Author Interviews
16 Dec Weekly Yoga Improved Reduced Nausea and Improved Well-Being in Breast Cancer Patients on Chemotherapy
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_52481" align="alignleft" width="200"]
Dr. Chen[/caption]
Tiffany Won-Shau Chen MD
Internal Medicine Residency
Mount Sinai Beth Israel
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: The research I presented on details a randomized, prospective study done to evaluate whether it would be feasible and effective to implement a yoga program for breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy that could reduce patients' chemotherapy-related symptoms and improve their quality of life.
50 patients were recruited, half of whom underwent a 12-week long yoga program with weekly courses, while the other half did not participate in the program.
Surveys were completed at baseline, 6 weeks, and 12 weeks assessing patients' functional wellbeing, sleep quality, and anxiety/depression levels.
16 Dec Non-FDA Approved Piracetam Found in Some Supplements Marketed for Cognitive Function
Posted at 00:56h
in Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Cognitive Issues, JAMA, Supplements
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
[caption id="attachment_52478" align="alignleft" width="160"]
Dr. Cohen[/caption]
Pieter A. Cohen, MD
Department of Medicine, Cambridge Health Alliance
Somerville, Massachusetts
Harvard Medical School
Boston, Massachusetts
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: There has been increasing interest in the use of over-the-counter supplements to help improve memory and cognitive function. However, prior studies have suggested that these types of supplements might contain unapproved investigational drugs.
15 Dec Treating Subclinical Thyroid Disease in Elderly May Not Provide Benefits
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_52473" align="alignleft" width="200"] Dr. Chiung-Hui Peng[/caption]
Carol Chiung-Hui Peng, MD
Department of Internal Medicine
University of Maryland Medical Center
Baltimore, MD
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: In recently published meta-analyses, focusing on the general population, showed that both overt hypothyroidism and subclinical hypothyroidism were linked to higher all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. However, there is still debate and conflicting evidence on managing overt and subclinical hypothyroidism in the elderly.
This study aimed to evaluate and confirm the association between hypothyroidism and mortality in the elderly population.
15 Dec Examination of Nailfold Capillaries Can Unmask Systemic Nature of Exfoliation Glaucoma
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_52467" align="alignleft" width="130"]
Dr. Ritch[/caption]
Robert Ritch, MD, FACS, FARVO
Shelley and Steven Einhorn Distinguished Chair
Professor of Ophthalmology, Surgeon Director Emeritus
Chief, Glaucoma Services Emeritus
The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai
New York, NY 10003
Founder, Medical Director and
Chairman, Scientific Advisory Board
The Glaucoma Foundation
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Nailfold capillaroscopy (NFC), long used in rheumatology is a new approach to investigation of glaucoma.
Posterior to the nailbed and just anterior to the proximal nailfold is the cuticle, which has no structural elements visible to the naked eye. NFC is a non-invasive imaging modality that provides a highly magnified view of the capillaries at the nailfold of digits. It has also been used in ophthalmology to show morphological changes at the nailfold capillaries of POAG and XFG/XFS patients, helping to confirm the systemic nature of these diseases.
[caption id="attachment_52469" align="alignleft" width="400"] Nailfold Capillaroscopy / Dr. Ritch[/caption]
With nailfold capillaroscopy, an extensive array of capillaries can be seen greatly enlarged on a monitor screen. Capillary loops can be imaged, stored, recorded with videoscopy, and blood flow actively imaged and measured..
The first series of papers on glaucoma were written by Prof Josef Flammer’s group at the turn of the 21st century, looking at vasospasm, blood flow in normal-tension and high-tension glaucoma, and relating ocular blood flow alterations to systemic vascular regulation and relating laser Doppler flowmetry to NFC.
Studies from Korea later associated nailbed hemorrhages and loss of nailbed capillaries to the presence of optic disc hemorrhages and investigated correlation of of heart rate variability with visual field defects and nailfold capillaroscopy.
