Publication rates of hematology/oncology abstracts presented at major pharmacy association meetings.

Introduction: Professional conferences are where research findings are initially presented. Studies suggest many research ideas presented at conferences are never published. Previous studies have demonstrated that the full publication rate of abstracts presented at pharmacy meetings is approximately 20%.

Impact of Initial eGlycemic Management System Dosing Strategy on Time to Target Blood Glucose Range.

Background: Glucommander™ (GM), an electronic glycemic management system, was implemented across a multi-hospital health system as the standard of care for glycemic control. GM provides insulin dosing recommendations based on patient-specific blood glucose (BG) trends after providers select either a custom dose or weight-based multiplier as the initial dosing strategy for the first 24 hours. This study evaluated the impact of initial subcutaneous (SC) GM insulin dosing strategies on glycemic management.

A review of glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonist and sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitor cardiovascular trials: Implications for practice.

Background: Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality for people with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Previous pharmacological management recommendations focused primarily on glucose lowering. However, new data demonstrate that select glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists (GLP1 RA) and sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2is) not only provide glucose lowering but also can reduce the risk of cardiovascular (CV) disease.

Managing Pharmacotherapy in People Living With HIV and Concomitant Malignancy.

To describe data with selected malignancies in people living with HIV (PLWH) and HIV in individuals affected by both conditions and to summarize drug-drug interactions (DDIs) with clinical recommendations for point-of-care review of combination therapies. Literature searches were performed (2005 to December 2018) in MEDLINE and EMBASE to identify studies of malignancies in PLWH in the modern era. Article bibliographies and drug interaction databases were reviewed.

Management and Preventive Measures for Febrile Neutropenia.

Febrile neutropenia (FN) is an oncological emergency and serious complication often resulting from chemotherapy. In patients with a weak or completely suppressed immune system, a fever may be the only sign of an underlying infection and immediate treatment is needed. Using risk evaluation scores, it is possible to stratify individual patient degree of risk.

Alectinib for advanced -positive non-small-cell lung cancer.

Purpose: The pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, clinical efficacy, safety and tolerability, dosage and administration, and place in therapy of alectinib for treatment of patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are reviewed.

Summary: In patients with NSCLC driven by mutations of , the gene coding for anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK), treatment with the ALK inhibitor crizotinib has been found to provide median progression-free survival (PFS) of 10.9 months; however, therapeutic failures and tumor progression to brain metastases are common with crizotinib use, prompting research to find more potent and tolerable ALK inhibitors that target major oncogenic drivers of NSCLC.

Concentrated Insulins: A Review and Recommendations.

For diabetes mellitus patients who require higher doses of insulin, pen-delivered concentrated insulins offer smaller volumes and potentially a lower risk of dosing errors.

Venetoclax: A novel B-cell lymphoma-2 inhibitor for chronic lymphocytic leukemia and other hematologic malignancies.

Patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia with the 17p deletion have a poor prognosis and treatment options are limited. Venetoclax, a novel B-cell lymphoma-2 inhibitor, has been approved for treatment-experienced chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients with the 17p deletion. A phase 1 dose-escalation study to 400 mg daily showed overall response rates across all doses of 79% with a complete response achieved in 20%.

New Pharmacotherapies in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia.

The authors present the clinical outcomes and therapeutic application of newly approved pharmacotherapies for chronic lymphocytic leukemia and highlight emerging investigational therapeutic options.

Assessing Adherence to Insulin Initiation Recommendations at a Suburban Family Medicine Clinic.

The American Diabetes Association recommends insulin initiation when A1c ≥10%. The aim of this study was to determine adherence to insulin initiation in patients with an A1c ≥10% at an outpatient family medicine clinic. The secondary objectives were to determine whether initiation of insulin within 3 weeks of an A1c ≥10% increased the rate or decreased the time to achieve an A1c <7% and to determine whether pharmacist involvement increased the rate of reaching an A1c <7%.

Experience with Tolvaptan for Euvolemic and Hypervolemic Hyponatremia in the Acute Care Setting.

Background: Hyponatremia is a common electrolyte disorder and is associated with multiple comorbidities. Management strategies are varied and etiology-dependent. The use of tolvaptan, a vasopressin antagonist, outside of clinical trials has not been well characterized.

Instruments for evaluating medication use and prescribing in older adults.

