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Respirology
Top Medical News
Maintaining good cardiovascular health (CVH) can help avert incident adult-onset asthma (AOA) regardless of a person’s asthma genetic risks, according to a study.
In critically ill patients who have been on invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) for at least 3 days, a subsequent 3-day course of preventive inhaled amikacin reduced the burden of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) during 28 days of follow-up, findings from the AMIKINHAL trial have shown.
Dietary nitrate supplementation for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) appears to lead to better exercise capacity, according to a study.
Adding clarithromycin to standard of care appears to improve clinical response and reduce inflammation in patients with community-acquired pneumonia, as reported in the phase III ACCESS trial.
Treatment with tiotropium appears to reduce the risk of clinically important deterioration (CID) in patients with mild-to-moderate chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), including those with fewer respiratory symptoms, according to a study.
Adjuvant treatment with alectinib, an anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) inhibitor, significantly improved disease-free survival (DFS) better than platinum-based chemotherapy at 2 years in Asian patients with early-stage, completely resected ALK-positive non–small cell lung cancer (ALK+ NSCLC) in an exploratory analysis of the phase III ALINA trial.
A prospective study from Singapore provides evidence of the clinical effectiveness of mRNA-based vaccines against COVID-19 in individuals with cancer.
Special Reports
Eosinophilic disorders, such as eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA) and hypereosinophilic syndrome (HES), often necessitate the use of corticosteroids due to diverse signs and symptoms. However, long-term corticosteroid use is associated with various complications. Patients with poor response to corticosteroids may experience disease recurrence. At an industry-sponsored symposium jointly organized by the Hong Kong Society of Rheumatology and the Hong Kong Thoracic Society, experts shared insights on multidisciplinary team management of eosinophilic disorders and discussed clinical evidence supporting the use of add-on medications, such as mepolizumab, in EGPA and HES.
Budesonide 160 mcg, glycopyrronium 7.2 mcg, formoterol fumarate dihydrate 5 mcg inhalation suspension
Eosinophilic chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) is a subtype of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) characterized by local eosinophilic inflammation. Patients with CRSwNP often require multiple nasal surgeries despite repeated use of antibiotics and systemic corticosteroids and long-term use of intranasal corticosteroids with saline nasal rinse. At a symposium organized by the Hong Kong College of Otorhinolaryngologists, Dr Narinder Singh of the Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery Department of the University of Sydney, Australia, discussed the pathogenesis of CRSwNP and the use of mepolizumab in improving outcomes in CRSwNP. Dr A B John, Specialist in Otorhinolaryngology in private practice in Singapore, shared clinical experience and insights in CRSwNP treatment with mepolizumab.
At a symposium hosted by AstraZeneca on 20 April 2023, a panel of
distinguished experts discussed the latest developments in the
management of early-stage epidermal growth factor receptor
(EGFR)–mutated (EGFRm) non–small–cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Speakers
included Dr Vincent Ng, who highlighted the advances in surgical
interventions, and Professor Masahiro Tsuboi, who addressed unmet
clinical needs in early-stage EGFRm NSCLC and potential solutions such as
osimertinib as an adjuvant treatment. The symposium featured a lively
debate on the utility of disease-free survival (DFS) as a surrogate
endpoint and concluded with an informative panel discussion.
A 64-year-old Chinese woman with hyperlipidaemia was diagnosed with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in June 2020. She had a 2.2 cm lesion in the right lower lobe of the lung.
A 75-year-old male with shortness of breath and mild chronic cough was admitted to hospital in September 2022. He had multiple comorbidities, including diabetes, fatty liver, hypertensive nephropathy, postinfectious pulmonary fibrosis, and haemolytic anaemia (managed with azathioprine). Upon admission, the patient was not experiencing anorexia or weight loss, and his Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (ECOG PS) was 0. (Table 1)
Patients hospitalized for acute heart failure (HF) have high risks of readmission and mortality in the first few months after discharge. At Advances in Medicine (AIM) 2023, Professor Christiane Angermann of Comprehensive Heart Failure Centre, University Hospital of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany, discussed recent evidence supporting in-hospital initiation of guideline-directed medical therapies (GDMT) in patients hospitalized for acute HF, focusing on clinical benefits of a sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor, empagliflozin, demonstrated in the EMPULSE trial.
Conference Reports
Adjuvant treatment with alectinib, an anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) inhibitor, significantly improved disease-free survival (DFS) better than platinum-based chemotherapy at 2 years in Asian patients with early-stage, completely resected ALK-positive non–small cell lung cancer (ALK+ NSCLC) in an exploratory analysis of the phase III ALINA trial.
In the first-line treatment of locally advanced or metastatic nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with EGFR exon 20 insertion (ex20ins) mutations, the investigational mobocertinib is safe and efficacious but not necessarily better than platinum-based chemotherapy, according to the phase III EXCLAIM-2 trial.
Updates from two MARIPOSA trials presented at ESMO Asia 2023 underpin the potential of amivantamab-based regimens for the treatment of locally advanced or metastatic EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung cancer (EGFRm NSCLC) in Asian subgroups.
The world is out of the pandemic, but several subvariants of Omicron are still evolving, says Dr Adrian Chan, respiratory physician and intensivist at Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital, Singapore, during his talk at APSR 2023.
Treatment with the investigational, oral Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor remibrutinib improves symptoms in patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) inadequately controlled on antihistamines, the phase III REMIX-1 and -2 studies have shown.
Treatment with dupilumab reduces the use of systemic corticosteroids (SCS) in children with moderate-to-severe asthma, regardless of exacerbation history, according to a post hoc analysis of the VOYAGE and EXCURSION trials presented at APSR 2023.
Asthma is a highly prevalent disease that can affect anybody regardless of age, race, and location. The overall burden of asthma remains severe. Despite the range of available therapies and well-established guidelines, there remains a significant unmet need in the management of asthma. [BMC Public Health 2012;12:860; Respir Res 2023;24:169; Eur Respir J 2014;43:343-373]
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