Studies by our group began with the publication in 2015 of a paper by Pasquale et al (Nailfold Capillary Abnormalities in Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma: A Multisite Study. IOVS;56:7021) using NFC video microscopy, associating dilated capillaries, avascular zones, and hemorrhages with primary open-angle glaucoma. Successive manuscripts and presentations at conferences have indicated differences between capillary loop patterns in high-tension and normal-tension POAG and exfoliation syndrome/exfoliation glaucoma.
Our goal in this paper was to compare nailfold peripheral blood flow in XFG, which had not previously been compared to control subjects using NFC. We explored the peripheral blood flow at the nailfold of patients with high-tension glaucoma, normal-tension glaucoma, exfoliation glaucoma (XFG) and compared it to control subjects further evaluate the possible differences between these glaucoma entities. We examined the morphology and extent of nailfold capillary loops, vascular tortuosity, blood flow, and nailfold hemorrhages.
15 Dec Oncotype DX Breast Cancer Assay: BRCA Mutations and Association with Discordance in a Large Oncotype Database
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_52448" align="alignleft" width="200"] Dr. Blanter[/caption]
Dr. Julia Blanter, MD MS
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
First author of the study
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: The Oncotype DX Breast Cancer Assay was developed to genetically profile patients with early stage, hormone positive breast cancer and predict their 10-year risk of distant recurrence. A high-risk recurrence score is associated with a benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy whereas a low risk recurrence score is associated with little to no benefit.
BRCA mutated tumors have been associated with higher risk recurrence scores as compared to BRCA negative breast cancer patients. However, there have been minimal studies relating discordance to BRCA mutations. Discordance refers to a poorly differentiated or high-grade tumor with a low risk recurrence score. Prior studies demonstrated 7-19% discordance, or difference between recurrence score and tumor grade in breast cancer patients regardless of BRCA mutation status.
It has been concluded that patients who exhibit discordance may benefit from additional therapy in conjunction with endocrine therapy.
12 Dec Mosunetuzumab for Poor Prognosis Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Priscilla White, spokesperson
Senior Manager, Corporate Relations
Genentech
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
- Response: Mosunetuzumab is a T-cell engaging bispecific antibody designed to target CD20-positive B-cell blood cancers, by binding to both CD20 (on the surface of B-cells) and CD3 (on the surface of T-cells).
- Analyses from the ongoing Phase I/Ib GO29781 study indicate that mosunetuzumab can produce durable responses in patients who have relapsed or who are refractory to prior treatment(s), including those who have relapsed or who are resistant to CAR T-cell therapy.
- Results from this dose-escalation study showed encouraging efficacy with an objective response rate (ORR) of 62.7 percent (n=42/67) in slow-growing Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma and 37.1 percent (n=46/124) in aggressive NHL across all dose levels assessed.
- Additionally, data demonstrated a complete response (CR) rate of 43.3 percent (n=29/67) in slow-growing NHL and 19.4 percent (n=24/124) in aggressive NHL. CRs showed durability, with 82.8 percent (n=24/29) of patients with slow-growing NHL remaining in remission up to 26 months off initial treatment and 70.8 percent (n=17/24) of patients with aggressive NHL, remaining in remission up to 16 months off initial treatment.
- Of the participants who received prior CAR T-cell therapy, the ORR was 38.9 percent (n=7/18), and 22.2 percent (n=4/18) achieved a CR.
- Adverse reactions included cytokine release syndrome (CRS) in 28.9 percent of patients with 20.0 percent at Grade 1 and 1.1 percent at Grade 3. Grade 3 neurological adverse events occurred in 3.7 percent of patients.
