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MDedge conference coverage features onsite reporting of the latest study results and expert perspectives from leading researchers.
Cancer risk tied to some manufactured foods
SAN ANTONIO –
The findings were reported in three poster presentations (P1-09-01, P1-09-02 and P3-12-35) at the 2021 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium from the ongoing French NutriNet-Santé web-based study of 171,000 people that was launched in France in 2009 to investigate nutrition and health relationships. The authors of the analyses note that while evidence of deleterious health effects has been established for the dietary focus of their studies, and cancer risks have been suspected, strong evidence of a cancer association has been lacking.
Nitrates and nitrites are used in processed meats to increase shelf life and to avoid bacterial growth, said Eloi Chazelas, PhD, Nutritional Epidemiology Research Team (EREN) at Sorbonne Paris Nord University. Dr. Chazelas looked at consumption of nitrites and nitrates through repeated 24 hour dietary records, linked to a comprehensive food composition database. The study’s main outcome measure was adjusted associations between nitrite and nitrate exposures and the risk of cancer (overall and by main cancer sites).
During follow-up, 966 breast and 400 prostate cancers were diagnosed among 3,311 first incident cancer cases. Breast cancer risk was elevated (HR = 1.24 [1.03-1.48], P = 0.02) among higher consumers of nitrates from food additives, especially with potassium nitrate consumption (HR = 1.25 [1.04-1.50], P = 0.01). Elevated prostate cancer risk was associated with nitrites (HR = 1.58 [1.14-2.18], P = 0.008), specifically for sodium nitrite (HR = 1.62 [1.17-2.25], P = 0.004). Nitrates and nitrites from natural sources were not associated significantly with higher cancer risk, Dr. Chazelas said.
He and his team found that food additive nitrates were positively associated with breast cancer risk, and food additive nitrites were positively associated with prostate cancer risk. “While these results need confirmation in other large-scale prospective studies, they provide new insights in a context of lively debate around the ban of nitrite additives in the food industry,” said Dr. Chazelas, who is a doctoral candidate at Sorbonne Paris Nord University.
In “Breast and prostate cancer risk associated with nitrites and nitrates from food additives (P1-09-01),” the study included 102,046 adults from the French NutriNet-Santé prospective cohort (2009-2021). It examined associations between artificial sweetener intakes (total from all dietary sources, the most frequently consumed ones [aspartame e951, acesulfame-K e950 and sucralose e955]) and cancer risk (overall and by sites: breast, prostate and obesity-related cancers).
Overall cancer risk in people who consumed higher amounts of total sweeteners (i.e. above the median exposure in consumers) was elevated (n = 2,527 cases, hazard ratio = 1.12, 95 percent confidence interval = 1.00-1.25, P-trend=0.005), especially for aspartame (HR = 1.20 [1.05-1.38] P = 0.001) and acesulfame-K (HR = 1.18 [1.04-1.34] P = 0.003). Elevated breast cancer risks (among 723 cases) were observed for total sweeteners (HR = 1.25 [1.02-1.53] P = 0.01), for aspartame (HR = 1.33 [1.05-1.69] P = 0.007), and for acesulfame-K (HR = 1.39 [1.11-1.74] P = 0.003). Also, obesity-related cancers (1,509 cases) were increased for total sweeteners (HR = 1.16 [1.00-1.33] P = 0.02), for aspartame (HR = 1.22 [1.02-1.45] P = 0.01) and for acesulfame-K (HR = 1.23 [1.04-1.45] P = 0.01).
Artificial sweeteners are found in more than 10,000 foods and beverages, said Charlotte Debras, a doctoral candidate in nutritional epidemiology at Sorbonne Paris Nord University. “These findings provide important and novel insights for the ongoing re-evaluation of food additive sweeteners by the European Food Safety Authority and other health agencies globally,” she said.
Trans fatty acid intakes and cancer risk
Investigating associations between trans fatty acid intake (total ruminant [rTFAs], industrial [iTFAs], and corresponding specific isomers and cancer risk), the analysis of Gaëlle Wendeu-Foyet, PhD, Sorbonne Paris Nord University, found a total of 3,374 incident cancer cases (982 breast, 405 prostate) in an overall population of 104,909. Dietary intake of total TFAs was associated with higher prostate cancer risk (hazard ration for quartile 4 versus 1: 1.27, 1.11-1.77 P-trend = 0.005). Also, rTFAs were associated with increased overall cancer risk (1.16, 1.02-1.32 P-trend = 0.07), in particular the conjugated linoleic acid isomers (CLA) (1.19, 1.04-1.36 P-trend = 0.04). These associations were specifically observed for breast cancer (rTFAs: 1.35, 1.06-1.72 P-trend = 0.01; CLA: 1.29, 1.00-1.66 P-trend = 0.048), in particular before menopause (rTFAs: 1.68, 1.06-2.67 P-trend = 0.02; CLA: 2.013, 1.25-3.23 P-trend = 0.003). Several iTFAs were associated with overall (1.18, 1.06-1.31 P-trend = 0.02 for transdocosenoic acid), breast (isomer 18:2t: 1.30, 1.06-1.58 P-trend = 0.01; hexadecenoic acid: 1.28, 1.05-1.56 P-trend = 0.02) and prostate (transdocosenoic acid: 1.52, 1.09-2.12 P-trend = 0.07) cancer risks.
“These results support the WHO’s goal of achieving elimination from food supplies of industrially produced TFAs,” Dr. Foyet said. “The consumption of food products containing partially hydrogenated oils should be avoided.”
Nutrition, along with avoiding tobacco intake, is one of the main modifiable risk factors for chronic diseases. “There is a lot at stake in terms of prevention. This requires a combination of actions at the individual level to the public level by informing the public through food labeling,” Ms. Debras said.
It also requires influencing the context in which citizens evolve by encouraging manufacturers to improve their products (pricing policies, commitment charters for product reformulation, etc.), and limiting advertising and marketing for products of poor nutritional quality (especially among children),” she said.
SAN ANTONIO –
The findings were reported in three poster presentations (P1-09-01, P1-09-02 and P3-12-35) at the 2021 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium from the ongoing French NutriNet-Santé web-based study of 171,000 people that was launched in France in 2009 to investigate nutrition and health relationships. The authors of the analyses note that while evidence of deleterious health effects has been established for the dietary focus of their studies, and cancer risks have been suspected, strong evidence of a cancer association has been lacking.
Nitrates and nitrites are used in processed meats to increase shelf life and to avoid bacterial growth, said Eloi Chazelas, PhD, Nutritional Epidemiology Research Team (EREN) at Sorbonne Paris Nord University. Dr. Chazelas looked at consumption of nitrites and nitrates through repeated 24 hour dietary records, linked to a comprehensive food composition database. The study’s main outcome measure was adjusted associations between nitrite and nitrate exposures and the risk of cancer (overall and by main cancer sites).
During follow-up, 966 breast and 400 prostate cancers were diagnosed among 3,311 first incident cancer cases. Breast cancer risk was elevated (HR = 1.24 [1.03-1.48], P = 0.02) among higher consumers of nitrates from food additives, especially with potassium nitrate consumption (HR = 1.25 [1.04-1.50], P = 0.01). Elevated prostate cancer risk was associated with nitrites (HR = 1.58 [1.14-2.18], P = 0.008), specifically for sodium nitrite (HR = 1.62 [1.17-2.25], P = 0.004). Nitrates and nitrites from natural sources were not associated significantly with higher cancer risk, Dr. Chazelas said.
He and his team found that food additive nitrates were positively associated with breast cancer risk, and food additive nitrites were positively associated with prostate cancer risk. “While these results need confirmation in other large-scale prospective studies, they provide new insights in a context of lively debate around the ban of nitrite additives in the food industry,” said Dr. Chazelas, who is a doctoral candidate at Sorbonne Paris Nord University.
In “Breast and prostate cancer risk associated with nitrites and nitrates from food additives (P1-09-01),” the study included 102,046 adults from the French NutriNet-Santé prospective cohort (2009-2021). It examined associations between artificial sweetener intakes (total from all dietary sources, the most frequently consumed ones [aspartame e951, acesulfame-K e950 and sucralose e955]) and cancer risk (overall and by sites: breast, prostate and obesity-related cancers).
Overall cancer risk in people who consumed higher amounts of total sweeteners (i.e. above the median exposure in consumers) was elevated (n = 2,527 cases, hazard ratio = 1.12, 95 percent confidence interval = 1.00-1.25, P-trend=0.005), especially for aspartame (HR = 1.20 [1.05-1.38] P = 0.001) and acesulfame-K (HR = 1.18 [1.04-1.34] P = 0.003). Elevated breast cancer risks (among 723 cases) were observed for total sweeteners (HR = 1.25 [1.02-1.53] P = 0.01), for aspartame (HR = 1.33 [1.05-1.69] P = 0.007), and for acesulfame-K (HR = 1.39 [1.11-1.74] P = 0.003). Also, obesity-related cancers (1,509 cases) were increased for total sweeteners (HR = 1.16 [1.00-1.33] P = 0.02), for aspartame (HR = 1.22 [1.02-1.45] P = 0.01) and for acesulfame-K (HR = 1.23 [1.04-1.45] P = 0.01).
Artificial sweeteners are found in more than 10,000 foods and beverages, said Charlotte Debras, a doctoral candidate in nutritional epidemiology at Sorbonne Paris Nord University. “These findings provide important and novel insights for the ongoing re-evaluation of food additive sweeteners by the European Food Safety Authority and other health agencies globally,” she said.
Trans fatty acid intakes and cancer risk
Investigating associations between trans fatty acid intake (total ruminant [rTFAs], industrial [iTFAs], and corresponding specific isomers and cancer risk), the analysis of Gaëlle Wendeu-Foyet, PhD, Sorbonne Paris Nord University, found a total of 3,374 incident cancer cases (982 breast, 405 prostate) in an overall population of 104,909. Dietary intake of total TFAs was associated with higher prostate cancer risk (hazard ration for quartile 4 versus 1: 1.27, 1.11-1.77 P-trend = 0.005). Also, rTFAs were associated with increased overall cancer risk (1.16, 1.02-1.32 P-trend = 0.07), in particular the conjugated linoleic acid isomers (CLA) (1.19, 1.04-1.36 P-trend = 0.04). These associations were specifically observed for breast cancer (rTFAs: 1.35, 1.06-1.72 P-trend = 0.01; CLA: 1.29, 1.00-1.66 P-trend = 0.048), in particular before menopause (rTFAs: 1.68, 1.06-2.67 P-trend = 0.02; CLA: 2.013, 1.25-3.23 P-trend = 0.003). Several iTFAs were associated with overall (1.18, 1.06-1.31 P-trend = 0.02 for transdocosenoic acid), breast (isomer 18:2t: 1.30, 1.06-1.58 P-trend = 0.01; hexadecenoic acid: 1.28, 1.05-1.56 P-trend = 0.02) and prostate (transdocosenoic acid: 1.52, 1.09-2.12 P-trend = 0.07) cancer risks.
“These results support the WHO’s goal of achieving elimination from food supplies of industrially produced TFAs,” Dr. Foyet said. “The consumption of food products containing partially hydrogenated oils should be avoided.”
Nutrition, along with avoiding tobacco intake, is one of the main modifiable risk factors for chronic diseases. “There is a lot at stake in terms of prevention. This requires a combination of actions at the individual level to the public level by informing the public through food labeling,” Ms. Debras said.
It also requires influencing the context in which citizens evolve by encouraging manufacturers to improve their products (pricing policies, commitment charters for product reformulation, etc.), and limiting advertising and marketing for products of poor nutritional quality (especially among children),” she said.
SAN ANTONIO –
The findings were reported in three poster presentations (P1-09-01, P1-09-02 and P3-12-35) at the 2021 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium from the ongoing French NutriNet-Santé web-based study of 171,000 people that was launched in France in 2009 to investigate nutrition and health relationships. The authors of the analyses note that while evidence of deleterious health effects has been established for the dietary focus of their studies, and cancer risks have been suspected, strong evidence of a cancer association has been lacking.
Nitrates and nitrites are used in processed meats to increase shelf life and to avoid bacterial growth, said Eloi Chazelas, PhD, Nutritional Epidemiology Research Team (EREN) at Sorbonne Paris Nord University. Dr. Chazelas looked at consumption of nitrites and nitrates through repeated 24 hour dietary records, linked to a comprehensive food composition database. The study’s main outcome measure was adjusted associations between nitrite and nitrate exposures and the risk of cancer (overall and by main cancer sites).
During follow-up, 966 breast and 400 prostate cancers were diagnosed among 3,311 first incident cancer cases. Breast cancer risk was elevated (HR = 1.24 [1.03-1.48], P = 0.02) among higher consumers of nitrates from food additives, especially with potassium nitrate consumption (HR = 1.25 [1.04-1.50], P = 0.01). Elevated prostate cancer risk was associated with nitrites (HR = 1.58 [1.14-2.18], P = 0.008), specifically for sodium nitrite (HR = 1.62 [1.17-2.25], P = 0.004). Nitrates and nitrites from natural sources were not associated significantly with higher cancer risk, Dr. Chazelas said.
He and his team found that food additive nitrates were positively associated with breast cancer risk, and food additive nitrites were positively associated with prostate cancer risk. “While these results need confirmation in other large-scale prospective studies, they provide new insights in a context of lively debate around the ban of nitrite additives in the food industry,” said Dr. Chazelas, who is a doctoral candidate at Sorbonne Paris Nord University.
In “Breast and prostate cancer risk associated with nitrites and nitrates from food additives (P1-09-01),” the study included 102,046 adults from the French NutriNet-Santé prospective cohort (2009-2021). It examined associations between artificial sweetener intakes (total from all dietary sources, the most frequently consumed ones [aspartame e951, acesulfame-K e950 and sucralose e955]) and cancer risk (overall and by sites: breast, prostate and obesity-related cancers).
Overall cancer risk in people who consumed higher amounts of total sweeteners (i.e. above the median exposure in consumers) was elevated (n = 2,527 cases, hazard ratio = 1.12, 95 percent confidence interval = 1.00-1.25, P-trend=0.005), especially for aspartame (HR = 1.20 [1.05-1.38] P = 0.001) and acesulfame-K (HR = 1.18 [1.04-1.34] P = 0.003). Elevated breast cancer risks (among 723 cases) were observed for total sweeteners (HR = 1.25 [1.02-1.53] P = 0.01), for aspartame (HR = 1.33 [1.05-1.69] P = 0.007), and for acesulfame-K (HR = 1.39 [1.11-1.74] P = 0.003). Also, obesity-related cancers (1,509 cases) were increased for total sweeteners (HR = 1.16 [1.00-1.33] P = 0.02), for aspartame (HR = 1.22 [1.02-1.45] P = 0.01) and for acesulfame-K (HR = 1.23 [1.04-1.45] P = 0.01).
Artificial sweeteners are found in more than 10,000 foods and beverages, said Charlotte Debras, a doctoral candidate in nutritional epidemiology at Sorbonne Paris Nord University. “These findings provide important and novel insights for the ongoing re-evaluation of food additive sweeteners by the European Food Safety Authority and other health agencies globally,” she said.
Trans fatty acid intakes and cancer risk
Investigating associations between trans fatty acid intake (total ruminant [rTFAs], industrial [iTFAs], and corresponding specific isomers and cancer risk), the analysis of Gaëlle Wendeu-Foyet, PhD, Sorbonne Paris Nord University, found a total of 3,374 incident cancer cases (982 breast, 405 prostate) in an overall population of 104,909. Dietary intake of total TFAs was associated with higher prostate cancer risk (hazard ration for quartile 4 versus 1: 1.27, 1.11-1.77 P-trend = 0.005). Also, rTFAs were associated with increased overall cancer risk (1.16, 1.02-1.32 P-trend = 0.07), in particular the conjugated linoleic acid isomers (CLA) (1.19, 1.04-1.36 P-trend = 0.04). These associations were specifically observed for breast cancer (rTFAs: 1.35, 1.06-1.72 P-trend = 0.01; CLA: 1.29, 1.00-1.66 P-trend = 0.048), in particular before menopause (rTFAs: 1.68, 1.06-2.67 P-trend = 0.02; CLA: 2.013, 1.25-3.23 P-trend = 0.003). Several iTFAs were associated with overall (1.18, 1.06-1.31 P-trend = 0.02 for transdocosenoic acid), breast (isomer 18:2t: 1.30, 1.06-1.58 P-trend = 0.01; hexadecenoic acid: 1.28, 1.05-1.56 P-trend = 0.02) and prostate (transdocosenoic acid: 1.52, 1.09-2.12 P-trend = 0.07) cancer risks.
“These results support the WHO’s goal of achieving elimination from food supplies of industrially produced TFAs,” Dr. Foyet said. “The consumption of food products containing partially hydrogenated oils should be avoided.”
Nutrition, along with avoiding tobacco intake, is one of the main modifiable risk factors for chronic diseases. “There is a lot at stake in terms of prevention. This requires a combination of actions at the individual level to the public level by informing the public through food labeling,” Ms. Debras said.
It also requires influencing the context in which citizens evolve by encouraging manufacturers to improve their products (pricing policies, commitment charters for product reformulation, etc.), and limiting advertising and marketing for products of poor nutritional quality (especially among children),” she said.
FROM SABCS 2021
Breast cancer-related musculoskeletal pain alleviated with acupuncture
SAN ANTONIO –
Both techniques led to clinically meaningful and persistent reduction of pain, but electroacupuncture was more effective in reducing pain severity, according to study author Wanqing Iris Zhi, MD, PhD, of the Breast Medicine Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.
