Citations

Objectives: In practice, midodrine has been used to reduce IV vasopressor requirements and decrease ICU length of stay. However, recent publications have failed to show clinical success when midodrine was administered every 8 hours. One possible reason for the lack of clinical efficacy at this dosing interval may be the pharmacokinetic properties of midodrine that support a more frequent dosing interval. Here, we report our institutional experience with midodrine at a dosing frequency of every 6 hours. Design: Single, quaternary academic medical center, retrospective, descriptive study. Setting: Floor and ICU patients admitted to Mayo Clinic, Rochester, from May 7, 2018, to September 30, 2020. Patients: Adult patients with an order for midodrine with a dosing frequency of “every 6 hours” or “four times daily” were eligible for inclusion. Interventions: No intervention performed. All data were abstracted retrospectively from the electronic medical record. Measurements and Main Results: Forty-four unique patients were identified that met inclusion criteria. Patients were an average of 65 years and 63.6% were male. The individual doses of midodrine ranged from 5 to 20 mg. Twenty-three patients (52.3%) were receiving IV vasopressors at the time midodrine was ordered every 6 hours. Vasopressor requirements decreased from an average of 0.10 norepinephrine equivalents 24 hours prior to the every 6-hour order to 0.05 norepinephrine equivalents 24 hours after an order for midodrine every 6 hour was placed. Conclusions: Increasing the dosing frequency of midodrine to every 6 hours may optimize its pharmacokinetic profile without compromising safety. This midodrine dosing frequency should be prospectively evaluated as a primary strategy for accelerated IV vasopressor wean.

Abstract Background Capnocytopha ga is a gram-negative, facultative anaerobe. Human infection is rare but can lead to devastating outcomes. Capnocytophaga canimorsus can cause sepsis following an animal bite, whereas human-oral–associated Capnocytophaga infections were reported in immunocompromised patients. Current data on these infections are not robust. Our goal is to provide a contemporary description of a unique characteristic of Capnocytophaga infections. Methods We performed a retrospective review of all patients with Capnocytophaga infection from January 2010 to August 2020 at 3 main hospitals of Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota; Scottsdale, Arizona; and Jacksonville, Florida. We collected baseline demographic data, clinical characteristics, microbiological data, and outcomes of C. canimorsus and human-oral–associated Capnocytophaga infection. Results Among 82 patients with Capnocytophaga infection, 46 patients (56.0%) had bacteremia. The most common species identified in this group was C. sputigena (57.9%), followed by C. canimorsus (34.8%). Patients with human-oral–associated Capnocytophaga bacteremia were often immunocompromised, presented with neutropenic fever, and had worse 6-month all-cause mortality compared to C. canimorsus bacteremia (36.4% vs 6.2%, P = .03). They also had a higher β-lactamase production rate (36.4% vs 0.0%, P = .02). Among patients without bacteremia, the main clinical syndrome was polymicrobial head and neck infections (47.2%). Conclusions Human-oral–associated Capnocytophaga bacteremia occurs primarily in immunocompromised patients, particularly those with hematologic malignancy. In contrast, C. canimorsus bacteremia is more likely to present with community-onset infection related to zoonotic exposure. Human-oral–associated Capnocytophaga infection without bacteremia is frequently isolated in polymicrobial infection; this phenomenon’s significance is yet to be fully understood.

Abstract Despite the benign nature of monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS), mounting data are associating MGUS with the development of organ dysfunction, specifically monoclonal gammopathy of renal significance (MGRS) and monoclonal gammopathy of neurological significance (MGNS), which could be associated with substantial morbidity. Emerging evidence suggests that patients with MGRS and MGNS could benefit from treatments used for myeloma, Waldenström macroglobulinemia, or chronic lymphocytic leukemia, depending on the underlying pathology. However, the treatment of MGRS and MGNS is not standardized, and potentially effective therapies might not be reimbursed because these conditions do not formally meet the criteria for malignant processes. The present review aims at establishing standards for the evaluation and management of MGRS and MGNS, which can facilitate the diagnosis of and provide therapeutic options for treating practitioners and patients affected by these conditions. The careful design and execution of clinical trials for patients with MGRS and MGNS are positively encouraged.

This selection from the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines) for Colon Cancer focuses on systemic therapy options for the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), because important updates have recently been made to this section. These updates include recommendations for first-line use of checkpoint inhibitors for mCRC, that is deficient mismatch repair/microsatellite instability-high, recommendations related to the use of biosimilars, and expanded recommendations for biomarker testing. The systemic therapy recommendations now include targeted therapy options for patients with mCRC that is HER2-amplified, or BRAF V600E mutation–positive. Treatment and management of nonmetastatic or resectable/ablatable metastatic disease are discussed in the complete version of the NCCN Guidelines for Colon Cancer available at NCCN.org . Additional topics covered in the complete version include risk assessment, staging, pathology, posttreatment surveillance, and survivorship.

Abstract In the vast majority of cases, glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is estimated using serum creatinine, which is highly influenced by age, sex, muscle mass, body composition, severe chronic illness and many other factors. This often leads to misclassification of patients or potentially puts patients at risk for inappropriate clinical decisions. Possible solutions are the use of cystatin C as an alternative endogenous marker or performing direct measurement of GFR using an exogenous marker such as iohexol. The purpose of this review is to highlight clinical scenarios and conditions such as extreme body composition, Black race, disagreement between creatinine- and cystatin C–based estimated GFR (eGFR), drug dosing, liver cirrhosis, advanced chronic kidney disease and the transition to kidney replacement therapy, non-kidney solid organ transplant recipients and living kidney donors where creatinine-based GFR estimation may be invalid. In contrast to the majority of literature on measured GFR (mGFR), this review does not include aspects of mGFR for research or public health settings but aims to reach practicing clinicians and raise their understanding of the substantial limitations of creatinine. While including cystatin C as a renal biomarker in GFR estimating equations has been shown to increase the accuracy of the GFR estimate, there are also limitations to eGFR based on cystatin C alone or the combination of creatinine and cystatin C in the clinical scenarios described above that can be overcome by measuring GFR with an exogenous marker. We acknowledge that mGFR is not readily available in many centres but hope that this review will highlight and promote the expansion of kidney function diagnostics using standardized mGFR procedures as an important milestone towards more accurate and personalized medicine.

