CHICAGO—Previous studies have indicated that non-Hispanic black adults with colon cancer wait longer between diagnosis and treatment and are less likely to receive guideline-adherent therapy than non-Hispanic white patients. Those disparities do not exist in the...
VA Shows Precision Oncology Feasible, Even in Rural Areas
CHICAGO—The rapid proliferation of targeted therapies has revolutionized cancer care, bringing truly personalized treatment ever closer. Limited access to and use of genomic sequencing, however, has kept many patients from using new medications that could work well...
Meta-analysis Confirms First-Line Benefit of Cabozantinib in Metastatic RCC
CHICAGO—A systematic review comparing results of studies of pazopanib and current first-line treatments for metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) confirmed the superiority of cabozantinib and nivolumab plus ipilimumab to the older therapy. The meta-analysis was...
VA Researchers Identify Likely Subsequent Health Risks for Cancer Patients
CHICAGO—VA researchers have mapped the most common subsequent diagnoses for veterans diagnosed with several common cancers, allowing clinicians to better personalize care and focus prevention efforts. The study, which enabled creation of a network graph of follow-on...
HIV Patients Had Lower PC Incidence in VA Study
NEW YORK—Non-AIDS defining cancers are increasingly important contributors to health outcomes for aging persons with HIV (PWH), according to a recent conference presentation which also pointed out that, although prostate cancer is prevalent in aging men, the impact of...
VA Study Finds No Link Between ADT, Dementia
LA JOLLA, CA—Research has been conflicting on whether androgen deprivation therapy is related to dementia. A research letter in JAMA Oncology pointed out that two studies reported a strong statistically significant association between ADT and both dementia and...
Agent Orange Exposure Not Associated With Worse PC Outcomes
MADISON, WI—How does a history of Agent Orange exposure affect prostate cancer survival in VA patients receiving androgen deprivation therapy for advanced prostate cancer? That was the question addressed in a Journal of Urology study.1 University of Wisconsin School...
Oral Cancer Therapies Create Critical Demand for Pharmacists
CHICAGO—The pace of U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of oral anticancer medications has rapidly increased, from less than one a year at the turn of the century to 10 in 2018. While patients generally prefer taking oncolytics by mouth at home to intravenous...
VA Awakens to Prevalence of Sleep Apnea in Veterans with Severe Mental Illness
PITTSBURGH—Serious mental illness increases the likelihood of sleep apnea by 26%, according to researchers at the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System. Their study, recently published in Psychosomatics, also found that nearly 9% of all veterans had sleep apnea. At the same...
VA Now Allows New Therapy Option for Treatment-Resistant Depression
Condition Significantly Increases Veterans’ Healthcare Costs ORLANDO, FL—VA clinicians now will be able to prescribe a form of ketamine to help patients with treatment-resistant depression. The condition is associated with healthcare resource utilization and costs at...
High Satisfaction with Teledermatology at Atlanta VAMC
ATLANTA—Teledermatology is comparable to face-to-face visits in providing accurate diagnoses and effective treatments, but it is not clear how patients feel about teledermatology models that more directly convey provider recommendations to patients. A study in the...
IBD Treatment Can Increase Squamous Cell Cancer Risk
PHILADELPHIA—Treatment with thiopurines is associated with an increased risk of squamous cell carcinoma of the skin in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases, according to a new study. Researchers from the Corporal Michel J. Crescenz VAMC and the University of...
Erectile Dysfunction Drugs and Skin Cancer in Veterans
LEXINGTON, KY—Is there a relationship between phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitor drugs, prescribed for erectile dysfunction, and skin cancers? A large-scale study of veterans sought to determine that. A retrospective review using the VAs Informatics and Computing...
Three VAMC Campus Suicides in a Week Heighten Concerns About Prevention
WASHINGTON—Concern over the rate of veteran suicides reached a fever pitch last month after three veterans took their lives at VA facilities over a span of five days. Two of the deaths occurred in Georgia—one in a parking garage at the Carl Vinson VAMC in Dublin and...
Combat, Not Deployment, Appears to Increase Risk of New-Onset Asthma
BETHESDA, MD—Many reports have suggested that servicemembers who deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan developed respiratory illnesses at higher-than-expected rates, but study results looking at increased rates of asthma have been mixed. A new study by Navy and VA...
