MDNN: PTSD From Cancer, HCV/HIV Co-infection Care, C. difficile From Antibiotics, and Juluca's Approval

Hi, I’m Jenna Payesko, and this is MD Magazine News Network - it’s clinical news for connected physicians.

About 20% of patients with cancer experience post-traumatic stress disorder within months of their diagnosis, and many of those patients continue to suffer from the condition in the years to come. In a new study, researchers found that 33% of cancer patients diagnosed with PTSD within 6 months of their cancer discovery were still experiencing persistent symptoms of the psychiatric condition 4 years later.

A recently published study showed that direct-acting antivirals for patients with hepatitis C still deliver consistent sustained virologic response rates to HCV and HIV co-infected patients. Researchers from the University of California at Los Angeles reported that both mono-infected and co-infected patients with hepatitis C posted SVR rates of at least 93%. HCV and HIV co-infected patients were previously identified by the FDA as a specific population with unmet medical needs.

Community-associated Clostridium difficile infections are still commonly caused by antibiotics, according to collected research from the CDC. About 82% of patients researched in the 10 study-participating states reported at least 1 instance of outpatient medical care in the 12 weeks prior to their C. difficile infection. Another 62% of subjects were exposed to antibiotics in the 12 weeks prior to their infection, suggesting that there is a need for improved outpatient prescribing.

The FDA has approved Juluca, the first-ever 2-drug regimen for adult patients with HIV. The fixed-dose tablet therapy contains 2 previously approved drugs, dolutegravir (ViiV Healthcare) and rilprivirine (Janssen) and was shown to continue viral suppression comparable to current HIV drugs in 2 clinical trials. The treatment improves on the current rate of standard HIV treatment combinations, which commonly contain 3 or more drugs.

And now, please enjoy expert insights into biologic agents in psoriatic arthritis from Allan Gibofsky, MD.

For more clinical insights direct from the experts, visit mdmag.com/insights.

I’m Jenna Payesko for MDNN, thank for you watching.