Among breast cancer survivors, Dr. Zhi said, chronic musculoskeletal pain is common and debilitating. In earlier results of the PEACE (Personalized Electroacupuncture versus Auricular Acupuncture Comparative Effectiveness) trial, both electroacupuncture and auricular acupuncture improved pain control better than usual care in cancer survivors. The comparative effectiveness between electroacupuncture and auricular acupuncture among breast cancer survivors, specifically for chronic musculoskeletal pain, remains unknown.
To evaluate potential differences between electroacupuncture and auricular acupuncture, Dr. Zhi et al. examined data from PEACE, a three-arm, parallel, single center randomized trial investigating electroacupuncture and auricular acupuncture for chronic musculoskeletal pain, compared with usual care. Among 360 cancer survivors in PEACE, mean age in 165 cancer survivors with a primary diagnosis of breast cancer was 60.3 years (35.8 percent non-White) with a mean of 5.4 years since their cancer diagnoses. Patients in both the electroacupuncture and auricular acupuncture groups received 10 weekly treatments. Change in mean Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) pain severity from baseline to week 12 was the primary endpoint, with BPI change to week 24 as a secondary endpoint. Usual care patients, after week 12, could receive 10 electroacupuncture treatments.
The most common locations of chronic musculoskeletal pain, Dr. Zhi observed, were lower back (24 percent), knee/leg (24 percent) and shoulder/elbow (14 percent). About 70 percent of patients were taking pain medication. Both electroacupuncture and auricular acupuncture were associated with clinically meaningful and persistent pain reductions among the evaluated breast cancer survivors. The change in BPI severity from baseline to week 12 was –0.29 (confidence interval, –0.08, 0.28) in the UC group. In the electroacupuncture group it was –2.65 (CI, –3.06, –2.25; P ≤0.001 from baseline) and –2.37 versus usual care (CI, –3.05, –1.68; P ≤0.001 versus UC). For the auricular acupuncture group, the change from baseline was –1.75 (CI, –2.15, –1.35; P ≤0.001 from baseline) and –1.46 versus usual care (CI, –2.14, –0.78; P ≤0.001 versus UC). The difference in BPI pain severity reduction from baseline between electroacupuncture and auricular acupuncture of –0.90 (CI, –1.45, –0.36) was statistically significant (P ≤0.001). Electroacupuncture also reduced pain severity significantly more than auricular acupuncture at week 24 (CI, –0.82, [–1.38, –0.27], P = 0.004).
Dr. Zhi concluded that among breast cancer survivors, although both electroacupuncture and auricular acupuncture were associated with clinically meaningful and persistent pain reduction, electroacupuncture was more effective at reducing pain severity.
She pointed out also that neither surgery type (mastectomy versus lumpectomy; P = 0.83) nor aromatase inhibitor versus tamoxifen versus neither (P = 0.59) was associated with BPI/severity response among electroacupuncture and auricular acupuncture patients.
“Both electroacupuncture and auricular acupuncture are significantly better than usual care, so it suggests that both acupuncture methods can be utilized for treating chronic muscle skeletal pain in breast cancer survivors, but electroacupuncture is preferred,” Dr. Zhi said.
“Auricular acupuncture can be more painful,” said PEACE principal investigator Jun Mao, MD, who is chair of integrative medicine at Memorial Sloan Kettering. “Ten percent of women could not tolerate the ear pain or discomfort. Electroacupuncture is generally well tolerated. People are more relaxed after treatment. If both are available, start with electroacupuncture,” he said.
SAN ANTONIO –
Both techniques led to clinically meaningful and persistent reduction of pain, but electroacupuncture was more effective in reducing pain severity, according to study author Wanqing Iris Zhi, MD, PhD, of the Breast Medicine Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.
Among breast cancer survivors, Dr. Zhi said, chronic musculoskeletal pain is common and debilitating. In earlier results of the PEACE (Personalized Electroacupuncture versus Auricular Acupuncture Comparative Effectiveness) trial, both electroacupuncture and auricular acupuncture improved pain control better than usual care in cancer survivors. The comparative effectiveness between electroacupuncture and auricular acupuncture among breast cancer survivors, specifically for chronic musculoskeletal pain, remains unknown.
To evaluate potential differences between electroacupuncture and auricular acupuncture, Dr. Zhi et al. examined data from PEACE, a three-arm, parallel, single center randomized trial investigating electroacupuncture and auricular acupuncture for chronic musculoskeletal pain, compared with usual care. Among 360 cancer survivors in PEACE, mean age in 165 cancer survivors with a primary diagnosis of breast cancer was 60.3 years (35.8 percent non-White) with a mean of 5.4 years since their cancer diagnoses. Patients in both the electroacupuncture and auricular acupuncture groups received 10 weekly treatments. Change in mean Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) pain severity from baseline to week 12 was the primary endpoint, with BPI change to week 24 as a secondary endpoint. Usual care patients, after week 12, could receive 10 electroacupuncture treatments.
The most common locations of chronic musculoskeletal pain, Dr. Zhi observed, were lower back (24 percent), knee/leg (24 percent) and shoulder/elbow (14 percent). About 70 percent of patients were taking pain medication. Both electroacupuncture and auricular acupuncture were associated with clinically meaningful and persistent pain reductions among the evaluated breast cancer survivors. The change in BPI severity from baseline to week 12 was –0.29 (confidence interval, –0.08, 0.28) in the UC group. In the electroacupuncture group it was –2.65 (CI, –3.06, –2.25; P ≤0.001 from baseline) and –2.37 versus usual care (CI, –3.05, –1.68; P ≤0.001 versus UC). For the auricular acupuncture group, the change from baseline was –1.75 (CI, –2.15, –1.35; P ≤0.001 from baseline) and –1.46 versus usual care (CI, –2.14, –0.78; P ≤0.001 versus UC). The difference in BPI pain severity reduction from baseline between electroacupuncture and auricular acupuncture of –0.90 (CI, –1.45, –0.36) was statistically significant (P ≤0.001). Electroacupuncture also reduced pain severity significantly more than auricular acupuncture at week 24 (CI, –0.82, [–1.38, –0.27], P = 0.004).
Dr. Zhi concluded that among breast cancer survivors, although both electroacupuncture and auricular acupuncture were associated with clinically meaningful and persistent pain reduction, electroacupuncture was more effective at reducing pain severity.
She pointed out also that neither surgery type (mastectomy versus lumpectomy; P = 0.83) nor aromatase inhibitor versus tamoxifen versus neither (P = 0.59) was associated with BPI/severity response among electroacupuncture and auricular acupuncture patients.
“Both electroacupuncture and auricular acupuncture are significantly better than usual care, so it suggests that both acupuncture methods can be utilized for treating chronic muscle skeletal pain in breast cancer survivors, but electroacupuncture is preferred,” Dr. Zhi said.
“Auricular acupuncture can be more painful,” said PEACE principal investigator Jun Mao, MD, who is chair of integrative medicine at Memorial Sloan Kettering. “Ten percent of women could not tolerate the ear pain or discomfort. Electroacupuncture is generally well tolerated. People are more relaxed after treatment. If both are available, start with electroacupuncture,” he said.
SAN ANTONIO –
Both techniques led to clinically meaningful and persistent reduction of pain, but electroacupuncture was more effective in reducing pain severity, according to study author Wanqing Iris Zhi, MD, PhD, of the Breast Medicine Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.
Among breast cancer survivors, Dr. Zhi said, chronic musculoskeletal pain is common and debilitating. In earlier results of the PEACE (Personalized Electroacupuncture versus Auricular Acupuncture Comparative Effectiveness) trial, both electroacupuncture and auricular acupuncture improved pain control better than usual care in cancer survivors. The comparative effectiveness between electroacupuncture and auricular acupuncture among breast cancer survivors, specifically for chronic musculoskeletal pain, remains unknown.
To evaluate potential differences between electroacupuncture and auricular acupuncture, Dr. Zhi et al. examined data from PEACE, a three-arm, parallel, single center randomized trial investigating electroacupuncture and auricular acupuncture for chronic musculoskeletal pain, compared with usual care. Among 360 cancer survivors in PEACE, mean age in 165 cancer survivors with a primary diagnosis of breast cancer was 60.3 years (35.8 percent non-White) with a mean of 5.4 years since their cancer diagnoses. Patients in both the electroacupuncture and auricular acupuncture groups received 10 weekly treatments. Change in mean Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) pain severity from baseline to week 12 was the primary endpoint, with BPI change to week 24 as a secondary endpoint. Usual care patients, after week 12, could receive 10 electroacupuncture treatments.
The most common locations of chronic musculoskeletal pain, Dr. Zhi observed, were lower back (24 percent), knee/leg (24 percent) and shoulder/elbow (14 percent). About 70 percent of patients were taking pain medication. Both electroacupuncture and auricular acupuncture were associated with clinically meaningful and persistent pain reductions among the evaluated breast cancer survivors. The change in BPI severity from baseline to week 12 was –0.29 (confidence interval, –0.08, 0.28) in the UC group. In the electroacupuncture group it was –2.65 (CI, –3.06, –2.25; P ≤0.001 from baseline) and –2.37 versus usual care (CI, –3.05, –1.68; P ≤0.001 versus UC). For the auricular acupuncture group, the change from baseline was –1.75 (CI, –2.15, –1.35; P ≤0.001 from baseline) and –1.46 versus usual care (CI, –2.14, –0.78; P ≤0.001 versus UC). The difference in BPI pain severity reduction from baseline between electroacupuncture and auricular acupuncture of –0.90 (CI, –1.45, –0.36) was statistically significant (P ≤0.001). Electroacupuncture also reduced pain severity significantly more than auricular acupuncture at week 24 (CI, –0.82, [–1.38, –0.27], P = 0.004).
Dr. Zhi concluded that among breast cancer survivors, although both electroacupuncture and auricular acupuncture were associated with clinically meaningful and persistent pain reduction, electroacupuncture was more effective at reducing pain severity.
She pointed out also that neither surgery type (mastectomy versus lumpectomy; P = 0.83) nor aromatase inhibitor versus tamoxifen versus neither (P = 0.59) was associated with BPI/severity response among electroacupuncture and auricular acupuncture patients.
“Both electroacupuncture and auricular acupuncture are significantly better than usual care, so it suggests that both acupuncture methods can be utilized for treating chronic muscle skeletal pain in breast cancer survivors, but electroacupuncture is preferred,” Dr. Zhi said.
“Auricular acupuncture can be more painful,” said PEACE principal investigator Jun Mao, MD, who is chair of integrative medicine at Memorial Sloan Kettering. “Ten percent of women could not tolerate the ear pain or discomfort. Electroacupuncture is generally well tolerated. People are more relaxed after treatment. If both are available, start with electroacupuncture,” he said.
FROM SABCS 2021
How does atopic dermatitis present in skin of color?
“We see very heterogenous and broad clinical presentations across the diverse patient populations that we see,” Andrew F. Alexis, MD, MPH, said at the Revolutionizing Atopic Dermatitis symposium. “Some of these differences might be related to population variations in skin barrier function, immunologic factors, genetic factors, and environmental factors, which all interplay to produce variations in the clinical presentation and overall impact of AD. Many nongenetic factors also contribute to differences that we see, including some socioeconomic and other factors that feed into health disparities.”
Dr. Alexis, professor of clinical dermatology at Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, discussed four main clinical features of AD in skin of color.
Erythema is less visible because it is masked by pigment
“There can be some masking of the redness and alteration of that color such that it doesn’t look bright red as it would in the background of lightly pigmented skin,” Dr. Alexis said. “Instead, the [AD lesions] have shades of grayish-red or grayish-brown or reddish-brown. It’s important to recognize this clinical presentation and look carefully and assess the patient – not just visually but with palpation and take into consideration symptomatology so that you don’t fall into the trap of calling an AD lesion postinflammatory hyperpigmentation. It’s also helpful to isolate the islands of normal or nonlesional skin and contrast that with the areas of lesional skin, to get a sense of how active and inflamed the areas are. Palpation really helps to appreciate the elevation of the lesions that are involved.”
Follicular accentuation
Morphological variants common in skin of color include the follicular variant or micropapular variant of AD. “You might just see a collection of papules that are 1-2 mm in size and pruritic and in typical sites of predilection [for] eczema,” he said. Prurigo nodularis–like lesions or prurigo nodularis in association with AD are also seen more frequently in skin of color.
Lichenification
The lichenoid variant of AD is characterized by a violaceous hue and other features that resemble lichen planus and has been reported to be more common in individuals of African descent. A prospective study of about 1,000 patients with AD seen over 2 years at a dermatology clinic in southeastern Nigeria found that 54% of patients had papular lichenoid lesions. In addition, 51% had elevated blood eosinophil counts, especially those with severe disease.
Dr. Alexis added that psoriasiform features have been reported in studies of East Asian populations with AD. These plaques may be more well demarcated and have clinical and histologic features that resemble psoriasis.
Dyspigmentation
One common feature across the spectrum of patients with skin of color “is the risk of longstanding pigmentary sequelae in the form of hyperpigmentation or hypopigmentation,” said Dr. Alexis, who is also vice chair for diversity and inclusion for the department of dermatology at Weill Cornell Medicine. “In very severe longstanding areas with chronic excoriation to the point of breaking of the skin, eroding of the skin, causing permanent damage to the melanocytes, dyspigmentation that resembles vitiligo can be seen. We can also see hypopigmentation as a consequence of topical corticosteroids, particularly those that are class I or class II and are used for prolonged periods of time.”
Dr. Alexis noted that delays in treatment and undertreatment can contribute to a higher risk of pigmentary and other long-term sequelae. “New therapies show promise in improving outcomes in AD patients with skin of color. When it comes to therapeutic responses, there are some post hoc studies that have investigated potential differences in safety and efficacy of the agents that have been recently approved. We clearly need more data to better understand if there are potential racial or ethnic differences.”
Dr. Alexis reported no relevant financial relationships.
Commentary by Lawrence F. Eichenfield, MD
Atopic dermatitis (AD) is highly heterogenous, with tremendous variations in extent, qualities of eczema, symptom complex, and physical presentation. Prior studies have reported disparities of care delivered to racial and ethnic minorities in the United States, as well as higher susceptibility to AD and odds of persistent disease into adulthood from child-onset AD. Recognizing some differences in presentation of AD in patients with skin of color is important as we select our therapeutic interventions, including assessing new treatments being added to our armamentarium. Erythema may be harder to notice in darker skin, but attempting to blanch the skin with pressure can help to assess the color and inflammation. Appreciating lichenoid changes, including papular and “micropapular” AD, and psoriasiform-like thickening in certain patients (reportedly more common in East Asian populations) are important as well. And dyspigmentation is an important aspect of the disease presentation and patient and parental concern, given both hypopigmentaton and hyperpigmentation commonly seen over the course of AD.
Dr. Eichenfield is chief of pediatric and adolescent dermatology at Rady Children's Hospital-San Diego. He is vice chair of the department of dermatology and professor of dermatology and pediatrics at the University of California, San Diego. He disclosed that he has served as an investigator and/or consultant to AbbVie, Lilly, Pfizer, Regeneron, Sanofi-Genzyme, and Verrica.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.
This article was updated 6/18/22.
“We see very heterogenous and broad clinical presentations across the diverse patient populations that we see,” Andrew F. Alexis, MD, MPH, said at the Revolutionizing Atopic Dermatitis symposium. “Some of these differences might be related to population variations in skin barrier function, immunologic factors, genetic factors, and environmental factors, which all interplay to produce variations in the clinical presentation and overall impact of AD. Many nongenetic factors also contribute to differences that we see, including some socioeconomic and other factors that feed into health disparities.”
Dr. Alexis, professor of clinical dermatology at Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, discussed four main clinical features of AD in skin of color.
Erythema is less visible because it is masked by pigment
“There can be some masking of the redness and alteration of that color such that it doesn’t look bright red as it would in the background of lightly pigmented skin,” Dr. Alexis said. “Instead, the [AD lesions] have shades of grayish-red or grayish-brown or reddish-brown. It’s important to recognize this clinical presentation and look carefully and assess the patient – not just visually but with palpation and take into consideration symptomatology so that you don’t fall into the trap of calling an AD lesion postinflammatory hyperpigmentation. It’s also helpful to isolate the islands of normal or nonlesional skin and contrast that with the areas of lesional skin, to get a sense of how active and inflamed the areas are. Palpation really helps to appreciate the elevation of the lesions that are involved.”
Follicular accentuation
Morphological variants common in skin of color include the follicular variant or micropapular variant of AD. “You might just see a collection of papules that are 1-2 mm in size and pruritic and in typical sites of predilection [for] eczema,” he said. Prurigo nodularis–like lesions or prurigo nodularis in association with AD are also seen more frequently in skin of color.
Lichenification
The lichenoid variant of AD is characterized by a violaceous hue and other features that resemble lichen planus and has been reported to be more common in individuals of African descent. A prospective study of about 1,000 patients with AD seen over 2 years at a dermatology clinic in southeastern Nigeria found that 54% of patients had papular lichenoid lesions. In addition, 51% had elevated blood eosinophil counts, especially those with severe disease.
Dr. Alexis added that psoriasiform features have been reported in studies of East Asian populations with AD. These plaques may be more well demarcated and have clinical and histologic features that resemble psoriasis.
Dyspigmentation
One common feature across the spectrum of patients with skin of color “is the risk of longstanding pigmentary sequelae in the form of hyperpigmentation or hypopigmentation,” said Dr. Alexis, who is also vice chair for diversity and inclusion for the department of dermatology at Weill Cornell Medicine. “In very severe longstanding areas with chronic excoriation to the point of breaking of the skin, eroding of the skin, causing permanent damage to the melanocytes, dyspigmentation that resembles vitiligo can be seen. We can also see hypopigmentation as a consequence of topical corticosteroids, particularly those that are class I or class II and are used for prolonged periods of time.”
