SCOTTISH HOSPITAL NEWS
NEW TREATMENT FOR PATIENTS WITH SOFT TISSUE SARCOMA
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has recommended granting a conditional marketing authorisation to Lartruvo (olaratumab) for the treatment of adults with soft tissue sarcoma, a rare type of cancer. Lartruvo is to be used in combination with doxorubicin (a chemotherapy medicine) in patients with advanced soft tissue sarcoma for whom surgery or radiotherapy is not suitable, and who have not been previously treated with doxorubicin.
Soft tissue sarcoma can occur in muscles, blood vessels, fat tissue or in other tissues that support, surround and protect the organs. It is a long-term, debilitating and life-threatening disease, particularly when the cancer has spread to other parts of the body. It has a high mortality rate and accounts for approximately two per cent of all cancer-related deaths.
The most common treatment for soft tissue sarcoma in the early stages is surgery. In some instances, surgery is followed by radiotherapy and chemotherapy to kill any cancerous cells that are left behind. Between 40 and 60 per cent of patients with soft tissue sarcoma will be in an advanced stage of the disease. Only half of these patients live longer than five years under currently available treatment and this prognosis has not improved over the last forty years. Therefore new medicines are needed for patients.
Lartruvo is a monoclonal antibody, a type of protein that has been designed to recognise and attach to a protein called platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha (PDGFR). In soft tissue sarcoma this protein is present in high levels or is overactive, causing cells to become cancerous. When Lartruvo attaches to PDGFR on sarcoma cells, it blocks its activity, thereby slowing down the growth of the cancer.
PARKINSON’S TEST COULD AID EARLY DETECTION
A TEST DEVELOPED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH MAY BRING EARLIER DIAGNOSIS OF PARKINSON’S DISEASE A STEP CLOSER.
Scientists at the university have developed a way of detecting a molecule linked to the condition in samples of spinal fluid from patients, and while experts say that the test needs to be validated with a larger sample group, they are optimistic that it could one day help to improve diagnosis of the disease.
Researchers at the university made use of a highly sensitive technology that measures the stickiness of proteins. The approach – called real- time quaking induced conversion – can detect tiny differences in the properties of proteins in the brain that can mean the difference between disease or not.
The test detects a protein molecule called alpha-synuclein, which forms sticky clumps called Lewy bodies inside the brain cells of people with Parkinson’s and some types of dementia.
Previous efforts to develop a test for alpha-synuclein have produced inconsistent results because the protein is also found
in healthy brains. It is only when the protein clumps together that it causes problems.
In early tests, the technique accurately identified 19 out of 20 samples from patients with Parkinson’s disease, as well as three samples from people considered to be at risk of the condition. There were no false positives in any of the fifteen control
samples from healthy people.
‘We have already used this technique to develop an accurate test for Creutzfeldt Jacob Disease, another neurodegenerative condition,’ said Dr Alison Green, National CJD Research and Surveillance Unit at the University of Edinburgh. ‘We hope that, with further refinement, our approach will help to improve diagnosis for Parkinson’s patients.’
NEW MEDICINES ACCEPTED FOR ROUTINE USE BY NHS SCOTLAND
The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) has published advice accepting three new medicines for routine use in NHS Scotland.
Trametinib (Mekinist) was accepted for the treatment of advanced melanoma (a skin cancer) following consideration through the Patient and Clinician Engagement Process (PACE). Trametinib is used in combination with another cancer medicine, dabrafenib, in patients whose melanoma cells have a specific genetic mutation called BRAF V600. In the PACE meeting, patient groups and clinicians highlighted that melanoma commonly affects
a relatively young population who may have significant work and family commitments. Trametinib can offer patients increased survival time and an improved quality of life.
Idarucizumab (Praxbind) was accepted for use to neutralise the effects of another medicine, dabigatran, which is used to treat and prevent blood clots. Idarucizumab is used to reverse the anti-clotting effects of dabigatran rapidly in patients who need emergency surgery or experience life-threatening bleeding. No other current treatment is licensed to reverse the effects of dabigatran.
Dasatinib (Sprycel) was accepted for the first line treatment of chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML), a rare type of blood cancer. In the majority of patients, the diagnosis of CML is made in the initial chronic phase of the disease. Dasatinib offers another treatment option for patients at this stage of the disease and, as a once daily oral medication, offers benefits over other currently available treatment options. SMC also accepted dasatinib for the second line treatment of CML, ie, for use in those patients who have already received another treatment.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64