News & Updates

Advanced cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic (CKM) syndrome (stages 3 and 4) is associated with higher risks of all-cause and cardiovascular (CV) mortality at 20 years, according to a prospective study in Hong Kong.

Infants with KMT2A-rearranged acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) – a dire disease with poor prognosis despite treatment intensification under the latest protocols – are found to have improved 4-year disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) with the addition of blinatumomab to standard chemotherapy.

Replacing two cycles of highly toxic, high-dose combination chemotherapy with two cycles of blinatumomab as first-line (1L) treatment significantly improves outcomes including 4-year event-free survival (EFS) and reduces adverse events (AEs) in paediatric patients with high-risk B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (B-ALL), results of the phase III AIEOP-BFM 2017 trial have shown.

Treatment with the nonsteroidal mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist finerenone appears to slow kidney function decline in nondiabetic patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) who are on renin–angiotensin system inhibitors, according to the phase III FIND-CKD trial.

Use of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1 RA) demonstrates no significant effect on oesophageal function in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D), according to a study.

Consumption of fresh or pasteurized sauerkraut both delivers a modest impact on blood pressure (BP) in healthy individuals, suggesting that pasteurization does not remove the physiological impact of this fermented food, reveals a study.

A study in Chile has noted the presence of elevated haemoglobin (Hb) among pregnant women despite the increased prevalence of depleted iron stores, contributing to adverse maternal outcomes.

In patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer, enfortumab vedotin (EV)-induced cutaneous adverse events (cAEs) are associated with improved survival outcomes, according to a retrospective study.

New drug applications approved by US FDA as of 16-31 August 2026 which includes New Molecular Entities (NMEs) and new biologics. It does not include Tentative Approvals. Supplemental approvals may have occurred since the original approval date.

An editorial piece published in Hong Kong Medical Journal makes a case for universal access to noninvasive prenatal screening (NIPS) as the first-line screening option within Hong Kong’s public healthcare system – on the basis of women’s preferences and its clinical superiority vs first-trimester combined screening (FTS). [Hong Kong Med J 2026;32:287-290]