1 min

Women with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation have an increased risk for endometrial cancer (EC), and the greatest risk is for the rare subgroup of serous-like and p53-abnormal endometrial cancers in BRCA1 mutation carriers, according to a Dutch study.

BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers had a significant two- to three-fold increase in EC risk, with the highest risk increases found for two EC subgroups with “unfavorable” clinical outcomes: serous-like histology (8-10 fold) and p53-abnormal EC (11-12 fold), the researchers report in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Source: Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Researchers examined data on adolescents (mean age 16.4 years) hospitalized with anorexia nervosa who were randomized to higher-calorie refeeding (n=60) or lower-calorie refeeding (n=51). Patients started higher-calorie refeeding (2,000 kcals/day, increasing by 200 kcals per day) or lower-calorie refeeding (1,400 kcals/day, increasing by 200 kcals every other day) within 24 hours of admission.

The primary endpoints were clinical remission at one year, defined by reaching a weight of at least 95% of median body mass index (BMI) based on U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention growth charts, and psychological recovery, defined by achieving a global score within one standard deviation of community norms on the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q).

Source: Reuters

The discovery of this new gene, PCDHA3, could enhance the development of genetic-risk calculators “that may help us understand vulnerability to schizophrenia in high-risk individuals and identify individuals with schizophrenia who have a greater risk for poor outcomes,” said Todd Lencz, PhD, a professor at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research in New York, and lead author of this research. It blocks neuron communication in the brain may lead to novel treatment strategies and improve understanding of the mechanics of this disease.

Source: Medscape

Abuse or misuse of the over-the-counter nasal decongestant propylhexedrine can cause serious harm that can lead to hospitalization, disability, or death, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warns in a safety communication.

“Major issues” that may have to be managed in the context of acute intoxication with propylhexedrine include severe agitation, tachycardia, hypertension, myocardial infarction, hyperthermia, stroke, bowel obstruction, pulmonary hypertension, and seizures, the FDA said.

There is no specific agent for reversing the effects of acute propylhexedrine intoxication, so management is symptomatic and supportive, the FDA notes.

Source: FDA

Hormone therapy as a possible solution for postmenopausal women with nocturia.

A significant reduction in prevalence of nocturia ≥ twice per night was seen after treatment, as the prevalence decreased from 27.7% (59/213) to 16.4% (35/213). Specified per therapy, a significant reduction in nocturnal voiding frequency was observed in patients treated with E+P and TSEC (P = 0.018 and P = 0.018, respectively). This improvement could be explained by a significant reduction in SLEEP sum score in patients treated with E+P and TSEC (P < 0.001, P = 0.013, respectively). Estrogen-only led to a significant change in URINARY TRACT sum score, which is the result of a reduction in urgency prevalence (P = 0.039).

Estrogen + Progesterone (E+P), tissue-selective estrogen complex (TSEC) treatment led to a significant reduction in nocturia prevalence and bother in women with ≥ 2 nocturnal voids.

Source: Menopause Journal

The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) continues to examine available and potential treatments as new evidence emerges.

Combination use of the monoclonal antibodies bamlanivimab and etesevimab to treat outpatients with mild-to-moderate disease at risk of progressing to severe COVID-19, for example, is a new recommendation in IDSA guidelines.

The society also updated its guidance on use of tocilizumab, pointed to less evidence on bamlanivimab monotherapy, and recommended against use of ivermectin outside of clinical trials.

Source: IDSA

Ertugliflozin, the sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor class, now has shown evidence of renal benefits roughly on par with the other three drugs.

Treatment of patients with type 2 diabetes and established atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD) with ertugiflozin (Steglatro) led to significant reductions in the incidence of four prespecified, exploratory kidney endpoints in the VERTIS CV trial, which included more than 8200 patients.

Most notable of the new exploratory analyses is a composite of time to a sustained 40% reduction from baseline in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) or time to renal dialysis, transplant, or death, the incidence for which was a significant 34% lower with ertugliflozin treatment.

Source: Medscape

Omidubicel, an investigational enriched umbilical cord blood product being developed by Gamida Cell for transplantation in patients with blood cancers, appears to have some advantages over standard umbilical cord blood.

The results come from a global phase 3 trial presented at the annual meeting of the European Society for Blood and Bone Marrow Transplantation.

“Transplantation with omidubicel compared to standard cord blood transplantation results in faster hematopoietic recovery, fewer infections, and fewer days in the hospital,” said coinvestigator Guillermo F. Sanz, MD, PhD, from the Hospital Universitari i Politècnic la Fe in Valencia, Spain.

“Omidubicel should be considered as the new standard of care for patients eligible for umbilical cord blood transplantation,” Sanz concluded. Omidubicel is also being evaluated in a Phase 1/2 clinical study in patients with severe aplastic anemia.

Source: Medscape

Roche is launching a SARS-CoV-2 variant test to help monitor emerging coronavirus mutations. The test runs on widely used high-throughput systems and is for research purposes only. The new SARS-CoV-2 Variant Set 1 Test is designed to detect and differentiate mutations found in variants that originated in the UK (B.1.1.7), South Africa (B.1.351), and Brazil (P.1)

Source: Reuters

Children who have been treated for brain tumors often experience significant weight gain, and new findings suggest that this could be a sign of hypothalamic-pituitary (HP) dysfunction.

The Dutch study of 661 children who survived a brain tumor found that one third become overweight, obese, or had gained a significant amount of weight during the follow-up period.

Among 578 survivors who were between 4 and 20 years of age at follow-up, 20.3% were classified as overweight and 8.5% as obese, as compared with 10.5% and 2.7%, respectively, in the general Dutch population within the same age group.

Source: The Journal of Clinical Oncology