Author Interviews, Dermatology, JAMA, Kidney Disease, Melanoma, Transplantation / 11.02.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with "Kidney Model 9" by GreenFlames09 is licensed under CC BY 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0Donal J. Sexton, MD, PhD Department of Nephrology and Kidney Transplantation Beaumont Hospital Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland Dublin, Ireland MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?  Response: Patients who receive a kidney transplant as treatment for end stage kidney disease are at risk of malignancy due to immunosuppression. In contrast to other solid organ transplant types, when kidney transplants fail it is possible for recipients to return to dialysis. Immunosuppression is usually reduced or completely stopped when  the allograft fails due to the risk of infection on dialysis. We decided to investigate what the trajectory of risk for non-melanoma skin cancer and invasive cancers overall (composite group) looked like for patients who have received multiple consecutive kidney transplants with intervening periods of graft failure. We compared cancer risk during periods of allograft failure and periods of functioning kidney transplants.   (more…)
Author Interviews, Gastrointestinal Disease, JAMA, Lymphoma / 08.11.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: ANSMRosemary Dray-Spira, MD, PhD Department of Epidemiology French National Agency for Medicines and Health Products Safety (ANSM) Saint-Denis, France MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Anti-tumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) agents are increasingly used for the management of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), either alone or in combination with thiopurines. Their clinical benefits have been largely assessed, however they may expose to potentially serious adverse effects. While an increased risk of lymphoma has been established with thiopurines, up to now such a risk of lymphoma remained uncertain with anti-TNF agents. In this study based upon a large, nationwide cohort of 189,289 patients with IBD, the use of anti-TNF agents alone was found associated with a 2 to 3 fold increase in the risk of lymphoma, similarly to thiopurines alone. In addition, the combination of these two treatments was associated with a 6 fold increase in the risk of lymphoma, ie a higher risk than with each treatment used alone. Although these differences are statistically significant, the risk of lymphoma among patients exposed to anti-TNF agents is less than 1 case per 1000 person-years. (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, OBGYNE / 16.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Alexander Egeberg, MD PhD Gentofte Hospital Department of Dermatology and Allergy Denmark MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: An issue that frequently arise in clinical practice is the question from patients whether they should discontinue their therapy if they want to have children. Since immunosuppressant agents are frequently used for a number of conditions, and discontinuation could lead to disease flaring, assessment of the potential impact of such drugs on birth outcomes is important. In our study, we examined birth outcomes in children whose father had received treatment with methotrexate, azathioprine, cyclosporine, and mycophenolate mofetil in the time leading up to conception. Importantly, we found no increased risk of congenital abnormalities, low birth weight, or preterm birth associated with paternal treatment with these drugs. (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, Melanoma / 28.07.2015

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Christina Y. Lee BA Department of Dermatology Pedram Gerami, MD Robert H. Lurie Cancer Center Feinberg School of Medicine Northwestern University Chicago, Illinois Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Melanoma is responsible for the majority of skin cancer-related mortality. While AJCC staging of melanoma provides highly valuable information that helps predict the behavior of cutaneous melanoma, there are likely a number of other variables not included that may help predict which melanomas may result in metastasis. Some of these data points are not be easily assessed or available in large databases. In this study, we sought to assess a broad range of specific clinical factors directly obtained from clinic notes that may help predict melanoma behavior. The study consisted of a large cohort of patients with clinical follow up from our melanoma center at Northwestern University. Some examples of evaluated characteristics include a documented history of tanning bed use, blistering sunburns, or outdoor activity. In our study, patients who were older or immunosuppressed at the time of diagnosis were associated with aggressive tumor behavior in multivariate statistical analysis, when controlled for traditional AJCC factors such as  tumor depth, ulceration, and mitotic figures. (more…)