Panminerva medica
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Recent advances in treatment modalities have led to improved survival in patients with multiple myeloma (MM). However, despite these, MM remains an incurable disease. Many MM patients relapse through and become refractory to current treatment strategies or are intolerant due to toxicities arising from therapy. ⋯ Given the high expression of BCMA in malignant Plasma cells compared to those from normal healthy volunteers, targeting BCMA should reduce risks of on-target off-tumor toxicities. The main BCMA-targeting approaches currently used for treatment of MM include: 1) chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy; 2) bi- and multi- specific antibodies; and 3) monoclonal antibodies and their drug conjugates. This review will outline these therapeutic agents and present their emerging clinical data.
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Multiple myeloma (MM) is a hematological malignancy in which patients present with bone marrow infiltration of clonal terminally-differentiated plasma cells. Monoclonal protein in the serum and/or urine is frequently detected. Over the past decade, important progress has been made in the comprehension of disease biology and treatment personalization. Much work has been put into the development of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) gene-modified T-cell therapy thought to be a promising therapeutic option for pluritreated patients with refractory MM. ⋯ Targeting an appropriate antigen(s) is the key to both safety and efficacy of CAR T approaches in MM as there is dearth of tumor-specific antigens. Most antigens tested are merely enriched on MM cells. Working with tumor-enriched antigens requires careful assessment of the balance between harm (toxicity) and benefit (disease eradication) to the patient. This review provides an up-to-date overview of the avenues that are being explored.
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The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by symptomatic severe acute respiratory syndrome-Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, has wreaked havoc globally, challenging the healthcare, economical, technological and social status quo of developing but also developed countries. For instance, the COVID-19 scare has reduced timely hospital admissions for ST-elevation myocardial infarction in Europe and the USA, causing unnecessary deaths and disabilities. While the emergency is still ongoing, enough efforts have been put to study and tackle this condition such that a comprehensive perspective and synthesis on the potential role of breakthrough healthcare technologies is possible. Indeed, current state-of-the-art information technologies can provide a unique opportunity to adapt and adjust to the current healthcare needs associated with COVID-19, either directly or indirectly, and in particular those of cardiovascular patients and practitioners. ⋯ We are confident that refinement and command of smartcare technologies will prove extremely beneficial in the short-term, but also dramatically reshape cardiovascular practice and healthcare delivery in the long-term future, for COVID-19 as well as other diseases.
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The aim of this registry study was the prospective evaluation of the efficacy of Pycnogenol® in idiopathic fibromyalgia (FM), over 4 weeks in comparison with the standard management (SM). ⋯ Pycnogenol® supplementation appears to control and reduce the intensity of common symptoms and complaints - especially pain-related - associated with FM. Pycnogenol® could be a 'soft', safe supplementation and prevention method to manage the symptoms of most of these patients, even for longer periods, reducing the need for drugs.