Benefit-Risk Assessment of Blinatumomab in the Treatment of Relapsed/Refractory B-Cell Precursor Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.

Blinatumomab is the first-and-only Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved cluster of differentiation (CD) 19-directed CD3 bispecific T-cell engager (BiTE) immunotherapy. It is currently FDA approved for the treatment of adults and children with Philadelphia chromosome-positive (Ph+) and Philadelphia chromosome-negative (Ph-) relapsed/refractory (R/R) B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and B-cell precursor ALL with minimal residual disease. Similarly, initial marketing authorization for blinatumomab in the European Union was granted for the treatment of adults with Ph- R/R B-cell precursor ALL.

A comparison of all-cause mortality with pioglitazone and insulin in type 2 diabetes: an expanded analysis from a retrospective cohort study.

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to assess and compare all-cause mortality rates between pioglitazone (PIO) and insulin (INS).

Research Design: The study population included 56,536 patients with type 2 diabetes aged ≥45 years who were first-time users of PIO or INS. Data from 1 May 2000 until 30 June 2010 from the i3 InVision Data Mart database were linked to death records of the US Social Security Administration obtained in March 2012, with approval from the Institutional Review Board and in full compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996.

Increased risk of subsequent myocardial infarction in patients with type 2 diabetes: a retrospective cohort study using the U.K. General Practice Research Database.

Objective: To compare the risk of subsequent myocardial infarction (MI) between patients with and without type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in a retrospective cohort study.

Research Design And Methods: Patients with their first MI recorded in the U.K.

Comparing pioglitazone to insulin with respect to cancer, cardiovascular and bone fracture endpoints, using propensity score weights.

Background: Diabetes is an important global disease, associated with significant morbidity and an increased risk of death due to chronic end-organ complications. The thiazolidinediones, used mainly as third-line agents in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), have been associated with some safety concerns, such as an increased risk of bladder cancer, an increased risk of bone fracture and heterogeneous effects on cardiovascular events.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate safety data on pioglitazone for several outcomes and examine them in context with each other as well as with insulin, another third-line treatment for T2DM.

G2 cell cycle arrest and cyclophilin A in lentiviral gene transfer.

Lentiviral vectors derived from the human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) have a higher propensity to transduce nondividing cells compared to vectors based on oncoretroviruses. We report here that genistein, a previously known protein tyrosine kinase (PTK) inhibitor and G2 cell cycle arrest inducer, significantly enhanced lentiviral transduction in a dose-dependent manner. Increased transduction, as measured by vector expression, was seen in a variety of human cell lines, murine primary lymphocytes, and primary human CD34(+) peripheral blood progenitor cells as well.