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This story was updated in February 2022 to show that this original story, published in October 2020, is out of date, and adds new information.

The use of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) equations in assessing chronic kidney disease (CKD) for Black patients may lead to underdiagnosis and undertreatment, according to a nephrologist speaking at Kidney Week.

Several symptoms patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) experience are approved indications for medical cannabis, said Joshua L Rein, DO, FASN, a nephrologist at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City.

Initial preliminary efficacy and safety data are expected sometime next year, stated Aditya Bardia, MBBS, MPH, breast medical oncologist, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School.

Every week, The American Journal of Managed Care® recaps the top managed care news of the week, and you can now listen to it on our podcast, Managed Care Cast.

Andre Goy, MD, chairman, director, and chief of the Division of Lymphoma at John Theurer Cancer Center in Hackensack, NJ, discussed the potential benefits of using CAR T-cell therapies as a second-line treatment.

In reviewing the previous literature on health disparities in kidney disease, there is not a lot described in patients with kidney pathologies outside of ESKD and dialysis, said Jill Krissberg, MD, a pediatric nephrology fellow at Stanford University School of Medicine.

After conducting further genome-wide association studies (GWAS), we will be able to inform communities about the potential implications of gene expression in their kidneys, said Adriana Hung, MD, MPH, associate professor of medicine at Vanderbilt University in an interview with Bryce Rowan, a statistical genetic analyst.

Additional studies about roxadustat, a drug in the new class of hypoxia-inducible factor stabilizers, were released during Kidney Week; one of them explored its role in lowering cholesterol in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and anemia.

New results from EMPEROR-Reduced presented at Kidney Week 2020.

The decision to go on dialysis is often automatic, but using a shared decision-making process reduces the chance that a patient will regret it later.

In the first wave of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, patients with axial spondyloarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and psoriatic arthritis didn’t have an increase in disease activity despite an interruption in in-person interactions.

Aligned with recommendations published through the Choosing Wisely Campaign, pediatric sleep studies should be performed and interpreted according to pediatric, not adult, standards.

People who experience acute kidney injuries (AKIs) in the hospital have higher rates of cardiac disease and death compared with those who have been discharged, said Benjamin Griffin, MD, a nephrologist and assistant professor of internal medicine at the University of Iowa.

Their study outlines several treatments being investigated for the treatment of patients with myelofibrosis and other myeloproliferative neoplasms, generally after they have become resistant or intolerant to Janus kinase inhibition.

Finerenone slowed chronic kidney disease (CKD) progression by 18% and cut cardiovascular (CV) events by 14%, according to phase 3 trial results.

High incidence of kidney failure in minority groups can be attributed to faster progression of kidney function decline in these populations, said Guofen Yan, PhD, associate professor of biostatistics in the department of public health sciences at the University of Virginia School of Medicine.

While sickle cell disease is not prevalent in the general population, the significant cost associated with the condition warrants action from payers and formulary decision makers to improve patient access and align cost with their budgetary goals.

Despite the benefits of switching to a different mode of action in the second line, almost half of patients with rheumatoid arthritis were cycled to a second tumor necrosis factor inhibitor.

In her presentation, Aimee Tharaldson, PhD, senior clinical pharmacist of emerging therapeutics at Express Scripts, discussed the upcoming pipeline of specialty drug approvals and their potential impact on the market.

In the current pipeline of specialty medications seeking approval, a majority of development lies within orphan drugs and cancer medications, said Aimee Tharaldson, PharmD, of Express Scripts.

The study describes how RNA sequencing and DNA sequencing for selected genes were performed simultaneously to evaluate gene expression and alterations in order to predict tumor origin.

A new study is underscoring the importance of diagnostic testing for patients with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) to ensure early diagnosis of the disease.

Heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) is when the heart’s left ventricle can only pump out 40% or less of the blood it contains, resulting in less oxygen-rich blood being disseminated to the body than it actually needs.

New findings from a small study are suggesting that time to leukemic transformation may be driven by distinct time-dependent molecular mechanisms.

The investigational drug finerenone met its primary endpoint in FIDELIO-DKD of slowing progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in patients with type 2 diabetes and CKD, said Rajiv Agarwal, MD, MS, FASN, a professor of medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine and a staff physician at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy does not always lead to a durable response, and we are trying to figure out why, noted Michael R. Green, PhD, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

The pressure on state budgets exerted by new approvals of costly therapeutics has led many states to implement legislation aimed at regulating drug prices, but the success of these efforts is not uniform across the nation.

Michael Abrams, MA, is the co-founder and managing partner of Numerof & Associates, a firm that helps businesses across the health care sector define and implement strategies for winning in dynamic markets.

The FDA has approved Gilead’s remdesivir; presidential nominees debate health care reforms; US endorses international antiabortion declaration.