PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Effectiveness of drugs to prevent hepatitis among patients receiving chemotherapy

2014-12-16
(Press-News.org) Among patients with lymphoma undergoing a certain type of chemotherapy, receiving the antiviral drug entecavir resulted in a lower incidence of hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related hepatitis and HBV reactivation, compared with the antiviral drug lamivudine, according to a study in the December 17 issue of JAMA.

Hepatitis B virus reactivation is a well­documented chemotherapy complication, with diverse manifestations including life-threatening liver failure, as well as delays in chemotherapy or premature termination, all of which can jeopardize clinical outcomes. The reported incidence of HBV reactivation in patients seropositive for the hepatitis B surface antigen undergoing chemotherapy is 26 percent to 53 percent. This HBV reactivation risk exists for patients with lymphoma treated with chemotherapies containing the drug rituximab. An optimal approach to prevention of HBV reactivation has not been determined, according to background information in the article.

He Huang, M.D., of the Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China, and colleagues randomly assigned 121 patients seropositive for the hepatitis B surface antigen with untreated diffuse large B-cell lymphoma receiving chemotherapy treatment with rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP) to either entecavir (n = 61) or lamivudine (n = 60). Patients received these drugs beginning 1 week before the initiation of R-CHOP treatment to 6 months after completion of chemotherapy. The study was conducted from February 2008 through December 2012 at 10 medical centers in China. This trial was a substudy of a parent study designed to compare a 3-week with a 2-week R-CHOP chemotherapy regimen for untreated diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

The date of last patient follow-up was May 25, 2013. The researchers found that the rates were significantly lower for the entecavir group vs the lamivudine group for hepatitis (8.2 percent vs 23.3 percent), HBV-related hepatitis (0 percent vs 13.3 percent), HBV reactivation (6.6 percent vs 30 percent), delayed hepatitis B (0 percent vs 8.3 percent), and chemotherapy disruption (1.6 percent vs 18.3 percent).

Of the patients in the entecavir group, 24.6 percent experienced treatment-related adverse events, compared to 30.0 percent of patients in the lamivudine group.

The authors note that because entecavir is more expensive than lamivudine, further studies are needed to determine whether all patients seropositive for the hepatitis B surface antigen who receive rituximab-based immunosuppressive therapy should be given entecavir to prevent HBV flares and to determine which patients will benefit most from entecavir prophylaxis.

"If replicated, these findings support the use of entecavir in these patients." (doi:10.1001/jama.2014.15704; Available pre-embargo to the media at http://media.jamanetwork.com)

Editor's Note: This study was supported by a grant from the Foundation of 5010 Clinical Trials of Sun Yat-sen University. The authors have completed and submitted the ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest and none were reported.

Editorial: Reactivation in Patients Receiving Rituximab-Based Chemotherapy for Lymphoma

Jeremy S. Abramson, M.D., and Raymond T. Chung, M.D., of Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, comment on the findings of this study in an accompanying editorial.

"For HBV carriers as well as patients with cleared HBV infection, entecavir prophylaxis can be recommended to reduce the rate of HBV reactivation and hepatitis. For patients unable to receive antiviral prophylaxis, HBV DNA viral loads must be closely monitored during and after completion of chemotherapy. A more nuanced approach may be possible, in which patients at low risk for HBV reactivation can be identified and preferentially followed up with surveillance alone, such as those who are seropositive for both the core antibody and surface antibody. The answer to this question warrants ongoing investigation, as does the definition of the optimal duration of prophylactic antiviral therapy. The screening for and management of patients infected with HBV who receive chemotherapy should be viewed as nothing less than optimal care of patients with lymphoma." (doi:10.1001/jama.2014.16095; Available pre-embargo to the media at http://media.jamanetwork.com)

Editor's Note: Please see the article for additional information, including financial disclosures, funding and support, etc.

INFORMATION:



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

How music class can spark language development

2014-12-16
EVANSTON, Ill. - Music training has well-known benefits for the developing brain, especially for at-risk children. But youngsters who sit passively in a music class may be missing out, according to new Northwestern University research. In a study designed to test whether the level of engagement matters, researchers found that children who regularly attended music classes and actively participated showed larger improvements in how the brain processes speech and reading scores than their less-involved peers after two years. The research, which appears online on Dec. ...

Mild memory & thinking issues: What works, what doesn't? U-M experts weigh the evidence

2014-12-16
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- For up to one in five Americans over age 65, getting older brings memory and thinking problems- along with the embarrassment of not being as "sharp" as they once were, and the worry that it will get much worse. They might just call it "getting older". But officially, when memory or cognitive problems don't interfere significantly with daily living, doctors call them mild cognitive impairment, or MCI. What can be done to prevent or slow MCI? And how much should seniors fear that their thinking or memory problems will get much worse? A pair of doctors ...

Real-time radiation monitor can reduce radiation exposure for medical workers

Real-time radiation monitor can reduce radiation exposure for medical workers
2014-12-16
DALLAS - Dec. 16, 2014 - It's a sound that saves. A "real-time" radiation monitor that alerts by beeping in response to radiation exposure during cardiac-catheterization procedures significantly reduces the amount of exposure that medical workers receive, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers found. In a randomized study, the researchers divided 505 patients undergoing either diagnostic coronary angiography or percutaneous coronary intervention, such as stent placement, into two groups. In half the procedures, medical workers used the current gold standard for radiation ...