11 Dec AI and Chest X Rays: Google Health Algorithms Performed As Well As Radiologists
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. David Steiner, MD PhD Google Health, USA MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Advances in artificial intelligence raise promising opportunities for improved interpretation of chest X-rays and many other types of medical images. However, even before researchers begin to address the critical question of clinical validation, there is important work to be done establishing strategies for evaluating and comparing different artificial intelligence algorithms. One challenge is defining and collecting the correct clinical interpretation or “label” for the large number of chest X-rays needed to train and evaluate these algorithms. Another important challenge is evaluating the algorithm on a dataset that actually represents the diversity of the cases encountered in clinical practice. For example, it might be relatively easy to make an algorithm that performs perfectly on a few hundred or so “easy” cases, but this of course might not be particularly useful in practice.
11 Dec Association Between Frozen Embryo Use and Cancer Risk in Children
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_52421" align="alignleft" width="200"] Dr. Hargreave[/caption]
Marie Hargreave, PhD
Senior Researcher
Danish Cancer Society Research Center
Copenhagen
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Very few studies have examined the association between frozen embryo transfer and the risk of childhood cancer and most of them have been too small to show any effects.
In our large nationwide population based study we found that frozen embryo replacement was associated with an increased risk of childhood cancer and especially for leukemia and neuroblastomas.
11 Dec Atopic Dermatitis Linked to Skin and Kidney Cancer
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Lily Wang Student at University of Toronto Toronto, Ontario, Canada MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Impaired skin barrier and aberrant immune function in atopic dermatitis (AD) may impact immune response to malignancy. Conflicting data exist on the risk of cancer in patients with AD. The purpose of our study was to determine the risk of non-cutaneous and cutaneous cancers in patients with atopic dermatitis compared to the general population (i.e. without AD).
11 Dec STD Infections Common Among Those Starting or Staying on PReP for HIV Prevention
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_52403" align="alignleft" width="200"] Dr. Jason Ong[/caption]
Jason Ong, PhD, MMed, MBBS, FAChSHM, FRACGP
Twitter: @DrJasonJOng
Sexual Health Physician, Melbourne Sexual Health Centre, Alfred Health
Associate Professor (Hon), London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK
Central Clinical School, Monash University, Australia
Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Australia
Associate Editor, Sexually Transmitted Infections
Special Issues Editor, Sexual Health
Board Director, ASHM
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is being rolled out globally. This will protect many people from HIV, however PrEP does not protect against other sexually transmitted infections (STI). So we wanted to quantify how much STIs are in PrEP users as a means to advocate to strengthen sexual health services in these settings where PrEP is being offered.
11 Dec Health Care Spending Increasing But Not On Primary Care
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_52362" align="alignleft" width="200"] Julie Reiff[/caption]
Julie Reiff BA
Researcher
Health Care Cost Institute
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Prior studies have attempted to define primary care spending and quantify such spending. Using definitions from the Milbank Memorial Fund, we used Health Care Cost Institute data to calculate primary care utilization and spending among those age 0-64 with employer-sponsored insurance.
11 Dec Genetic Lead Suggests Ketamine May Benefit Autism, Tourette’s and Schizophrenia
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_52438" align="alignleft" width="159"] Dr. Dawson[/caption]
Dr. Neil Dawson PhD
Senior Lecturer
Lancaster University
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Deletions on chromosome 2p16.3, involving deletion of the NEUREXIN1 gene, dramatically increase the risk of developing a wide range of neurodevelopmental disorders including autism, Tourette’s syndrome and schizophrenia. We don’t fully understand the mechanisms involved. In our study we wanted to understand how the genetic deletion impacts on brain function and the ability of brain regions to communicate with one another, as these are known to be impaired in these neurodevelopmental disorders. We also wanted to determine how the genetic deletion impacts on the function of neurotransmitter systems involved in these disorders, and whether drugs targeting these neurotransmitter systems could restore some of the deficits in brain function seen.
