Curated News: NEJM

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Released: 28-Jul-2022 3:25 PM EDT
Supplemental vitamin D did not lower risk of fractures in healthy US adults
Brigham and Women’s Hospital

Although vitamin D supplements are widely prescribed and used to benefit bone health, definitive data on whether these supplements reduce fractures in the general population have been inconsistent.

Newswise: Epo Does Not Help with Neurological Damage to Newborns
Released: 14-Jul-2022 4:10 PM EDT
Epo Does Not Help with Neurological Damage to Newborns
University of Washington School of Medicine

Adding erythropoietin to cooling therapy for term newborns with birth asphyxia has no benefit over cooling therapy alone, a study published today in the New England Journal of Medicine. The findings contrast with results from small trials in which erythropoietin appeared safe and effective, noted Dr. Sandra “Sunny” Juul, senior author of the study. The Alan Hodson Endowed Professor of Pediatrics at the UW School of Medicine, Juul is also the UW Medicine chief of neonatology (newborn medical care) and practices at Seattle Chldren's.

Newswise: A type of ‘step therapy’ is an effective strategy for diabetic eye disease
11-Jul-2022 3:40 PM EDT
A type of ‘step therapy’ is an effective strategy for diabetic eye disease
NIH, National Eye Institute (NEI)

Clinical trial results from the DRCR Retina Network suggest that a specific step strategy, in which patients with diabetic macular edema start with a less expensive medicine and switch to a more expensive medicine if vision does not improve sufficiently, gives results similar to starting off with the higher-priced drug.

Released: 14-Jul-2022 11:05 AM EDT
Brentuximab Vedotin May Improve Overall Survival in Patients with Hodgkin Lymphoma
Mayo Clinic

A study led by researchers from Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center has found that the addition of brentuximab vedotin to standard chemotherapy treatment improves overall survival in patients with Hodgkin Lymphoma, when compared to the current standard of chemotherapy alone. Results of the research were presented by Stephen Ansell, M.D., Ph.D., at the 2022 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting (ASCO) in Chicago and were published today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Released: 11-Jul-2022 9:00 AM EDT
Treating Moderately Elevated Blood Pressure During Pregnancy
Rutgers University-New Brunswick

The Chief of Maternal-Fetal Medicine at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School discusses a practice-changing study he coauthored

Newswise: Saint Louis University and Industry Partners Discover Treatment for Rare, Genetic Liver Disease
Released: 8-Jul-2022 4:50 PM EDT
Saint Louis University and Industry Partners Discover Treatment for Rare, Genetic Liver Disease
Saint Louis University

Researchers at Saint Louis University's School of Medicine, in collaboration with Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals and Takeda Pharmaceuticals, report the first effective drug to treat a rare, genetic liver disease that formerly could only be treated with a liver transplant.

Released: 24-Jun-2022 11:05 AM EDT
COVID-19 Vaccination in Pregnancy Helps Protect Infants from Needing Hospital Care for COVID-19
Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago

In a new study sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and published in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers provide additional evidence that COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy helps protect babies younger than 6 months from being hospitalized due to COVID-19. The risk of COVID-19 hospitalization among babies was reduced by about 80 percent during the Delta wave (July 1–December 18, 2021) and 40 percent during the Omicron wave (December 19–March 8, 2022).

Released: 23-Jun-2022 8:05 AM EDT
Newer COVID-19 Subvariants Are Less Vulnerable to Immunity Induced by Vaccination and Previous Infection, Researchers Find
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

In a letter published in the New England Journal of Medicine, physician-scientists report that the three Omicron subvariants currently dominant in the United States – officially known as subvariants BA.2.12.1, BA.4, and BA.5 – substantially escape neutralizing antibodies induced by both vaccination and previous infection.

Released: 22-Jun-2022 5:05 PM EDT
Faculty Scientists and Clinicians Publish Findings of World’s First Successful Transplant of Genetically Modified Pig Heart into Human Patient
University of Maryland School of Medicine

Six months ago, University of Maryland School of Medicine surgeon-scientists successfully implanted a genetically modified pig heart into a 57 year-old patient with terminal heart disease in a first-of-its-kind surgery.

