Current medical research and opinion
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Multicenter Study Observational Study
Efficacy and safety of amlodipine/valsartan/hydrochlorothiazide single pill combination in Egyptian patients with hypertension uncontrolled on any dual therapy: an observational study.
Objective: Hypertension is a serious health problem in Egypt, with prevalence rate of 17% as reported in 2015. Despite receiving treatment, many do not achieve blood pressure (BP) control. The current study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of amlodipine/valsartan/hydrochlorothiazide (Aml/Val/HCTZ) single pill combination (SPC) in patients with hypertension from Egypt, who were uncontrolled on any dual therapy. ⋯ Majority of patients (76.85%) reached the BP goal of <140/90 mmHg. The most commonly reported AE was ankle edema (10.92%). Conclusions: Aml/Val/HCT SPC significantly reduced BP and was well tolerated in Egyptian patients with hypertension not controlled on any previous dual therapy.
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Meta Analysis Comparative Study
Efficacy of ustekinumab vs. advanced therapies for the treatment of moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.
Objective: To compare the relative efficacy of ustekinumab (UST) vs. other therapies for 1-year response and remission rates in patients with moderate-severe UC. Methods: Randomized controlled trials reporting induction and maintenance efficacy of anti-TNFs (infliximab [IFX], adalimumab [ADA], golimumab [GOL]), vedolizumab (VDZ), tofacitinib (TOF) or UST were identified through a systematic literature review (SLR). Analyses were conducted for clinical response, clinical remission and endoscopic-mucosal healing for populations with and without failure of prior biologics (non-biologic failure [NBF]; biologic failure [BF]). ⋯ In BF patients, UST was the most effective treatment (Q8W dose); however, effect sizes were smaller than in the NBF population. Conclusions: Results indicate a higher likelihood of response, remission and endoscopic-mucosal healing at 1 year with UST vs. comparators in the NBF population. In BF patients, a higher likelihood of response to UST vs. the most comparators was also observed, although results were more uncertain.
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Background: Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is the most common type of renal malignancy with 87% frequency. As a global health problem, kidney cancer is responsible for 2.2% of new cancer cases. One of the highly effective mechanisms that renal cancer cells avoid in the immune system is PD-1 and PD-L1 interaction. ⋯ Following tyrosine kinase inhibitors, checkpoint inhibitors have a great influence on treatment of advanced RCC, especially the combination of these two strategies. In 2019 these combined strategies demonstrated 5% complete remission with up to 60% objective response rate. While not immediately, but perhaps in the near future, advanced RCC will become a manageable chronic disease, even if a cure is not possible.