Objective: To describe primarily implicit instruments for assessing medication use in older adults.

Data Sources: Literature was identified via PubMed (1966-2014) and Google Scholar using the following search terms: geriatric/medication use, implicit criteria, inappropriate medication use, inappropriate prescribing, older adults/medication use, and polypharmacy. Reference citations from identified publications were also reviewed.

Aromatase inhibitors in breast cancer prevention.

Objective: To review the literature evaluating the benefit and tolerability of aromatase inhibitors (AIs) in breast cancer risk reduction.

Data Source: A PubMed search (1966-July 2014) was conducted using the key terms breast cancer risk reduction, with anastrozole, exemestane, or letrozole, or aromatase inhibitors. Abstracts from recent breast cancer symposia were reviewed.

Pomalidomide for the management of refractory multiple myeloma.

Purpose: The pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, clinical efficacy, safety, dosage and administration, and place in therapy of pomalidomide for the management of refractory multiple myeloma are reviewed.

Summary: Pomalidomide is a second-generation immunomodulatory agent that has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the management of multiple myeloma refractory to both lenalidomide and bortezomib, with or without the addition of dexamethasone. The overarching mechanism of action is thought to be antiproliferative and directly cytotoxic to malignant plasma cells in the bone marrow.

Prospective measurement of a problem-based learning course sequence.

Objective: To measure the effect, over time, of a 2-year problem-based learning (PBL) sequence on the skills, knowledge, and abilities it was designed to develop and enhance.

Design: At the start of each PBL semester, students were provided a "work sample" case with a main medical issue not previously covered in the curriculum. A standardized form containing 6 sections (hypotheses, learning issues to investigate, how hypotheses ruled in/out, primary-problem identification, plan, and goals of plan) was completed for each case.

Elvitegravir/cobicistat/emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate single tablet for HIV-1 infection treatment.

Objective: To review the clinical trials, pharmacologic characteristics, safety, and efficacy of the elvitegravir/cobicistat/emtricitabine/tenofovir single tablet formulation (Stribild).

Data Sources: Literature searches were performed in MEDLINE (1948-September 2012) and PubMed (1966-September 2012) using the search terms GS-9137, elvitegravir, GS 9350, cobicistat, quad pill, Stribild, and integrase inhibitors. Abstracts from HIV/AIDS conferences were reviewed.

Triple negative breast cancer: a brief review of its characteristics and treatment options.

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), an aggressive variant of breast cancer, is characterized by lack of expression of the estrogen (ER) and progesterone receptors (PRs) and the human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER-2) that are commonly observed in other breast cancer subtypes. The TNBC subtype primarily occurs in younger women of African American or Hispanic descent and tumors tend to be high grade and initially responsive to chemotherapy. However, TNBC is characteristically aggressive with high recurrence, metastatic, and mortality rates.

Boceprevir: a novel NS3/4 protease inhibitor for the treatment of hepatitis C.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection affects over 170 million people worldwide and is the most common blood-borne infection in the United States. Standard treatment with peginterferon alfa-ribavirin results in low sustained virologic response (SVR) rates in many patients, especially those who are African-American, are coinfected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), or have liver cirrhosis. Because of suboptimal SVR rates, new direct-acting antiviral agents that target HCV viral replication steps are in development.

Tesamorelin: a growth hormone-releasing factor analogue for HIV-associated lipodystrophy.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of tesamorelin, a growth hormone releasing factor analogue approved by the Food and Drug Administration in November 2010 for the treatment of lipodystrophy associated with HIV infection.

Data Sources: Literature was obtained through MEDLINE (1948-November 2011) and International Pharmaceutical Abstracts (1970-October 2011) using the search terms tesamorelin, TH9507, growth hormone releasing factor, and HIV-associated lipodystrophy syndrome. Additional publications were obtained through review of references within primary literature publications as well as pertinent Web sites.

3-hydroxyl-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitor use in chronic liver disease: a therapeutic controversy.

Objective: To review efficacy and safety data of 3-hydroxyl-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitors (also known as statins) in adult patients with chronic liver disease.

Data Source: A MEDLINE search (2005 to March 2011) was conducted with use of the keywords: statin, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, hepatitis C, chronic liver disease, and HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor.

Study Selection And Data Extraction: All articles written in English identified from data sources were evaluated and reviewed for inclusion.