A recent study found that pitavastatin lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease among persons with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. This study’s results were published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

This phase 3, randomized trial included 7769 participants with HIV infection, having low-to-moderate risk of cardiovascular disease. The antiretroviral therapy was replaced by pitavastatin calcium daily at a dose of 4mg or placebo. The primary outcome included the occurrence of a major cardiovascular event, defined as a mix of myocardial infarction, stroke, peripheral arterial ischemia, cardiovascular death, transient ischemic attack, hospitalization for unstable angina, revascularization, or death due to unknown reasons.

The median CD4 count was found to be 621 cells per cubic millimetre while HIV RNA value was below quantification in 5250 of 5997 participants. In the pitavastatin and placebo group, the incidence of a major cardiovascular event was noted as 4.81 per 1000 person-years and 7.32 per 1000 person-years, respectively. 91 participants in the pitavastatin group and 53 in the placebo group showed muscle-related symptoms while diabetes was reported in 206 and 155 participants, respectively.

Based on the above results, it can be concluded that pitavastatin may lower the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events in persons with HIV infection.

According to a recent study, it was found that patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction, had reduced incidence of anemia with sacubitril/valsartan. This study’s findings were published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

This randomized controlled trial enrolled 1,677 anemic patients who were having <130 g/L and <120 g/L levels of hemoglobin in men and women, respectively at the time of screening. The participants were either given sacubitril/valsartan or enalapril. Clinical outcomes based on the change in hemoglobin levels from baseline, incidence of anemia, and anemia status were assessed.

Patients with anemia are more prone to severe heart failures, but those on sacubitril/valsartan showed a decreased risk of cardiovascular death or hospitalization due to heart failure in patients with or without anemia. During the time between baseline to one year, hemoglobin lowered by 1.5 g/L with sacubitril/valsartan while it was 2.3 g/L with enalapril. Also, at 12 months those on sacubitril/valsartan were less likely to develop anemia compared to those on enalapril.

It was observed that hemoglobin levels reduced less in patients randomized with sacubitril/valsartan and so did the incidence of new anemia. Thus, based on these findings, it may be concluded that sacubitril/valsartan lowers mortality and hospitalization, irrespective of anemia status in patients with heart failure

Pembrolizumab monotherapy was linked to numerically better overall survival and a better tolerability profile in patients with advanced gastric cancer/gastroesophageal junction cancer who were positive for programmed death ligand 1, says a recent study. This study was published in the journal, Japanese Journal of Clinical Oncology.

This was a randomized controlled trial that included 187 participants who were divided into three groups: pembrolizumab 200mg, pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy (cisplatin + 5-fluorouracil or capecitabine), and placebo plus chemotherapy Q3W in 1:1:1 ratio. The overall survival in populations with combined positive scores of ≥1 and ≥10 was the  primary endpoint, while safety and tolerability were the secondary endpoints .

According to the findings, the median overall survival was numerically longer with pembrolizumab than chemotherapy (22.7 vs 13.8 months) and pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy compared to chemotherapy (16.5 vs 13.8 months), in the programmed death ligand 1 combined positive score ≥1 and ≥10 population.

Therefore, patients with advanced gastric cancer and positive for programmed death ligand-1 had better overall survival and tolerability profiles with pembrolizumab monotherapy, compared to chemotherapy.