Newswise: New Perspective Shows Higher Breast Cancer Mortality for Black Women Emerged 40 years ago
17-Jun-2022 1:05 PM EDT
New Perspective Shows Higher Breast Cancer Mortality for Black Women Emerged 40 years ago
American Cancer Society (ACS)

A new perspective by researchers from the American Cancer Society and the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio shows the high burden of breast cancer mortality in African American (Black) women versus White women began in the United States in the 1980’s.

Released: 16-Jun-2022 10:35 AM EDT
A Decade Later, Some Veterans Find It Hard to Breathe
Michigan Medicine - University of Michigan

A decade after the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, some veterans find themselves with mysterious lung issues, seemingly attributable to exposure to burn pits.

14-Jun-2022 11:15 AM EDT
Factors Causing Low Covid-19 Vaccination Have Spilled Over to Lower Flu Vaccination Rates
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Health Sciences

A new study from UCLA researchers indicates a previously undocumented impact of the promotion of Covid-19 vaccines on other public health behaviors. Adult flu vaccination rates have declined in states with low rates of Covid-19 vaccination, which the authors say may be a harbinger of declining trust in public health and could make some populations more vulnerable to preventable disease.

Released: 9-Jun-2022 6:05 AM EDT
CTE ‘uncommon’ in service member brains, most associated with civilian activities, DoD study finds
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU)

CTE, or chronic traumatic encephalopathy, is uncommon in service members, and is more strongly linked to civilian traumatic brain injuries, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine on June 9 by researchers at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. The study, “Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy in the Brains of Military Personnel,” was led by Dr. David Priemer, assistant professor of Pathology at USU and neuropathologist for the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, and Dr. Dan Perl, professor of Pathology and director of the Department of Defense/USU Brain Tissue Repository at USU.

Released: 5-Jun-2022 12:05 PM EDT
Improved Progression-Free Survival in Multiple Myeloma Patients Following Three-Drug Therapy with Autologous Stem Cell Transplant
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Patients with multiple myeloma who have been treated with a three-drug combination therapy have a growing number of choices for subsequent treatment. Results of a new study led by researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute can help patients and their physicians weigh benefits and risks of each option.

Newswise: DNA Shed From Colon Cancers Into Bloodstream Successfully Guides Chemotherapy After Surgery
3-Jun-2022 9:00 AM EDT
DNA Shed From Colon Cancers Into Bloodstream Successfully Guides Chemotherapy After Surgery
Johns Hopkins Medicine

A multi-institutional, international study, led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and WEHI in Melbourne, Australia, found that testing for ctDNA after surgery and directing chemotherapy to ctDNA-positive patients reduced the use of chemotherapy overall without compromising recurrence-free survival.

Released: 3-Jun-2022 3:05 PM EDT
Targeted Drug Achieves 43% Response Rate in KRAS-mutated Lung Cancer
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Nearly 43% of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose lung cancers harbored a specific KRAS mutation responded to the experimental drug adagrasib, and the targeted agent also showed activity against lesions in the brain that metastasized from the lung tumors, according to results of a study led by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute investigators.

3-Jun-2022 7:30 AM EDT
Ibrutinib with Chemoimmunotherapy Improved Progression-Free Survival for Newly Diagnosed Mantle Cell Lymphoma Patients
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Combination chemoimmunotherapy with the Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor ibrutinib demonstrated improved progression-free survival over standard chemoimmunotherapy for previously untreated mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) in patients 65 and over, researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reported today at the 2022 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting. The study results also were published today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Newswise: Study Confirms Pathogenesis of EV-D68 Virus Causing Polio-like Paralyzing Illness in Children
Released: 26-May-2022 10:00 AM EDT
Study Confirms Pathogenesis of EV-D68 Virus Causing Polio-like Paralyzing Illness in Children
University of North Carolina School of Medicine

A case report published in the New England Journal of Medicine provides evidence that enterovirus D68 directly infects spinal cord neurons and that a corresponding robust immune response is present – a direct causation to the polio-like paralyzing illness, acute flaccid myelitis (AFM). Matthew Vogt, MD, PhD, assistant professor of pediatrics and microbiology & immunology at the UNC School of Medicine is the lead author of the study.

