Author: Praveen Suthrum

Sascha Roth remembers the phone call came on a hectic Friday evening. She was racing around her home in Washington, D.C., to pack for New York, where she was scheduled to undergo weeks of radiation therapy for rectal cancer. But the phone call from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) medical oncologist Andrea Cercek changed everything, leaving Sascha “stunned and ecstatic — I was so happy.” Dr. Cercek told Sascha, then 38, that her latest tests showed no evidence of cancer, after Sascha had undergone six months of treatment as the first patient in a clinical trial involving immunotherapy at MSK.

Read More

The GI industry hit a milestone in May with the first FDA approved treatment for eosinophilic esophagitis. The treatment, Dupixent, was approved to treat eosinophilic esophagitis in adults and pediatric patients 12 and older weighing at least 88 pounds. Marc Rothenberg, MD, PhD, director of the Cincinnati Center for Eosinophilic Diseases at Cincinnati Children’s, spoke with Becker’s on June 8 to discuss the approval of the first eosinophilic esophagitis treatment, its significance and the challenges that came with researching the disease.

Read More

Based on data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, celiac disease affects an estimated 0.7% of the population in the United States.1 Findings have shown an increasing prevalence of the disease in both children and adults, which may be partly due to improvements in screening and diagnostic efforts. Studies have also demonstrated various extragastric conditions in this patient population, including dermatologic and neurologic disorders.

Read More

GI Dynamics today announced the results of a study of its EndoBarrier system that met efficacy and safety endpoints. Boston-based GI Dynamics designed its EndoBarrier endoscopically delivered device therapy as a non-surgical, alternative treatment for type 2 diabetes and obesity for patients who do not have adequate control of their conditions through their current medication and lifestyle.

Read More