Articles related to CLINICAL RESEARCH

Using data from nearly 450,000 people in the UK, a model that scores individuals based on a suite of variables found in combination to be highly predictive of dementia risk. These included age, low education level, sleep patterns, and comorbidities such as diabetes and cerebrovascular, cardiovascular, and respiratory disease.

This meta analysis of antidepressants in MDD included 34 double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled studies covering 20 antidepressants. Outcomes were 6-month relapse rates and tolerability measures. Fourteen of the agents had better relapse rates than placebo. Four — desvenlafaxine, paroxetine, venlafaxine, and vortioxetine — displayed the best efficacy and tolerability.

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) with Philadelphia chromosome positivity (Ph+) has a poor prognosis historically, so allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT) is advised after the first complete remission (CR1). The rapid achievement of a complete molecular remission (CMR), however, is associated with excellent outcomes without allo-HCT in the tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) era, indicating transplant may not be necessary for these patients. To test this theory, the authors of this journal-based CME program looked into 5 transplant centers in the US to find adult Ph+ ALL patients who received induction therapy, such as TKIs, and received CMR within 90 days of diagnosis. They then compared the outcomes of people who received allo-HCT in the first remission versus those who did not.

The majority of the decrease in the risk of local recurrence was seen in the first decade, according to the researchers’ observations of a differential effect over time. With or without irradiation, the risk of recurrence is not significantly different in the second decade. However, others pointed out that the goal of radiotherapy is not to increase overall survival but rather to lower the risk of local recurrence, which is a crucial aspect of breast-conserving therapy.

The “super enhancer,” a complex region of DNA with a lot of transcriptional machinery that determines whether a cell is malignant, can be programmed by the environment around a colon cancer tumor for the first time, according to research. The PDZK1IP1 gene, which was not previously recognized as a cancer gene, is controlled by this super enhancer, which is the biggest 1-2% of all enhancers in the cell. Colon cancer growth was inhibited when PDZK1IP1 was deleted, indicating that PDZK1IP1 and its super enhancer may be targets for cancer treatments.

According to the researchers who published their findings in JAMA Network Open, the percentage of chronic pain patients using non-drug therapies without opioids remained relatively stable at 20% from 2011 to 2016, but it then increased quickly, reaching 40% in 2019. Non-opioid therapy is preferred for treating chronic pain, according to CDC guidance. However, neither the use of opioids alone nor in combination with non-drug treatments for chronic pain significantly decreased following the 2016 guidance. In fact, while about 3% to 15% of patients used opioids alone, their use increased slightly between 2016 and 2018 (from about 10% to 15% of patients).