For its Solidarity Trial, the World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that it was discontinuing hydroxychloroquine and lopinavir/ritonavir, citing little or no reduction in the mortality of hospitalized COVID-19 patients. The WHO said the decision was in light of the evidence from the Solidarity Trial interim results. “These interim trial results show that hydroxychloroquine and…
Common Anticancer Drug may be Less Effective in Obese Women
Obese and overweight breast cancer patients might benefit less from docetaxel compared to lean patients, according to retrospective analysis of data from a large clinical trial, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. In most European countries, more than 50% of women are overweight or obese (with a body mass index (BMI) above 25 kg/m2, as…
HCV Infected Livers are Safe for Transplantation
Patients who received a liver transplant that is infected with hepatitis C can clear the virus infection later and have a safe recovery as patients who received an organ free of infection, reports a new study. The findings of the study are published in the journal Liver Transplantation. Two sets of 32 patients were enrolled in…
Gardasil-9 Approved for Prevention of Head and Neck Cancers
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has expanded the indication for the Gardasil-9 (Merck) vaccine to include prevention of oropharyngeal and other head and neck cancers caused by HPV types 16, 18, 31, 33, 45, 52, and 58. This new indication is approved under the FDA’s accelerated approval program and is based on the…
Scientists discover that nicotine promotes spread of lung cancer to the brain
Among people who have the most common type of lung cancer, up to 40% develop metastatic brain tumors, with an average survival time of less than six months. But why non-small-cell lung cancer so often spreads to the brain has been poorly understood. Now scientists at Wake Forest School of Medicine have found that nicotine,…
Apalutimide for Prostate Cancer: What to Know
The FDA approved apalutamide (Erleada, Janssen Biotech, Inc.) to treat patients with nonmetastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) is an effective and integral part of care for patients with nonmetastatic prostate cancer. However, resistance to ADT is inevitable and develops in almost all cases of prostate cancer. Preventing metastasis to bone and other sites…
Relugolix: Novel Drug for ADT in Advanced Prostate Cancer
An investigational new drug for androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) in prostate cancer has shown superiority over the standard therapy leuprolide, and could change practice once it is available, experts have suggested. The new drug is relugolix (Relumina, Myovant Sciences), an oral gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) antagonist already approved in Japan for use in the treatment of uterine fibroids. Relugolix has the…
Health is “investment in Our Future”
World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus highlighted the importance of stronger health systems and the investment in health for all people. “The pandemic has shown again, and in the strongest way possible, that investing in health is not just the right thing to do, it’s the smart thing to do,” he said at…
New Cancer Drug May treat Malignant Brain Tumor in Kids
MTX110, the new formulation of panobinostat, has shown promise in laboratory models of medulloblastoma. It is the focus of a novel trial that places the therapy directly into the fourth ventricle of the brain to treat patients with recurrent medulloblastoma. According to the American Cancer Society, about 500 children are diagnosed with medulloblastoma every year.…
World Hypertension Day
Highlights : World Hypertension Day is observed on 17th May every year Aims to create awareness about hypertension and its risks among the general public Extra care is needed for people with hypertension to protect them during this COVID-19 pandemic Theme for the year 2020 is ‘Know Your Numbers’ World Hypertension Day is celebrated globally…
