastatic oesophageal cancer in the phase III KEYNOTE-181 study.
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