Released: 26-May-2022 6:05 AM EDT
Drugs Used to Treat Blood Cancer Could Activate “Sleeping” Cancer-Causing Gene
National University of Singapore (NUS)

Hypomethylating agents (HMA) are currently used as a first-line treatment for patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) - a group of disorders where there is insufficient production of healthy mature blood cells in the bone marrow - and increasingly in other diseases, but their mechanism of action remains unclear.

Released: 18-May-2022 5:00 PM EDT
COVID Booster Needed for Broad Protection Against Omicron Variants
Ohio State University

A COVID-19 booster shot will provide strong and broad antibody protection against the range of omicron sublineage variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in circulation, two new studies using serum from human blood samples suggest.

Released: 16-May-2022 11:05 AM EDT
Drug Combination Reduces the Risk of Asthma Attacks
Rutgers University-New Brunswick

A global study of asthma patients by Rutgers and an international team of researchers found a combination of two drugs dramatically reduces the chances of suffering an asthma attack.

Released: 15-May-2022 2:05 PM EDT
Researchers Find Favorable Tradeoffs of PSA Screening for Prostate Cancer
University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center

University Hospitals’ Jonathan Shoag, MD, and a team of researchers from Case Western Reserve University and the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Weill Cornell Medical Center, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and others, set out to assess the tradeoffs of PSA screening using long-term epidemiologic data. “No matter the assumptions,” Shoag said, “the data showed lower numbers than prior estimates, many in the low single digits, for the number needed to treat to prevent a prostate-cancer death. This result was observed in all men, and especially for Black men.” The researchers presented their findings in a late-breaking abstract at the American Urological Association’s annual meeting this month and the study was published May 15 in The New England Journal of Medicine Evidence.

Newswise: Changing Guidelines for Treating Mild Chronic Hypertension in Pregnancy
Released: 28-Apr-2022 10:05 AM EDT
Changing Guidelines for Treating Mild Chronic Hypertension in Pregnancy
Ochsner Health

Based upon a clinical trial of pregnant women at more than 70 sites, including Ochsner Health, doctors are recommending that even mild forms of high blood pressure be treated with medication.

Released: 27-Apr-2022 12:05 PM EDT
Mayo Clinic Expert Calls for Public Health Measures to Improve Diet, Reduce Cancer Risk
Mayo Clinic

A review article by Mayo Clinic researchers emphasizes that early onset colorectal cancer, defined as being diagnosed when younger than 50, continues to steadily increase in the U.S. and other higher income countries. This increase, along with a decline in later-onset cases due primarily to screening have shifted the median age at diagnosis from 72 years in the early 2000s to 66 years now.

Newswise: UNC Landmark Study Paves the Way for Universal Obstetric Ultrasound
Released: 26-Apr-2022 2:00 PM EDT
UNC Landmark Study Paves the Way for Universal Obstetric Ultrasound
University of North Carolina School of Medicine

Establishing accurate gestational age with ultrasound early is essential to delivering high-quality care. Yet, the high cost for equipment and the need for trained sonographers limits its use in low-resource settings. A new study introduces a novel opportunity to democratize obstetric ultrasound.

Released: 20-Apr-2022 5:00 PM EDT
Firearms now the top cause of death among children, adolescents, U-M data analysis shows
Michigan Medicine - University of Michigan

Firearms have surpassed motor vehicles as the leading cause of death among children and adolescents in the United States, according to new federal data analyzed by researchers at the University of Michigan.

Released: 18-Apr-2022 3:45 PM EDT
COVID-19 Vaccine Protects Kids and Teens from Severe Illness
Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago

Results of a new multicenter study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that vaccination with a primary series of the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA COVID-19 vaccine reduced the risk of COVID-19-associated hospitalizations in children ages 5–11 years by two-thirds during the Omicron period.

Released: 15-Apr-2022 10:25 AM EDT
Rilzabrutinib for blood disorder shows promise in phase 1–2 clinical trial
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Drug may safely boost platelet levels in patients with immune thrombocytopenia.

