Side effect management algorithms for niraparib/abiraterone acetate in prostate cancer.

Introduction: Niraparib, a PARP1/2 inhibitor, is newly approved in combination with abiraterone acetate (AA) plus prednisone or prednisolone (niraparib/AA+P) for the treatment of adult patients with BRCA-mutated, treatment-naïve metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). Detailed guidance beyond the prescribing information may be helpful in managing the side effect profile and dosing practicalities of this combination therapy.

Materials And Methods: A panel of specialists convened to design management algorithms for four common niraparib/AA+P treatment-related adverse events (AEs) in mCRPC; anemia, thrombocytopenia, hypertension, and nausea.

Atrial Fibrillation as a Prognostic Factor for All-Cause Mortality in Patients With Transthyretin Amyloid Cardiomyopathy.

Background: Atrial fibrillation/atrial flutter (AF/AFL) are common manifestations of transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM) but have not been found to be predictive of mortality.

Objectives: This analysis aimed to examine whether baseline or historical AF/AFL at enrollment was prognostic for all-cause mortality.

Methods: In the ATTR-ACT (Tafamidis in Transthyretin Cardiomyopathy Clinical Trial), a 30-month study of tafamidis vs placebo for ATTR-CM, AF/AFL was evaluated as an independent prognostic factor for all-cause mortality using Cox proportional hazards modelling.

Breast Arterial Calcifications on Mammography: Awareness and Reporting Preferences Amongst Referring Physicians in Canada.

Breast arterial calcifications (BAC) on mammography have been correlated with increased cardiovascular risk. The Canadian Society of Breast Imaging released a position statement on BAC reporting in January 2023. This study evaluates the awareness of the clinical significance of BAC and reporting preferences of referring physicians in Canada.

Mobile clinics for opioid use disorders: What they do and how they do it. A qualitative analysis.

Introduction: People with substance use disorders (SUD) face many barriers to receiving evidence-based treatments including access to and cost of treatment. People who use drugs face stigma that limits access to traditional office-based clinics. With the goal of reducing morbidity and mortality, mobile clinics reduce many of these barriers by providing harm reduction and on-demand low-threshold medical care.

Effect of long-term tafamidis treatment on health-related quality of life in patients with transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy.

Aims: To evaluate the effect of long-term tafamidis treatment on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM) enrolled in the Tafamidis in Transthyretin Cardiomyopathy Clinical Trial (ATTR-ACT) and long-term extension (LTE) study.

Methods And Results: We examined change from baseline in Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire overall summary (KCCQ-OS) and clinical summary (KCCQ-CS) scores in patients who received tafamidis meglumine 80 mg for 30 months in ATTR-ACT and tafamidis (meglumine 80 mg or bioequivalent free acid 61 mg) for 30 months in the LTE study, and in patients who received placebo for 30 months in ATTR-ACT and tafamidis for 30 months in the LTE study. In ATTR-ACT, 176 and 177 patients were randomized to tafamidis 80 mg and placebo, respectively.

Shared Lifestyle-Related Risk Factors of Cardiovascular Disease and Cancer: Evidence for Joint Prevention.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cancer are leading causes of mortality and morbidity worldwide and are the major focus of the World Health Organization's joint prevention programs. While, diverse diseases, CVD and cancer, have many similarities. These include common lifestyle-related risk factors and shared environmental, metabolic, cellular, inflammatory, and genetic pathways.

Protocol for the implementation of a statewide mobile addiction program.

With overdose deaths increasing, improving access to harm reduction and low barrier substance use disorder treatment is more important than ever. The Community Care in Reach model uses a mobile unit to bring both harm reduction and clinical care for addiction to people experiencing barriers to office-based care. These mobile units provide many resources and services to people who use drugs, including safer consumption supplies, naloxone, medication for substance use disorder treatment, and a wide range of primary and preventative care.

The role of health plans in addressing the opioid crisis: A qualitative study.

Introduction: Health plans are key players in substance use treatment in the United States, and the opioid crisis presents new challenges for them. This article is part of the HEALing Communities Study (HCS) funded by NIH, which seeks to facilitate communities' adoption of activities that might reduce overdose deaths, including overdose prevention education and naloxone distribution, medication for opioid use disorder, and safer opioid prescribing. We examine how health plans in one state (Massachusetts) are adapting to encourage and sustain activities that help communities to address opioid use disorder (OUD).

The Burden of Uncontrolled Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Men With Prostate Cancer: A RADICAL-PC Analysis.

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) incidence is higher in men with prostate cancer (PC) than without.

Objectives: We describe the rate and correlates of poor cardiovascular risk factor control among men with PC.

Methods: We prospectively characterized 2,811 consecutive men (mean age 68 ± 8 years) with PC from 24 sites in Canada, Israel, Brazil, and Australia.

A Comprehensive Multidisciplinary Diagnostic Algorithm for the Early and Efficient Detection of Amyloidosis.