Dr. Alexis noted that delays in treatment and undertreatment can contribute to a higher risk of pigmentary and other long-term sequelae. “New therapies show promise in improving outcomes in AD patients with skin of color. When it comes to therapeutic responses, there are some post hoc studies that have investigated potential differences in safety and efficacy of the agents that have been recently approved. We clearly need more data to better understand if there are potential racial or ethnic differences.”
Dr. Alexis reported no relevant financial relationships.
Commentary by Lawrence F. Eichenfield, MD
Atopic dermatitis (AD) is highly heterogenous, with tremendous variations in extent, qualities of eczema, symptom complex, and physical presentation. Prior studies have reported disparities of care delivered to racial and ethnic minorities in the United States, as well as higher susceptibility to AD and odds of persistent disease into adulthood from child-onset AD. Recognizing some differences in presentation of AD in patients with skin of color is important as we select our therapeutic interventions, including assessing new treatments being added to our armamentarium. Erythema may be harder to notice in darker skin, but attempting to blanch the skin with pressure can help to assess the color and inflammation. Appreciating lichenoid changes, including papular and “micropapular” AD, and psoriasiform-like thickening in certain patients (reportedly more common in East Asian populations) are important as well. And dyspigmentation is an important aspect of the disease presentation and patient and parental concern, given both hypopigmentaton and hyperpigmentation commonly seen over the course of AD.
Dr. Eichenfield is chief of pediatric and adolescent dermatology at Rady Children's Hospital-San Diego. He is vice chair of the department of dermatology and professor of dermatology and pediatrics at the University of California, San Diego. He disclosed that he has served as an investigator and/or consultant to AbbVie, Lilly, Pfizer, Regeneron, Sanofi-Genzyme, and Verrica.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.
This article was updated 6/18/22.
“We see very heterogenous and broad clinical presentations across the diverse patient populations that we see,” Andrew F. Alexis, MD, MPH, said at the Revolutionizing Atopic Dermatitis symposium. “Some of these differences might be related to population variations in skin barrier function, immunologic factors, genetic factors, and environmental factors, which all interplay to produce variations in the clinical presentation and overall impact of AD. Many nongenetic factors also contribute to differences that we see, including some socioeconomic and other factors that feed into health disparities.”
Dr. Alexis, professor of clinical dermatology at Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, discussed four main clinical features of AD in skin of color.
Erythema is less visible because it is masked by pigment
“There can be some masking of the redness and alteration of that color such that it doesn’t look bright red as it would in the background of lightly pigmented skin,” Dr. Alexis said. “Instead, the [AD lesions] have shades of grayish-red or grayish-brown or reddish-brown. It’s important to recognize this clinical presentation and look carefully and assess the patient – not just visually but with palpation and take into consideration symptomatology so that you don’t fall into the trap of calling an AD lesion postinflammatory hyperpigmentation. It’s also helpful to isolate the islands of normal or nonlesional skin and contrast that with the areas of lesional skin, to get a sense of how active and inflamed the areas are. Palpation really helps to appreciate the elevation of the lesions that are involved.”
Follicular accentuation
Morphological variants common in skin of color include the follicular variant or micropapular variant of AD. “You might just see a collection of papules that are 1-2 mm in size and pruritic and in typical sites of predilection [for] eczema,” he said. Prurigo nodularis–like lesions or prurigo nodularis in association with AD are also seen more frequently in skin of color.
Lichenification
The lichenoid variant of AD is characterized by a violaceous hue and other features that resemble lichen planus and has been reported to be more common in individuals of African descent. A prospective study of about 1,000 patients with AD seen over 2 years at a dermatology clinic in southeastern Nigeria found that 54% of patients had papular lichenoid lesions. In addition, 51% had elevated blood eosinophil counts, especially those with severe disease.
Dr. Alexis added that psoriasiform features have been reported in studies of East Asian populations with AD. These plaques may be more well demarcated and have clinical and histologic features that resemble psoriasis.
Dyspigmentation
One common feature across the spectrum of patients with skin of color “is the risk of longstanding pigmentary sequelae in the form of hyperpigmentation or hypopigmentation,” said Dr. Alexis, who is also vice chair for diversity and inclusion for the department of dermatology at Weill Cornell Medicine. “In very severe longstanding areas with chronic excoriation to the point of breaking of the skin, eroding of the skin, causing permanent damage to the melanocytes, dyspigmentation that resembles vitiligo can be seen. We can also see hypopigmentation as a consequence of topical corticosteroids, particularly those that are class I or class II and are used for prolonged periods of time.”
Dr. Alexis noted that delays in treatment and undertreatment can contribute to a higher risk of pigmentary and other long-term sequelae. “New therapies show promise in improving outcomes in AD patients with skin of color. When it comes to therapeutic responses, there are some post hoc studies that have investigated potential differences in safety and efficacy of the agents that have been recently approved. We clearly need more data to better understand if there are potential racial or ethnic differences.”
Dr. Alexis reported no relevant financial relationships.
Commentary by Lawrence F. Eichenfield, MD
Atopic dermatitis (AD) is highly heterogenous, with tremendous variations in extent, qualities of eczema, symptom complex, and physical presentation. Prior studies have reported disparities of care delivered to racial and ethnic minorities in the United States, as well as higher susceptibility to AD and odds of persistent disease into adulthood from child-onset AD. Recognizing some differences in presentation of AD in patients with skin of color is important as we select our therapeutic interventions, including assessing new treatments being added to our armamentarium. Erythema may be harder to notice in darker skin, but attempting to blanch the skin with pressure can help to assess the color and inflammation. Appreciating lichenoid changes, including papular and “micropapular” AD, and psoriasiform-like thickening in certain patients (reportedly more common in East Asian populations) are important as well. And dyspigmentation is an important aspect of the disease presentation and patient and parental concern, given both hypopigmentaton and hyperpigmentation commonly seen over the course of AD.
Dr. Eichenfield is chief of pediatric and adolescent dermatology at Rady Children's Hospital-San Diego. He is vice chair of the department of dermatology and professor of dermatology and pediatrics at the University of California, San Diego. He disclosed that he has served as an investigator and/or consultant to AbbVie, Lilly, Pfizer, Regeneron, Sanofi-Genzyme, and Verrica.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.
This article was updated 6/18/22.
FROM REVOLUTIONIZING AD 2021
HIV testing dips during pandemic raise transmission concerns
raising concerns of a subsequent increase in transmission by people unaware of their HIV-positive status.
“Testing strategies need to be ramped up to cover this decrease in testing while adapting to the continuing COVID-19 environment,” reported Deesha Patel, MPH, and colleagues with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s division of HIV prevention, Atlanta, in research presented at the annual meeting of the United States Conference on HIV/AIDS.
According to their data from the National HIV Prevention Program Monitoring and Evaluation system, the number of CDC-funded HIV tests declined by more than 1 million in 2020 amid the COVID-19 restrictions, with 1,228,142 tests reported that year, compared with 2,301,669 tests in 2019, a reduction of 46.6%.
The number of persons who were newly diagnosed with HIV, based on the tests, declined by 29.7%, from 7,692 newly diagnosed in 2019 to 5,409 persons in 2020, the authors reported.
The reasons for the reduction in new HIV diagnoses in 2020 could be multifactorial, possibly reflecting not just the reduced rates of testing but also possibly lower rates of transmission because of the lockdowns and social distancing, Mr. Patel said in an interview.
“Both [of those] interpretations are plausible, and the reductions are likely due to a combination of reasons,” she said.
Of note, the percentage of tests that were positive did not show a decline and was in fact slightly higher in 2020 (0.4%), compared with 2019 (0.3%; rate ratio, 1.32). But the increase may reflect that those seeking testing during the pandemic were more likely to be symptomatic.
“It is plausible that the smaller pool of people getting tested represented those with a higher likelihood of receiving a positive HIV test, [for instance] having a recent exposure, exhibiting symptoms,” Mr. Patel explained. “Furthermore, it is possible that some health departments specifically focused outreach efforts to serve persons with increased potential for HIV acquisition, thus identifying a higher proportion of persons with HIV.”
The declines in testing are nevertheless of particular concern in light of recent pre-COVID data indicating that as many as 13% of people who were infected with HIV were unaware of their positive status, placing them at high risk of transmitting the virus.
And on a broader level, the declines could negatively affect the goal to eradicate HIV through the federal Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S. (EHE) initiative, which aims to reduce new HIV infections in the United States by 90% by 2030 through the scaling up of key HIV prevention and treatment strategies, Mr. Patel noted.
“The first pillar of EHE is to diagnose all people with HIV as early as possible, and to accomplish that, there needs to be sufficient HIV testing,” Mr. Patel explained. “With fewer HIV tests being conducted, there are missed opportunities to identify persons with newly diagnosed HIV, which affects the entire continuum of care, [including] linkage to medical care, receiving antiretroviral treatment, getting and keeping viral suppression, and reducing transmission.”
At the local level: Adaptations allowed for continued testing
In a separate report presented at the meeting detailing the experiences at a more local level, Joseph Olsen, MPH, and colleagues with CrescentCare, New Orleans, described a similar reduction of HIV testing in 2020 of 49% in their system, compared with the previous year, down from 7,952 rapid HIV tests in 2019 to 4,034 in 2020.
However, through efforts to continue to provide services during the pandemic, the program was able to link 182 patients to HIV care in 2020, which was up from 172 in 2019.
In addition to offering the rapid HIV testing in conjunction with COVID-19 testing at their urgent care centers, the center adapted to the pandemic’s challenges with strategies including a new at-home testing program; providing testing at a hotel shelter for the homeless; and testing as part of walk-in testing with a syringe access component.
Mr. Olsen credited the swift program adaptations with maintaining testing during the time of crisis.
“Without [those] measures, it would have been a near-zero number of tests provided,” he said in an interview. “It would have been easy to blame the pandemic and not try to find innovations to deliver services, but I credit our incredibly motivated team for wanting to make sure every possible resource was available.”
But now there are signs of possible fallout from the testing reductions that did occur, Mr. Olsen said.
“We are already seeing the increase with other sexually transmitted infections [STIs], and I expect that we will see this with HIV as well,” he said.
In response, clinicians should use diligence in providing HIV testing, Mr. Olsen asserted.
“The take-home message for clinicians is that anyone having sex should get tested for HIV. It’s as easy as that!” he said.
“If they are getting tested for any other STI, make sure an HIV panel is added and discussed. If someone is pregnant, make sure an HIV panel is added and discussed. If someone has never had an HIV test before in their life – and I would add if they haven’t had an HIV test since March of 2020 – make sure an HIV panel is added/discussed,” he said. “Doing this for everyone also reduces stigma around testing. It’s not because any one person or group or risk behavior is being targeted, it is just good public health practice.”
The authors disclosed no relevant financial relationships. Mr. Patel noted that the findings and conclusions of her poster are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the CDC.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.
raising concerns of a subsequent increase in transmission by people unaware of their HIV-positive status.
“Testing strategies need to be ramped up to cover this decrease in testing while adapting to the continuing COVID-19 environment,” reported Deesha Patel, MPH, and colleagues with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s division of HIV prevention, Atlanta, in research presented at the annual meeting of the United States Conference on HIV/AIDS.
According to their data from the National HIV Prevention Program Monitoring and Evaluation system, the number of CDC-funded HIV tests declined by more than 1 million in 2020 amid the COVID-19 restrictions, with 1,228,142 tests reported that year, compared with 2,301,669 tests in 2019, a reduction of 46.6%.
The number of persons who were newly diagnosed with HIV, based on the tests, declined by 29.7%, from 7,692 newly diagnosed in 2019 to 5,409 persons in 2020, the authors reported.
The reasons for the reduction in new HIV diagnoses in 2020 could be multifactorial, possibly reflecting not just the reduced rates of testing but also possibly lower rates of transmission because of the lockdowns and social distancing, Mr. Patel said in an interview.
“Both [of those] interpretations are plausible, and the reductions are likely due to a combination of reasons,” she said.
Of note, the percentage of tests that were positive did not show a decline and was in fact slightly higher in 2020 (0.4%), compared with 2019 (0.3%; rate ratio, 1.32). But the increase may reflect that those seeking testing during the pandemic were more likely to be symptomatic.
“It is plausible that the smaller pool of people getting tested represented those with a higher likelihood of receiving a positive HIV test, [for instance] having a recent exposure, exhibiting symptoms,” Mr. Patel explained. “Furthermore, it is possible that some health departments specifically focused outreach efforts to serve persons with increased potential for HIV acquisition, thus identifying a higher proportion of persons with HIV.”
The declines in testing are nevertheless of particular concern in light of recent pre-COVID data indicating that as many as 13% of people who were infected with HIV were unaware of their positive status, placing them at high risk of transmitting the virus.
And on a broader level, the declines could negatively affect the goal to eradicate HIV through the federal Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S. (EHE) initiative, which aims to reduce new HIV infections in the United States by 90% by 2030 through the scaling up of key HIV prevention and treatment strategies, Mr. Patel noted.
“The first pillar of EHE is to diagnose all people with HIV as early as possible, and to accomplish that, there needs to be sufficient HIV testing,” Mr. Patel explained. “With fewer HIV tests being conducted, there are missed opportunities to identify persons with newly diagnosed HIV, which affects the entire continuum of care, [including] linkage to medical care, receiving antiretroviral treatment, getting and keeping viral suppression, and reducing transmission.”
At the local level: Adaptations allowed for continued testing
In a separate report presented at the meeting detailing the experiences at a more local level, Joseph Olsen, MPH, and colleagues with CrescentCare, New Orleans, described a similar reduction of HIV testing in 2020 of 49% in their system, compared with the previous year, down from 7,952 rapid HIV tests in 2019 to 4,034 in 2020.
However, through efforts to continue to provide services during the pandemic, the program was able to link 182 patients to HIV care in 2020, which was up from 172 in 2019.
In addition to offering the rapid HIV testing in conjunction with COVID-19 testing at their urgent care centers, the center adapted to the pandemic’s challenges with strategies including a new at-home testing program; providing testing at a hotel shelter for the homeless; and testing as part of walk-in testing with a syringe access component.
Mr. Olsen credited the swift program adaptations with maintaining testing during the time of crisis.
“Without [those] measures, it would have been a near-zero number of tests provided,” he said in an interview. “It would have been easy to blame the pandemic and not try to find innovations to deliver services, but I credit our incredibly motivated team for wanting to make sure every possible resource was available.”
But now there are signs of possible fallout from the testing reductions that did occur, Mr. Olsen said.
“We are already seeing the increase with other sexually transmitted infections [STIs], and I expect that we will see this with HIV as well,” he said.
In response, clinicians should use diligence in providing HIV testing, Mr. Olsen asserted.
“The take-home message for clinicians is that anyone having sex should get tested for HIV. It’s as easy as that!” he said.
“If they are getting tested for any other STI, make sure an HIV panel is added and discussed. If someone is pregnant, make sure an HIV panel is added and discussed. If someone has never had an HIV test before in their life – and I would add if they haven’t had an HIV test since March of 2020 – make sure an HIV panel is added/discussed,” he said. “Doing this for everyone also reduces stigma around testing. It’s not because any one person or group or risk behavior is being targeted, it is just good public health practice.”
The authors disclosed no relevant financial relationships. Mr. Patel noted that the findings and conclusions of her poster are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the CDC.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.
raising concerns of a subsequent increase in transmission by people unaware of their HIV-positive status.
“Testing strategies need to be ramped up to cover this decrease in testing while adapting to the continuing COVID-19 environment,” reported Deesha Patel, MPH, and colleagues with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s division of HIV prevention, Atlanta, in research presented at the annual meeting of the United States Conference on HIV/AIDS.
According to their data from the National HIV Prevention Program Monitoring and Evaluation system, the number of CDC-funded HIV tests declined by more than 1 million in 2020 amid the COVID-19 restrictions, with 1,228,142 tests reported that year, compared with 2,301,669 tests in 2019, a reduction of 46.6%.
The number of persons who were newly diagnosed with HIV, based on the tests, declined by 29.7%, from 7,692 newly diagnosed in 2019 to 5,409 persons in 2020, the authors reported.
The reasons for the reduction in new HIV diagnoses in 2020 could be multifactorial, possibly reflecting not just the reduced rates of testing but also possibly lower rates of transmission because of the lockdowns and social distancing, Mr. Patel said in an interview.
“Both [of those] interpretations are plausible, and the reductions are likely due to a combination of reasons,” she said.
Of note, the percentage of tests that were positive did not show a decline and was in fact slightly higher in 2020 (0.4%), compared with 2019 (0.3%; rate ratio, 1.32). But the increase may reflect that those seeking testing during the pandemic were more likely to be symptomatic.
“It is plausible that the smaller pool of people getting tested represented those with a higher likelihood of receiving a positive HIV test, [for instance] having a recent exposure, exhibiting symptoms,” Mr. Patel explained. “Furthermore, it is possible that some health departments specifically focused outreach efforts to serve persons with increased potential for HIV acquisition, thus identifying a higher proportion of persons with HIV.”
The declines in testing are nevertheless of particular concern in light of recent pre-COVID data indicating that as many as 13% of people who were infected with HIV were unaware of their positive status, placing them at high risk of transmitting the virus.
And on a broader level, the declines could negatively affect the goal to eradicate HIV through the federal Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S. (EHE) initiative, which aims to reduce new HIV infections in the United States by 90% by 2030 through the scaling up of key HIV prevention and treatment strategies, Mr. Patel noted.
“The first pillar of EHE is to diagnose all people with HIV as early as possible, and to accomplish that, there needs to be sufficient HIV testing,” Mr. Patel explained. “With fewer HIV tests being conducted, there are missed opportunities to identify persons with newly diagnosed HIV, which affects the entire continuum of care, [including] linkage to medical care, receiving antiretroviral treatment, getting and keeping viral suppression, and reducing transmission.”
