News &amp; Updates

Treatment with liraglutide after an 8-week prerandom assignment diet results in significant weight loss at >52 weeks among patients with knee osteoarthritis (KOA) and overweight/obesity, but fails to reduce knee pain relative to placebo, results of a study have shown.

Liraglutide after diet intervention induces weight loss in knee OA patients

Prophylactic use of uterotonic drug combos does not reduce need for more

Prophylactic administration of oxytocin plus ergonovine or oxytocin plus carboprost is not necessarily effective for decreasing the need for additional uterotonics at caesarean delivery for arrested labour as compared with oxytocin alone, a study has found.

Prophylactic use of uterotonic drug combos does not reduce need for more

Infigratinib emerges as potential treatment for advanced cholangiocarcinoma

Infigratinib may be a suitable second- or later-line treatment option for patients with advanced or metastatic cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) with FGFR2* fusions or rearrangements, according to interim results of a phase II, open-label, single-arm study presented at ASCO GI 2021.

Infigratinib emerges as potential treatment for advanced cholangiocarcinoma

Metformin may extend gestation in preterm preeclampsia

Metformin can prolong gestation by almost a week in women with preterm preeclampsia, according to the PI-2 study presented at the 2021 SMFM Meeting.

Metformin may extend gestation in preterm preeclampsia

Low-dose aspirin may not prevent preterm labour in high-risk women

Findings from the APRIL trial presented at SMFM 2021 fail to show substantial evidence that low-dose aspirin may reduce the recurrence of preterm birth (PTB) when initiated in early pregnancy in high-risk women (ie, women with a history of spontaneous PTB*).

Low-dose aspirin may not prevent preterm labour in high-risk women

Cabozantinib demonstrates favourable risk–benefit profile in pretreated advanced HCC

Use of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitor cabozantinib in the second- or third-line treatment of patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) appears to confer survival benefits without raising new safety concerns, according to the results of a phase II trial.

Cabozantinib demonstrates favourable risk–benefit profile in pretreated advanced HCC

Fears amid deaths: No cause for alarm

An unsettling report claiming 23 elderly deaths in Norway after receiving COVID-19 vaccine doses made headlines that sow fears among older adults most vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2. The report, downright disturbing as it was, didn’t tell the full story.

Fears amid deaths: No cause for alarm

COVID-19 vaccine: 8 queries patients ask

The approval of the first COVID-19 vaccine came at a breakneck speed in December. Inoculation started in the US, liberating pent-up hopes that virus-ravaged states could get past the pandemic that has killed over 1.5 million people across continents.

COVID-19 vaccine: 8 queries patients ask