Abstract Background: Hereditary factors play a key role in the risk of developing breast cancers. Identification of a germline predisposition can have important implications for treatment decisions, risk-reducing interventions, cancer screening, and testing for family members. Aim: To determine the prevalence of pathogenic or likely pathogenic germline mutations (P/LP) using a “universal” testing approach and uptake of no-cost cascade family testing in patients with breast cancer. Methods: We undertook a prospective multi-site study of germline genetic alterations among breast cancer patients receiving care at Mayo Clinic cancer centers in Rochester, MN; Eau Claire, WI; Jacksonville, FL and Phoenix, AZ between April 1, 2018 and March 31, 2020. Patients with a new or active breast cancer diagnosis (all stages) irrespective of cancer family history were tested with a >80-gene next generation sequencing panel.Results: Of 390 patients, the median age was 58 years (SD 12.3), 1% were male, 85% were white and 28% had advanced (stage 3-4) disease. P/LP were found in 12.1% (n=47) of patients, including 29 in moderate and high penetrance cancer susceptibility genes. 13 (3.3%) patients had mutations in BRCA1 or 2, while 33 (8.4%) had mutations in BRCAness (ATM, BAP1, BARD1, BLM, BRCA1, BRCA2, BRIP1, CHEK2, NBN, PALB2, RAD50, RAD51C, RAD51D, WRN) associated genes. Of the P/LP findings the most frequent aberrations were in BRCA2 (13.5%), BRCA1 (11.5%), CHEK2 (11.5%), MUTYH (11.5%), and WRN (9.6%). Variants of uncertain significance were found in 209 (53.6%) including 26 (6.6%) with concurrent P/LP and VUS. 37 (9.4%) patients had mutations associated with published management recommendations, precision therapies and/or clinical trial eligibility. 10 (2.6%) patients had P/LP that would not have met current screening guidelines, including 4 with moderate or high penetrance mutations. Patients with younger age of diagnosis were less likely than patients with older age of diagnosis to have a P/LP mutation (OR= 0.47, 95%CI: 0.25-0.90 p = 0.020). Only 10 (21%) patients with P/LP had family members undergo familial site- specific testing at no cost.Conclusions: In this prospective multi-center study of unselected breast cancer patients, universal multi-gene panel testing found that 1 in 8 patients harbor P/LP germline variants. Current guidelines were able to identify the majority of patients with P/LP mutations. Familial site specific testing is greatly under-utilized even when cost is not a barrier. Multigene panels impact cancer patient care by identifying precision medicine treatment interventions, and guiding long-term medical management and preventive surveillance. Citation Format: Brenda Ernst, Natalie Ertz-Archambault, Deborah J Rhodes, Donald W Northfelt, Myra Wick, Douglas L Riegert-Johnson, Scott Okuno, Katie Kunze, Michael Golafshar, Cindy M Azevedo, PLS Uson Junior, ED Esplin, Robert Nussbaum, Margaret Klint, Sarah Mantia, Megan Hager, Keith Stewart, Niloy Jewel Samadder. Universal genetic testing in breast cancer patients: A multi-center prospective study [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2020 San Antonio Breast Cancer Virtual Symposium; 2020 Dec 8-11; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2021;81(4 Suppl):Abstract nr PD10-05.

Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2) targeted therapy shows promising results in HER-2-positive uterine serous carcinoma (USC). HER-2 scoring criteria for USC and its associated noninvasive lesion, serous endometrial intraepithelial carcinoma (SEIC), are not well-established. Here, we compare the breast and gastric (GI) HER-2 immunohistochemistry (IHC) scoring criteria for HER-2 with HER-2/neu fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) in 68 tumors (17 USC with SEIC, 30 USC, 18 SEIC, 3 metastatic USC). The majority (97%) of lesions displayed intratumoral HER-2 IHC heterogeneity. Breast or GI IHC scoring criteria were performed equivalently. The breast and GI IHC criteria classified 51% and 47% USC as HER-2 negative (IHC 0/1+), 40% and 45% as equivocal (IHC 2+), and 9% each as HER-2 positive (IHC 3+). A quarter of USC classified as HER-2 negative or positive with the breast (25%, n=7/28) or GI IHC criteria (23%, n=6/26) was discordant by FISH. Specifically, 13% to 14% of IHC 0/1+ USC were FISH amplified; 50% of IHC 3+ USC were FISH negative. The majority (77% to 83%) of SEIC were HER-2 IHC 0/1+, and no SEIC was HER-2 IHC 3+. A minority (4% to 7%) of IHC 0/1+ SEIC were FISH positive. Discordant HER-2 status was observed between half (47%,bn=7/15) of synchronous SEIC and USC. In conclusion, USC displays HER-2 intratumoral heterogeneity, a high IHC/FISH discordance rate, and variation in HER-2 status between the SEIC and invasive components. Caution is required when evaluating HER-2 in small biopsies, which should be repeated on excisions. Both IHC and FISH should be performed on USC until clinical trials correlate HER-2 status with clinical response to HER-2-targeted therapy.