11 Dec Comparison Trial of Three Anticonvulsant Medications for Status Epilepticus
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_52433" align="alignleft" width="160"] Dr. Conwit[/caption]
Robin Conwit, M.D
Program Director, Division of Clinical Research
NIH: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Approximately one-third of patients with intractable status epilepticus do not respond to benzodiazepines, often the first line medications given in the emergency department, leaving doctors to decide among three commonly prescribed anti-convulsants.
In this study all of the anti-convulsants were equally effective.
The trial gives doctors a way to clear the air of arguments that one of these drugs works any better than the others, or that any one of them is a lot safer. It gives doctors a reason to choose a dosing strategy in status epilepticus for levetiracetam, which has otherwise been controversial and non-standard.
11 Dec Abnormalities of PPM1D in Myeloproliferative Neoplasms
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_52430" align="alignleft" width="167"] Dr. Marcellino[/caption]
Bridget Marcellino, MD
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Mount Sinai Hospital
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Our work focuses on elucidating the mechanisms that drive the pathogenesis and progression of myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN). Dysregulation of the TP53 pathway is associated with MPN progression evidenced by the association of TP53 loss of heterozygosity with transformation to acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and the presence of inactivating mutations of TP53 found in a proportion of MPN-related AML patients. Studies have shown that TP53 mutations, TP53 deletions and overexpression of the negative regulator of TP53, Murine Double Minute 2 (MDM2) all contribute to TP53 downregulation in MPNs and we therefore are interested in exploring other potential means by which TP53 is downregulated. Protein Phosphatase, Mg2+/Mn2+
Dependent 1D (PPM1D) is another negative regulator of the TP53 pathway and activating mutations in this gene are present in myeloid malignancies including MPNS. We therefore hypothesized that genomic alterations in PPM1D and/or overexpression of PPM1D would be found in the hematopoietic cells of MPN patients.
10 Dec Mt. Sinai Researcher Discusses Emerging Therapeutic Approach For Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_52426" align="alignleft" width="130"] Dr. Jian Jin[/caption]
Jian Jin, Ph.D.
Mount Sinai Endowed Professor in Therapeutics Discovery
Professor, Department of Pharmacological Sciences
Professor, Department of Oncological Sciences
Director, Mount Sinai Center for Therapeutics Discovery
Co-leader, Cancer Clinical Investigation Program, Tisch Cancer Institute
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), a subtype of breast cancer that lacks estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR) and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), represents 12-20% of all breast cancers. TNBC has poor prognosis, high recurrence, a low survival rate, and has higher incidence in African-American and Hispanic women. Currently, there are no effective therapies for treating a substantial portion of TNBC patients.
Enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) is the main enzymatic subunit of the polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) which catalyzes trimethylation of histone H3 lysine 27 (H3K27me3) to promote transcriptional silencing. EZH2 is overexpressed in multiple types of cancer including triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) and high expression levels correlate with poor prognosis. Several EZH2 inhibitors which inhibit the enzymatic activity of EZH2 have shown promise in treating sarcoma and follicular lymphoma in clinics. However, current EZH2 inhibitors are ineffective at blocking proliferation of TNBC cells even though they effectively inhibit the enzymatic activity of EZH2. While the proteolysis targeting chimera (PROTAC) technology for selective degradation of the target protein has been rapidly gaining momentum in the drug discovery field, the hydrophobic tagging approach for selective protein degradation has received considerately less attention from the scientific community.
10 Dec PRIMO Trial: Dose Optimization of Duvelisib in Patients With Relapsed or Refractory Peripheral T-Cell Lymphoma
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_52400" align="alignleft" width="200"] Dr. Horwitz[/caption]
Steven M. Horwitz, MD
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
New York, NY
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Relapsed or refractory Peripheral T-Cell Lymphoma (R/R PTCL) remains a disease of significant unmet medical need.
Duvelisib is an oral dual inhibitor of PI3K-δ and PI3K-γ approved for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL) after at least two prior therapies, relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma (FL) after at least two prior systemic therapies, and is being developed for the treatment of additional hematologic malignancies including R/R PTCL.
