Clinical

Accountable care organizations (ACOs) in the Medicare Shared Savings Program vary considerably in how they treat men with newly diagnosed prostate cancer, according to a study that assessed whether the level of engagement in ACOs by urologists could affect rates of treatment, overtreatment, and spending in prostate cancer care.

Major discoveries only happen when there is funding for fundamental science, said James Allison, PhD, chair of the Department of Immunology, the Vivian L. Smith Distinguished Chair in Immunology, director of the Parker Institute for Cancer Research, executive director of the Immunotherapy Platform at MD Anderson Cancer Center, and 2018 Nobel Prize cowinner in Medicine. He explained that he never would have discovered how to use the CTLA-4 protein to treat cancer if he hadn’t been trying to understand the mechanisms of T-cell activation.

The first drug specifically to treat patients with Mycobacterium avium complex, a rare and chronic lung disease, has been approved by the FDA. Arikayce is also the first drug to be approved under the Limited Population Pathway for Antibacterial and Antifungal Drugs, established under the 21st Century Cures Act.

Antibiotic treatment may be a feasible alternative to surgery for uncomplicated acute appendicitis, according to findings from a 5-year observational follow-up study that compared appendectomy with antibiotic treatment.

In a review of sex hormones and their role in the development of multiple sclerosis (MS), Ysrraelit and Correale compiled multiple references to provide clinical details regarding hormones and their respective immunological mechanisms.

There are a growing number of diabetes therapies, which has led to the need to individualize choices based on patient profile, said Robert A. Gabbay, MD, PhD, FACP, senior vice president and chief medical officer of Joslin Diabetes Center.

Assessing a patient’s understanding of his or her own illness is important as cancer treatments become more and more complex, said Denalee O’Malley, PhD, LSW, instructor, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

Better care for high-need, high-cost patients will require targeted care delivery models based on integrated data networks that include clinical, genomic, and social information. Check out our website’s new table/figure pop-up feature! Click on the name of a table or figure in the text to see it in your browser.

Amgen has submitted a supplemental New Drug Application to the FDA to expand the prescribing information of carfilzomib (Kyprolis) to include a once-weekly dosing option in combination with dexamethasone for patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.

Fragility fractures are a serious complication of type 1 and type 2 diabetes, but many clinicians who treat patients with diabetes are not aware of the increased risk of these fractures.

A substantial number of prescribers did not regard nonselective beta blockers as contraindicated, suggesting the need for improvement programs that target the prescribers’ awareness and knowledge.

A new study aimed to assess the prevalence of allergic sensitization, asthma, eczema, and hay fever from infancy to adulthood, finding that patterns of atopic disorders vary throughout childhood.