Delayed engraftment is a significant limitation of umbilical cord blood (UCB) transplantation due to low stem cell numbers. Inhibition of dipeptidyl peptidase (DPP)-4 enhanced engraftment in murine transplants. We evaluated the feasibility of systemic DPP-4 inhibition using sitagliptin to enhance engraftment of single-unit UCB grafts in adults with hematological malignancies. Twenty-four patients (21-58 years) received myeloablative conditioning, followed by sitagliptin 600 mg orally days -1 to + 2, and single UCB grafts day 0. Seventeen receiving red cell-depleted (RCD) grafts, matched at 4 (n = 10) or 5 (n = 7) of 6 human leucocyte antigen (HLA) loci with median nucleated cell dose 3.6 (2.5-5.2) · 10 7 /kg, engrafted at median of 21 (range, 13-50) days with cumulative incidence of 94% (95% confidence interval, 84%-100%) at 50 days. Plasma DDP-4 activity was reduced to 23% -7% within 2 h. Area under DPP-4 activity-time curve (AUC A ) correlated with engraftment; 9 of 11 with AUC A < 6,000 activity$h engrafted within £ 21 days, while all 6 with higher AUC A engrafted later (P = 0.002). Seven patients receiving red cell replete grafts had 10-fold lower colony forming units after thawing compared with RCD grafts, with poor engraftment. Systemic DPP-4 inhibition was well tolerated and may enhance engraftment. Optimizing sitagliptin dosing to achieve more sustained DPP-4 inhibition may further improve outcome.
Drug-drug interactions (DDIs) are a common cause of adverse drug events. In this paper, we combined a literature discovery approach with analysis of a large electronic medical record database method to predict and evaluate novel DDIs. We predicted an initial set of 13197 potential DDIs based on substrates and inhibitors of cytochrome P450 (CYP) metabolism enzymes identified from published in vitro pharmacology experiments. Using a clinical repository of over 800,000 patients, we narrowed this theoretical set of DDIs to 3670 drug pairs actually taken by patients. Finally, we sought to identify novel combinations that synergistically increased the risk of myopathy. Five pairs were identified with their p-values less than 1E-06: loratadine and simvastatin (relative risk or RR = 1.69); loratadine and alprazolam (RR = 1.86); loratadine and duloxetine (RR = 1.94); loratadine and ropinirole (RR = 3.21); and promethazine and tegaserod (RR = 3.00). When taken together, each drug pair showed a significantly increased risk of myopathy when compared to the expected additive myopathy risk from taking either of the drugs alone. Based on additional literature data on in vitro drug metabolism and inhibition potency, loratadine and simvastatin and tegaserod and promethazine were predicted to have a strong DDI through the CYP3A4 and CYP2D6 enzymes, respectively. This new translational biomedical informatics approach supports not only detection of new clinically significant DDI signals, but also evaluation of their potential molecular mechanisms.
Purpose: Enoticumab (REGN421) is a fully human IgG 1 monoclonal antibody that binds human Dll4 and disrupts Notch-mediated signaling. The main objectives of this trial were to determine the safety, dose-limiting toxicities (DLT), pharmacokinetics (PK), and recommended phase II dose (RP2D) of enoticumab.Experimental Design: Enoticumab was administered intravenously, with dose escalations from 0.25 to 4 mg/kg every 3 weeks (Q3W) and 0.75 to 3 mg/kg every 2 weeks (Q2W).Results: Of 53 enrolled patients, 31 patients were treated Q3W and 22 patients were treated Q2W. Two DLTs occurred: grade 3 nausea (0.5 mg/kg Q3W) and grade 3 abdominal pain (1 mg/kg Q2W). An MTD was not reached on either schedule. The most frequent adverse events (AE) were fatigue, nausea, vomiting, hypertension, headache, and anorexia. Six treatment-related serious AEs were reported in 4 patients: brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) increase (0.25 mg/kg Q3W, Gr1), troponin I increase (4 mg/kg Q3W, Gr3), right ventricular dysfunction and pulmonary hypertension (1.5 mg/kg Q2W, both Gr3), and left ventricular dysfunction and pulmonary hypertension (3 mg/kg Q2W, both Gr3). Enoticumab was characterized by nonlinear, targetmediated PK, and had a terminal half-life of 8 to 9 days. With multiple Q2W or Q3W dosing, accumulation was not observed. Antitumor activity included two partial responses (non-small cell lung cancer bronchoalveolar-type with a b-catenin mutation, and ovarian cancer) and 16 patients with stable disease (3 > 6 months).Conclusions: Enoticumab was tolerated, with RP2D of 4 mg/kg Q3W and 3 mg/kg Q2W based on PK profile and clinical activity. Responses and SD were noted in ovarian cancer and other solid tumors.
Children with NHIF at diagnosis had significantly lower chance of abandoning treatment and higher chance of survival. Childhood cancer treatment outcomes could be improved by interventions that prevent treatment abandonment and improve access to NHIF. Hospital retention of patients over unpaid medical bills must stop.
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