Citations

Abstract Globally, an estimated 300 million individuals have sickle cell trait (SCT), the carrier state for sickle cell disease (SCD). Although SCD is associated with increased morbidity and shortened life span, SCT has a life span comparable with that of the general population. However, “sickle cell crisis” has been used as a cause of death for decedents with SCT in reports of exertion-related death in athletes, military personnel, and individuals in police custody. To appraise this practice, the American Society of Hematology convened an expert panel of hematologists and forensic pathologists to conduct a systematic review of the literature relating to the occurrence of sickle cell pain crises and exertion-related mortality in people with SCT. Multiple bibliographic databases were searched with controlled vocabulary and keywords related to “sickle cell trait,” “vaso-occlusive pain,” and “death,” yielding 18 of 1474 citations. Independent pairs of reviewers selected studies and extracted data. We found no studies comparing uncomplicated acute pain crises in individuals with SCT and SCD. Additionally, no study was identified to support the occurrence of acute vaso-occlusive pain crises in individuals with SCT. Furthermore, this systematic review did not identify any evidence to support an association between SCT and sudden unexplained death in the absence of exertion-related rhabdomyolysis. We conclude that there are no data to support the diagnosis of acute vaso-occlusive sickle cell crisis as a cause of death in SCT, nor does the available evidence support the use of SCT as a cause of exertion-related death without rhabdomyolysis.

Abstract Background Vedolizumab (VDZ) is a gut selective, monoclonal anti-α4β7 integrin antibody approved for the treatment of moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis (UC) or Crohn’s disease (CD) and is available in subcutaneous (SC) formulation. This analysis assessed the long-term safety outcomes of specific interest to the SC formulation of VDZ. Methods Patients (pts) who participated in VISIBLE 1 or VISIBLE 2 were eligible to enrol in VISIBLE OLE (NCT02620046). In VISIBLE 1, pts with UC were treated with placebo, VDZ SC or VDZ intravenous (IV). In VISIBLE 2, pts with CD were treated with placebo or VDZ SC. In VISIBLE OLE, pts received VDZ SC 108mg every 2 weeks (Q2W) or weekly. Pts received training on SC administration, and most injections were conducted at home by pt or caregiver. Safety of VDZ SC included assessing anti-VDZ antibody (AVA) status and injection site reaction (ISR) adverse events. Blood specimens for AVA assessment were collected 30 minutes before dosing every 16 weeks, at the final dose and the final safety visit 18 weeks after last dose. Data were assessed by treatment pts received during VISIBLE 1 and 2. Results Overall, 288 pts with UC and 458 pts with CD enrolled in VISIBLE OLE. A mean of 91.1 and 74.2 SC injections were completed by pts with UC and CD, respectively, during the OLE. Among pts with UC, the positive AVA rate was higher in pts previously treated with placebo (17.3%) than those treated with VDZ SC (3.4%) or IV (2.6%) (Table 1). The positive AVA rate was also higher among pts with CD previously treated with placebo (11.4%) than with VDZ SC (1.8%). A total of 14/288 pts (4.9%) with UC reported ISRs (Table 2), most of which were mild and none were serious. Two pts developed moderate ISRs; neither required dose modification and both were resolved. Overall, 19/458 pts (4.1%) with CD reported ISRs (Table 2). The majority of ISRs were mild, 2 were moderate and none were severe, and none required dose modification. No direct correlation between AVA status and ISRs was identified, with 11/14 pts (78.6%) with UC and 17/19 pts (89.5%) with CD who reported ISRs being AVA negative. All 5 pts who were AVA positive and reported an ISR had previously received placebo. The highest rate of ISRs were in pts who received placebo in VISIBLE 1 (13.5%). Conclusion No new long-term safety events were identified with the VDZ SC route of administration compared to IV, except for ISRs. A higher proportion of patients who had previously been treated with placebo than those treated with VDZ during VISIBLE 1 and 2 were AVA positive during VISIBLE OLE, supporting a benefit of continued therapy with VDZ SC after IV induction, rather than cessation of treatment for a period of time.

