Long-term combination therapy with doxazosin and finasteride was safe and reduced the risk of overall clinical progression of benign prostatic hyperplasia significantly more than did treatment with either drug alone. Combination therapy and finasteride alone reduced the long-term risk of acute urinary retention and the need for invasive therapy.

The 9vHPV vaccine prevented infection and disease related to HPV-31, 33, 45, 52, and 58 in a susceptible population and generated an antibody response to HPV-6, 11, 16, and 18 that was noninferior to that generated by the qHPV vaccine. The 9vHPV vaccine did not prevent infection and disease related to HPV types beyond the nine types covered by the vaccine. (Funded by Merck; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00543543).

BACKGROUNDThe investigational 9-valent viruslike particle vaccine against human papillomavirus (HPV) includes the HPV types in the quadrivalent HPV (qHPV) vaccine (6, 11, 16, and 18) and five additional oncogenic types (31, 33, 45, 52, and 58). Here we present the results of a study of the efficacy and immunogenicity of the 9vHPV vaccine in women 16 to 26 years of age. METHODSWe performed a randomized, international, double-blind, phase 2b-3 study of the 9vHPV vaccine in 14,215 women. Participants received the 9vHPV vaccine or the qHPV vaccine in a series of three intramuscular injections on day 1 and at months 2 and 6. Serum was collected for analysis of antibody responses. Swabs of labial, vulvar, perineal, perianal, endocervical, and ectocervical tissue were obtained and used for HPV DNA testing, and liquid-based cytologic testing (Papanicolaou testing) was performed regularly. Tissue obtained by means of biopsy or as part of definitive therapy (including a loop electrosurgical excision procedure and conization) was tested for HPV. RESULTSThe rate of high-grade cervical, vulvar, or vaginal disease irrespective of HPV type (i.e., disease caused by HPV types included in the 9vHPV vaccine and those not included) in the modified intention-to-treat population (which included participants with and those without prevalent infection or disease) was 14.0 per 1000 person-years in both vaccine groups. The rate of high-grade cervical, vulvar, or vaginal disease related to 33,45, 52, and 58 in a prespecified per-protocol efficacy population (susceptible population) was 0.1 per 1000 person-years in the 9vHPV group and 1.6 per 1000 person-years in the qHPV group (efficacy of the 9vHPV vaccine, 96.7%; 95% confidence interval, 80.9 to 99.8). Antibody responses to 11,16,and 18 were noninferior to those generated by the qHPV vaccine. Adverse events related to injection site were more common in the 9vHPV group than in the qHPV group. CONCLUSIONSThe 9vHPV vaccine prevented infection and disease related to 33,45, 52, and 58 in a susceptible population and generated an antibody response to HPV-6, 11, 16, and 18 that was noninferior to that generated by the qHPV vaccine. The 9vHPV vaccine did not prevent infection and disease related to HPV types beyond the nine types covered by the vaccine. (Funded by Merck; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00543543).

The relationships between long-term intensive control of glycemia and indicators of skin collagen glycation (furosine), glycoxidation (pentosidine and N(epsilon)-[carboxymethyl]-lysine [CML]), and crosslinking (acid and pepsin solubility) were examined in 216 patients with type 1 diabetes from the primary prevention and secondary intervention cohorts of the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial. By comparison with conventional treatment, 5 years of intensive treatment was associated with 30-32% lower furosine, 9% lower pentosidine, 9-13% lower CML, 24% higher acid-soluble collagen, and 50% higher pepsin-soluble collagen. All of these differences were statistically significant in the subjects of the primary prevention cohort (P < 0.006-0.001) and also of the secondary intervention cohort (P < 0.015-0.001) with the exception of CML and acid-soluble collagen. Age- and duration-adjusted collagen variables were significantly associated with the HbA1c value nearest the biopsy and with cumulative prior HbA1c values. Multiple logistic regression analyses with six nonredundant collagen parameters as independent variables and various expressions of retinopathy, nephropathy, and neuropathy outcomes as dependent variables showed that the complications were significantly associated with the full set of collagen variables. Surprisingly, the percentage of total variance (R2) in complications explained by the collagen variables ranged from 19 to 36% with the intensive treatment and from 14 to 51% with conventional treatment. These associations generally remained significant even after adjustment for HbA1c, and, most unexpectedly, in conventionally treated subjects, glycated collagen was the parameter most consistently associated with diabetic complications. Continued monitoring of these subjects may determine whether glycation products in the skin, and especially the early Amadori product (furosine), have the potential to be predictors of the future risk of developing complications, and perhaps be even better predictors than glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c).

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Merck & Co, Inc.

Background:Previous analyses from a randomised trial in women aged 24–45 years have shown the quadrivalent human papillomavirus (qHPV) vaccine to be efficacious in the prevention of infection, cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), and external genital lesions (EGLs) related to HPV 6/11/16/18. In this report, we present end-of-study efficacy, safety, and immunogenicity data with a median follow-up time of 4.0 years.Methods:We enrolled 3819 24–45-year-old women with no history of cervical disease or genital warts in the past 5 years. Women received quadrivalent vaccine or placebo at day 1, and at months 2 and 6. Ascertainment of CIN/EGL was accomplished through Pap testing, genital inspection, and cervicovaginal sampling (every 6 months). The main analysis was conducted in a per-protocol efficacy population (that received three doses, was naive to the relevant HPV types at day 1, and remained free of infection through month 7). Efficacy was also estimated in other naive and non-naive populations.Results:Vaccine efficacy against the combined incidence of persistent infection, CIN/EGL related to HPV6/11/16/18 in the per-protocol population was 88.7% (95% CI: 78.1, 94.8). Efficacy for women who were seropositive and DNA negative for the relevant vaccine HPV type at the time of enrolment who received at least 1 dose was 66.9% (95% CI: 4.3, 90.6). At month 48, 91.5, 92.0, 97.4, and 47.9% of vaccinated women were seropositive to HPV 6/11/16/18, respectively. No serious vaccine-related adverse experiences were reported.Conclusions:The qHPV vaccine demonstrated high efficacy, immunogenicity, and acceptable safety in women aged 24–45 years, regardless of previous exposure to HPV vaccine type.