In early studies, we saw a suggestion of quite good activity of duvelisib as a single agent in a range of subtypes of T-cell lymphoma.
The PRIMO study is an ongoing, multi-center, open-label, registration-directed Phase 2 study evaluating duvelisib in patients with R/R PTCL that is expected to enroll approximately 120 patients. The study includes both a dose optimization phase and an expansion phase.
The Primo study will be sufficiently powered to give a much more precise estimate of the activity in peripheral t cell lymphomas. However, prior to initiating the main cohort we needed to first try to identify an optimal dose. That “dose optimization cohort” is the subject of our presentation here.
10 Dec MURANO Study Confirms Sustained Benefit of Time-Limited Venetoclax-Rituximab in Relapsed/Refractory Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:Prof. John Seymour, MBBS, Ph.D
Lead investigator of the MURANO Trial
Director. Department of Hematology at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre &
Royal Melbourne Hospital in Australia
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
- MURANO is an international, multicenter, open-label, randomized Phase 3 study designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of venetoclax in combination with rituximab compared with bendamustine in combination with rituximab in patients with relapsed/refractory (R/R) chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).
- At this year’s American Society of Hematology (ASH) annual meeting, we presented results from the four-year updated analysis from the study, which showed an 81 percent reduction in the relative risk of disease progression or death in patients randomized to the chemotherapy-free, two year fixed-duration treatment course of venetoclax plus rituximab and higher rates of minimal residual disease (MRD)-negativity compared to the standard of care regimen, bendamustine plus rituximab.
- The long-term data further support the sustained clinical benefit of fixed-duration treatment with venetoclax in combination with rituximab for this patient population.
- The safety profile of the combination is consistent with the known safety profile of each individual therapy alone. There were no new serious safety issues observed in the MURANO study since the last update.
10 Dec Physicians Leave Area Before and After Rural Hospitals Close
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_52414" align="alignleft" width="188"] Dr. Hayley Drew Germack[/caption]
Hayley Drew Germack PhD
Assistant Professor of Acute and Tertiary Care
University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: The rate of rural hospital closures has been increasing over the last ten years. Rural hospitals close for a number of reasons including poor hospital economic health tied to uncompensated care and community factors, like a local aging population.
Rural hospital and unit closures have been tied to decreased access to emergency and specialty care for patients including decreased access to obstetric-gynecological services and increase travel time for appointments. A recent paper also found a 6% increase in mortality in conditions needing emergent attention after rural hospital closures. We examined the impact of hospital closures in rural counties on the counties’ supply of physicians.
10 Dec Risk-Assessing Computer Games Predictive of Opioid Addiction Relapse
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_52410" align="alignleft" width="148"] Dr. Anna Konova[/caption]
Anna Konova, PhD
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Psychiatry & UBHC
Core Faculty, Brain Health Institute
Rutgers University - New Brunswick
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Opioid reuse and relapse are common outcomes even when a person is seeking treatment for their addiction. These reuse events pose many health risks, as well as risk for treatment failure. We currently lack the much needed tools to understand and predict this reuse vulnerability.
In this study, we used computer games that assess a person's decision making process, to get at psychological processes related to how people make decisions involving risks, when they transitioned between lower and higher reuse vulnerability states during the first few months of opioid treatment.
10 Dec DNA Variants Predictive of Autism in Siblings
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_52406" align="alignleft" width="200"] Dr. Scherer[/caption]
Dr. Stephen Scherer, PhD, FRSC
Senior Scientist, Genetics & Genome Biology
Director, The Centre for Applied Genomics
SickKids Hospital
Toronto
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: One of the most common questions we get from parents with a child with autism is, "what is the likelihood of having a second or third child with autism, and what is the chance others in our family will have kids with autism?".
