Expert opinion on pharmacotherapy
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Expert Opin Pharmacother · Aug 2010
ReviewChronic pain management issues in the primary care setting and the utility of long-acting opioids.
Chronic/persistent pain - a highly prevalent condition that places a substantial burden on patients in terms of personal suffering, reduced productivity and health care costs - remains inadequately treated in many patients. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview and evaluate the burden and undertreatment of chronic/persistent pain, considerations for choosing an analgesic and the utility of long-acting opioids. ⋯ Successful management of chronic/persistent pain should be individually tailored to each patient, taking into account his or her pain intensity and duration, disease state, tolerance of adverse events and risk of medication abuse or diversion. The literature supports the efficacy and safety of a number of long-acting opioids for the treatment of moderate to severe chronic pain, demonstrating sustained improvements in pain intensity and pain-related sleep disturbances with these agents.
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Expert Opin Pharmacother · Aug 2010
ReviewPixantrone for the treatment of aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
At present there is no standard treatment for patients with relapsed or refractory aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma who progress following second-line therapy. Anthracyclines are highly active drugs, but their use in this setting is limited by cumulative cardiac toxicity. Pixantrone is a new aza-anthracenedione structurally similar to mitoxantrone and anthracyclines. This compound has been developed to minimize cardiac toxicity without reducing efficacy. ⋯ Pixantrone has been shown to be superior to other single-agent therapies for the salvage treatment of relapsed/refractory aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The pixantrone application will be submitted to the regulatory authorities in the USA and in Europe.
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Expert Opin Pharmacother · Aug 2010
Randomized Controlled TrialEfficacy and safety of tapentadol extended release for the management of chronic low back pain: results of a prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo- and active-controlled Phase III study.
To evaluate the efficacy and safety of tapentadol extended release (ER) for the management of moderate to severe chronic low back pain. ⋯ Tapentadol ER (100 - 250 mg b.i.d.) effectively relieved moderate to severe chronic low back pain over 15 weeks and had better gastrointestinal tolerability than oxycodone HCl CR (20 - 50 mg b.i.d.).
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Candida species are the fourth leading cause of nosocomial bloodstream infections in the United States. They are a leading cause of invasive fungal infections and are an emerging problem in hospital medicine. ⋯ New antifungal agents have contributed to significant advances in the treatment of C. albicans. A detailed knowledge of differences in spectrum of activity, toxicity profiles, bioavailability, formulations, and drug interactions of these agents is required. Despite these recent advances, the attributable mortality rates of candidemia and invasive candidiasis remain very high, reminding us of the importance of strategies for the prevention of these infections.
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Expert Opin Pharmacother · Aug 2010
ReviewGabapentin enacarbil (XP13512/GSK1838262) as an alternative treatment to dopaminergic agents for restless legs syndrome.
Gabapentin enacarbil (XP13512/GSK1838262) is being explored as an alternative treatment for restless legs syndrome (RLS), which currently relies heavily on dopaminergic agents; however, these latter medications have the reported complications of augmentation. Gabapentin enacarbil shows promising data that it may be equally to more efficacious and have an improved side effect profile than treatment with dopaminergic agents. ⋯ Based on these findings, gabapentin enacarbil offers a promising alternative treatment for individuals requiring pharmacological intervention for their RLS symptoms.