Medical Bulletin 25/November/2022

Giving the anti-clotting drug rivaroxaban to patients for 12 weeks instead of the usual six after a blood clot in the lower leg reduces the risk of further clots developing up to two years after treatment, finds a trial published by The BMJ.

Rivaroxaban is an anticoagulant drug. It's given to people at a high risk of getting dangerous blood clots to help their blood clot (thicken) more slowly.

Anticoagulation is known to prevent further clots developing in patients who have already had a blood clot in their leg, including those with isolated distal deep vein thrombosis (DVT). But doctors are still not sure whether all patients with distal DVT should receive anticoagulation, and for how long.

Reference:

Ageno, W. (2022, November 23), Rivaroxaban treatment for six weeks versus three months in patients with symptomatic isolated distal deep vein thrombosis: randomised controlled trial, The BMJ, DOI 10.1136/bmj-2022-072623.

Potential Biomarker predicts resistance to immunotherapies in melanoma

Duke Cancer Institute researchers have identified potential biomarkers that predict the likelihood for checkpoint inhibitor drugs to backfire, driving hyper-progression of melanoma cells instead of unleashing the immune system to fight them.

The new study in mice and human tissue points to a strategy for inhibiting hyper-progression, potentially benefitting an estimated 10% of cancer patients who undergo this devastating complication from checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapies.

Reference:

Brent Hanks, et al, JOURNAL Science Translational Medicine.

Sleep disorder drugs linked to higher risk of overdose in teens, young adults: Study

Teens and young adults who are treated for sleep disorders with benzodiazepines such as Xanax - a medication commonly prescribed to treat anxiety and insomnia - may be at a higher risk of overdose, according to Rutgers researchers.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, benzodiazepines were involved in 12,290 overdose deaths in 2020, up from 6,872 in 2011 and 1,135 in 1999. However, Rutgers researchers said the risks of drug overdose in youth populations prescribed a benzodiazepine treatment for insomnia was unclear.

Reference:

Greta Bushnell et al,Association of Benzodiazepine Treatment for Sleep Disorders With Drug Overdose Risk Among Young People,JAMA Network Open, DOI

10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.43215.