At the local level: Adaptations allowed for continued testing
In a separate report presented at the meeting detailing the experiences at a more local level, Joseph Olsen, MPH, and colleagues with CrescentCare, New Orleans, described a similar reduction of HIV testing in 2020 of 49% in their system, compared with the previous year, down from 7,952 rapid HIV tests in 2019 to 4,034 in 2020.
However, through efforts to continue to provide services during the pandemic, the program was able to link 182 patients to HIV care in 2020, which was up from 172 in 2019.
In addition to offering the rapid HIV testing in conjunction with COVID-19 testing at their urgent care centers, the center adapted to the pandemic’s challenges with strategies including a new at-home testing program; providing testing at a hotel shelter for the homeless; and testing as part of walk-in testing with a syringe access component.
Mr. Olsen credited the swift program adaptations with maintaining testing during the time of crisis.
“Without [those] measures, it would have been a near-zero number of tests provided,” he said in an interview. “It would have been easy to blame the pandemic and not try to find innovations to deliver services, but I credit our incredibly motivated team for wanting to make sure every possible resource was available.”
But now there are signs of possible fallout from the testing reductions that did occur, Mr. Olsen said.
“We are already seeing the increase with other sexually transmitted infections [STIs], and I expect that we will see this with HIV as well,” he said.
In response, clinicians should use diligence in providing HIV testing, Mr. Olsen asserted.
“The take-home message for clinicians is that anyone having sex should get tested for HIV. It’s as easy as that!” he said.
“If they are getting tested for any other STI, make sure an HIV panel is added and discussed. If someone is pregnant, make sure an HIV panel is added and discussed. If someone has never had an HIV test before in their life – and I would add if they haven’t had an HIV test since March of 2020 – make sure an HIV panel is added/discussed,” he said. “Doing this for everyone also reduces stigma around testing. It’s not because any one person or group or risk behavior is being targeted, it is just good public health practice.”
The authors disclosed no relevant financial relationships. Mr. Patel noted that the findings and conclusions of her poster are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the CDC.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.
Abrocitinib efficacy dose-dependent, similar across AD age groups
and was comparable in patients aged 51 years and older, results from a post hoc analysis of four trials showed.
Abrocitinib (Cibinqo) is an oral, once-daily, Janus kinase 1 selective inhibitor that has shown good efficacy and safety as monotherapy or combined with topical therapy for treatment of patients with moderate to severe AD. The agent was approved in mid-December in Europe for the treatment of moderate to severe AD in adults who are candidates for systemic therapy and is currently under review by the Food and Drug Administration.
“We know that responses to, and adverse events associated with, systemic therapies may vary among patients of different ages,” Andrew F. Alexis, MD, MPH, said during a late-breaking abstract session at the Revolutionizing Atopic Dermatitis virtual symposium. “The efficacy and safety of abrocitinib monotherapy were previously evaluated in adolescent and adult subpopulations from controlled clinical trials in patients with moderate to severe AD. The objective of the current study was to assess the impact of age on short-term responses to abrocitinib treatment in patients with moderate to severe AD.”
Dr. Alexis, professor of clinical dermatology at Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, and colleagues performed a post hoc analysis across four randomized, double-blind studies that was stratified by age group: 12-17 years, 18-40 years, 41-50 years, and 51 years and older. Efficacy data were assessed separately for patients in the monotherapy pool and in the JADE COMPARE trial. The monotherapy pool included patients from one phase 2b study and two phase 3 studies who received abrocitinib 200 mg, abrocitinib 100 mg, or placebo monotherapy for 12 weeks (JADE-MONO-1 and JADE-MONO-2).
The JADE COMPARE pool included patients who received abrocitinib 200 mg, abrocitinib 100 mg, or placebo, plus medicated topical therapy for 16 weeks. Data from patients in all four trials were pooled for the analysis of treatment-emergent adverse events. Efficacy points analyzed were the Investigator Global Assessment (IGA) score of 0/1 (clear or almost clear), a 75% reduction from baseline in the Eczema Area and Severity Index (EASI-75), or Peak Pruritus Numeric Rating Scale score (PP-NRS4) at week 12 for the monotherapy pool and at week 16 for COMPARE.
In the monotherapy pool, the proportions of patients ages 12-17 years, 18-40 years, 41-50 years, and 51 years and older who achieved an IGA 0/1 response at 12 weeks were 31.3%, 40.2%, 43.8%, and 50.8% (abrocitinib 200 mg); 22%, 23.7%, 22.4%, and 40.8% (abrocitinib 100 mg); and 8.7%, 8%, 3.3%, and 10% (placebo).
In JADE COMPARE, the proportions of patients aged 18-40 years, 41-50 years, and 51 years and older who achieved an IGA 0/1 response were 50%, 53.2%, and 34.8% (abrocitinib 200 mg); 36.9%, 37.1%, and 26.1% (abrocitinib 100 mg); and 12%, 11.8%, and 16.7% (placebo) at 16 weeks. Similar trends were observed for EASI-75 and PP-NRS4 responses at 12 weeks.
Across all age groups, the most common treatment-emergent adverse events were infections/infestations and gastrointestinal effects; most cases were mild or moderate. Nausea was more frequent in the two younger age groups and was dose related: For abrocitinib 200 mg and abrocitinib 100 mg, respectively, the rates of nausea were 18.8% and 7.8% in patients aged 12-17 years; 17.1% and 6.4% in patients aged 18-40 years; and 7.1% and 3.3% in patients aged 51 and older.
“Efficacy responses in patients 51 years of age and older were comparable to those in other age groups,” concluded Dr. Alexis, vice chair for diversity and inclusion in the department of dermatology at Weill Cornell. “The safety profile was consistent across age ranges and was similar to that reported previously.”
The investigators found that treatment response to abrocitinib “in the absence or presence of medicated topical therapy was fairly consistent across age groups, showed similar dose-dependency, and importantly, did not show reduced efficacy in older adults as measured by lesional severity, extent, and itch at 4 months,” said Raj Chovatiya, MD, PhD, assistant professor of dermatology at Northwestern University, Chicago, who was asked to comment on the study.
“Furthermore, the safety profile was consistent across all adults, though notably, nausea was more common among younger age groups, highlighting an area of future investigation,” he added. “Overall, these data show that abrocitinib is associated with similar short-term responses across adulthood and underscore the importance of the JAK-STAT pathway in the underlying pathophysiology of AD in different age groups. It will be interesting to see how these data reflect the real-world setting with both short- and long-term outcomes in a heterogeneous patient population.”
In the interview, Dr. Chovatiya said, “the next frontier in personalized therapy for AD involves deeper clinical phenotyping of our patients and a better understanding of how efficacy and safety vary across patient groups.” For example, he noted, “AD in earlier versus later adulthood may be associated with different clinical signs, symptoms, comorbidities, and other measures of patient burden, and thus, may be associated with different treatment responses to systemic therapy.”
Dr. Alexis disclosed that he has served as an adviser to, or has received consulting fees from, Leo, Galderma, Pfizer, Sanofi-Regeneron, Dermavant, Beiersdorf, Valeant, L’Oréal, BMS, Bausch Health, UCB, Vyne, Arcutis, Janssen, Allergan, Almirall, AbbVie, Sol-Gel, and Amgen.
Dr. Chovatiya disclosed that he is a consultant to, a speaker for, and/or a member of the advisory board for AbbVie, Arena, Arcutis, Incyte, Pfizer, Regeneron, and Sanofi-Genzyme.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.
and was comparable in patients aged 51 years and older, results from a post hoc analysis of four trials showed.
Abrocitinib (Cibinqo) is an oral, once-daily, Janus kinase 1 selective inhibitor that has shown good efficacy and safety as monotherapy or combined with topical therapy for treatment of patients with moderate to severe AD. The agent was approved in mid-December in Europe for the treatment of moderate to severe AD in adults who are candidates for systemic therapy and is currently under review by the Food and Drug Administration.
“We know that responses to, and adverse events associated with, systemic therapies may vary among patients of different ages,” Andrew F. Alexis, MD, MPH, said during a late-breaking abstract session at the Revolutionizing Atopic Dermatitis virtual symposium. “The efficacy and safety of abrocitinib monotherapy were previously evaluated in adolescent and adult subpopulations from controlled clinical trials in patients with moderate to severe AD. The objective of the current study was to assess the impact of age on short-term responses to abrocitinib treatment in patients with moderate to severe AD.”
Dr. Alexis, professor of clinical dermatology at Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, and colleagues performed a post hoc analysis across four randomized, double-blind studies that was stratified by age group: 12-17 years, 18-40 years, 41-50 years, and 51 years and older. Efficacy data were assessed separately for patients in the monotherapy pool and in the JADE COMPARE trial. The monotherapy pool included patients from one phase 2b study and two phase 3 studies who received abrocitinib 200 mg, abrocitinib 100 mg, or placebo monotherapy for 12 weeks (JADE-MONO-1 and JADE-MONO-2).
The JADE COMPARE pool included patients who received abrocitinib 200 mg, abrocitinib 100 mg, or placebo, plus medicated topical therapy for 16 weeks. Data from patients in all four trials were pooled for the analysis of treatment-emergent adverse events. Efficacy points analyzed were the Investigator Global Assessment (IGA) score of 0/1 (clear or almost clear), a 75% reduction from baseline in the Eczema Area and Severity Index (EASI-75), or Peak Pruritus Numeric Rating Scale score (PP-NRS4) at week 12 for the monotherapy pool and at week 16 for COMPARE.
In the monotherapy pool, the proportions of patients ages 12-17 years, 18-40 years, 41-50 years, and 51 years and older who achieved an IGA 0/1 response at 12 weeks were 31.3%, 40.2%, 43.8%, and 50.8% (abrocitinib 200 mg); 22%, 23.7%, 22.4%, and 40.8% (abrocitinib 100 mg); and 8.7%, 8%, 3.3%, and 10% (placebo).
In JADE COMPARE, the proportions of patients aged 18-40 years, 41-50 years, and 51 years and older who achieved an IGA 0/1 response were 50%, 53.2%, and 34.8% (abrocitinib 200 mg); 36.9%, 37.1%, and 26.1% (abrocitinib 100 mg); and 12%, 11.8%, and 16.7% (placebo) at 16 weeks. Similar trends were observed for EASI-75 and PP-NRS4 responses at 12 weeks.
Across all age groups, the most common treatment-emergent adverse events were infections/infestations and gastrointestinal effects; most cases were mild or moderate. Nausea was more frequent in the two younger age groups and was dose related: For abrocitinib 200 mg and abrocitinib 100 mg, respectively, the rates of nausea were 18.8% and 7.8% in patients aged 12-17 years; 17.1% and 6.4% in patients aged 18-40 years; and 7.1% and 3.3% in patients aged 51 and older.
“Efficacy responses in patients 51 years of age and older were comparable to those in other age groups,” concluded Dr. Alexis, vice chair for diversity and inclusion in the department of dermatology at Weill Cornell. “The safety profile was consistent across age ranges and was similar to that reported previously.”
The investigators found that treatment response to abrocitinib “in the absence or presence of medicated topical therapy was fairly consistent across age groups, showed similar dose-dependency, and importantly, did not show reduced efficacy in older adults as measured by lesional severity, extent, and itch at 4 months,” said Raj Chovatiya, MD, PhD, assistant professor of dermatology at Northwestern University, Chicago, who was asked to comment on the study.
“Furthermore, the safety profile was consistent across all adults, though notably, nausea was more common among younger age groups, highlighting an area of future investigation,” he added. “Overall, these data show that abrocitinib is associated with similar short-term responses across adulthood and underscore the importance of the JAK-STAT pathway in the underlying pathophysiology of AD in different age groups. It will be interesting to see how these data reflect the real-world setting with both short- and long-term outcomes in a heterogeneous patient population.”
In the interview, Dr. Chovatiya said, “the next frontier in personalized therapy for AD involves deeper clinical phenotyping of our patients and a better understanding of how efficacy and safety vary across patient groups.” For example, he noted, “AD in earlier versus later adulthood may be associated with different clinical signs, symptoms, comorbidities, and other measures of patient burden, and thus, may be associated with different treatment responses to systemic therapy.”
Dr. Alexis disclosed that he has served as an adviser to, or has received consulting fees from, Leo, Galderma, Pfizer, Sanofi-Regeneron, Dermavant, Beiersdorf, Valeant, L’Oréal, BMS, Bausch Health, UCB, Vyne, Arcutis, Janssen, Allergan, Almirall, AbbVie, Sol-Gel, and Amgen.
Dr. Chovatiya disclosed that he is a consultant to, a speaker for, and/or a member of the advisory board for AbbVie, Arena, Arcutis, Incyte, Pfizer, Regeneron, and Sanofi-Genzyme.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.
and was comparable in patients aged 51 years and older, results from a post hoc analysis of four trials showed.
Abrocitinib (Cibinqo) is an oral, once-daily, Janus kinase 1 selective inhibitor that has shown good efficacy and safety as monotherapy or combined with topical therapy for treatment of patients with moderate to severe AD. The agent was approved in mid-December in Europe for the treatment of moderate to severe AD in adults who are candidates for systemic therapy and is currently under review by the Food and Drug Administration.
“We know that responses to, and adverse events associated with, systemic therapies may vary among patients of different ages,” Andrew F. Alexis, MD, MPH, said during a late-breaking abstract session at the Revolutionizing Atopic Dermatitis virtual symposium. “The efficacy and safety of abrocitinib monotherapy were previously evaluated in adolescent and adult subpopulations from controlled clinical trials in patients with moderate to severe AD. The objective of the current study was to assess the impact of age on short-term responses to abrocitinib treatment in patients with moderate to severe AD.”
Dr. Alexis, professor of clinical dermatology at Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, and colleagues performed a post hoc analysis across four randomized, double-blind studies that was stratified by age group: 12-17 years, 18-40 years, 41-50 years, and 51 years and older. Efficacy data were assessed separately for patients in the monotherapy pool and in the JADE COMPARE trial. The monotherapy pool included patients from one phase 2b study and two phase 3 studies who received abrocitinib 200 mg, abrocitinib 100 mg, or placebo monotherapy for 12 weeks (JADE-MONO-1 and JADE-MONO-2).
The JADE COMPARE pool included patients who received abrocitinib 200 mg, abrocitinib 100 mg, or placebo, plus medicated topical therapy for 16 weeks. Data from patients in all four trials were pooled for the analysis of treatment-emergent adverse events. Efficacy points analyzed were the Investigator Global Assessment (IGA) score of 0/1 (clear or almost clear), a 75% reduction from baseline in the Eczema Area and Severity Index (EASI-75), or Peak Pruritus Numeric Rating Scale score (PP-NRS4) at week 12 for the monotherapy pool and at week 16 for COMPARE.
In the monotherapy pool, the proportions of patients ages 12-17 years, 18-40 years, 41-50 years, and 51 years and older who achieved an IGA 0/1 response at 12 weeks were 31.3%, 40.2%, 43.8%, and 50.8% (abrocitinib 200 mg); 22%, 23.7%, 22.4%, and 40.8% (abrocitinib 100 mg); and 8.7%, 8%, 3.3%, and 10% (placebo).
In JADE COMPARE, the proportions of patients aged 18-40 years, 41-50 years, and 51 years and older who achieved an IGA 0/1 response were 50%, 53.2%, and 34.8% (abrocitinib 200 mg); 36.9%, 37.1%, and 26.1% (abrocitinib 100 mg); and 12%, 11.8%, and 16.7% (placebo) at 16 weeks. Similar trends were observed for EASI-75 and PP-NRS4 responses at 12 weeks.
Across all age groups, the most common treatment-emergent adverse events were infections/infestations and gastrointestinal effects; most cases were mild or moderate. Nausea was more frequent in the two younger age groups and was dose related: For abrocitinib 200 mg and abrocitinib 100 mg, respectively, the rates of nausea were 18.8% and 7.8% in patients aged 12-17 years; 17.1% and 6.4% in patients aged 18-40 years; and 7.1% and 3.3% in patients aged 51 and older.
“Efficacy responses in patients 51 years of age and older were comparable to those in other age groups,” concluded Dr. Alexis, vice chair for diversity and inclusion in the department of dermatology at Weill Cornell. “The safety profile was consistent across age ranges and was similar to that reported previously.”
The investigators found that treatment response to abrocitinib “in the absence or presence of medicated topical therapy was fairly consistent across age groups, showed similar dose-dependency, and importantly, did not show reduced efficacy in older adults as measured by lesional severity, extent, and itch at 4 months,” said Raj Chovatiya, MD, PhD, assistant professor of dermatology at Northwestern University, Chicago, who was asked to comment on the study.
“Furthermore, the safety profile was consistent across all adults, though notably, nausea was more common among younger age groups, highlighting an area of future investigation,” he added. “Overall, these data show that abrocitinib is associated with similar short-term responses across adulthood and underscore the importance of the JAK-STAT pathway in the underlying pathophysiology of AD in different age groups. It will be interesting to see how these data reflect the real-world setting with both short- and long-term outcomes in a heterogeneous patient population.”
In the interview, Dr. Chovatiya said, “the next frontier in personalized therapy for AD involves deeper clinical phenotyping of our patients and a better understanding of how efficacy and safety vary across patient groups.” For example, he noted, “AD in earlier versus later adulthood may be associated with different clinical signs, symptoms, comorbidities, and other measures of patient burden, and thus, may be associated with different treatment responses to systemic therapy.”
Dr. Alexis disclosed that he has served as an adviser to, or has received consulting fees from, Leo, Galderma, Pfizer, Sanofi-Regeneron, Dermavant, Beiersdorf, Valeant, L’Oréal, BMS, Bausch Health, UCB, Vyne, Arcutis, Janssen, Allergan, Almirall, AbbVie, Sol-Gel, and Amgen.
Dr. Chovatiya disclosed that he is a consultant to, a speaker for, and/or a member of the advisory board for AbbVie, Arena, Arcutis, Incyte, Pfizer, Regeneron, and Sanofi-Genzyme.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.
