The efficacy of the combination of eribulin and trastuzumab in advanced HER2-positive breast cancer: the results of Russian observational study

The article presents the experience of 19 Russian medical institutions on the use of eribulin in combination with trastuzumab in various treatment lines of metastatic HER2+ breast cancer in routine clinical practice. Aim. The main objective of this retrospective observational study was to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of eribulin and trastuzumab combo in HER2+ breast cancer patients pretreated with anthracyclines and taxanes. The analysis included 60 patients who received at least 2 cycles of eribulin in combination with trastuzumab. 2 patients (3.3%) received treatment as the 1st line, as the 2nd 14 (23.3%), as the 3rd 16 (26.7%), and as the 4th and more 28 (46.7%). Materials and methods. Complete response was achieved in 2 (3.3%) patients, partial response in 9 (15%), stable disease in 33 (55%), stabilization for more than 6 months in 11 (18.3%), disease progression was detected in 16 (26.7%) patients. The objective response rate was 18.3% in the whole group, the clinical benefit rate 36.7%. Results. The objective response rate in the group of the luminal subtype (ER/PR+HER2+) was 26.9%, in HER2-overexpressed subtype (ER-PR-HER2+) 8.8% and 64.7%, respectively, disease progression was recorded 2.3 times more often 35.3% versus 15.5% in the luminal subtype group. The median progression-free survival in patients with HER2+ breast cancer was 4.95 months (95% confidence interval CI 3.048.29 months), in luminal subtype 6.38 months (95% CI 3.338.54 months), in non-luminal 4.44 months (95% CI 2.47.96 months); p=0.306. The treatment was well tolerated, the spectrum of adverse events corresponded to the eribulin toxicity profile. Conclusions. The uniqueness of this study lies in the fact that on a large clinical material from the standpoint of real clinical practice, a very promising treatment regimen that is not used routinely in a number of countries has been studied, its effectiveness and satisfactory tolerance have been confirmed

May Measurement Month 2018: a pragmatic global screening campaign to raise awareness of blood pressure by the International Society of Hypertension

Aims Raised blood pressure (BP) is the biggest contributor to mortality and disease burden worldwide and fewer than half of those with hypertension are aware of it. May Measurement Month (MMM) is a global campaign set up in 2017, to raise awareness of high BP and as a pragmatic solution to a lack of formal screening worldwide. The 2018 campaign was expanded, aiming to include more participants and countries. Methods and results Eighty-nine countries participated in MMM 2018. Volunteers (≥18 years) were recruited through opportunistic sampling at a variety of screening sites. Each participant had three BP measurements and completed a questionnaire on demographic, lifestyle, and environmental factors. Hypertension was defined as a systolic BP ≥140 mmHg or diastolic BP ≥90 mmHg, or taking antihypertensive medication. In total, 74.9% of screenees provided three BP readings. Multiple imputation using chained equations was used to impute missing readings. 1 504 963 individuals (mean age 45.3 years; 52.4% female) were screened. After multiple imputation, 502 079 (33.4%) individuals had hypertension, of whom 59.5% were aware of their diagnosis and 55.3% were taking antihypertensive medication. Of those on medication, 60.0% were controlled and of all hypertensives, 33.2% were controlled. We detected 224 285 individuals with untreated hypertension and 111 214 individuals with inadequately treated (systolic BP ≥ 140 mmHg or diastolic BP ≥ 90 mmHg) hypertension. Conclusion May Measurement Month expanded significantly compared with 2017, including more participants in more countries. The campaign identified over 335 000 adults with untreated or inadequately treated hypertension. In the absence of systematic screening programmes, MMM was effective at raising awareness at least among these individuals at risk