Articles related to CLINICAL STUDY

In a recently published prospective cohort study, a third dose of the BioNTech Pfizer vaccine yielded a sustained immunologic response. But response to a fourth was much smaller and was gone completely by 13 weeks, providing only a short-term benefit over the third dose. A fourth dose should therefore be timed based on disease waves or be provided seasonally, like the influenza vaccine.

The findings of this study are similar to results from in small human post-mortem study and could provide a pathological explanation for the subjective complaint of long-COVID “brain fog.” Using a mouse model to explore how mild respiratory infections with COVID could lead to neuroinflammation and subsequent brain damage, investigators found signs of central neuroinflammation after clearance of the virus. There is an accompanying case presentation.

In a study originally published in British Journal of Sports Medicine, a sample of nearly 100,000 adults showed that after making adjustments for other activity, weight training was associated with a 9% decline in CVD mortality. A separate study published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise showed a lower risk of colorectal cancer in adults who lifted weights.

Looking at 2,500 case patients mapped to more than 45,000 controls, the hazard ratio for all thyroid cancers in GLP-1 users was 1.46. The hazard ratio for developing thyroid cancer with DPP-4 inhibitors was 1.1. GLP-1 receptors are present in normal and cancerous thyroid cells.

The approval for the treatment of pediatric patients aged 2 years and older with previously untreated high-risk classic Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) was based on the AHOD1331 phase 3 study, which examined the effects of brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris, Seagen) in combination with the dose-intensive chemotherapy regimen AVE-PC (doxorubicin, vincristine, etoposide, prednisone, and cyclophosphamide). Results showed that patients who received the AVE-PC combination had better event-free survival than those who received ABVE-PC (doxorubicin, bleomycin, vincristine, etoposide, prednisone and cyclophosphamide). Patients experienced a 59% decrease in their risk of death, second cancer, or disease progression.

This case review highlights the differential diagnosis with lesions of this kind, together with management and clinical pearls.