Amyloidosis is a rare protein misfolding disease caused by the accumulation of amyloid fibrils in various tissues and organs. There are different subtypes of amyloidosis, with light chain (AL) amyloidosis being the most common. Amyloidosis is notoriously difficult to diagnose because it is clinically heterogeneous, no single test is diagnostic for the disease, and diagnosis typically involves multiple specialists.

RARG S427L attenuates the DNA repair response to doxorubicin in induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes.

Doxorubicin is a commonly used chemotherapeutic drug, but its use is limited by doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity (DIC), which can lead to irreversible heart failure and death. A missense variant rs2229774 (p.S427L) in the retinoic acid receptor gamma (RARG) gene is associated with increased susceptibility to DIC, but the precise mechanism underlying this association is incompletely understood.

CCS/CHFS Heart Failure Guidelines Update: Defining a New Pharmacologic Standard of Care for Heart Failure With Reduced Ejection Fraction.

In this update of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society heart failure (HF) guidelines, we provide comprehensive recommendations and practical tips for the pharmacologic management of patients with HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). Since the 2017 comprehensive update of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society guidelines for the management of HF, substantial new evidence has emerged that has informed the care of these patients. In particular, we focus on the role of novel pharmacologic therapies for HFrEF including angiotensin receptor-neprilysin inhibitors, sinus node inhibitors, sodium glucose transport 2 inhibitors, and soluble guanylate cyclase stimulators in conjunction with other long established HFrEF therapies.

Management strategies and clinical outcomes in breast cancer patients who develop left ventricular dysfunction during trastuzumab therapy.

Background: Trastuzumab reduces risk of breast cancer recurrence but carries risk of cardiotoxicity that may be reversible upon treatment cessation and institution of left ventricular (LV) enhancement therapies (LVETx). We assessed management patterns of trastuzumab-induced cardiotoxicity (TIC) in a contemporary real-world setting.

Methods: We reviewed charts of all breast cancer patients who received adjuvant trastuzumab in British Columbia between January 2010 and December 2013, spanning the opening of a cardio-oncology clinic.

Improving quality and performance in substance use treatment programs: What is being done and why is it so hard?

Summary: As states plan to implement system-wide change of any kind, it is important to understand program directors' perspectives on challenges they face. This is especially true with quality improvement reforms. Much research has focused on quality improvement in medicine, but there is a gap in our knowledge about programs that treat individuals with drug or alcohol use.

Effectiveness of value-based purchasing for substance use treatment engagement and retention.

Introduction: Many people drop out of substance use disorder (SUD) treatment within the first few sessions, which suggests the need for innovative strategies to address this. We examined the effectiveness of incentive-based contracting for Maine's publicly funded outpatient (OP) and intensive outpatient (IOP) SUD treatment, to determine its potential for improving treatment engagement and retention.

Methods: Maine's incentive-based contract with federally block grant-funded OP and IOP treatment agencies created a natural experiment, in which we could compare treatment engagement and retention with a group of state-licensed treatment agencies that were not part of the incentive-based contract.

Establishing a Cardiac Amyloidosis Clinic: A Practical Primer for Cardiologists.

Cardiac amyloidosis is an emerging and important cause of heart failure, arrhythmia, and other cardiovascular disease in Canada. In this context, many centres have expressed interest in the development of effective care pathways for screening, evaluating, and treating this rapidly growing patient population. In October 2019, a group of Canadian stakeholders met, including specialists in cardiac amyloidosis, experts in heart failure and chronic disease management, and academic and community-based cardiologists at various stages of cardiac amyloidosis clinic development.

Psychological morbidity associated with prostate cancer: Rates and predictors of depression in the RADICAL PC study.

Introduction: Across all cancer sites and stages, prostate cancer has one of the greatest median five-year survival rates, highlighting the important focus on survivorship issues following diagnosis and treatment. In the current study, we sought to evaluate the prevalence and predictors of depression in a large, multicenter, contemporary, prospectively collected sample of men with prostate cancer.

Methods: Data from the current study were drawn from the baseline visit of men enrolled in the RADICAL PC study.

Variation in RARG increases susceptibility to doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity in patient specific induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes.

Doxorubicin is a potent anticancer drug used to treat a variety of cancer types. However, its use is limited by doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity (DIC). A missense variant in the RARG gene (S427L; rs2229774) has been implicated in susceptibility to DIC in a genome wide association study.

Optimizing screening and management of cardiovascular health in prostate cancer: A review.

In clinical practice, cancer management does not consistently encompass screening and identification of cardiovascular (CV) risk. The use of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) in prostate cancer has been associated with increased CV risk and development of metabolic syndrome, necessitating identification of patients at risk in this population (e.g.

Exercise Training for Cancer Survivors.

Cardiovascular diseases are a common cause of morbidity and mortality in cancer survivors. Furthermore, some cancer therapies are now being increasingly recognized to have negative cardiovascular effects, or cardiotoxicity. Exercise therapy has been found to improve cardiorespiratory fitness in patients with cancer as well as attenuate the cardiotoxic effects of cancer therapy.