Low glycemic diet does not improve risk factors for cardiovascular disease and diabetes

2014-12-16
Boston, MA-- Nutrition experts are continually debating the nutritional value of carbohydrate-containing foods and whether some are healthier than others. High carbohydrate foods are classified by how much they increase blood sugar; known as glycemic index. In new findings led by researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) in Boston and Johns Hopkins University (JHU) in Baltimore, researchers looked at glycemic index' effect on cardiovascular disease (CVD) and diabetes and found that low glycemic diets did not improve insulin sensitivity or cardiovascular risk factors. ...

Big-data analysis reveals gene sharing in mice

Big-data analysis reveals gene sharing in mice
2014-12-16
HOUSTON - (Dec. 16, 2014) - Rice University scientists have detected at least three instances of cross-species mating that likely influenced the evolutionary paths of "old world" mice, two in recent times and one in the distant past. The researchers think these instances of introgressive hybridization -- a way for genetic material and, potentially, traits to be passed from one species to another through interspecific mating -- are only the first of many needles waiting to be found in a very large genetic haystack. While introgressive hybridization is thought to be common ...

How information moves between cultures

2014-12-16
By analyzing data on multilingual Twitter users and Wikipedia editors and on 30 years' worth of book translations in 150 countries, researchers at MIT, Harvard University, Northeastern University, and Aix Marseille University have developed network maps that they say represent the strength of the cultural connections between speakers of different languages. This week, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, they show that a language's centrality in their network -- as defined by both the number and the strength of its connections -- better predicts the ...

More than half of all children in the US will likely live with an unmarried mother

More than half of all children in the US will likely live with an unmarried mother
2014-12-16
PRINCETON, N.J.--More than half of all American children will likely live with an unmarried mother at some point before they reach age 18, according to a report issued by Princeton University and Harvard University. The absence of a biological father increases the likelihood that a child will exhibit antisocial behaviors like aggression, rule-breaking and delinquency, the researchers report in the journal EducationNext. This finding - which holds true regardless of a child's race - is especially prevalent among young boys. As a result, these children are 40 percent less ...

Microbiome may have shaped early human populations

2014-12-16
We humans have an exceptional age structure compared to other animals: Our children remain dependent on their parents for an unusually long period and our elderly live an extremely long time after they have stopped procreating. Could the microscopic fellow travelers that consider the human body to be their home - collectively known as the microbiome - have played an active role in shaping and maintaining this unusual aspect of human nature? That is the speculative proposition advanced by Martin Blaser, professor of medicine and microbiology at NYU's Langone Medical ...

Syracuse biologist reveals how whales may 'sing' for their supper

Syracuse biologist reveals how whales may sing for their supper
2014-12-16
Humpback whales have a trick or two, when it comes to finding a quick snack at the bottom of the ocean. But how they pinpoint that meal at night, with little or no available light, remains a mystery. Susan Parks, assistant professor of Biology in Syracuse University's College of Arts and Sciences, in collaboration with a consortium of other researchers, has been studying these unique feeding behaviors. Her research emphasizes the importance of specific auditory cues that these mammoth creatures emit, as they search the deep ocean for their prey. Her findings are the ...

New method identifies genome-wide off-target cleavage sites of CRISPR-Cas nucleases

2014-12-16
Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators have developed a method of detecting, across the entire genome of human cells, unwanted DNA breaks induced by use of the popular gene-editing tools called CRISPR-Cas RNA-guided nucleases (RGNs). Members of the same team that first described these off-target effects in human cells describe their new platform, called Genome-wide Unbiased Indentification of DSBs Evaluated by Sequencing (GUIDE-seq), in a report being published online in Nature Biotechnology. "GUIDE-seq is the first genome-wide method of sensitively detecting ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

How sound—but not touch—shapes rhythm in the brain

Exploring the therapeutic potential of hypothermia

Research alert: Bioengineering breathes new life into failed cancer treatment

AI, health, and health care today and tomorrow – the JAMA Summit Report on artificial intelligence

Large genetic study links cannabis use to psychiatric, cognitive and physical health

Social media use trajectories and cognitive performance in adolescents

Music for the brain: Study tests the effect of slow-tempo relaxing music to address delirium in critically ill older adults 

AI models predict sepsis in children, allow preemptive care

Liraglutide vs semaglutide vs dulaglutide in veterans with type 2 diabetes

Antenatal corticosteroids and infectious diseases throughout childhood

New lab-grown human embryo model produces blood cells

Life after near death: Research reveals how to improve support for near-death experiencers

Illinois Chat is launched for campus community

FAU receives $3M federal grant to prevent substance use in at-risk youth

New report shows action to improve gender equity linked to career gains and better business performance

Kiwis could help manage chronic constipation

Breast, lung, and bladder cancer phase 3 trials led by Dana-Farber presented at ESMO Congress 2025

New open-source software allows for efficient 3D printing with multiple materials

Decoding the secrets of ‘chemo brain’

‘Far from negligible’: New Australian fossil fuel site will have major impact on people and the planet

UK heatwaves overwhelm natural ecological safeguards to increase wildfire risk

Key ExoMars Rover part ships from Aberystwyth

90% of Science Is Lost: Frontiers’ revolutionary AI-powered service transforms data sharing to deliver breakthroughs faster

Skin symptoms may forewarn mental health risks

Brain test predicts ability to achieve orgasm – but only in patients taking antidepressants

‘New reality’ as world reaches first climate tipping point

Non-English primary language may raise risk of delirium after surgery, study finds

Children fast from clear liquids much longer before surgery than guidelines recommend, large study shows

Food insecurity, loneliness can increase the risk of developing chronic pain after surgery

Cesarean delivery linked to higher risk of pain and sleep problems after childbirth

[Press-News.org] Effectiveness of drugs to prevent hepatitis among patients receiving chemotherapy