Overcoming Radiation Resistant Prostate Cancer
LOS ANGELES—For nearly half of the patients with localized advanced prostate cancer, radiation therapy is the primary intervention and standard of care for recurrent disease following surgery. The problem is that nearly 30% to 50% of patients undergoing radiotherapy...
JAK Enzymes Can Treat Leukemia, Lymphoma
NASHVILLE, TN—Precision oncology prescribes the use of molecularly-targeted therapy directed by identification of genomic alterations. A new study suggested the approach is particularly applicable to neoplasms that are resistant to standard cytotoxic chemotherapy,...
Response of Veterans to PD-1 Checkpoint Inhibitors
RENO, NV—The clinical outcomes and the incidence of adverse events for programmed death-1 checkpoint inhibitors in cancer patients at a VA clinic were different from the data that have been published, according to a new study. Researchers from the pharmacy service at...
Steroid Overuse Suggests Benefit to Flipping PCP/Specialist Paradigm in COPD
SEATTLE—New guidelines published in 2017 upended recommendations for use of inhaled corticosteroids in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary. Two years later, many VA patients still receive discordant care. To fix the problem, the VA’s Health Services Research...
Personalization, In-Home Adaptation Necessary to Improve CPAP Adherence
INDIANAPOLIS—To improve adherence to continuous positive airway pressure treatment, more emphasis needs to be put on support for sleep apnea patients in their homes, where the equipment actually is used. That’s according to a new study noting that better solutions are...
VA Struggles to Overcome Women’s Healthcare Disparities
WASHINGTON—VA is straining its capacity and struggling against a culture that can sometimes be hostile to women as it responds to what VA officials consider a “tsunami wave of women veterans” over the last decade. Today, women make up more than 16% of active-duty...
No Link Between Anthrax Vaccine, ‘Lone AFib’
ATLANTA—Concerns have been raised about a possible link between receipt of anthrax vaccine adsorbed and atrial fibrillation in military personnel without identifiable underlying risk factors or structural heart disease. A study in Human Vaccines & Immunotherapies...
Improving OAC Adherence in Atrial Fibrillation Patients
DURHAM, NC—Treatment of atrial fibrillation patients isn’t always in line with clinical guidelines, but improving adherence to oral anticoagulation has proven to be challenging, according to a new study. The article in Circulation reported on adherence to the American...
CVD Risks Differ by Sex in VA Patients
WASHINGTON—Does the incidence of cardiovascular disease differ by sex among veterans as it does with the general U.S. population? A study in the Journal of Women’s Health sought to answer that question. VA researchers from across the nation focused on veterans who...
PTSD Alone Doesn’t Increase Cardiovascular Risk in Veterans
Study Urges Close Monitoring of Physical, Psychological Co-Morbidities ST. LOUIS—Even though veterans diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder are 41% more likely to developing cardiovascular disease than those without, PTSD alone doesn’t fully explain the higher...
VA Announces Plans to Create 3D-Printed Artificial Lung
3D Printing Already Personalizes Care in Other Ways ANN ARBOR, MI—VA scientists in Michigan recently announced they are working to create a three-dimensional-printed artificial lung. The lab-created lung could transform treatment for some of the approximately one...
Legislators Express Outrage Over Military Sexual Trauma Issues Subhead: Senator Describes Her Experience as Air Force Rape Victim
WASHINGTON—A recent survey of the military service academies found that sexual assault has spiked over the last two years, up 50% since 2016. This news sparked fresh outrage from legislators, resulting in a hearing focusing on how military sexual trauma is dealt with...
An Article
This is an upcoming special issue of U.S. Medicine, to be published in June 2019. You are reading an article from this special issue of the magazine that is available online.
Current Treatment Halves Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Hep C Patients
PITTSBURGH—In more good news for veterans who have received treatment for hepatitis C virus, VA researchers have found that treatment not only reduces the risk of complications from liver disease, it also dramatically reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease. VA...
VA Models Allow Earlier Identification of HCV Patients at Risk of Progression
ANN ARBOR, MI—New prognostic models developed by VA researchers can help clinicians identify which patients who have or have had chronic hepatitis C virus infection will develop cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma. While the VA has nearly eliminated HCV among...