Newswise: Immunotherapy Plus Chemotherapy Before Surgery Improves Outcomes for Lung Cancer Patients
Released: 11-Apr-2022 11:15 AM EDT
Immunotherapy Plus Chemotherapy Before Surgery Improves Outcomes for Lung Cancer Patients
Johns Hopkins Medicine

Adding the immunotherapy drug nivolumab to chemotherapy before surgery (neoadjuvant) for patients with operable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) reduced the risk of recurrence of the cancer or death by more than one-third, according to results from the phase III CheckMate-816 trial.

6-Apr-2022 2:05 PM EDT
Pulse Oximeters Did Not Change Outcomes for Patients in COVID-19 Monitoring Program
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Already checked regularly for worsening symptoms via automated text messages, COVID-19 patients with pulse oximeters in a home monitoring program had similar recovery to those without them.

Newswise: Update: Cedars-Sinai’s L.A. Barbershop Study
Released: 2-Apr-2022 11:05 PM EDT
Update: Cedars-Sinai’s L.A. Barbershop Study
Cedars-Sinai

The Los Angeles Barbershop Blood Pressure Study is delivering cutting-edge insights more than four years after the study results were published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

31-Mar-2022 4:20 PM EDT
Major bleeding reduced in patients having non-cardiac surgery
McMaster University

The drug tested, tranexamic acid (TXA), was given to patients at risk of bleeding or vascular complications. The study found that TXA did not increase deep vein clotting known as VTE, heart attack, non-hemorrhagic stroke, or other major vascular complication in the 30 days after surgery. In the study, half of 9,535 patients in 22 countries were randomly assigned TXA, half placebo. Patients were 45 years or older (average age 69 years); 44% of them were female.

Newswise: Johns Hopkins-Led Study Finds Convalescent Plasma Can Be Effective Early Covid-19 Therapy
Released: 30-Mar-2022 5:10 PM EDT
Johns Hopkins-Led Study Finds Convalescent Plasma Can Be Effective Early Covid-19 Therapy
Johns Hopkins Medicine

Johns Hopkins research shows that high-titer (antibody-rich) COVID convalescent plasma — when administered to COVID-19 outpatients within nine days after testing positive — reduced the need for hospitalization for more than half of a study’s predominantly unvaccinated outpatients.

Newswise: FDA Approved New Immunotherapy Regimen for Patients with Melanoma Based on Johns Hopkins Research
Released: 23-Mar-2022 12:25 PM EDT
FDA Approved New Immunotherapy Regimen for Patients with Melanoma Based on Johns Hopkins Research
Johns Hopkins Medicine

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a novel therapy for patients with metastatic or inoperable melanoma, an aggressive type of skin cancer. The treatment is developed based on original research conducted at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center.

Released: 16-Mar-2022 1:20 PM EDT
Using Artificial Intelligence to Solve One of Health Care’s Most Enduring Problems
Northwestern Medicine

Northwestern Medicine built its own artificial intelligence program to trigger follow up on incidental imaging findings to prevent delayed and missed care

Released: 10-Mar-2022 4:15 PM EST
Antivirals, some antibodies, work well against BA.2 omicron variant of COVID-19 virus
University of Wisconsin–Madison

The antiviral therapies remdesivir, molnupiravir, and the active ingredient in Pfizer’s Paxlovid pill (nirmatrelvir), remain effective in laboratory tests against the BA.2 variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The BA.2 variant also remains susceptible to at least some of the monoclonal antibodies used to treat COVID-19, such as Evusheld by AstraZeneca.

8-Mar-2022 9:55 AM EST
Ribociclib added to endocrine therapy extends survival in postmenopausal patients with metastatic breast cancer
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

A study led by researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center showed a significant overall survival benefit with ribociclib plus endocrine therapy for postmenopausal patients with hormone receptor-positive (HR+) human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative (HER2-) metastatic breast cancer. The results were published today in The New England Journal of Medicine and were first reported at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2021.

Newswise: UTSW faculty addresses difficulty of diagnosing heart attacks in New England Journal of Medicine
Released: 3-Mar-2022 8:05 AM EST
UTSW faculty addresses difficulty of diagnosing heart attacks in New England Journal of Medicine
UT Southwestern Medical Center

Diagnosing heart attacks after heart surgery remains difficult due to shortcomings of current diagnostic tools when applied to postoperative patients, including the electrocardiogram and blood tests to detect levels of cardiac troponins, according to an editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) written by two UT Southwestern faculty members.