To help provide answers to these questions, we started the infant (or baby) siblings study ten years ago. Families having an older sibling with a diagnosis of autism were invited to enroll their next born for assessment and following to see if they also developed autism, and what the likelihood of that happening was. Biological samples like blood, and DNA from blood, were also collected and tested.
09 Dec Dramatic Rise in Head and Neck Injuries Associated with Cell Phone Use
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Roman Povolotskiy MD Candidate '20 Rutgers University New Jersey Medical School MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The idea for the study came from seeing a few patients with stories of their injuries related to cellphones. Aside from the now ubiquitous texting while driving, we also had patients who were dropping cellphones on their faces while texting in bed. We wanted to see how many head and neck injuries are related to these devices that we can’t seem to take out hands or eyes off of. The main findings were that the incidence of cell phone related injuries has seen a dramatic rise in the recent decade, starting around the time that smart phones really started to take off. We also found that this problem is most prevalent in the adolescent and young adult age groups.
09 Dec Biomarker for Response to Treatment of Acute Graft-Versus-Host Disease
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_52340" align="alignleft" width="163"] Dr. Srinagesh[/caption]
Hrishikesh Srinagesh MD
The Tisch Cancer Institute at Mount Sinai
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is the leading cause of non-relapse mortality (NRM) after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). Acute GVHD occurs in approximately 50% of HCT patients and targets the skin, liver, and gastrointestinal tract primarily. The change in clinical symptoms (e.g. reduction in volume of diarrhea) is used as the primary endpoint in most trials of acute GVHD treatment, but more accurate metrics are needed to predict long-term survival.
Over the past decade, the Mount Sinai Acute GVHD International Consortium (MAGIC) has studied two biomarkers important in GVHD pathogenesis: suppressor of tumorigenesis 2 (ST2) and regenerating islet-derived 3 alpha (REG3). These proteins are shed into the bloodstream when the gastrointestinal tract is damaged during GVHD, the most lethal form of acute GVHD. The concentrations of ST2 and REG3 can be used generate an individual’s estimated probability of 6 month NRM known as the MAGIC Algorithm Probability (MAP).
Our study evaluated whether the MAP measured at the start of GVHD treatment and four weeks later could predict long-term survival and we compared the MAP to clinical response after four weeks, the gold standard of response.
09 Dec Unvaccinated Kids at Risk of Measles During International Travel
Posted at 16:29h
in Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Global Health, JAMA, Pediatrics, Vaccine Studies
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
[caption id="attachment_52391" align="alignleft" width="135"]
Dr. Emily Parker Hyle[/caption]
Emily Parker Hyle, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Massachusetts General Hospital
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: We found that many children who were planning to travel internationally were eligible for MMR vaccination prior to departure but often did not receive it - especially if they were aged 6 months to 6 years. That is because most children do not routinely receive their first dose of MMR till 12-15 months of age and their second dose of MMR till 4-6 years of age. However, ACIP recommendations are different for children who are traveling internationally. The risk of being infected with measles is much higher outside of the US, so it is recommended that children older than 1 year have had 2 MMR vaccinations and that children 6-12 months receive 1 MMR vaccination prior to travel. MMR vaccination is a safe and effective way to greatly reduce the risk of measles infection.
07 Dec CAPTIVATE Study: Ibrutinib Plus Venetoclax for First-line Treatment of CLL/SLL
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_52376" align="alignleft" width="145"] Prof. Tam[/caption]
Constantine Tam, M.D.
Hematologist and Disease Group Lead
Low Grade Lymphoma and CLL at
Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre
Victoria, Australia, and
Lead study investigator of CAPTIVATE
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: The Phase 2 CAPTIVATE (PCYC-1142) clinical trial evaluated 164 patients younger than 70 years (median age of 58 years) with previously untreated CLL/SLL. Patients were planned to receive ibrutinib for 3 cycles, followed by 12 cycles of ibrutinib and venetoclax in combination. Ninety percent of patients was able to complete the planned therapy. MRD status was evaluated in PB after 6, 9, and 12 cycles and in BM after 12 cycles of the combination.
