Delaware Chronic Disease Coalition

Immunotherapy Before Lung Cancer Surgery

Kate Smith, MD, MPH April 12, 2022April 12, 2022 Cancer

Giving the immunotherapy Opdivo to lung cancer patients before surgery can help prevent the disease from coming back, a new study says. The FDA approved Opdivo for this use on March 4, and yesterday the data behind that decision were presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research and published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Patients in the study who received three courses of Opdivo in combination with chemotherapy were 37% less likely to have progression of disease that prevented surgery, any progression of disease after surgery, or death. In patients receiving Opdivo and chemotherapy, the median time to one of these negative events was 31.6 months, compared to 20.8 months for patients treated with chemotherapy alone.

Rising Blood Pressure in Early Adulthood

Kate Smith, MD, MPH March 11, 2022March 11, 2022 Heart disease, Hypertension

High blood pressure in middle age is a known risk for later cognitive impairment. But what about younger adults? A study in JAMA Network Open links early, gradually increasing blood pressure to poorer brain health later in life.

A-Fib and Diabetes

Kate Smith, MD, MPH November 10, 2021November 10, 2021 Diabetes, Heart disease

A new Journal of the American Heart Association study of more than 2,400 Swiss patients diagnosed with A-fib found that those who also had diabetes — a risk factor for A-fib — were less likely to notice an irregular heartbeat.