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By Nancy Lapid, Health Science Editor

Hello Health Rounds readers! Today we highlight another study to be presented at the year’s most important oncology meeting this weekend, a combination therapy that slowed progression and improved survival in advanced colon cancer. We also have a study that shows you’re never too old to start on statins, and another example of racial disparities in the U.S. healthcare system.

Health Rounds is taking Thursday off but will return with more cutting edge medical science on Tuesday. 

In breaking news, see these stories from our Reuters journalists: Bird flu vaccines for laying hens prove effective; US tariffs on Chinese medical imports face industry doubt as alternative suppliers emerge; US, European nations consider vaccinating workers exposed to bird flu; weight-loss drug forecasts jump to $150 billion as supply grows; what does Louisiana’s new abortion pill law mean for patients; and Western states push for deal on pandemic response rules at WHO meeting. 

Even patients in their 80s, or older, can benefit from statin drugs for preventing the onset of cardiovascular disease, a new study shows. Scroll down for details. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau

A new treatment approach including a pair of experimental immunotherapy drugs being developed by Arcus Biosciences demonstrated promising results for patients whose advanced colorectal cancer continued to spread despite standard treatment, according to data from a mid-stage trial.

The amount of time during and after treatment when the cancer did not worsen – known as progression-free survival (PFS) – averaged 6.2 months in the 75 patients who received a combination of the Arcus immunotherapies etrumadenant and zimberelimab plus a common chemotherapy regimen.

That compared to a PFS of 2.1 months for the 37 patients who received only Bayer’s Stigarva (regorafenib), which has previously been shown to significantly improve survival in treatment‐refractory metastatic colorectal cancer.

The median overall survival with the combination treatment was double at 19.7 months compared to 9.5 months for those who received Stigarva alone.

“The improvement in both progression-free survival and overall survival observed with the … combination represents a significant advancement in the management of refractory metastatic colorectal cancer,” said study leader Dr. Zev Wainberg of the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, who will present the findings at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting in Chicago this weekend.

The results of the study also showed treatment with the novel combination therapy either partially or completely shrank tumors in 17.3% of patients. For patients on Stigarva only, 2.7% had tumor shrinkage.

“These results pave the way for further exploration of this promising treatment approach,” Wainberg said.

Read more about upcoming ASCO 2024 presentations on Reuters.com

• HPV vaccine provides real benefits for men, analysis shows

Cholesterol-lowering statin drugs can help prevent development of cardiovascular disease (CVD) regardless of how old patients are when treatment begins, a new study found.

Even in people who made it to age 85 or beyond without having coronary heart problems or strokes, the benefits and safety of starting therapy with statins for preventing those outcomes were clear, according to a report published on Monday in Annals of Internal Medicine.

In patients younger than 75, the benefits of statins for primary prevention – for preventing a first heart attack or heart disease – are well documented. Studies in older patients had been lacking, until now.

At the University of Hong Kong, researchers used health record data to calculate the effects of starting versus not starting statin therapy in roughly 43,000 closely matched people ages 75 to 84, and 6,000 closely matched people age 84 and older. They all had no history of heart disease but did carry  risk factors such as unhealthy cholesterol levels plus high blood sugar, obesity, smoking, diabetes, or high blood pressure.

Over the course of 5 years, the risk of developing CVD was reduced by 6% overall in patients ages 75-84 and by 15% in patients over age 85, researchers found. The effects were even stronger in patients who adhered very closely to the treatment instructions.

There were no increased risks of muscle or liver problems in the treated patients, the researchers also found.

“Considering the increasing burden related to CVD in the aging population, our study results support the prescription of statin therapy for primary prevention of CVD in old and very old adults,” the researchers concluded.

U.S. cancer patients get sub-par care at hospitals that primary serve minority patients, a new study found.

Researchers analyzed information from the National Cancer Database on roughly 2.9 million patients treated for cancer of the breast, prostate, lung, or colon at 1,330 hospitals between 2010 and 2019.

At minority-serving hospitals, defined as facilities that serve at least twice as many minority patients as other hospitals in the same region, receipt of definitive treatment such as surgery or radiation was 17% less likely in breast cancer patients. It was 31% less likely in prostate cancer patients, 27% less likely in lung cancer, and 19% less likely in those with colon cancer, compared to patients treated at other nearby hospitals.

These disparities persisted even after researchers took various socio-demographic and clinical factors into account, the researchers reported in the journal Cancer.

They estimate that if treatment rates at minority serving hospitals were improved to match those at other facilities, thousands of additional patients would receive definitive cancer treatment over 10 years.

“Access to care is a significant factor contributing to racial differences in cancer mortality, alongside biological differences,” study leader Dr. Quoc-Dien Trinh of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston said in a statement.

“Improving services at hospitals that primarily serve minority populations could be a crucial part of a wider effort to achieve healthcare equity.”

This newsletter was edited by Bill Berkrot. 

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