Patient time in emergency departments could be halved if doctors working there were trained to carry out ultrasound on patients with suspected deep vein thrombosis (DVT), a major conference has heard. Dr Ossi Hannula, an emergency medicine specialist at the Wellbeing Services County of Central Finland, told delegates at the European Emergency Medicine Congress it could mean the difference of more…

The range of drug treatments for multiple myeloma is set to be extended, NHS advisers have said. New draft guidance on a drug for multiple myeloma has been released by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). The drugs daratumumab plus lenalidomide and dexamethasone are recommended for previously untreated multiple myeloma in adults, if an autologous stem cell transplant…

The Factor V Leiden gene variation can combine with other factors to place some women at risk of blood clots when using oestrogen-based drugs, according to a new study. It is already known that multimorbidity – the co-occurrence of two or more chronic conditions – oestrogen use, and the Factor V Leiden variation are independent risk factors for venous thromboembolism (VTE). However, little is…

Treatment for an aggressive form of myeloma could improve after scientists uncovered new insights into how a class of enzymes and its epigenetic target can make the blood cancer aggressive and resistant to treatment. Compared with other types of myeloma, patients with t(4;14) myeloma have a poorer prognosis with shorter overall survival. The histone methyltransferase NSD2 is over-produced in…

Mechanisms by which some multiple myelomas become resistant to certain T-cell therapies have been uncovered by an international team of scientists. Multiple myeloma can be treated with CAR-T cells and bispecific T cell engagers (TCE), directed against one or both of two targets: BCMA, and GPRC5D. However, mutations in the myeloma cells can render these immunotherapies ineffective – allowing…

The development of blood clots during COVID-19 infection could be behind continued cognitive problems of some individuals, a new paper has suggested. A team led by Dr Max Taquet and Prof Paul Harrison from the University of Oxford analysed blood tests from 1,837 people who had been hospitalised with COVID-19. They found two potential biomarkers measured at admission associated with subsequent…