Neurocognitive function decline but stable QOL in first year after temozolomide-based chemoradiotherapy

A secondary analysis of the NRG Oncology clinical trial NRG-RTOG 0424, which initially reported a 73.1% 3-year overall survival rate, shows a decline in neurocognitive function (NCF) for half of the trial participants with high risk, low-grade gliomas (HR-LGGs) up to a year after receiving concurrent chemoradiotherapy with temozolomide. However, the analysis also concluded that on average the quality of […]

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Combination of immunotherapy and VEGF inhibitor improves survival in HCC

Combination therapy with the PD-L1 inhibitor atezolizumab and the VEGF inhibitor bevacizumab significantly improves overall survival and progression-free survival in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) compared to standard of care, showed results from a phase 3 study reported at the ESMO Asia 2019 Congress. “This is the first study in 11 years to show an improvement in survival with […]

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Investigational drug for people with treatment-resistant epilepsy

Imagine not being able to drive, shower alone or even work because you are never quite sure when the next seizure will leave you incapacitated. Hope may be on the horizon for epilepsy patients who have had limited success with seizure drugs. In a study, led by a Johns Hopkins lead investigator, of 437 patients across 107 institutions in 16 […]

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Opioid prescription doses are increasingly being tapered, often more rapidly than recommended

Stigma and safety fears have made daily dose tapering of opioid prescriptions more common. New research from UC Davis Health physicians, however, shows tapering can occur at rates as much as six times higher than recommended, putting patients at risk of withdrawal, uncontrolled pain or mental health crises. The study—”Trends and Rapidity of Dose Tapering Among Patients Prescribed Long-term Opioid […]

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High numbers of youth report using prescription opioids in the past year

A new analysis of data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health finds a surprisingly high prevalence of prescription opioid use among youth. As recently as 2015-2016, 21 percent of adolescents and 32 percent of young adults said they had used these drugs in the past year. Nearly 4 percent and 8 percent, respectively, reported misusing opioids. Findings […]

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Equivalence seen between drug classes for hypertension monotherapy

(HealthDay)—Most estimates show no differences in effectiveness between classes of antihypertensive agents, according to a systematic, multinational, large-scale analysis published online Oct. 24 in The Lancet. Marc A. Suchard, M.D., from the University of California in Los Angeles, and colleagues conducted a systematic, multinational, large-scale study to estimate the relative risks of three primary (acute myocardial infarction, hospitalization for heart […]

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Thirty-three percent of people on anticoagulants take OTC supplements with potentially serious interactions

Nearly 98% percent of people prescribed direct-acting oral anticoagulants such as apixaban used over-the-counter products. Of those, 33% took at least one such product that, in combination with the anticoagulants, could cause dangerous internal bleeding. People on these medications largely lacked knowledge of some potentially serious interactions. Direct-acting oral anticoagulants are the drug of choice for stroke prevention in patients […]

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FDA approves new drug for most common form of cystic fibrosis

(HealthDay)—A new drug to treat most cystic fibrosis patients has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Trikafta (elexacaftor/ivacaftor/tezacaftor) is the first triple combination therapy available to treat patients with the most common cystic fibrosis mutation. Its list price is $311,000 a year, same as one of the maker’s earlier treatments for the genetic disease. Trikafta is approved […]

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