The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has added 25 drugs or drug classes to its quarterly list of agents in which it has found a potential sign of serious risk or new safety information. The new list, created from the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS), covers April through June, and is current as of October…
With the world facing the COVID19 pandemic, washing hands and maintaining hand hygiene has become all the more important and need of the hour. It is also one of the cheapest and easiest ways to prevent coronavirus. Here’s everything you need to know about washing your hands to protect against COVID19. Global Handwashing Day is…
The SARS-CoV-2 virus shares an important feature with some viruses that cause the common cold, and the structural similarity suggests that people with a history of the common cold may carry some immunity against SARS-CoV-2 infection, new evidence reveals. Infection with SARS-CoV-2 also boosts production of memory B cells, long-lasting components of immune protection. Even…
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has expanded the indication for mepolizumab (Nucala, GlaxoSmithKline) to include patients with hypereosinophilic syndrome (HES). Mepolizumab is indicated for adults and children aged 12 years and older with HES for 6 months or longer without an identifiable nonhematologic secondary cause. “[This] approval marks the first time in over a decade…
An international survey provides new insights into how COVID-19 has affected, and may continue to affect, the field of oncology. The survey showed that “COVID-19 has had a major impact on the organization of patient care, on the well-being of caregivers, on continued medical education, and on clinical trial activities in oncology,” stated Guy Jerusalem, MD,…
For women with breast cancer and vulvovaginal atrophy (VVA) unresponsive to non-hormonal therapy, other treatments may be effective, but safety is “controversial and a major concern,” say authors of a systematic review. “I was surprised that clinical studies assessing the safety of the vaginal laser or androgen therapies, with regard to serum estradiol levels or…
Eleven high-income countries are on track to meet World Health Organization targets to eliminate hepatitis C infection by 2030, compared with nine countries 2 years ago, researchers report. But 28 countries, including the United States, are not expected to eliminate HCV until 2050. “In the countries making progress, the common elements are political will, a clear national…
Colchicine usage found to reduce the risk of cardiovascular death, heart attack and stroke by almost one third, according to an Australian-Dutch trial led by Perth GenesisCare cardiologists, Professor Peter Thompson and Dr Mark Nidorf, in collaboration with the Dutch Network for Cardiovascular Research (WCN) in the Netherlands. The trial confirmed that low dose colchicine…
Patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer should undergo germline and somatic testing to identify those who can benefit from targeted therapies, according to an updated guideline from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). The 2018 ASCO guideline focused on second-line therapy for patients who had experienced progression or intolerable toxicity after first-line therapy. The updated…
Ensartinib significantly prolonged progression-free survival, compared with crizotinib, in patients with ALK-positive non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in the eXalt3 study. Ensartinib, being developed by Xcovery Holdings, is a potent, next-generation, once-daily oral ALK inhibitor with broad preclinical activity against ALK-resistance mutations. “Its potency is more than 10 times greater than that of crizotinib in enzyme…