Abstract Background Vedolizumab (VDZ) is a gut selective, monoclonal anti-α4β7 integrin antibody approved for the treatment of moderate to severe ulcerative colitis (UC) or Crohn’s disease (CD). The subcutaneous (SC) formulation of VDZ was evaluated during the Phase 3 VISIBLE 1 and 2 studies. We report the long-term efficacy among patients (pts) with UC or CD treated with VDZ SC in the VISIBLE open-label extension (OLE) study. Methods Pts with UC or CD in VISIBLE 1/2 could enrol in VISIBLE OLE (NCT02620046). Pts in VISIBLE 1/2 who completed 52 weeks(W) of treatment with VDZ or placebo (randomised completers) and pts without clinical response at W6 who responded at W14 (non-randomised responders) received VDZ SC 108mg every 2W (Q2W) in the OLE. Pts with worsening disease were escalated to QW dosing. Clinical remission (partial Mayo score ≤2, no subscore >1 in UC; HBI score ≤4 in CD) up to W168 was assessed (pts with missing data or escalated to QW dosing were imputed as non-response, irrespective of clinical status). The number of pts who regained clinical response when escalated to QW dosing was also assessed. Results were summarized by prior VISIBLE 1/2 treatment groups. Results Data from 231 pts with UC and 344 pts with CD were included. In pts with UC, baseline OLE clinical remission rates were 55.0%, 91.3% and 77.1% among randomised completers (N=124) previously treated with placebo, VDZ SC and VDZ IV in VISIBLE 1, respectively. At W168, 40.0%, 56.5% and 62.9%, respectively, were in clinical remission on Q2W dosing. In non-randomised responders with UC (N=107), 57.0% were in clinical remission at baseline and 29.9% at W168 (Figure). In pts with CD, baseline OLE clinical remission rates were 60.3% and 62.0% among randomised completers (N=226) previously treated with placebo and VDZ SC in VISIBLE 2. At W168, 32.4% and 37.3% were in clinical remission on Q2W dosing. In non-randomised responders with CD (N=118), 57.6% were in clinical remission at baseline and 27.1% at W168 (Figure). In pts with UC escalated to QW dosing, 22.2% and 38.1% achieved clinical remission and response at W8 after transitioning to QW. Among pts with CD escalated to QW dosing, 38.6% and 53.5% achieved clinical remission and response by W8 after transitioning to QW. Higher rates of remission and response were noted in VDZ completers than non-randomised responders. No new long-term safety signals were noted with VDZ SC vs IV, except for injection site reactions. Conclusion The clinical benefit of VDZ SC was maintained long-term during VISIBLE OLE. A subset of pts who escalated to QW dosing regained response. Findings support VDZ SC as a treatment option for patients with UC or CD who require long-term maintenance therapy.

Abstract Background Vedolizumab (VDZ) is a gut selective, monoclonal anti-α4β7 integrin antibody approved for the treatment of moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis (UC) or Crohn’s disease (CD). The subcutaneous (SC) formulation of VDZ was evaluated during the Phase 3 VISIBLE 1 and 2 studies. This analysis reports hospitalisations and surgeries among patients (pts) with UC or CD treated with VDZ SC enrolled in the VISIBLE open-label extension (OLE) study. Methods Pts who participated in VISIBLE 1 or VISIBLE 2 were eligible to enrol in VISIBLE OLE (NCT02620046) and received VDZ SC 108mg every 2 weeks (Q2W) or weekly. Patients were grouped according to their scenario in VISIBLE 1/2: Pts who withdrew between week (W) 6 and W52 (Scenario 1); pts who completed 52 weeks of treatment with VDZ or placebo (Scenario 2); pts without a clinical response at W6 but who responded at W14 and were not randomised (Scenario 3). The proportions of patients who experienced UC or CD related hospitalisation and/or surgery during VISIBLE OLE were assessed by scenario and treatment received during VISIBLE 1/2. Results A total of 288 pts with UC and 458 with CD enrolled in the VISIBLE OLE. The mean (min., max.) duration of VDZ exposure during VISIBLE OLE was 1276.7 days (127, 2577 days) among pts with UC and 1110.0 days (127, 2770 days) among pts with CD. The proportions of pts who had a UC or CD related hospitalisation or surgery during VISIBLE OLE are displayed in Table 1. Across all scenarios, a total of 8.3% (24/288) of pts with UC had a related hospitalisation. In total, 3/288 pts (1.0%) with UC (from Scenarios 1 and 3) had a colectomy. No pts with UC from Scenario 2 had a colectomy. Among pts with CD, a total of 13.1% (60/458) had a related hospitalisation. A total of 19 pts (4.1%) with CD had bowel surgery. Higher rates of IBD related hospitalisations and surgeries were observed in Scenario 1, both in pts with UC and with CD. Conclusion Findings from VISIBLE OLE showed that few pts with UC and CD treated with long-term VDZ SC required IBD related hospitalisations over the course of the study. Notably, very few patients with UC or CD required colectomies or bowel surgery.

AbstractBackgroundLate‐Onset Alzheimer’s Disease (LOAD) is characterized by genetic heterogeneity and there is no single model explaining the genetic mode of inheritance. To date, more than 70 genetic loci associated with AD have been identified but they explain only a small proportion of AD heritability. Structural variants (SVs) may explain some of the missing AD heritability, and specifically, their segregation in AD families has yet to be investigated.MethodWe analyzed WGS data from 197 NHW families (926 subjects, 58.5% affected) and 214 CH families (1,340 subjects, 59.17% affected). Manta, Absinthe, and MELT were used for large insertions/deletions calling from short‐read WGS, combined with Sniffles2 calls from 4 ONT‐sequenced genomes and an external SV call set from HGSVC on 32 PacBio‐sequenced genomes from the 1000 Genomes Project. Genotyping produced a unified project‐level VCF. We identified 45,251 insertions and 76,566 deletions genome‐wide. Variants were tested for segregation and pathogenicity using Annot‐SV, cadd‐SV, and Variant Effect Predictor. Segregation required SV presence in all affected family members and only in unaffected members five years younger than average disease onset.ResultWe identified 453 insertions and 598 deletions segregating in 78.68% and 87.31% of NHW families, respectively. In CH families, 432 insertions and 460 deletions were segregating in 75.23% and 72.90% of the families, respectively. Genes overlapping with the SVs exhibited high expression levels in brain tissues. Notably, around 93% of insertions and 76% of deletions segregating in NHW and CH families were less than 1 kilobase pair (1kbp) in length. A total of 79 insertions and 96 deletions were found to be segregating in both NHW and CH families. Interestingly, a segregating insertion was observed in CH families overlapping within the CACNA2D3 gene, which was previously reported in a CH GWAS for clinical AD. A deletion segregating in NHW overlapped with the PSEN1, and another in a CH family overlapped with the PTK2B gene.ConclusionOur findings suggested that there are several SVs associated with familial AD across CH and NHW families. Prioritizing the SVs based on their effects on gene function and expression will be helpful in understanding their contributions in AD.

