2. |
- Heslop, James A., et al.
(author)
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Concise Review : Workshop Review: Understanding and Assessing the Risks of Stem Cell-Based Therapies
- 2015
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In: Stem Cells Translational Medicine. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 2157-6564 .- 2157-6580. ; 4:4, s. 389-400
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The field of stem cell therapeutics is moving ever closer to widespread application in the clinic. However, despite the undoubted potential held by these therapies, the balance between risk and benefit remains difficult to predict. As in any new field, a lack of previous application in man and gaps in the underlying science mean that regulators and investigators continue to look for a balance between minimizing potential risk and ensuring therapies are not needlessly kept from patients. Here, we attempt to identify the important safety issues, assessing the current advances in scientific knowledge and how they may translate to clinical therapeutic strategies in the identification and management of these risks. We also investigate the tools and techniques currently available to researchers during preclinical and clinical development of stem cell products, their utility and limitations, and how these tools may be strategically used in the development of these therapies. We conclude that ensuring safety through cutting-edge science and robust assays, coupled with regular and open discussions between regulators and academic/industrial investigators, is likely to prove the most fruitful route to ensuring the safest possible development of new products.
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3. |
- Vetrano, Davide L., et al.
(author)
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Triple inhaled therapy in COPD patients : determinants of prescription in primary care
- 2019
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In: Respiratory Medicine. - : Elsevier BV. - 0954-6111 .- 1532-3064. ; 154, s. 12-17
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objective: To assess the incidence and determinants of the triple inhaled therapy in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) primary care patients.Methods: Data derived from the Health Search Database (HSD) gathering information on 700 Italian general practitioners. A cohort of COPD patients, prescribed for the first time with inhaled treatments, was followed-up between January 2002 and December 2014. The outcome was the first incident prescription of a triple inhaled therapy, namely the combination of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS), long-acting beta agonists (LABA), and long-acting muscarinic antagonists (LAMA). Cox regressions were used to test the association (hazard ratios, HR) between candidate determinants and the outcome.Results: Out of 17589 patients (mean age 71.1 +/- 11.3 years; 37.4% females), 3693 (21%) were prescribed with a triple inhaled therapy during follow-up. Older age (HR=1.79 to 2.61), current and former smoking habit (HR=1.72 and 1.66), higher GOLD stage (HR=1.45 to 2.79), the number of moderate and severe COPD exacerbations (HR=1.10 to 2.63), and heart failure (HR=1.17) resulted statistically significantly associated with an increased incident prescription of the triple inhaled therapy. Female sex (HR=0.80) and some co-morbidities (HR=0.21 to 0.87) resulted negatively associated with the outcome. Furthermore, patients initially treated with LAMA (HR=1.5) and LABA/ICS (HR=1.23) were more likely to escalate to the triple therapy, than those on LABA. Conversely, patients initially treated with ICS presented a negative hazard (HR=0.72).Conclusions: The knowledge of demographic and clinical determinants of the escalation to the triple inhaled therapy in real-world COPD patients may help clinicians to better personalize respiratory pharmacological treatments of their patients, and inform international societies that issue clinical guidelines.
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