FROM REVOLUTIONIZING AD 2021
Home-based system relieves refractory ascites in cirrhosis
A home-based tunneled peritoneal catheter (PeCa) drainage system provided significant relief for patients with refractory ascites who were not candidates for transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS).
For these patients, the current standard of care is repeated large volume paracentesis, but this can require frequent hospital trips that can be costly and onerous.
The PeCa system consists of one part that lays in the peritoneal cavity, then a tunnel through subcutaneous tissue and an external port where the patient can connect drainage bags. It has been tested and found to provide relief for patients with malignant ascites, but there is little data available for patients with cirrhosis, according to Tammo Lambert Tergast, MD, who presented the study at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. Dr. Tergast is a resident in the department of gastroenterology, hepatology, and endocrinology at Hannover (Germany) Medical School.
“Patients with refractory ascites have a very high risk for rehospitalization, AKI [acute kidney injury], and death. Our data indicate that PeCa could be a valuable new treatment option for patients with refractory ascites and contraindication for TIPS. However, the risk for hyponatremia and AKI has to be considered and further explored,” said Dr. Tergast during his presentation.
The researchers retrospectively analyzed outcomes in 152 patients with refractory ascites who received a PeCa implant and 71 patients who received standard of care (SOC), which included repeated large volume paracentesis and albumin. The median explant-free survival was 74 days, and just under 50% were explant free at 90 days.
52 patients had the PeCa system removed: 54% because of an infection, 15% because of liver transplant, 12% because of dysfunction, and 10% because of accidental removal.
Factors associated with 90-day survival included PeCa (hazard ratio, 0.52; P = .05) and each point of Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score (HR, 1.16; P = .001). There was a trend toward a higher incidence of hyponatremia in the PeCa group (P = .09).
Hospitalizations were more common in the PeCa group (P = .035), but there was no significant difference in mortality between the two groups. Reasons for hospitalization included spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP; 18% in PeCa vs. 8% of SOC), hyponatremia (10% vs. 0%), and infections other than SBP (4% and 16%).
A propensity score–matched analysis that included age, history of SBP, platelet count, serum albumin levels, and MELD score found no significant differences between the two groups, but there were trends in the PeCa group towards higher 90-day survival (P = .16) and a higher frequency of acute kidney injury (P = .08).
Although the appropriate patient population for the system would be small, “once you get to refractory ascites, management of these individuals is really, really challenging, especially people that had contraindications to a TIPS procedure. Anything that you can do to improve their quality of life and help with management is definitely desired,” said Nancy Reau, MD, who was asked to comment on the study. Dr. Reau is chief of the section of hepatology at Rush University Medical Center, Chicago.
The study found little difference in infection risk between the PeCa and standard of care group, but there was a trend toward more hyponatremia in the PeCa group. That could be caused by reduced contact with the health system, according to Dr. Reau, since physicians may be keeping an eye on electrolytes, diuretics, and other factors during paracentesis visits. “But as long as you’re setting up home nursing or some other way to make sure that you’re managing them appropriately, that should be something that is overcome with awareness,” said Dr. Reau.
During the question-and-answer following the presentation, Dr. Tergast was asked about the heightened frequency of hospitalizations in the PeCa group. He posited that the observation may be caused by the retrospective nature of the study. His center is a tertiary care center, which accepts referrals from all over Germany. When a problem occurs with a PeCa, patients often get referred back to the tertiary center, leading to a higher number of hospitalizations observed in that group. “So this might be a bias in the analysis,” he said.
“I think if we can optimize the treatment after discharge, we can also minimize the rehospitalization in these patients. Rehospitalization rate because of ascites was quite low,” said Dr. Tergast.
Dr. Tergast and Dr. Reau have no relevant financial disclosures.
A home-based tunneled peritoneal catheter (PeCa) drainage system provided significant relief for patients with refractory ascites who were not candidates for transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS).
For these patients, the current standard of care is repeated large volume paracentesis, but this can require frequent hospital trips that can be costly and onerous.
The PeCa system consists of one part that lays in the peritoneal cavity, then a tunnel through subcutaneous tissue and an external port where the patient can connect drainage bags. It has been tested and found to provide relief for patients with malignant ascites, but there is little data available for patients with cirrhosis, according to Tammo Lambert Tergast, MD, who presented the study at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. Dr. Tergast is a resident in the department of gastroenterology, hepatology, and endocrinology at Hannover (Germany) Medical School.
“Patients with refractory ascites have a very high risk for rehospitalization, AKI [acute kidney injury], and death. Our data indicate that PeCa could be a valuable new treatment option for patients with refractory ascites and contraindication for TIPS. However, the risk for hyponatremia and AKI has to be considered and further explored,” said Dr. Tergast during his presentation.
The researchers retrospectively analyzed outcomes in 152 patients with refractory ascites who received a PeCa implant and 71 patients who received standard of care (SOC), which included repeated large volume paracentesis and albumin. The median explant-free survival was 74 days, and just under 50% were explant free at 90 days.
52 patients had the PeCa system removed: 54% because of an infection, 15% because of liver transplant, 12% because of dysfunction, and 10% because of accidental removal.
Factors associated with 90-day survival included PeCa (hazard ratio, 0.52; P = .05) and each point of Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score (HR, 1.16; P = .001). There was a trend toward a higher incidence of hyponatremia in the PeCa group (P = .09).
Hospitalizations were more common in the PeCa group (P = .035), but there was no significant difference in mortality between the two groups. Reasons for hospitalization included spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP; 18% in PeCa vs. 8% of SOC), hyponatremia (10% vs. 0%), and infections other than SBP (4% and 16%).
A propensity score–matched analysis that included age, history of SBP, platelet count, serum albumin levels, and MELD score found no significant differences between the two groups, but there were trends in the PeCa group towards higher 90-day survival (P = .16) and a higher frequency of acute kidney injury (P = .08).
Although the appropriate patient population for the system would be small, “once you get to refractory ascites, management of these individuals is really, really challenging, especially people that had contraindications to a TIPS procedure. Anything that you can do to improve their quality of life and help with management is definitely desired,” said Nancy Reau, MD, who was asked to comment on the study. Dr. Reau is chief of the section of hepatology at Rush University Medical Center, Chicago.
The study found little difference in infection risk between the PeCa and standard of care group, but there was a trend toward more hyponatremia in the PeCa group. That could be caused by reduced contact with the health system, according to Dr. Reau, since physicians may be keeping an eye on electrolytes, diuretics, and other factors during paracentesis visits. “But as long as you’re setting up home nursing or some other way to make sure that you’re managing them appropriately, that should be something that is overcome with awareness,” said Dr. Reau.
During the question-and-answer following the presentation, Dr. Tergast was asked about the heightened frequency of hospitalizations in the PeCa group. He posited that the observation may be caused by the retrospective nature of the study. His center is a tertiary care center, which accepts referrals from all over Germany. When a problem occurs with a PeCa, patients often get referred back to the tertiary center, leading to a higher number of hospitalizations observed in that group. “So this might be a bias in the analysis,” he said.
“I think if we can optimize the treatment after discharge, we can also minimize the rehospitalization in these patients. Rehospitalization rate because of ascites was quite low,” said Dr. Tergast.
Dr. Tergast and Dr. Reau have no relevant financial disclosures.
A home-based tunneled peritoneal catheter (PeCa) drainage system provided significant relief for patients with refractory ascites who were not candidates for transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS).
For these patients, the current standard of care is repeated large volume paracentesis, but this can require frequent hospital trips that can be costly and onerous.
The PeCa system consists of one part that lays in the peritoneal cavity, then a tunnel through subcutaneous tissue and an external port where the patient can connect drainage bags. It has been tested and found to provide relief for patients with malignant ascites, but there is little data available for patients with cirrhosis, according to Tammo Lambert Tergast, MD, who presented the study at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. Dr. Tergast is a resident in the department of gastroenterology, hepatology, and endocrinology at Hannover (Germany) Medical School.
“Patients with refractory ascites have a very high risk for rehospitalization, AKI [acute kidney injury], and death. Our data indicate that PeCa could be a valuable new treatment option for patients with refractory ascites and contraindication for TIPS. However, the risk for hyponatremia and AKI has to be considered and further explored,” said Dr. Tergast during his presentation.
The researchers retrospectively analyzed outcomes in 152 patients with refractory ascites who received a PeCa implant and 71 patients who received standard of care (SOC), which included repeated large volume paracentesis and albumin. The median explant-free survival was 74 days, and just under 50% were explant free at 90 days.
52 patients had the PeCa system removed: 54% because of an infection, 15% because of liver transplant, 12% because of dysfunction, and 10% because of accidental removal.
Factors associated with 90-day survival included PeCa (hazard ratio, 0.52; P = .05) and each point of Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score (HR, 1.16; P = .001). There was a trend toward a higher incidence of hyponatremia in the PeCa group (P = .09).
Hospitalizations were more common in the PeCa group (P = .035), but there was no significant difference in mortality between the two groups. Reasons for hospitalization included spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP; 18% in PeCa vs. 8% of SOC), hyponatremia (10% vs. 0%), and infections other than SBP (4% and 16%).
A propensity score–matched analysis that included age, history of SBP, platelet count, serum albumin levels, and MELD score found no significant differences between the two groups, but there were trends in the PeCa group towards higher 90-day survival (P = .16) and a higher frequency of acute kidney injury (P = .08).
Although the appropriate patient population for the system would be small, “once you get to refractory ascites, management of these individuals is really, really challenging, especially people that had contraindications to a TIPS procedure. Anything that you can do to improve their quality of life and help with management is definitely desired,” said Nancy Reau, MD, who was asked to comment on the study. Dr. Reau is chief of the section of hepatology at Rush University Medical Center, Chicago.
The study found little difference in infection risk between the PeCa and standard of care group, but there was a trend toward more hyponatremia in the PeCa group. That could be caused by reduced contact with the health system, according to Dr. Reau, since physicians may be keeping an eye on electrolytes, diuretics, and other factors during paracentesis visits. “But as long as you’re setting up home nursing or some other way to make sure that you’re managing them appropriately, that should be something that is overcome with awareness,” said Dr. Reau.
During the question-and-answer following the presentation, Dr. Tergast was asked about the heightened frequency of hospitalizations in the PeCa group. He posited that the observation may be caused by the retrospective nature of the study. His center is a tertiary care center, which accepts referrals from all over Germany. When a problem occurs with a PeCa, patients often get referred back to the tertiary center, leading to a higher number of hospitalizations observed in that group. “So this might be a bias in the analysis,” he said.
“I think if we can optimize the treatment after discharge, we can also minimize the rehospitalization in these patients. Rehospitalization rate because of ascites was quite low,” said Dr. Tergast.
Dr. Tergast and Dr. Reau have no relevant financial disclosures.
FROM THE LIVER MEETING
CRP elevated in adults with AD and sleep disturbance
and mortality, results from a large cohort analysis showed.
“The implications of these findings are vast,” presenting author Varsha Parthasarathy said during a late-breaking abstract session at the Revolutionizing Atopic Dermatitis virtual symposium. “Poor sleep quality is known to be associated with increased inflammatory markers such as IL-6, IL-17, and CRP, so it is interesting to see this reflected in AD patients with versus without sleep disturbance. Additionally, we know that CRP is a driver of inflammation and is strongly associated with cardiovascular complications such as heart attack and stroke. Therefore, CRP may be a useful prognostic marker in AD patients with sleep disturbances.”
To examine the comorbidity burden of sleep disorders in AD patients and associate findings with inflammatory CRP and cardiovascular comorbidities, Mr. Parthasarathy, a medical student and itch fellow in the department of dermatology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, and colleagues drew from TriNetX, a health care network of approximately 73 million de-identified medical records in 53 organizations. The years of study were 2015 to 2021. The researchers limited the analysis to adults with at least two instances of International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) code L28 for AD, to capture a population with true AD. Controls were adults without AD who presented for general checkup and were matched to AD patients by age, race, and sex.
The study population consisted of 120,480 AD patients and matched controls. Their mean age was 36 years, 61% were female, and 26% were Black. Compared with controls, AD patients had an increased risk of developing general sleep disorders over the 6-year period (relative risk, 1.10), as well as obstructive sleep apnea (RR, 1.13), insomnia (RR, 1.10), hypersomnia (RR, 1.24), sleep-related movement disorders (RR, 1.36), restless legs syndrome (RR, 1.25), sleep deprivation (RR, 1.36), and unspecified sleep disorders (RR, 1.22).
To examine the association of sleep disturbance with the inflammatory biomarker CRP, the researchers measured CRP levels between these patient groups. They found a substantially higher CRP in AD patients compared with controls (21.2 mg/L vs. 7.6 mg/L, respectively; P < .0001). This finding “is suggestive of a higher level of inflammation in these patients,” Mr. Parthasarathy said. Interestingly, he added, they also found a higher CRP level in AD patients with sleep disturbances compared to AD patients without sleep disturbances (23.3 vs. 20.6 mg/L; P = .02), “also pointing to a higher inflammatory burden in AD patients whose sleep was affected.”
Compared to matched AD patients without sleep disorders, AD patients with sleep disorders were more likely to develop obesity (RR, 2.65), hyperlipidemia (RR, 2.18), type 2 diabetes (RR, 2.45), metabolic syndrome (RR, 4.16), atherosclerosis (RR, 2.42), peripheral vascular disease (RR, 2.47), stroke (RR, 2.37), venous thromboembolism (RR, 2.93), and mortality (hazard ratio, 1.24).
“There is a consequence of not treating patients with atopic dermatitis, especially those patients with sleep disturbance,” the study’s primary author, Shawn G. Kwatra, MD, associate professor of dermatology at Johns Hopkins, told this news organization. “Chronic inflammation can lead to the development of comorbidities, so it is important to offer patients early treatment to reduce their overall inflammation.” He said that he was most surprised by the degree of increased inflammation in the blood of AD as compared to healthy controls. “This likely plays a part in the development of several comorbidities,” he said.
Mr. Parthasarathy acknowledged certain limitations of the study, including the inability to infer causal relationships, as uncontrolled factors may be present. “Additionally, sampling of only patients that have had medical encounters limits the generalizability of the findings,” she said. “However, findings in this large cohort study suggest that clinicians should seek to identify sleep disorders in AD patients and screen for cardiac comorbidities secondary to inflammation in this patient population.”
“There is increased data to suggest that adults with AD, particularly those with more severe disease, may be at an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and the results from [this study] further support the concept of AD as systemic disease,” said Zelma C. Chiesa Fuxench, MD, MSCE, assistant professor of dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, who was asked to comment on the study. She cited the large population-based, retrospective design and use of two instances of ICD codes for AD to confirm diagnosis as key strengths of the research. “However, it is unclear if for each patient CRP levels were measured at one single timepoint,” Dr. Chiesa Fuxench said. “For future studies, it would be interesting to see if these levels fluctuate with time and if persistently elevated levels are associated with worse cardiovascular outcomes in this population. More data is needed to better understand the relationship better atopic dermatitis disease severity, impact on sleep, and how this relates to increased systemic inflammation and worse cardiovascular outcomes in this population.”
Dr. Kwatra disclosed support by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number K23AR077073-01A1 and previous funding by the Dermatology Foundation and Skin of Color Society. Dr. Kwatra is also an advisory board member/consultant for AbbVie, Celldex Therapeutics, Galderma, Incyte Corporation, Johnson & Johnson, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, Pfizer, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Sanofi, and Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals and has served as an investigator for Galderma, Pfizer, and Sanofi. Dr. Chiesa Fuxench disclosed research grants from several pharmaceutical companies for work related to AD. She has also served as a consultant for the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, National Eczema Association, AbbVie, Incyte Corporation, and Pfizer.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.
and mortality, results from a large cohort analysis showed.
“The implications of these findings are vast,” presenting author Varsha Parthasarathy said during a late-breaking abstract session at the Revolutionizing Atopic Dermatitis virtual symposium. “Poor sleep quality is known to be associated with increased inflammatory markers such as IL-6, IL-17, and CRP, so it is interesting to see this reflected in AD patients with versus without sleep disturbance. Additionally, we know that CRP is a driver of inflammation and is strongly associated with cardiovascular complications such as heart attack and stroke. Therefore, CRP may be a useful prognostic marker in AD patients with sleep disturbances.”
To examine the comorbidity burden of sleep disorders in AD patients and associate findings with inflammatory CRP and cardiovascular comorbidities, Mr. Parthasarathy, a medical student and itch fellow in the department of dermatology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, and colleagues drew from TriNetX, a health care network of approximately 73 million de-identified medical records in 53 organizations. The years of study were 2015 to 2021. The researchers limited the analysis to adults with at least two instances of International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) code L28 for AD, to capture a population with true AD. Controls were adults without AD who presented for general checkup and were matched to AD patients by age, race, and sex.
The study population consisted of 120,480 AD patients and matched controls. Their mean age was 36 years, 61% were female, and 26% were Black. Compared with controls, AD patients had an increased risk of developing general sleep disorders over the 6-year period (relative risk, 1.10), as well as obstructive sleep apnea (RR, 1.13), insomnia (RR, 1.10), hypersomnia (RR, 1.24), sleep-related movement disorders (RR, 1.36), restless legs syndrome (RR, 1.25), sleep deprivation (RR, 1.36), and unspecified sleep disorders (RR, 1.22).
To examine the association of sleep disturbance with the inflammatory biomarker CRP, the researchers measured CRP levels between these patient groups. They found a substantially higher CRP in AD patients compared with controls (21.2 mg/L vs. 7.6 mg/L, respectively; P < .0001). This finding “is suggestive of a higher level of inflammation in these patients,” Mr. Parthasarathy said. Interestingly, he added, they also found a higher CRP level in AD patients with sleep disturbances compared to AD patients without sleep disturbances (23.3 vs. 20.6 mg/L; P = .02), “also pointing to a higher inflammatory burden in AD patients whose sleep was affected.”