Importance Molecular techniques, including next-generation sequencing, genomic copy number profiling, fusion transcript detection, and genomic DNA methylation arrays, are now indispensable tools for the workup of central nervous system (CNS) tumors. Yet there remains a great deal of heterogeneity in using such biomarker testing across institutions and hospital systems. This is in large part because there is a persistent reluctance among third-party payers to cover molecular testing. The objective of this Review is to describe why comprehensive molecular biomarker testing is now required for the accurate diagnosis and grading and prognostication of CNS tumors and, in so doing, to justify more widespread use by clinicians and coverage by third-party payers. Observations The 5th edition of the World Health Organization (WHO) classification system for CNS tumors incorporates specific molecular signatures into the essential diagnostic criteria for most tumor entities. Many CNS tumor types cannot be reliably diagnosed according to current WHO guidelines without molecular testing. The National Comprehensive Cancer Network also incorporates molecular testing into their guidelines for CNS tumors. Both sets of guidelines are maximally effective if they are implemented routinely for all patients with CNS tumors. Moreover, the cost of these tests is less than 5% of the overall average cost of caring for patients with CNS tumors and consistently improves management. This includes more accurate diagnosis and prognostication, clinical trial eligibility, and prediction of response to specific treatments. Each major group of CNS tumors in the WHO classification is evaluated and how molecular diagnostics enhances patient care is described. Conclusions and Relevance Routine advanced multidimensional molecular profiling is now required to provide optimal standard of care for patients with CNS tumors.

Background Multimorbidity is common in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), yet comorbidity patterns are not well documented. Methods The prevalence of 18 chronic conditions (6 cardiometabolic, 7 other somatic, 5 mental health) was obtained in patients with new-onset AF from 2013-2017 from a 27-county region and controls matched 1:1 on age, sex, and county of residence. For AF patients and controls separately, clustering of conditions and co-occurrence beyond chance was estimated (using the asymmetric Somers’ D statistic), overall and for ages <65, 65-74, 75-84, and ≥85 years. Results Among 16,509 patients with AF (median age 76 years, 57% men), few (4%) did not have any of the 18 chronic conditions, whereas nearly one-quarter of controls (23%) did not have any chronic conditions. Clustering of cardiometabolic conditions was common in both AF patients and controls, but clustering of other somatic conditions was more common in AF. Although the prevalence of most condition pairs was higher in AF patients, controls had a larger number of condition pairs occurring together beyond chance. In persons aged <65 years, AF patients more frequently exhibited concordance of condition pairs that included either pairs of somatic conditions or a combination of conditions from different condition groups. In persons aged 65-74 years, AF patients more frequently had pairs of other somatic conditions. Conclusion Patterns of co-existing conditions differed between patients with AF and controls, particularly in younger ages. A better understanding of the clinical consequences of multimorbidity in AF patients, including those diagnosed at younger ages, is needed.

Abstract Menopausal users of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) are at increased breast cancer risk and decreased colorectal cancer (CRC) risk compared with individuals who have never used HRT, but these opposing associations may differ by familial risk of breast cancer and CRC. We harmonized data from 3 cohorts and generated separate breast cancer and CRC familial risk scores based on cancer family history. We defined moderate or strong family history as a risk score of 0.4 or higher, where 0.4 was equivalent to a 50-year-old woman with 1 parent diagnosed with either breast cancer or CRC at 55 years of age. Of 24 486 women assessed, 1243 and 405 were diagnosed with incident breast cancer and CRC, respectively. For breast cancer, menopausal HRT ever use versus never use hazard ratios were 1.27 (95% CI = 1.11 to 1.45) for a breast cancer familial risk score below 0.4 and 1.01 (95% CI = 0.82 to 1.25) for a breast cancer familial risk score of 0.4 or higher (Pdifference = .08). For CRC, menopausal HRT hazard ratios were 0.63 (95% CI = 0.50 to 0.78) for a CRC familial risk score below 0.4 and 1.21 (95% CI = 0.73 to 2.00) for a CRC familial risk score of 0.4 or higher (Pdifference = .03). Associations with menopausal HRT use that apply to the general population may not hold for women at moderate or strong familial risk of these cancers.