28-Feb-2022 1:55 PM EST
First Potential Immunization Against RSV for Healthy Infants Found Highly Effective in Phase 3 Trial
Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago

Nirsevimab showed 74.5 percent efficacy against medically attended lower respiratory tract infections caused by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in healthy infants, according to an international, randomised, placebo-controlled Phase 3 clinical trial. It is the first potential immunization against RSV in the general infant population, with a single dose providing safe protection across the entire RSV season. Results were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Newswise: Better assessment of risk from heart surgery results in better patient outcomes
28-Feb-2022 8:05 AM EST
Better assessment of risk from heart surgery results in better patient outcomes
McMaster University

This study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, assessed patients having heart surgery, measured troponin before and daily for the first few days after surgery, and assessed death and the incidence of major vascular complications – such as heart attack, stroke or life-threatening blood clot – after heart surgery. The study involved 15,984 adult patients with an average age just over 63 years undergoing cardiac surgery. Patients were from 12 countries, with more than a third of the countries being outside of North America and Europe.

24-Feb-2022 3:05 PM EST
Antibiotic doesn’t prevent future wheezing in babies hospitalized with RSV
Washington University in St. Louis

Antibiotics provide no benefit in preventing future recurrent wheezing in babies hospitalized with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), according to a new study led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. And there is some evidence that antibiotics may make wheezing worse.

Released: 22-Feb-2022 2:20 PM EST
Gene Therapy for Thalassemia Ends Need for Transfusions in Young Children
Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago

Over 90 percent of patients with transfusion-dependent thalassemia, an inherited blood disorder, no longer needed monthly blood transfusions years after receiving gene therapy, according to an international Phase 3 clinical trial that for the first time included children younger than 12 years of age. Twenty-two patients were evaluated (ranging in age 4-34 years), including pediatric patients enrolled at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago.

Released: 17-Feb-2022 1:05 PM EST
A possible cure for sickle cell?
Boston University School of Medicine

Sickle cell anemia is an inherited blood disorder where red blood cells become sickle/crescent shaped. It causes frequent infections, swelling in the hands and legs, pain, severe tiredness and delayed growth or puberty.

Released: 27-Jan-2022 7:05 PM EST
Trial Co-led by University of Maryland School of Medicine Scientist Confirms Safety of “Mix-and-Match” COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Dosing
University of Maryland Medical Center

An ongoing study just published in The New England Journal of Medicine was pivotal in allowing mixed use of booster COVID-19 shots -- critical as the U.S. experienced the Omicron surge.

   
Newswise: Mix-and-match trial finds additional dose of COVID-19 vaccine safe, immunogenic
Released: 27-Jan-2022 5:25 PM EST
Mix-and-match trial finds additional dose of COVID-19 vaccine safe, immunogenic
NIH, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)

In adults who had previously received a full regimen of any of three COVID-19 vaccines granted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) or approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), an additional booster dose of any of these vaccines was safe and prompted an immune response, according to preliminary clinical trial results reported in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Newswise: NEJM: New Data on COVID-19 Lung Transplants
Released: 26-Jan-2022 5:30 PM EST
NEJM: New Data on COVID-19 Lung Transplants
Cedars-Sinai

A Smidt Heart Institute analysis of lung transplantations performed nationally shows significant help for patients with severe, irreversible lung damage from COVID-19.

Newswise: Including People with Disabilities in Clinical Research is Key to Reducing Health Inequality
Released: 25-Jan-2022 1:00 PM EST
Including People with Disabilities in Clinical Research is Key to Reducing Health Inequality
Johns Hopkins Medicine

For research to be applicable to all segments of the population, Swenor and her co-author, Jennifer Deal, Ph.D., M.H.S., assistant professor of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, say that guidelines for including people in specific studies should avoid ruling out people with disabilities.

4-Jan-2022 5:05 PM EST
Relatlimab plus nivolumab improves progression-free survival in metastatic melanoma
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

In patients with untreated, advanced melanoma, the combination of immune checkpoint inhibitors relatlimab and nivolumab doubled the progression-free survival benefit compared to nivolumab alone, with a manageable safety profile.



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