Compared to matched AD patients without sleep disorders, AD patients with sleep disorders were more likely to develop obesity (RR, 2.65), hyperlipidemia (RR, 2.18), type 2 diabetes (RR, 2.45), metabolic syndrome (RR, 4.16), atherosclerosis (RR, 2.42), peripheral vascular disease (RR, 2.47), stroke (RR, 2.37), venous thromboembolism (RR, 2.93), and mortality (hazard ratio, 1.24).
“There is a consequence of not treating patients with atopic dermatitis, especially those patients with sleep disturbance,” the study’s primary author, Shawn G. Kwatra, MD, associate professor of dermatology at Johns Hopkins, told this news organization. “Chronic inflammation can lead to the development of comorbidities, so it is important to offer patients early treatment to reduce their overall inflammation.” He said that he was most surprised by the degree of increased inflammation in the blood of AD as compared to healthy controls. “This likely plays a part in the development of several comorbidities,” he said.
Mr. Parthasarathy acknowledged certain limitations of the study, including the inability to infer causal relationships, as uncontrolled factors may be present. “Additionally, sampling of only patients that have had medical encounters limits the generalizability of the findings,” she said. “However, findings in this large cohort study suggest that clinicians should seek to identify sleep disorders in AD patients and screen for cardiac comorbidities secondary to inflammation in this patient population.”
“There is increased data to suggest that adults with AD, particularly those with more severe disease, may be at an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and the results from [this study] further support the concept of AD as systemic disease,” said Zelma C. Chiesa Fuxench, MD, MSCE, assistant professor of dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, who was asked to comment on the study. She cited the large population-based, retrospective design and use of two instances of ICD codes for AD to confirm diagnosis as key strengths of the research. “However, it is unclear if for each patient CRP levels were measured at one single timepoint,” Dr. Chiesa Fuxench said. “For future studies, it would be interesting to see if these levels fluctuate with time and if persistently elevated levels are associated with worse cardiovascular outcomes in this population. More data is needed to better understand the relationship better atopic dermatitis disease severity, impact on sleep, and how this relates to increased systemic inflammation and worse cardiovascular outcomes in this population.”
Dr. Kwatra disclosed support by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number K23AR077073-01A1 and previous funding by the Dermatology Foundation and Skin of Color Society. Dr. Kwatra is also an advisory board member/consultant for AbbVie, Celldex Therapeutics, Galderma, Incyte Corporation, Johnson & Johnson, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, Pfizer, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Sanofi, and Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals and has served as an investigator for Galderma, Pfizer, and Sanofi. Dr. Chiesa Fuxench disclosed research grants from several pharmaceutical companies for work related to AD. She has also served as a consultant for the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, National Eczema Association, AbbVie, Incyte Corporation, and Pfizer.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.
and mortality, results from a large cohort analysis showed.
“The implications of these findings are vast,” presenting author Varsha Parthasarathy said during a late-breaking abstract session at the Revolutionizing Atopic Dermatitis virtual symposium. “Poor sleep quality is known to be associated with increased inflammatory markers such as IL-6, IL-17, and CRP, so it is interesting to see this reflected in AD patients with versus without sleep disturbance. Additionally, we know that CRP is a driver of inflammation and is strongly associated with cardiovascular complications such as heart attack and stroke. Therefore, CRP may be a useful prognostic marker in AD patients with sleep disturbances.”
To examine the comorbidity burden of sleep disorders in AD patients and associate findings with inflammatory CRP and cardiovascular comorbidities, Mr. Parthasarathy, a medical student and itch fellow in the department of dermatology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, and colleagues drew from TriNetX, a health care network of approximately 73 million de-identified medical records in 53 organizations. The years of study were 2015 to 2021. The researchers limited the analysis to adults with at least two instances of International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) code L28 for AD, to capture a population with true AD. Controls were adults without AD who presented for general checkup and were matched to AD patients by age, race, and sex.
The study population consisted of 120,480 AD patients and matched controls. Their mean age was 36 years, 61% were female, and 26% were Black. Compared with controls, AD patients had an increased risk of developing general sleep disorders over the 6-year period (relative risk, 1.10), as well as obstructive sleep apnea (RR, 1.13), insomnia (RR, 1.10), hypersomnia (RR, 1.24), sleep-related movement disorders (RR, 1.36), restless legs syndrome (RR, 1.25), sleep deprivation (RR, 1.36), and unspecified sleep disorders (RR, 1.22).
To examine the association of sleep disturbance with the inflammatory biomarker CRP, the researchers measured CRP levels between these patient groups. They found a substantially higher CRP in AD patients compared with controls (21.2 mg/L vs. 7.6 mg/L, respectively; P < .0001). This finding “is suggestive of a higher level of inflammation in these patients,” Mr. Parthasarathy said. Interestingly, he added, they also found a higher CRP level in AD patients with sleep disturbances compared to AD patients without sleep disturbances (23.3 vs. 20.6 mg/L; P = .02), “also pointing to a higher inflammatory burden in AD patients whose sleep was affected.”
Compared to matched AD patients without sleep disorders, AD patients with sleep disorders were more likely to develop obesity (RR, 2.65), hyperlipidemia (RR, 2.18), type 2 diabetes (RR, 2.45), metabolic syndrome (RR, 4.16), atherosclerosis (RR, 2.42), peripheral vascular disease (RR, 2.47), stroke (RR, 2.37), venous thromboembolism (RR, 2.93), and mortality (hazard ratio, 1.24).
“There is a consequence of not treating patients with atopic dermatitis, especially those patients with sleep disturbance,” the study’s primary author, Shawn G. Kwatra, MD, associate professor of dermatology at Johns Hopkins, told this news organization. “Chronic inflammation can lead to the development of comorbidities, so it is important to offer patients early treatment to reduce their overall inflammation.” He said that he was most surprised by the degree of increased inflammation in the blood of AD as compared to healthy controls. “This likely plays a part in the development of several comorbidities,” he said.
Mr. Parthasarathy acknowledged certain limitations of the study, including the inability to infer causal relationships, as uncontrolled factors may be present. “Additionally, sampling of only patients that have had medical encounters limits the generalizability of the findings,” she said. “However, findings in this large cohort study suggest that clinicians should seek to identify sleep disorders in AD patients and screen for cardiac comorbidities secondary to inflammation in this patient population.”
“There is increased data to suggest that adults with AD, particularly those with more severe disease, may be at an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and the results from [this study] further support the concept of AD as systemic disease,” said Zelma C. Chiesa Fuxench, MD, MSCE, assistant professor of dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, who was asked to comment on the study. She cited the large population-based, retrospective design and use of two instances of ICD codes for AD to confirm diagnosis as key strengths of the research. “However, it is unclear if for each patient CRP levels were measured at one single timepoint,” Dr. Chiesa Fuxench said. “For future studies, it would be interesting to see if these levels fluctuate with time and if persistently elevated levels are associated with worse cardiovascular outcomes in this population. More data is needed to better understand the relationship better atopic dermatitis disease severity, impact on sleep, and how this relates to increased systemic inflammation and worse cardiovascular outcomes in this population.”
Dr. Kwatra disclosed support by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number K23AR077073-01A1 and previous funding by the Dermatology Foundation and Skin of Color Society. Dr. Kwatra is also an advisory board member/consultant for AbbVie, Celldex Therapeutics, Galderma, Incyte Corporation, Johnson & Johnson, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, Pfizer, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Sanofi, and Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals and has served as an investigator for Galderma, Pfizer, and Sanofi. Dr. Chiesa Fuxench disclosed research grants from several pharmaceutical companies for work related to AD. She has also served as a consultant for the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, National Eczema Association, AbbVie, Incyte Corporation, and Pfizer.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.
Inadequate routine diabetes screening common in HIV
, research shows.
“Despite known risk in this patient population, most patients were not up to date with routine preventative screenings,” report Maya Hardman, PharmD, and colleagues with Southwest CARE Center, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in research presented at the United States Conference on HIV/AIDS (USCHA) 2021 Annual Meeting.
“Routine preventative screenings can help identify chronic complications of diabetes early, if performed at the recommended intervals,” they write.
People with HIV are known to be at an increased risk of diabetes and the long-term complications of the disease, making the need for routine screening to prevent such complications all the more pressing due to their higher-risk health status.
Among the key routine diabetes care quality measures recommended by the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) for people with HIV are testing for A1c once every 3 months, foot and eye exams every 12 months, urine albumin creatinine ratio (UACR) screenings every 12 months, and two controlled blood pressure readings every 12 months.
To investigate the rates of adherence to the HEDIS screening recommendations and identify predictors of poor compliance among people with HIV, Dr. Hardman and her colleagues evaluated data on 121 adult patients at the Southwest CARE Center who had been diagnosed with diabetes and HIV and were treated between 2019 and 2020.
The patients had a mean age of 57.5, and 9% were female. Their mean duration of being HIV positive was 19.8 years, and they had an intermediate Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease (ASCVD) risk score of 17.08%.
Despite their known diagnoses of having diabetes, as many as 93.4% were found not to be up to date on their routine preventive screenings.
Of the 121 patients, only 30 had received the recommended A1c screenings, 37 had the recommended UACR screenings, and just 18 had received the recommended foot exam screenings.
Only blood pressure screenings, reported in 90 of the 121 patients, were up to date in the majority of patients in the group.
In looking at factors associated with compliance with A1c screening, only age (OR, 0.95; P = .04) was a significant predictor.
The authors pointed out that routine screenings for diabetes complications are relatively easy to implement.
“Screening for these chronic complications is minimally invasive and can be provided by individuals trained in diabetes management during routine clinic appointments.”
The team’s ongoing research is evaluating the potential benefits of clinical pharmacy services in assisting with the screenings for patients with HIV.
Research underscoring the increased risk and poorer treatment outcomes of diabetes in people with HIV include a study comparing 337 people with HIV in 2005 with a cohort of 338 participants in 2015.
The study showed the prevalence of type 2 diabetes had increased to 15.1% in 2015 from 6.8% 10 years earlier, for a relative risk of 2.4 compared with the general population.
“The alarmingly high prevalence of type 2 diabetes in HIV requires improved screening, targeted to older patients and those with a longer duration of exposure to antiretrovirals,” the authors wrote.
“Effective diabetes prevention and management strategies are needed urgently to reduce this risk; such interventions should target both conventional risk factors, such as abdominal obesity and HIV-specific risk factors such as weight gain following initiation of antiretrovirals.”
Of note, the 2015 cohort was significantly older and had higher BMI and higher hypertension than the 2005 cohort.
First author Alastair Duncan, PhD, principal dietitian at Guy’s & St. Thomas’ Hospital and lecturer, King’s College London, noted that since that 2015 study was published, concerns particularly with weight gain in the HIV population have only increased.
“Weight gain appears to be more of an issue [now],” he told this news organization in an interview.
“As in the general population, people living with HIV experienced significant weight gain during COVID-related lockdowns. Added to the high number of people living with HIV being treated with integrase inhibitors, weight gain remains a challenge.”
Meanwhile, “there are not enough studies comparing people living with HIV with the general population,” Dr. Duncan added. “We need to conduct studies where participants are matched.”
Sudipa Sarkar, MD, who co-authored a report on the issue of diabetes and HIV this year but was not involved in the study presented at USCHA, noted that the setting of care could play an important role in the quality of screening for diabetes that people with HIV receive.
“It may depend on factors such as whether a patient is being followed regularly by an HIV care provider and the larger health care system that the patient is in,” Dr. Sarkar, an assistant professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism, told this news organization.
“For example, one might find differences between a patient being seen in a managed care group versus not.”
The issue of how the strikingly high rates of inadequate screening in the current study compare with routine screening in the general diabetes population “is a good question and warrants more research,” she said.
The authors and Dr. Sarkar have disclosed no relevant financial relationships.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.
, research shows.
“Despite known risk in this patient population, most patients were not up to date with routine preventative screenings,” report Maya Hardman, PharmD, and colleagues with Southwest CARE Center, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in research presented at the United States Conference on HIV/AIDS (USCHA) 2021 Annual Meeting.
“Routine preventative screenings can help identify chronic complications of diabetes early, if performed at the recommended intervals,” they write.
People with HIV are known to be at an increased risk of diabetes and the long-term complications of the disease, making the need for routine screening to prevent such complications all the more pressing due to their higher-risk health status.
Among the key routine diabetes care quality measures recommended by the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) for people with HIV are testing for A1c once every 3 months, foot and eye exams every 12 months, urine albumin creatinine ratio (UACR) screenings every 12 months, and two controlled blood pressure readings every 12 months.
To investigate the rates of adherence to the HEDIS screening recommendations and identify predictors of poor compliance among people with HIV, Dr. Hardman and her colleagues evaluated data on 121 adult patients at the Southwest CARE Center who had been diagnosed with diabetes and HIV and were treated between 2019 and 2020.
The patients had a mean age of 57.5, and 9% were female. Their mean duration of being HIV positive was 19.8 years, and they had an intermediate Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease (ASCVD) risk score of 17.08%.
Despite their known diagnoses of having diabetes, as many as 93.4% were found not to be up to date on their routine preventive screenings.
Of the 121 patients, only 30 had received the recommended A1c screenings, 37 had the recommended UACR screenings, and just 18 had received the recommended foot exam screenings.
Only blood pressure screenings, reported in 90 of the 121 patients, were up to date in the majority of patients in the group.
In looking at factors associated with compliance with A1c screening, only age (OR, 0.95; P = .04) was a significant predictor.
The authors pointed out that routine screenings for diabetes complications are relatively easy to implement.
“Screening for these chronic complications is minimally invasive and can be provided by individuals trained in diabetes management during routine clinic appointments.”
The team’s ongoing research is evaluating the potential benefits of clinical pharmacy services in assisting with the screenings for patients with HIV.
Research underscoring the increased risk and poorer treatment outcomes of diabetes in people with HIV include a study comparing 337 people with HIV in 2005 with a cohort of 338 participants in 2015.
The study showed the prevalence of type 2 diabetes had increased to 15.1% in 2015 from 6.8% 10 years earlier, for a relative risk of 2.4 compared with the general population.
“The alarmingly high prevalence of type 2 diabetes in HIV requires improved screening, targeted to older patients and those with a longer duration of exposure to antiretrovirals,” the authors wrote.
“Effective diabetes prevention and management strategies are needed urgently to reduce this risk; such interventions should target both conventional risk factors, such as abdominal obesity and HIV-specific risk factors such as weight gain following initiation of antiretrovirals.”
Of note, the 2015 cohort was significantly older and had higher BMI and higher hypertension than the 2005 cohort.
First author Alastair Duncan, PhD, principal dietitian at Guy’s & St. Thomas’ Hospital and lecturer, King’s College London, noted that since that 2015 study was published, concerns particularly with weight gain in the HIV population have only increased.
“Weight gain appears to be more of an issue [now],” he told this news organization in an interview.
“As in the general population, people living with HIV experienced significant weight gain during COVID-related lockdowns. Added to the high number of people living with HIV being treated with integrase inhibitors, weight gain remains a challenge.”
Meanwhile, “there are not enough studies comparing people living with HIV with the general population,” Dr. Duncan added. “We need to conduct studies where participants are matched.”
Sudipa Sarkar, MD, who co-authored a report on the issue of diabetes and HIV this year but was not involved in the study presented at USCHA, noted that the setting of care could play an important role in the quality of screening for diabetes that people with HIV receive.
“It may depend on factors such as whether a patient is being followed regularly by an HIV care provider and the larger health care system that the patient is in,” Dr. Sarkar, an assistant professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism, told this news organization.
“For example, one might find differences between a patient being seen in a managed care group versus not.”
The issue of how the strikingly high rates of inadequate screening in the current study compare with routine screening in the general diabetes population “is a good question and warrants more research,” she said.
The authors and Dr. Sarkar have disclosed no relevant financial relationships.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.
, research shows.
“Despite known risk in this patient population, most patients were not up to date with routine preventative screenings,” report Maya Hardman, PharmD, and colleagues with Southwest CARE Center, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in research presented at the United States Conference on HIV/AIDS (USCHA) 2021 Annual Meeting.
“Routine preventative screenings can help identify chronic complications of diabetes early, if performed at the recommended intervals,” they write.
People with HIV are known to be at an increased risk of diabetes and the long-term complications of the disease, making the need for routine screening to prevent such complications all the more pressing due to their higher-risk health status.
Among the key routine diabetes care quality measures recommended by the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) for people with HIV are testing for A1c once every 3 months, foot and eye exams every 12 months, urine albumin creatinine ratio (UACR) screenings every 12 months, and two controlled blood pressure readings every 12 months.
To investigate the rates of adherence to the HEDIS screening recommendations and identify predictors of poor compliance among people with HIV, Dr. Hardman and her colleagues evaluated data on 121 adult patients at the Southwest CARE Center who had been diagnosed with diabetes and HIV and were treated between 2019 and 2020.
The patients had a mean age of 57.5, and 9% were female. Their mean duration of being HIV positive was 19.8 years, and they had an intermediate Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease (ASCVD) risk score of 17.08%.
Despite their known diagnoses of having diabetes, as many as 93.4% were found not to be up to date on their routine preventive screenings.
Of the 121 patients, only 30 had received the recommended A1c screenings, 37 had the recommended UACR screenings, and just 18 had received the recommended foot exam screenings.
Only blood pressure screenings, reported in 90 of the 121 patients, were up to date in the majority of patients in the group.
In looking at factors associated with compliance with A1c screening, only age (OR, 0.95; P = .04) was a significant predictor.
The authors pointed out that routine screenings for diabetes complications are relatively easy to implement.
“Screening for these chronic complications is minimally invasive and can be provided by individuals trained in diabetes management during routine clinic appointments.”
The team’s ongoing research is evaluating the potential benefits of clinical pharmacy services in assisting with the screenings for patients with HIV.
Research underscoring the increased risk and poorer treatment outcomes of diabetes in people with HIV include a study comparing 337 people with HIV in 2005 with a cohort of 338 participants in 2015.
The study showed the prevalence of type 2 diabetes had increased to 15.1% in 2015 from 6.8% 10 years earlier, for a relative risk of 2.4 compared with the general population.
“The alarmingly high prevalence of type 2 diabetes in HIV requires improved screening, targeted to older patients and those with a longer duration of exposure to antiretrovirals,” the authors wrote.
“Effective diabetes prevention and management strategies are needed urgently to reduce this risk; such interventions should target both conventional risk factors, such as abdominal obesity and HIV-specific risk factors such as weight gain following initiation of antiretrovirals.”
Of note, the 2015 cohort was significantly older and had higher BMI and higher hypertension than the 2005 cohort.
First author Alastair Duncan, PhD, principal dietitian at Guy’s & St. Thomas’ Hospital and lecturer, King’s College London, noted that since that 2015 study was published, concerns particularly with weight gain in the HIV population have only increased.
“Weight gain appears to be more of an issue [now],” he told this news organization in an interview.
“As in the general population, people living with HIV experienced significant weight gain during COVID-related lockdowns. Added to the high number of people living with HIV being treated with integrase inhibitors, weight gain remains a challenge.”
Meanwhile, “there are not enough studies comparing people living with HIV with the general population,” Dr. Duncan added. “We need to conduct studies where participants are matched.”
Sudipa Sarkar, MD, who co-authored a report on the issue of diabetes and HIV this year but was not involved in the study presented at USCHA, noted that the setting of care could play an important role in the quality of screening for diabetes that people with HIV receive.
“It may depend on factors such as whether a patient is being followed regularly by an HIV care provider and the larger health care system that the patient is in,” Dr. Sarkar, an assistant professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism, told this news organization.
“For example, one might find differences between a patient being seen in a managed care group versus not.”
The issue of how the strikingly high rates of inadequate screening in the current study compare with routine screening in the general diabetes population “is a good question and warrants more research,” she said.
The authors and Dr. Sarkar have disclosed no relevant financial relationships.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.
Sacituzumab govitecan effective in Black mTNBC patients
, shows a prespecified analysis of ASCENT.
A heterogenous disease with few treatment options and poor outcomes, mTNBC has an incidence rate twice as high in Black as in White women.
Black women with mTNBC may also experience worse outcomes than other groups, with a greater risk of mortality related to disparities in access to health care and in income, delays in treatment, a higher prevalence of comorbidities, and differences in tumor biology.
Previously presented data from the phase 3 ASCENT trial showed that SG nearly doubled overall survival versus single-agent chemotherapy in pretreated women with mTNBC, with the benefit observed across patient subgroups.
Based on these findings, the Food and Drug Administration approved SG for patients with mTNBC who have received at least two prior chemotherapies, at least one of which is to have been given in the metastatic setting.
Now, an analysis of the ASCENT data in just over 60 Black women with mTNBC showed that they can expect to see their progression-free survival (PFS) improve by 56% and their overall survival increase by a nonsignificant 36% when given SG as opposed to single-agent chemotherapy.
The research (abstract P5-16-07) was presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium on Dec. 10.
The team says that Black women with mTNBC “derived a similar clinical benefit” from SG versus chemotherapy to other women in the study, and had a “manageable” safety profile, which was “consistent with the full trial population.”
Consequently, SG “should be considered a treatment option for Black patients with mTNBC who have received ≥ 2 prior chemotherapies,” at least one of which having been given in the metastatic setting.
Lead researcher Lisa A. Carey, MD, told this news organiztion that it is “very important” to show that the drug works in Black patients, adding: “We know that certain drugs don’t perform so well and it’s also true that people of color are particularly affected by TNBC.”
She said there were “only 62” Black patients in ASCENT, “so if you look at the entire trial and make assumptions that the drug performs the same in all the subsets, then sometimes you’re wrong.”
Dr. Carey, the Richardson and Marilyn Jacobs Preyer Distinguished Professor in Breast Cancer Research, UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, Chapel Hill, N.C., said there is “emerging interest” in racial disparities in cancer outcomes.
“Black patients have more trouble with access to care,” she said, noting that “in trial populations, [the outcomes] generally seem similar because the patients who go onto the trials tend to be those that can participate, but you never know until you look.”
Overall, Dr. Carey said the current results suggest that, “at least from the standpoint of the therapeutic implications of this drug – which is really a pretty remarkable drug in the overall study – it behaves very similarly in this group.”
Jennifer K. Litton, MD, vice president of clinical research at University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, said: “We have known that minority patients, especially Black patients, have a higher rate of triple negative breast cancer and aggressive biologies, and have had worse breast cancer outcomes in many published series.”
She told this news organization that, “additionally, they are often underrepresented in breast cancer clinical trials.”
Dr. Litton said “the very favorable outcomes” reported in “this important subset of patients who participated in the ASCENT trial” confirm the use of SG in patients with mTNBC.
To examine the clinical outcomes of Black patients in the ASCENT study, the team conduced a prespecified analysis of participants self-reporting Black race who had been randomized to SG or single-agent chemotherapy of physician’s choice, including those with and without brain metastases.
Of the 529 patients enrolled to ASCENT, 62 (12%) were Black, of whom 28 were assigned to SG and 34 to single agent chemotherapy. The two groups were generally well balanced, although six patients in the chemotherapy arm had known brain metastases at baseline versus none of those given SG.
After a median treatment duration of 5.3 months with SG and 1.6 months for single-agent chemotherapy, there was a significant improvement in PFS with SG, at 5.4 months versus 2.2 months for chemotherapy, and a hazard ratio of 0.44 (P = .008).
There was also a nonsignificant improvement in overall survival with SG at 13.8 months versus 8.5 months for chemotherapy, and a hazard ratio of 0.64 (P = .159).
The objective response rate was 32% with SG versus 6% in patients given chemotherapy, while the median duration of response was 9.2 months in the SG arm and not evaluable for chemotherapy.
The researchers note that these efficacy findings were “consistent” with those seen in the full ASCENT study population.
In terms of safety, the most common treatment-related adverse events were neutropenia, seen in 64% of SG and 61% of chemotherapy patients, diarrhea in 64% and 13%, respectively, and fatigue, in 52% and 39%, respectively.
The most common grade ≥3 events were neutropenia, in 48% and 42% of SG and chemotherapy patients, respectively, followed by anemia, in 12% and 6%, respectively, leukopenia in 8% and 16%, respectively, and febrile neutropenia in 8% and 3%, respectively.
No treatment-related deaths occurred in either treatment arm.
Dose reduction due to treatment-emergent adverse events was recorded in 28% of patients receiving SG and 35% of those assigned to single-agent chemotherapy, and discontinuations occurred in 0% and 3%, respectively.
The study was sponsored by Gilead Sciences. Dr. Carey reports research funding from Sanofi, Novartis, Genentech/Roche, and GSK; spouse serves on the board of Falcon Therapeutics.
, shows a prespecified analysis of ASCENT.
A heterogenous disease with few treatment options and poor outcomes, mTNBC has an incidence rate twice as high in Black as in White women.
Black women with mTNBC may also experience worse outcomes than other groups, with a greater risk of mortality related to disparities in access to health care and in income, delays in treatment, a higher prevalence of comorbidities, and differences in tumor biology.
Previously presented data from the phase 3 ASCENT trial showed that SG nearly doubled overall survival versus single-agent chemotherapy in pretreated women with mTNBC, with the benefit observed across patient subgroups.
Based on these findings, the Food and Drug Administration approved SG for patients with mTNBC who have received at least two prior chemotherapies, at least one of which is to have been given in the metastatic setting.
Now, an analysis of the ASCENT data in just over 60 Black women with mTNBC showed that they can expect to see their progression-free survival (PFS) improve by 56% and their overall survival increase by a nonsignificant 36% when given SG as opposed to single-agent chemotherapy.
The research (abstract P5-16-07) was presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium on Dec. 10.
The team says that Black women with mTNBC “derived a similar clinical benefit” from SG versus chemotherapy to other women in the study, and had a “manageable” safety profile, which was “consistent with the full trial population.”
Consequently, SG “should be considered a treatment option for Black patients with mTNBC who have received ≥ 2 prior chemotherapies,” at least one of which having been given in the metastatic setting.
Lead researcher Lisa A. Carey, MD, told this news organiztion that it is “very important” to show that the drug works in Black patients, adding: “We know that certain drugs don’t perform so well and it’s also true that people of color are particularly affected by TNBC.”
She said there were “only 62” Black patients in ASCENT, “so if you look at the entire trial and make assumptions that the drug performs the same in all the subsets, then sometimes you’re wrong.”
Dr. Carey, the Richardson and Marilyn Jacobs Preyer Distinguished Professor in Breast Cancer Research, UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, Chapel Hill, N.C., said there is “emerging interest” in racial disparities in cancer outcomes.
“Black patients have more trouble with access to care,” she said, noting that “in trial populations, [the outcomes] generally seem similar because the patients who go onto the trials tend to be those that can participate, but you never know until you look.”
Overall, Dr. Carey said the current results suggest that, “at least from the standpoint of the therapeutic implications of this drug – which is really a pretty remarkable drug in the overall study – it behaves very similarly in this group.”
Jennifer K. Litton, MD, vice president of clinical research at University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, said: “We have known that minority patients, especially Black patients, have a higher rate of triple negative breast cancer and aggressive biologies, and have had worse breast cancer outcomes in many published series.”
She told this news organization that, “additionally, they are often underrepresented in breast cancer clinical trials.”
Dr. Litton said “the very favorable outcomes” reported in “this important subset of patients who participated in the ASCENT trial” confirm the use of SG in patients with mTNBC.
To examine the clinical outcomes of Black patients in the ASCENT study, the team conduced a prespecified analysis of participants self-reporting Black race who had been randomized to SG or single-agent chemotherapy of physician’s choice, including those with and without brain metastases.
Of the 529 patients enrolled to ASCENT, 62 (12%) were Black, of whom 28 were assigned to SG and 34 to single agent chemotherapy. The two groups were generally well balanced, although six patients in the chemotherapy arm had known brain metastases at baseline versus none of those given SG.
After a median treatment duration of 5.3 months with SG and 1.6 months for single-agent chemotherapy, there was a significant improvement in PFS with SG, at 5.4 months versus 2.2 months for chemotherapy, and a hazard ratio of 0.44 (P = .008).
There was also a nonsignificant improvement in overall survival with SG at 13.8 months versus 8.5 months for chemotherapy, and a hazard ratio of 0.64 (P = .159).
The objective response rate was 32% with SG versus 6% in patients given chemotherapy, while the median duration of response was 9.2 months in the SG arm and not evaluable for chemotherapy.
The researchers note that these efficacy findings were “consistent” with those seen in the full ASCENT study population.
In terms of safety, the most common treatment-related adverse events were neutropenia, seen in 64% of SG and 61% of chemotherapy patients, diarrhea in 64% and 13%, respectively, and fatigue, in 52% and 39%, respectively.
The most common grade ≥3 events were neutropenia, in 48% and 42% of SG and chemotherapy patients, respectively, followed by anemia, in 12% and 6%, respectively, leukopenia in 8% and 16%, respectively, and febrile neutropenia in 8% and 3%, respectively.
No treatment-related deaths occurred in either treatment arm.
Dose reduction due to treatment-emergent adverse events was recorded in 28% of patients receiving SG and 35% of those assigned to single-agent chemotherapy, and discontinuations occurred in 0% and 3%, respectively.
The study was sponsored by Gilead Sciences. Dr. Carey reports research funding from Sanofi, Novartis, Genentech/Roche, and GSK; spouse serves on the board of Falcon Therapeutics.
, shows a prespecified analysis of ASCENT.
A heterogenous disease with few treatment options and poor outcomes, mTNBC has an incidence rate twice as high in Black as in White women.
Black women with mTNBC may also experience worse outcomes than other groups, with a greater risk of mortality related to disparities in access to health care and in income, delays in treatment, a higher prevalence of comorbidities, and differences in tumor biology.
Previously presented data from the phase 3 ASCENT trial showed that SG nearly doubled overall survival versus single-agent chemotherapy in pretreated women with mTNBC, with the benefit observed across patient subgroups.
Based on these findings, the Food and Drug Administration approved SG for patients with mTNBC who have received at least two prior chemotherapies, at least one of which is to have been given in the metastatic setting.
Now, an analysis of the ASCENT data in just over 60 Black women with mTNBC showed that they can expect to see their progression-free survival (PFS) improve by 56% and their overall survival increase by a nonsignificant 36% when given SG as opposed to single-agent chemotherapy.
The research (abstract P5-16-07) was presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium on Dec. 10.
The team says that Black women with mTNBC “derived a similar clinical benefit” from SG versus chemotherapy to other women in the study, and had a “manageable” safety profile, which was “consistent with the full trial population.”
Consequently, SG “should be considered a treatment option for Black patients with mTNBC who have received ≥ 2 prior chemotherapies,” at least one of which having been given in the metastatic setting.
Lead researcher Lisa A. Carey, MD, told this news organiztion that it is “very important” to show that the drug works in Black patients, adding: “We know that certain drugs don’t perform so well and it’s also true that people of color are particularly affected by TNBC.”
She said there were “only 62” Black patients in ASCENT, “so if you look at the entire trial and make assumptions that the drug performs the same in all the subsets, then sometimes you’re wrong.”
Dr. Carey, the Richardson and Marilyn Jacobs Preyer Distinguished Professor in Breast Cancer Research, UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, Chapel Hill, N.C., said there is “emerging interest” in racial disparities in cancer outcomes.
“Black patients have more trouble with access to care,” she said, noting that “in trial populations, [the outcomes] generally seem similar because the patients who go onto the trials tend to be those that can participate, but you never know until you look.”
Overall, Dr. Carey said the current results suggest that, “at least from the standpoint of the therapeutic implications of this drug – which is really a pretty remarkable drug in the overall study – it behaves very similarly in this group.”
Jennifer K. Litton, MD, vice president of clinical research at University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, said: “We have known that minority patients, especially Black patients, have a higher rate of triple negative breast cancer and aggressive biologies, and have had worse breast cancer outcomes in many published series.”
She told this news organization that, “additionally, they are often underrepresented in breast cancer clinical trials.”
Dr. Litton said “the very favorable outcomes” reported in “this important subset of patients who participated in the ASCENT trial” confirm the use of SG in patients with mTNBC.
To examine the clinical outcomes of Black patients in the ASCENT study, the team conduced a prespecified analysis of participants self-reporting Black race who had been randomized to SG or single-agent chemotherapy of physician’s choice, including those with and without brain metastases.
Of the 529 patients enrolled to ASCENT, 62 (12%) were Black, of whom 28 were assigned to SG and 34 to single agent chemotherapy. The two groups were generally well balanced, although six patients in the chemotherapy arm had known brain metastases at baseline versus none of those given SG.
After a median treatment duration of 5.3 months with SG and 1.6 months for single-agent chemotherapy, there was a significant improvement in PFS with SG, at 5.4 months versus 2.2 months for chemotherapy, and a hazard ratio of 0.44 (P = .008).
There was also a nonsignificant improvement in overall survival with SG at 13.8 months versus 8.5 months for chemotherapy, and a hazard ratio of 0.64 (P = .159).
The objective response rate was 32% with SG versus 6% in patients given chemotherapy, while the median duration of response was 9.2 months in the SG arm and not evaluable for chemotherapy.
The researchers note that these efficacy findings were “consistent” with those seen in the full ASCENT study population.
In terms of safety, the most common treatment-related adverse events were neutropenia, seen in 64% of SG and 61% of chemotherapy patients, diarrhea in 64% and 13%, respectively, and fatigue, in 52% and 39%, respectively.
The most common grade ≥3 events were neutropenia, in 48% and 42% of SG and chemotherapy patients, respectively, followed by anemia, in 12% and 6%, respectively, leukopenia in 8% and 16%, respectively, and febrile neutropenia in 8% and 3%, respectively.
No treatment-related deaths occurred in either treatment arm.
Dose reduction due to treatment-emergent adverse events was recorded in 28% of patients receiving SG and 35% of those assigned to single-agent chemotherapy, and discontinuations occurred in 0% and 3%, respectively.
The study was sponsored by Gilead Sciences. Dr. Carey reports research funding from Sanofi, Novartis, Genentech/Roche, and GSK; spouse serves on the board of Falcon Therapeutics.
FROM SABCS 2021
PD-L1 cutoff for pembrolizumab in mTNBC confirmed
recently presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
Patients enrolled in KEYNOTE-355 – which is a phase 3, placebo-controlled trial of 847 patients – were stratified by CPS scores of at least 1 and at least 10, with the latter group in which adding pembrolizumab to chemotherapy was shown to significantly improve both overall survival and progression-free survival.
As it was unclear whether taking a more fine-grained approach would reveal specific CPS scores at which pembrolizumab would be beneficial, Javier Cortes, MD, PhD, International Breast Cancer Center, Barcelona, and colleagues divided the patients into four CPS levels: less than 1, 1-9, 10-19, and at least 20.
Patients with a CPS 10-19 and at least 20 given pembrolizumab alongside chemotherapy had an overall survival benefit of 29% and 28%, respectively, while the PFS improvement was 30% and 38%. In the CPS of less than 1 and 1-9 groups, there were no discernible benefits from adding the checkpoint inhibitor.
