Warfarin seen as treatment of choice to cut stroke risk
Warfarin, an anti-clotting drug, is the best treatment to prevent stroke in patients with an abnormal heart rhythm despite side effects such as risk of bleeding, researchers said on Friday.
A trial of patients with the disorder known as atrial fibrillation uncovered evidence that warfarin was superior to the combined treatment of the blood-thinner Plavix plus aspirin in reducing strokes.
Plavix, or clopidogrel, is sold by Sanofi-Aventis and Bristol-Myers Squibb Corp in the United States.
FDA approves Gardasil as a treatment for cervical cancer
Merck & Co. has announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Gardasil as a treatment for cervical cancer, vulvar and vaginal pre-cancers caused by HPV types 16 and 18 and to prevent low-grade and pre-cancerous lesions and genital warts caused by HPV types 6, 11, 16 and 18.
In the United States, approximately 10,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer every year, and an average of 10 women die each day from the disease.
The FDA has approved Gardasil for the prevention of cervical cancer; cervical pre-cancers, adenocarcinoma in situ and vaginal pre-cancers caused by HPV types 16 and 18. Gardasil is also approved for the prevention of genital warts and low-grade cervical lesions caused by HPV types 6, 11, 16 and 18. Gardasil is approved for 9- to 26-year-old girls and women.
Bortezomib extends lung cancer survival
Adding the new molecularly targeted agent bortezomib to a standard chemotherapy regimen of gemcitabine and carboplatin prolongs survival in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer, according to results from a phase II trial led by UC Davis Cancer Center.
In the study, patients taking bortezomib plus gemcitabine and carboplatin had a median survival of 11 months, reported Angela Davies, an assistant professor of hematology and oncology at UC Davis Cancer Center and lead author of the study. In comparison, 9 months is the longest median survival seen in past SWOG trials of platinum-based chemotherapy treatments for advanced non-small cell lung cancer.
“These survival results are among the best ever reported in patients with NSCLC,” Davies said. “We look forward to further study of bortezomib in combination with chemotherapy as treatment for NSCLC in a larger, phase III trial.” In the study, 114 newly diagnosed stage IV and selected stage IIIB patients received gemcitabine and carboplatin in combination with bortezomib. The median overall survival was 11 months; one-year survival was 46 percent, with a median five-month progression-free survival. Other key findings:
Autism diagnosis remains through early childhood
Most children diagnosed with autism at 2 years of age will still have that diagnosis at age 9, investigators report.
In contrast, many young children first diagnosed with less severe conditions—called pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD)—later have their diagnoses changed to autism.
Dr. Catherine Lord, from the University of Michigan Autism and Communication Disorders Center in Ann Arbor, and her associates report that clinicians have been questioning the stability of these diagnoses.
Asthma rates rise as kids get older
Some children who have asthma at age 7 are asthma-free by the time they reach 12, but the number of kids who go into remission is more than offset by the number who develop the condition during that age period, according to Swedish investigators.
Dr. Eva Ronmark, of the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, and colleagues examined the prevalence, incidence, and remission of asthma in children as they aged from 7-8 years to 11-12 years, and assessed the risk factor patterns for asthma during this period.
A total of 3525 children between 7 and 8 years old were invited in 1996 to take part in a study using an expanded International Study of Asthma and Allergy in Childhood (ISAAC) questionnaire, and were re-assessed annually. Skin prick tests for allergies were performed at the beginning and after 4 years.
Respiratory virus cases on rise in western US
Between January and March of this year, health departments from Arizona, New Mexico, North Dakota, Texas, and Washington State reported an increased incidence of a respiratory viral infection, called human hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS).
Human hantavirus infection follows exposure to the virus in rodent saliva or feces.
Previous experience with early increases in hantavirus infection suggests that the total number of cases will be high throughout 2006, according to a report in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
