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Endocrine Today cover stories
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Each month Endocrine Today reporters delve deep into a topic of current interest. These longform cover stories provide background and insights from leading researchers and clinicians. All of these features can be found under the opinion tab at Healio.com/Endcrinology. Stories published so far in 2019 include emerging alternatives in thyroid cancer treatment, promising developments in beta-cell regeneration, questions about vitamin D’s effectiveness, and more.
New research, recent controversies call vitamin D benefits into question - January
What constitutes the “optimal” level of vitamin D — and what that even means — remain issues of intense debate. Most recently, the large-scale VITAL trial suggested the supplement failed to prevent major cardiovascular events and the development of invasive cancers over 5 years. A deeper dive into the VITAL results, as well as other research conducted in adults with specific cancers, reveals a signal for benefits with vitamin D for certain subsets of patients.
New treatments, advances changing outcomes for radioactive iodine-refractory thyroid cancer - February
With an estimated incidence of four cases per million population year, thyroid cancer that does not respond to radioactive iodine therapy is rare. For most of those patients, the prognosis is poor, with a 10-year survival rate of 10% from the time metastatic lesions are detected. Until recently, physicians had little to offer patients in the way of treatment. That picture is changing.
In obesity, growing CV risk burden demands cross-specialty collaboration, new solutions - March
Even among physically fit and so-called metabolically healthy people with obesity, cardiovascular risk is greater when compared with those without excess weight. The management of multiple metabolic diseases demands collaboration from obesity medicine specialists and cardiologists, according to experts, who must now work together to address a growing health epidemic.
‘Pathbreaking’ osteoporosis therapy offers new option, but treatment challenges remain – April
For all the progress made in osteoporosis research, there are still major challenges to confront. Most patients with fragility fractures are not evaluated and treated for their osteoporosis, and most high-risk patients are not starting or continuing treatments that reduce risk for fractures. All the while, the prevalence of osteoporosis in the United States continues to rise with increasing life expectancy.
Providers, regulators explore type 2 therapies for type 1 diabetes – May
For the first time in more than a decade, noninsulin therapies specifically indicated for type 1 diabetes may be on the horizon, but questions loom regarding their safety and efficacy. In March, the FDA declined to approve oral sotagliflozin (Zynquista, Sanofi), a first-in-class dual SGLT1 and SGLT2 inhibitor for type 1 diabetes. The drug was approved in Europe in April. The FDA’s decision followed debate about an observed risk for diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) — a problem that has kept already-approved type 2 agents out of reach for those with type 1 diabetes.
New discoveries highlight pathways for beta-cell regeneration in type 1, type 2 diabetes - June
The promise of beta-cell regeneration — restoring the insulin-producing cells lost in type 1 and type 2 diabetes — has long been considered an ambitious goal. Research now demonstrates that most people with diabetes have residual beta cells with the ability to proliferate. In just the past 2 years, progress has accelerated rapidly in the field
Microbiome’s ‘untapped extra genome’ may hold clues to prevent, treat diabetes - July
Microbiome researchers are only beginning to understand the greater influence of gut microorganisms on the human body, which research suggests affect the pathogenesis of conditions ranging from obesity, asthma and cardiovascular disease to type 1 and type 2 diabetes. As new sequencing techniques are enabling a more comprehensive mapping of bacteria in the gut, researchers are discovering that bacterial genomes, and not individual microbes, may hold the clues for targeting diseases like type 2 diabetes.
Childhood cancer survivors require lifelong vigilance for late endocrinopathies - August
An estimated 40% to 50% of childhood cancer survivors will experience an endocrine disorder in their lifetime. The risk varies according to cancer treatment and can persist for decades after diagnosis.