Daily Med Bites - 19/05/2025

Dear reader, here are the summaries of some of the latest papers from PubMed.

Rheumatoid Arthritis:

• Source: Shifts in clinical profiles and therapeutic outcomes indicate improved management of rheumatoid arthritis due to advanced treatments, but persistent challenges require refined future treatment strategies.

• Source: An updated systematic review identifies gaps in current quality measures for rheumatoid arthritis, guiding future measure development and endorsement.

• Source: Changes in patient-reported outcomes over 6 months are associated with disease activity in Chinese patients with rheumatoid arthritis, providing insights for personalized management strategies.

• Source: Rheumatoid arthritis involves a complex interplay of inflammatory cells and oxidative stress markers, leading to joint damage through cytokine feedback loops, necessitating the exploration of safer treatment options beyond NSAIDs and DMARDs.

• Source: Healthcare professionals face significant challenges in managing the complex needs of patients with inflammatory arthritis, highlighting the need for improved support and resources in clinical practice.

• Source: Abatacept effectively modifies disease progression in rheumatoid arthritis beyond traditional treatments.

• Source: Patients with rheumatoid arthritis undergoing total ankle arthroplasty have similar complication rates and patient-reported outcome improvements compared to those with primary osteoarthritis or posttraumatic arthritis.

• Source: SLAM family receptors, immune checkpoint molecules, and SH2-containing adaptor proteins are associated with disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis, suggesting their potential role as biomarkers or therapeutic targets.

• Source: A prediction model for Rheumatoid Arthritis was developed with high accuracy, identifying occupation type, place of residence, history of mumps, dietary habits, genetic factor rs805297, and vaccine history as significant risk factors.

• Source: Development of a novel Kv1.3-targeted radiopharmaceutical for early diagnosis and identification of optimal treatment candidates in rheumatoid arthritis.

• Source: BER-DEX hyalurosomes show improved therapeutic efficacy for rheumatoid arthritis compared to current treatments.

• Source: VLA provides a comprehensive assessment of activity-related disability and support levels for patients with rheumatoid arthritis, addressing limitations of previous measures.

Pancreatic Cancer Treatment:

• Source: Intensive neoadjuvant chemotherapy with gemcitabine plus nab-paclitaxel or FOLFIRINOX improves outcomes for patients with anatomically resectable pancreatic cancer and elevated CA19-9 (> 500 U/mL).

• Source: In a non-selected population, there was no significant difference in survival between patients with resectable pancreatic cancer who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy versus those who underwent upfront surgery. Age and performance status were the only factors significantly associated with survival.

• Source: SAbR after neoadjuvant chemotherapy for pancreas cancer improves surgical outcomes and may influence molecular characteristics, suggesting potential benefits for patient survival and guiding future therapeutic strategies.

• Source: Maintaining a total dose intensity (TDI) of ≥62.5% for S-1 adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with resected pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is associated with better prognosis, highlighting the importance of dose adequacy despite potential reductions.

• Source: This study identifies a SNP in the C11orf24 gene and baseline neutrophil count as independent risk factors for predicting severe neutropenia in patients treated with modified FOLFIRINOX for pancreatic cancer.

• Source: Radiomics and liquid biopsy can improve prediction of surgical resectability in borderline resectable and locally advanced pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, potentially enhancing treatment outcomes.

• Source: Radical resection including celiac axis resection can achieve satisfactory arterial patency and clinical outcomes in selected patients with pancreatic cancer involving the artery.

• Source: Patient-derived organoids offer promising potential in precision medicine for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma by elucidating disease biology and guiding personalized treatment strategies.

• Source: A schedule combining olaparib and carboplatin without paclitaxel reduces haematological toxicity while maintaining anti-tumour activity in BRCA-mutated breast cancers.

Myasthenia Gravis:

• Source: New-onset myasthenia gravis cases after the COVID-19 pandemic show distinct clinical characteristics, and certain factors influence disease improvement in these patients.

• Source: Predicting refractory myasthenia gravis by comparing treatment responses in early stages can enable earlier intervention with new treatments.

• Source: Pro-inflammatory cytokines are significantly elevated in myasthenia gravis patients, contributing to chronic inflammation and disease pathogenesis.

• Source: Rozanolixizumab, an FcRn inhibitor, effectively degrades pathogenic IgG in myasthenia gravis patients, showing promise as a new treatment option with manageable side effects, though further real-world studies are needed for confirmation

That’s enough for today, see you tomorrow!

As always, these extremely reduced summaries may be incomplete or inexact in some aspects. Make sure to always read the papers of interest.

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