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The malaria drug hydroxychloroquine failed to protect healthcare workers caring for COVID-19 patients from becoming infected themselves, according to results of a formal, placebo-controlled trial published in Clinical Infectious Diseases. The 1,483 participants worked in emergency departments, intensive care units, and other high-risk sites in the United States and the Canadian province of Manitoba. They… Read More »Hydroxychloroquine Fails to Protect Medical Workers

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has added 25 drugs or drug classes to its quarterly list of agents in which it has found a potential sign of serious risk or new safety information. The new list, created from the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS), covers April through June, and is current as of October… Read More »25 Drugs, Drug Classes Added to FDA’s Safety Signal List

(Tazverik) showed potential for improving outcomes for patients with advanced or metastatic epithelioid sarcoma and also yielded clinically meaningful responses in heavily pretreated patients with follicular lymphoma. The findings come from two open-label, single-arm, phase 2 trials that led to the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) recent accelerated approval for the indications. Tazemetostat is a… Read More »First-in-Class Oral EZH2 Inhibitor Effective in Two Cancers

With the world facing the COVID19 pandemic, washing hands and maintaining hand hygiene has become all the more important and need of the hour. It is also one of the cheapest and easiest ways to prevent coronavirus. Here’s everything you need to know about washing your hands to protect against COVID19. Global Handwashing Day is… Read More »Global Handwashing Day 2020: Steps to wash your hands to protect against COVID19

The SARS-CoV-2 virus shares an important feature with some viruses that cause the common cold, and the structural similarity suggests that people with a history of the common cold may carry some immunity against SARS-CoV-2 infection, new evidence reveals. Infection with SARS-CoV-2 also boosts production of memory B cells, long-lasting components of immune protection. Even… Read More »Common Cold History Could Confer Some COVID-19 Immunity Protection

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has expanded the indication for mepolizumab (Nucala, GlaxoSmithKline) to include patients with hypereosinophilic syndrome (HES). Mepolizumab is indicated for adults and children aged 12 years and older with HES for 6 months or longer without an identifiable nonhematologic secondary cause. “[This] approval marks the first time in over a decade… Read More »FDA OKs Mepolizumab (Nucala) for Hypereosinophilic Syndrome

An international survey provides new insights into how COVID-19 has affected, and may continue to affect, the field of oncology. The survey showed that “COVID-19 has had a major impact on the organization of patient care, on the well-being of caregivers, on continued medical education, and on clinical trial activities in oncology,” stated Guy Jerusalem, MD,… Read More »Survey Quantifies COVID-19’s Impact on Oncology

For women with breast cancer and vulvovaginal atrophy (VVA) unresponsive to non-hormonal therapy, other treatments may be effective, but safety is “controversial and a major concern,” say authors of a systematic review. “I was surprised that clinical studies assessing the safety of the vaginal laser or androgen therapies, with regard to serum estradiol levels or… Read More »Safety a Concern for Vulvovaginal Atrophy Treatments in Breast Cancer Survivors

Eleven high-income countries are on track to meet World Health Organization targets to eliminate hepatitis C infection by 2030, compared with nine countries 2 years ago, researchers report. But 28 countries, including the United States, are not expected to eliminate HCV until 2050. “In the countries making progress, the common elements are political will, a clear national… Read More »Many Advanced Countries Missing Targets for HCV Elimination

Colchicine usage found to reduce the risk of cardiovascular death, heart attack and stroke by almost one third, according to an Australian-Dutch trial led by Perth GenesisCare cardiologists, Professor Peter Thompson and Dr Mark Nidorf, in collaboration with the Dutch Network for Cardiovascular Research (WCN) in the Netherlands. The trial confirmed that low dose colchicine… Read More »Gout Medication Prevents Progression of Coronary Disease

Patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer should undergo germline and somatic testing to identify those who can benefit from targeted therapies, according to an updated guideline from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). The 2018 ASCO guideline focused on second-line therapy for patients who had experienced progression or intolerable toxicity after first-line therapy. The updated… Read More »Updated Guidelines Endorse Genomic Tests, Targeted Treatments for Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer