News in brief: TSANZ sets 6 strategic goals; Lung cancer immunotherapy outcomes don’t match RCT results; Mucin biomarker in COPD

3 Jun 2021

TSANZ sets 6 goals in new strategic plan

The Thoracic Society of Australian and New Zealand has released its 2021-2026 Strategic Plan, which includes ambitious goals in six areas as part of a long term plan to tackle respiratory conditions I Australia.

The targets cover areas such as membership growth, holding more events, increasing diversity in activities and research and delivering stronger advocacy in respiratory health.

The TSANZ plan also aims to enhance clinical guidance through robust evidence-based recommendations that are independent of external funding to drive best practice in respiratory care.

“We will seek to partner with international respiratory societies on guidelines development, where it is possible and feasible to do so,” the plan states.


Lung cancer immunotherapy outcomes don’t match RCT results

Older patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with immunotherapy show lower survival rates in real world settings compared to those reported in key clinical trials, a study of US Medicare patients shows.

A cohort study that included 19,529 patients who started first systemic therapy for advanced lung cancer found that the median overall survival was 11.4 months among patients receiving pembrolizumab monotherapy  – about 15 months shorter than observed among pembrolizumab-treated participants in the KEYNOTE-024 trial.

The 12.9 months median OS observed in patients receiving platinum/ pemetrexed/pembrolizumab chemoimmunotherapy was about 10 months shorter than reported in the KEYNOTE-189 trial.

“These results may inform prognostic considerations in practice,” said the authors of the study published in JAMA Network Open.


Mucin a novel biomarker in COPD prognosis

Increased concentration of the gel-forming mucin MUC5AC in the airways might contribute to COPD initiation, progression, exacerbation risk, and overall pathogenesis.

A US study of 331 adults 40-80 years old, including healthy never-smokers, at-risk ever-smokers, and ever-smokers with COPD, found increased MUC5AC concentrations were associated with manifestations of COPD such as decreased FEV1 and FEF25–75%, and increased prospective exacerbation frequency, RV/TLC, PRM-fSAD, and COPD assessment scores.

The study also found an odds ratio of 1·24 for two or more exacerbations in individuals with high baseline MUC5AC concentration.

Increased MUC5AC concentration at baseline was a significant predictor of FEV1, FEV1/FVC, FEF25–75%, and CAT score decline during the 3-year follow-up.

“These data suggest that MUC5AC-producing pathways could be potential targets for future therapeutic strategies. Thus, MUC5AC could be a novel biomarker for COPD prognosis and for testing the efficacy of therapeutic agents.”

The Lancet Respiratory Medicine

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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