06 Dec Phase I Study of Duvelisib and Venetoclax in Relapsed or Refractory CLL / SLL
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_52370" align="alignleft" width="200"] Dr. Davids[/caption]
Dr. Matthew S. Davids MD MSC
Associate Director of the Dana-Farber CLL Center
Attending physician
Lymphoma Program, Division of Hematologic Malignancies
Dana-Farber
[caption id="attachment_52369" align="alignleft" width="150"]
Dr. Crombie[/caption]
Dr. Jennifer Crombie MD
Instructor in Medicine
Harvard Medical School
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: New data from our investigator-sponsored Phase 1 study exploring duvelisib in combination with venetoclax will be presented at ASH on December 7. In relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL), duvelisib plus venetoclax demonstrated promising clinical activity, a manageable tolerability profile, and identified a recommended Phase 2 dosing (RP2D) regimen.
06 Dec Morbidity of Breast Cancer and Screening Interval: Annual versus Biennial
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_52282" align="alignleft" width="144"] Dr. Moorman[/caption]
Sarah Moorman, MD
Department of Radiology
Michigan Medicine
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Professional societies and government agencies have variable recommendations regarding how often women should get a screening mammogram. Breast cancer screening may be recommended annually or biennially. These differing recommendations lead to confusion for both referring physicians and patients.
The goal of our study was to better understand differences between annual and biennial screening. We reviewed clinical outcomes of women undergoing annual or biennial mammographic screening to determine if there is an advantage to annual screening.
05 Dec Property Crimes Increase Near Legal Marijuana Dispensaries
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_52359" align="alignleft" width="200"] NATHAN CONNEALY[/caption]
Nathan J. Connealy
Doctoral student
John Jay College of Criminal Justice
CUNY
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: The background, or what prompted this study, is that research on this topic is pertinent right now as more states continue down a path towards legalization. A large share of the research base and public debate centers around the potential adverse effects of marijuana accessibility, consumer-based concerns, and health specific outcomes associated with usage.
This research instead focuses on a lesser explored question related to the potential for the physical dispensary locations to impact crime levels, which is also an important consideration when assessing the impact of recreational marijuana legalization.
05 Dec Altered Brain Function Connectivity in Infants Exposed to Opioids in the Womb
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_52356" align="alignleft" width="200"] Dr. Radhakrishnan[/caption]
Dr. Rupa Radhakrishnan, MD
Assistant professor of Radiology and Imaging Sciences
Indiana University School of Medicine
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Opioid use in pregnancy is a major public health crisis. Opioids adversely impact maternal, fetal and infant health. Infants who were exposed to opioids in the womb, can have withdrawal symptoms soon after birth, and are also at risk for poor long term neurodevelopment outcomes.
Our group studied the changes in brain function in infants exposed to opioids in the womb, to understand how opioids affect the developing brain. We used resting state functional MRI to study these infants.
04 Dec HCV Guidelines Difficult to Implement in Low Income Populations Without Enhanced Infrastructure and Funding
Posted at 13:59h
in Annals Internal Medicine, Author Interviews, Health Care Systems, Hepatitis - Liver Disease, UC Davis
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
[caption id="attachment_52353" align="alignleft" width="200"] Dr. Turner[/caption]
Barbara J Turner MD, MSED, MA, MACP
Senior Advisor, Gehr Family Center for Health Systems Science
Professor of Clinical Medicine
Keck School of Medicine, USC
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Chronic hepatitis C (HCV) infection affects millions of persons in the United States but especially minorities and persons from low income communities. Current national guidelines recommend testing all baby boomers (born 1945 – 65) for HCV with the aim of ultimately curing those with chronic HCV infection with a short course of highly effective medication. However implementation of these guidelines faces many hurdles in “safety net” practices serving vulnerable populations.