Osimertinib Improves Overall Survival in EGFR-Mutated NSCLC With Leptomeningeal Metastases Regardless of T790M Mutational Status
COVID-19 : Eye Care Practice
Treprostinil Improves Walk Distance in Pulmonary HTN
Patients with interstitial lung disease–associated pulmonary hypertension who were treated with inhaled treprostinil (Tyvaso) had significantly greater improvement in exercise capacity over 16 weeks, compared with patients who used a placebo inhaler, results of a phase 3 trial showed.
Among 326 patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH) associated with interstitial lung disease (ILD), those who were randomly assigned to treatment with treprostinil had a placebo-corrected median difference from baseline in 6-minute walk distance of 21 m (P = .004), reported Steven D. Nathan, MD, from Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, Va., on behalf of coinvestigators in the INCREASE study (NCT02630316).
“These results support an additional treatment avenue, and might herald a shift in the clinical management of patients with interstitial lung disease,” he said in the American Thoracic Society’s virtual clinical trial session.
“This was an outstanding presentation and outstanding results. I personally am very excited, because this is a field where I work,” commented Martin Kolb, MD, PhD, from McMaster University, Hamilton, Ont., the facilitator for the online presentation.
Injection Beats Pill For Long-Lasting HIV Prevention
Injections of cabotegravir (ViiV Healthcare) given every other month are more effective in blocking HIV transmission than the once-a-day combination of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate and emtricitabine (Truvada, Gilead Science), new data from the HPTN 083 trial show.
The findings “could transform the HIV prevention landscape for so many people,” said Megan Coleman, DNP, from Whitman-Walker Health in Washington, DC, who regularly prescribes Truvada as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).
At Whitman-Walker alone, about 3000 people were taking the pill in early 2020, but “for some people, taking a pill every day just isn’t a viable option,” said Coleman. “To have something that can support a patient’s choice and a patient’s ability to reduce their own risk of HIV is amazing.”
Final results from the trial — which looked at the drug in cisgender men and transgender women who have sex with men — were presented at the International AIDS Conference 2020.
COVID-19 : Ocular Findings
Blood Biomarker Detects Concussion, Shows Severity & Predicts Recovery
Concentrations of neurofilament light (NfL) chain in blood can detect concussion, its severity and help predict recovery in patients with mild traumatic brain injury (TBI), new research indicates.
“Blood NfL may be used to aid in the diagnosis of patients with concussion or mild TBI [and] to identify individuals at increased risk of developing persistent post-concussive symptoms following TBI,” lead author Pashtun Shahim, MD, PhD, National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, Bethesda, Maryland, told Medscape Medical News.
“This study is the first to do a detailed assessment of serum NfL chain and advanced brain imaging in multiple cohorts, brain injury severities, and time points after injury. The cohorts included professional athletes and nonathletes, and over time up to 5 years after TBI,” Shahim added.