“Given the similar outcomes in the CPS 10-19 and the CPS ≥20 subgroups, a CPS of 10 or more is a reasonable cutoff to define the population of patients with metastatic TNBC that might have benefit from the addition of pembrolizumab to chemotherapy,” Dr. Cortes said. “In my opinion, these results provide further support for pembrolizumab in combination with chemotherapy as a good option, maybe a standard of care for some patients ... with local recurrent unresectable or metastatic TNBC whose tumors express PD-1 CPS ≥10.”
Invited discussant Hope S. Rugo, MD, said the study demonstrates that PD-L1 CPS of at least 10 is “clearly the optimal cutoff for differentiating benefit from pembrolizumab” and confirms the combination with chemotherapy as a “standard of care in this population”.
However, there are a number of outstanding questions in the metastatic setting, she said, including the test used to determine PD-L1 expression.
“Clearly the test that you order should be matched to the planned checkpoint inhibitor, and we look forward to additional data” on the relative overlap of the assays used in both the current study and in KEYNOTE-522.
However, IMpassion130 showed there is “incomplete overlap in terms of the two antibodies and tests that have been used to define PD-L1 positivity in breast cancer,” said Dr. Rugo, professor of medicine in hematology and oncology at the University of California, San Francisco.
“For excellent responders, can chemotherapy and eventually immunotherapy be discontinued, and when is it optimal? How long should we be continuing the combination and how long should we continue the checkpoint inhibitor alone?” she asked.
“Certainly in my own clinical practice,” Dr. Rugo explained, “in those excellent responders, it’s difficult to know when to stop the checkpoint inhibitor, but sometimes toxicity tells us the answer to that question. At some point, we need to stop therapy and understand what happens to those patients.”
She said that only 38% of patients in the current study benefited from pembrolizumab. “How can we amplify the immune response in those patients who do not have PD-L1–positive disease to further extend this benefit, and can we extend the efficacy to other subtypes? There are ongoing studies evaluating this question,” Dr. Rugo said.
Dr. Cortes said that KEYNOTE-355 showed the addition of pembrolizumab to chemotherapy led to clinically meaningful improvements in both PFS and overall survival versus chemotherapy alone in the first-line treatment of mTNBC.
However, that benefit was seen only in patients with a PD-L1 CPS of at least 10, while there was no statistically significant improvement in either PFS or overall survival in those with a CPS of at least 1.
He explained that 847 patients with previously untreated locally recurrent or metastatic TNBC, or those who had been treated at least 6 months prior to disease recurrence, were randomized 2:1 to pembrolizumab or placebo plus chemotherapy.
For the current analysis, they substratified patients by PD-L1 CPS into less than 1, which accounted for 24.9% of patients; 1-9, seen in 36.2%-38.4%; 10-19, accounting for 13.9%-14.1%; and at least 20, seen in 22.8%-24.7% of patients.
Dr. Cortes said the overall survival rate among patients with CPS of at least 10 was 70.5% for patients treated with pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy versus 81.6% for those assigned to placebo, at a significant hazard ratio of 0.73 (P = .0093).
Among patients with CPS of at least 1, the overall survival rate was 79.1% with pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy and 83.9% in those given placebo, at a nonsignificant hazard ratio of 0.86. This translated into an HR of 0.89 in the intention-to-treat analysis.
Turning to the novel subgroups, Dr. Cortes showed that the HR for overall survival for pembrolizumab versus placebo was nonsignificant in patients with CPS of at least 1, at 0.97, and in those with CPS 1-9, at 1.09.
However, the HRs were markedly improved in patients with CPD 10-19, at 0.71, and in those with CPS of at least 20, at 0.72, showing that the “relative benefit of adding pembrolizumab to chemotherapy was pretty much the same ... suggesting that CPS ≥10 could be a reasonable cutoff.”
In both of these groups, there was a sustained separation in the overall survival curves starting at around 10 months.
Turning to the PFS results, Dr Cortes said the event-free rate was 65.5% with the addition of pembrolizumab to chemotherapy in patients with PD-L1 CPS of at least 10, while those given placebo had a rate of 78.6%, at an HR of 0.66.
In patients with PD-L1 CPS of at least 1, the HR was 0.75, or 0.82 in the intention-to-treat analysis.
“As with overall survival,” he said, there was a “trend toward improved efficacy with PD-L1 enrichment with the addition of pembrolizumab to chemotherapy, although the PFS benefit in the pembro arm was slightly greater in the CPS ≥20 subgroup, compared to the CPS 10-19 subgroup.”
However, they highlighted that the difference was “small and the confidence intervals clearly overlapped.”
Why does PD-L1 expression play a role in response to pembrolizumab in mTNBC, but not in the early disease setting as seen in KEYNOTE-522?
“This is a question we have raised many, many times and have had many debates on,” Dr. Cortes said. “They are two completely different populations with the early breast cancer setting completely different to that in metastatic disease. Maybe the microenvironment plays a different role there, maybe we have to explore more in detail other biomarkers. I also think that different drugs were used in the neoadjuvant setting. We still have many unanswered questions.”
Dr. Rugo suggested that previous studies have given some clues to these questions with reductions in PD-L1 expression and tumor-infiltrating leukocytes observed between primary and metastatic disease.
The immune differences between primary and metastatic disease lead to immune escape, she said, adding: “This is clearly complicated by mutational complexity under the pressure of treatment.”
The study was funded by Merck Sharp and Dohme. Dr. Cortes and Dr. Rugo reported relationships with numerous pharmaceutical companies.
recently presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
Patients enrolled in KEYNOTE-355 – which is a phase 3, placebo-controlled trial of 847 patients – were stratified by CPS scores of at least 1 and at least 10, with the latter group in which adding pembrolizumab to chemotherapy was shown to significantly improve both overall survival and progression-free survival.
As it was unclear whether taking a more fine-grained approach would reveal specific CPS scores at which pembrolizumab would be beneficial, Javier Cortes, MD, PhD, International Breast Cancer Center, Barcelona, and colleagues divided the patients into four CPS levels: less than 1, 1-9, 10-19, and at least 20.
Patients with a CPS 10-19 and at least 20 given pembrolizumab alongside chemotherapy had an overall survival benefit of 29% and 28%, respectively, while the PFS improvement was 30% and 38%. In the CPS of less than 1 and 1-9 groups, there were no discernible benefits from adding the checkpoint inhibitor.
“Given the similar outcomes in the CPS 10-19 and the CPS ≥20 subgroups, a CPS of 10 or more is a reasonable cutoff to define the population of patients with metastatic TNBC that might have benefit from the addition of pembrolizumab to chemotherapy,” Dr. Cortes said. “In my opinion, these results provide further support for pembrolizumab in combination with chemotherapy as a good option, maybe a standard of care for some patients ... with local recurrent unresectable or metastatic TNBC whose tumors express PD-1 CPS ≥10.”
Invited discussant Hope S. Rugo, MD, said the study demonstrates that PD-L1 CPS of at least 10 is “clearly the optimal cutoff for differentiating benefit from pembrolizumab” and confirms the combination with chemotherapy as a “standard of care in this population”.
However, there are a number of outstanding questions in the metastatic setting, she said, including the test used to determine PD-L1 expression.
“Clearly the test that you order should be matched to the planned checkpoint inhibitor, and we look forward to additional data” on the relative overlap of the assays used in both the current study and in KEYNOTE-522.
However, IMpassion130 showed there is “incomplete overlap in terms of the two antibodies and tests that have been used to define PD-L1 positivity in breast cancer,” said Dr. Rugo, professor of medicine in hematology and oncology at the University of California, San Francisco.
“For excellent responders, can chemotherapy and eventually immunotherapy be discontinued, and when is it optimal? How long should we be continuing the combination and how long should we continue the checkpoint inhibitor alone?” she asked.
“Certainly in my own clinical practice,” Dr. Rugo explained, “in those excellent responders, it’s difficult to know when to stop the checkpoint inhibitor, but sometimes toxicity tells us the answer to that question. At some point, we need to stop therapy and understand what happens to those patients.”
She said that only 38% of patients in the current study benefited from pembrolizumab. “How can we amplify the immune response in those patients who do not have PD-L1–positive disease to further extend this benefit, and can we extend the efficacy to other subtypes? There are ongoing studies evaluating this question,” Dr. Rugo said.
Dr. Cortes said that KEYNOTE-355 showed the addition of pembrolizumab to chemotherapy led to clinically meaningful improvements in both PFS and overall survival versus chemotherapy alone in the first-line treatment of mTNBC.
However, that benefit was seen only in patients with a PD-L1 CPS of at least 10, while there was no statistically significant improvement in either PFS or overall survival in those with a CPS of at least 1.
He explained that 847 patients with previously untreated locally recurrent or metastatic TNBC, or those who had been treated at least 6 months prior to disease recurrence, were randomized 2:1 to pembrolizumab or placebo plus chemotherapy.
For the current analysis, they substratified patients by PD-L1 CPS into less than 1, which accounted for 24.9% of patients; 1-9, seen in 36.2%-38.4%; 10-19, accounting for 13.9%-14.1%; and at least 20, seen in 22.8%-24.7% of patients.
Dr. Cortes said the overall survival rate among patients with CPS of at least 10 was 70.5% for patients treated with pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy versus 81.6% for those assigned to placebo, at a significant hazard ratio of 0.73 (P = .0093).
Among patients with CPS of at least 1, the overall survival rate was 79.1% with pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy and 83.9% in those given placebo, at a nonsignificant hazard ratio of 0.86. This translated into an HR of 0.89 in the intention-to-treat analysis.
Turning to the novel subgroups, Dr. Cortes showed that the HR for overall survival for pembrolizumab versus placebo was nonsignificant in patients with CPS of at least 1, at 0.97, and in those with CPS 1-9, at 1.09.
However, the HRs were markedly improved in patients with CPD 10-19, at 0.71, and in those with CPS of at least 20, at 0.72, showing that the “relative benefit of adding pembrolizumab to chemotherapy was pretty much the same ... suggesting that CPS ≥10 could be a reasonable cutoff.”
In both of these groups, there was a sustained separation in the overall survival curves starting at around 10 months.
Turning to the PFS results, Dr Cortes said the event-free rate was 65.5% with the addition of pembrolizumab to chemotherapy in patients with PD-L1 CPS of at least 10, while those given placebo had a rate of 78.6%, at an HR of 0.66.
In patients with PD-L1 CPS of at least 1, the HR was 0.75, or 0.82 in the intention-to-treat analysis.
“As with overall survival,” he said, there was a “trend toward improved efficacy with PD-L1 enrichment with the addition of pembrolizumab to chemotherapy, although the PFS benefit in the pembro arm was slightly greater in the CPS ≥20 subgroup, compared to the CPS 10-19 subgroup.”
However, they highlighted that the difference was “small and the confidence intervals clearly overlapped.”
Why does PD-L1 expression play a role in response to pembrolizumab in mTNBC, but not in the early disease setting as seen in KEYNOTE-522?
“This is a question we have raised many, many times and have had many debates on,” Dr. Cortes said. “They are two completely different populations with the early breast cancer setting completely different to that in metastatic disease. Maybe the microenvironment plays a different role there, maybe we have to explore more in detail other biomarkers. I also think that different drugs were used in the neoadjuvant setting. We still have many unanswered questions.”
Dr. Rugo suggested that previous studies have given some clues to these questions with reductions in PD-L1 expression and tumor-infiltrating leukocytes observed between primary and metastatic disease.
The immune differences between primary and metastatic disease lead to immune escape, she said, adding: “This is clearly complicated by mutational complexity under the pressure of treatment.”
The study was funded by Merck Sharp and Dohme. Dr. Cortes and Dr. Rugo reported relationships with numerous pharmaceutical companies.
recently presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
Patients enrolled in KEYNOTE-355 – which is a phase 3, placebo-controlled trial of 847 patients – were stratified by CPS scores of at least 1 and at least 10, with the latter group in which adding pembrolizumab to chemotherapy was shown to significantly improve both overall survival and progression-free survival.
As it was unclear whether taking a more fine-grained approach would reveal specific CPS scores at which pembrolizumab would be beneficial, Javier Cortes, MD, PhD, International Breast Cancer Center, Barcelona, and colleagues divided the patients into four CPS levels: less than 1, 1-9, 10-19, and at least 20.
Patients with a CPS 10-19 and at least 20 given pembrolizumab alongside chemotherapy had an overall survival benefit of 29% and 28%, respectively, while the PFS improvement was 30% and 38%. In the CPS of less than 1 and 1-9 groups, there were no discernible benefits from adding the checkpoint inhibitor.
“Given the similar outcomes in the CPS 10-19 and the CPS ≥20 subgroups, a CPS of 10 or more is a reasonable cutoff to define the population of patients with metastatic TNBC that might have benefit from the addition of pembrolizumab to chemotherapy,” Dr. Cortes said. “In my opinion, these results provide further support for pembrolizumab in combination with chemotherapy as a good option, maybe a standard of care for some patients ... with local recurrent unresectable or metastatic TNBC whose tumors express PD-1 CPS ≥10.”
Invited discussant Hope S. Rugo, MD, said the study demonstrates that PD-L1 CPS of at least 10 is “clearly the optimal cutoff for differentiating benefit from pembrolizumab” and confirms the combination with chemotherapy as a “standard of care in this population”.
However, there are a number of outstanding questions in the metastatic setting, she said, including the test used to determine PD-L1 expression.
“Clearly the test that you order should be matched to the planned checkpoint inhibitor, and we look forward to additional data” on the relative overlap of the assays used in both the current study and in KEYNOTE-522.
However, IMpassion130 showed there is “incomplete overlap in terms of the two antibodies and tests that have been used to define PD-L1 positivity in breast cancer,” said Dr. Rugo, professor of medicine in hematology and oncology at the University of California, San Francisco.
“For excellent responders, can chemotherapy and eventually immunotherapy be discontinued, and when is it optimal? How long should we be continuing the combination and how long should we continue the checkpoint inhibitor alone?” she asked.
“Certainly in my own clinical practice,” Dr. Rugo explained, “in those excellent responders, it’s difficult to know when to stop the checkpoint inhibitor, but sometimes toxicity tells us the answer to that question. At some point, we need to stop therapy and understand what happens to those patients.”
She said that only 38% of patients in the current study benefited from pembrolizumab. “How can we amplify the immune response in those patients who do not have PD-L1–positive disease to further extend this benefit, and can we extend the efficacy to other subtypes? There are ongoing studies evaluating this question,” Dr. Rugo said.
Dr. Cortes said that KEYNOTE-355 showed the addition of pembrolizumab to chemotherapy led to clinically meaningful improvements in both PFS and overall survival versus chemotherapy alone in the first-line treatment of mTNBC.
However, that benefit was seen only in patients with a PD-L1 CPS of at least 10, while there was no statistically significant improvement in either PFS or overall survival in those with a CPS of at least 1.
He explained that 847 patients with previously untreated locally recurrent or metastatic TNBC, or those who had been treated at least 6 months prior to disease recurrence, were randomized 2:1 to pembrolizumab or placebo plus chemotherapy.
For the current analysis, they substratified patients by PD-L1 CPS into less than 1, which accounted for 24.9% of patients; 1-9, seen in 36.2%-38.4%; 10-19, accounting for 13.9%-14.1%; and at least 20, seen in 22.8%-24.7% of patients.
Dr. Cortes said the overall survival rate among patients with CPS of at least 10 was 70.5% for patients treated with pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy versus 81.6% for those assigned to placebo, at a significant hazard ratio of 0.73 (P = .0093).
Among patients with CPS of at least 1, the overall survival rate was 79.1% with pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy and 83.9% in those given placebo, at a nonsignificant hazard ratio of 0.86. This translated into an HR of 0.89 in the intention-to-treat analysis.
Turning to the novel subgroups, Dr. Cortes showed that the HR for overall survival for pembrolizumab versus placebo was nonsignificant in patients with CPS of at least 1, at 0.97, and in those with CPS 1-9, at 1.09.
However, the HRs were markedly improved in patients with CPD 10-19, at 0.71, and in those with CPS of at least 20, at 0.72, showing that the “relative benefit of adding pembrolizumab to chemotherapy was pretty much the same ... suggesting that CPS ≥10 could be a reasonable cutoff.”
In both of these groups, there was a sustained separation in the overall survival curves starting at around 10 months.
Turning to the PFS results, Dr Cortes said the event-free rate was 65.5% with the addition of pembrolizumab to chemotherapy in patients with PD-L1 CPS of at least 10, while those given placebo had a rate of 78.6%, at an HR of 0.66.
In patients with PD-L1 CPS of at least 1, the HR was 0.75, or 0.82 in the intention-to-treat analysis.
“As with overall survival,” he said, there was a “trend toward improved efficacy with PD-L1 enrichment with the addition of pembrolizumab to chemotherapy, although the PFS benefit in the pembro arm was slightly greater in the CPS ≥20 subgroup, compared to the CPS 10-19 subgroup.”
However, they highlighted that the difference was “small and the confidence intervals clearly overlapped.”
Why does PD-L1 expression play a role in response to pembrolizumab in mTNBC, but not in the early disease setting as seen in KEYNOTE-522?
“This is a question we have raised many, many times and have had many debates on,” Dr. Cortes said. “They are two completely different populations with the early breast cancer setting completely different to that in metastatic disease. Maybe the microenvironment plays a different role there, maybe we have to explore more in detail other biomarkers. I also think that different drugs were used in the neoadjuvant setting. We still have many unanswered questions.”
Dr. Rugo suggested that previous studies have given some clues to these questions with reductions in PD-L1 expression and tumor-infiltrating leukocytes observed between primary and metastatic disease.
The immune differences between primary and metastatic disease lead to immune escape, she said, adding: “This is clearly complicated by mutational complexity under the pressure of treatment.”
The study was funded by Merck Sharp and Dohme. Dr. Cortes and Dr. Rugo reported relationships with numerous pharmaceutical companies.
FROM SABCS 2021