Rituximab and ocrelizumab are anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies that have shown a marked reduction in multiple sclerosis (MS) inflammatory activity. However, their real-world safety profile has not been adequately compared.

To investigate the adverse event (AE) profile of rituximab and ocrelizumab reported to the Food and Drug Administration Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) database.

The FAERS database was filtered by indication (MS) and drug (rituximab or ocrelizumab). Disproportionality analyses including but not limited to reporting odds ratio (ROR) were conducted to identify drug-AE associations. A signal was detected if the lower limit of the 95% confidence interval of ROR (ROR

) exceeded 1.

There were 623 and 7948 reports for rituximab and ocrelizumab, respectively. The most frequent AEs with rituximab and ocrelizumab were infusion-related reaction (4.82%) and urinary tract infection (10.52%), respectively. The strongest drug-AE association for rituximab and ocrelizumab were ear pruritus (ROR

47.53) and oral herpes (ROR

38.99), respectively. Ocrelizumab was associated with an almost two times higher frequency of infections than rituximab (21.93% vs 11.05%, respectively).

This study revealed differences in reporting AEs between rituximab and ocrelizumab. Infections were reported more frequently with ocrelizumab. Although speculative, a potentially different or more extensive B-cell depletion by ocrelizumab might explain these findings. Additional pharmacovigilance studies need to be performed to better characterize differences in the AE profile in B-cell-depleting therapies.

This study revealed differences in reporting AEs between rituximab and ocrelizumab. Infections were reported more frequently with ocrelizumab. Although speculative, a potentially different or more extensive B-cell depletion by ocrelizumab might explain these findings. Additional pharmacovigilance studies need to be performed to better characterize differences in the AE profile in B-cell-depleting therapies.

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are extremely common. Millions of people, particularly healthy women, are affected worldwide every year. One-in-two women will have a recurrence within 12-months of an initial UTI. Inadequate treatment risks worsening infection leading to acute pyelonephritis, bacteremia and sepsis. In an era of increasing antimicrobial resistance, it is critical to provide optimized antimicrobial treatment.

Literature was searched using PubMed and Google Scholar (up to 06/2020), examining the etiology, diagnosis and oral antimicrobial therapy for uncomplicated UTIs, with emphasis on urinary antimicrobial pharmacokinetics (PK) and the application of dynamic

models for the pharmacodynamic (PD) profiling of pathogen response.

The majority of antimicrobial agents included in international guidelines were developed decades ago without well-described dose-response relationships. Microbiology laboratories still apply standard diagnostic methodology that has essentially remained unchanged forxamine the PK/PD and urodynamic variables associated with UTIs, while informing uropathogen susceptibility reporting, optimized dosing schedules, clinical trials and treatment guidelines.

Patients with hemophilia A are commonly treated with replacement recombinant factor VIII (rFVIII) products, which can be standard-acting or long-acting. Long-acting products have modifications, offering the potential for reduced dosing frequency while maintaining therapeutic benefit. Extended dosing intervals reduce patient burden and can improve quality of life and adherence.

To assess real-world data for the use of 6 commonly prescribed standard-acting and long-acting FVIII products in the United States octocog alfa, BAY 14-2222, BAY 81-8973, rVIII-SingleChain, rFVIIIFc, and polyethylene glycol (PEG)-rFVIII. We summarized annualized bleeding rates (ABRs), dosing frequency, and factor consumption in patients treated with each product, with subgroup analyses for patients with severe disease.

De-identified patient data were collected from 11 hemophilia treatment centers in the United States. Patients treated with octocog alfa, BAY 14-2222, BAY 81-8973, rVIII-SingleChain, rFVIIIFc, or PEG-rFVIII prophylax employee of Adivo Associates, which conducted the analyses for this study. Data were presented in part at the Hemostasis and Thrombosis Research Society; May 9-11, 2019; New Orleans, LA; at the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis; July 6-10, 2019; Melbourne, Australia; and have been published in part in “Comparing Factor Use and Bleed Rates in U.S. Hemophilia A Patients Receiving Prophylaxis with 3 Different Long-Acting Recombinant Factor VIII Products,” by Mindy L. Simpson, Vidhi Desai, Géraldine S. Maro, Songkai Yan (J Manag Care Spec Pharm. 2020;26[4]504-12).The characteristics and survival of 218 patients with extranodal natural killer/T-cell lymphoma (ENKTCL) were analyzed in this retrospective study. The median progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were 10.9 months and 50.5 months, respectively. Sequential chemoradiotherapy achieved a 74.5% overall response rate (ORR) and a 30.9% 5-year PFS rate in patients with localized stage. Asparaginase-containing protocols demonstrated superior prognosis in advanced cases, with a median FPS at 5.7 months, compared to 1.9 months without asparaginase. Initial treatment with P-GEMOX regimens showed superior ORR and PFS compared to the SMILE regimen, with lower toxicities. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) improved the PFS and OS of refractory or relapsed (R/R) cases. PD-1/PD-L1 antibody could achieve a median PFS at 4.0 months and a median OS at 14.6 months in R/R patients for whom salvage therapies failed. High-risk PINK-E score was the only independent adverse prognostic factor for PFS and OS.

High-throughput sequencing technologies are increasingly used in research but limited data are available on the feasibility and value of these when routinely adopted in clinical practice.

We analyzed all consecutive cancer patients for whom genomic testing by a 48-gene next-generation sequencing (NGS) panel (Truseq Amplicon Cancer Panel, Illumina) was requested as part of standard care in one of the largest Belgian cancer networks between 2014 and 2019. Feasibility of NGS was assessed in all study patients, while the impact of NGS on the decision making was analyzed in the group of gastrointestinal cancer patients.

Tumor samples from 1064 patients with varying tumor types were tested, the number of NGS requests increasing over time (

 < .0001). click here Success rate and median turnaround time were 91.4% and 12.5 days, respectively, both significantly decreasing over time (

 ≤ .0002). Non-surgical sampling procedure (OR 7.97,

 < .0001), tissue from metastatic site (OR 2.35,

 = .0006) and more recent year of testing (OR 1.