Search

Background The real-world treatment and outcomes of patients with anaplastic lymphoma kinase positive (ALK+) advanced non-small cell lung cancer treated with ALK Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor (TKI) drugs in Sweden is not well described. Material and methods A retrospective population-based cohort study was conducted using Swedish national registers. All patients with a filled prescription for an ALK TKI between January 2012 and October 2020 were included. The sequencing of ALK TKI and duration of treatment (DOT) were described, and overall survival (OS) was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Patients were stratified based on treatment with frontline chemotherapy, presence of CNS metastases prior to the first ALK TKI, and generation of ALK TKI agent. Results Among the total of 579 patients, 549 (95%) underwent a therapy sequence in line with current clinical practice with 204 (37%) patients receiving frontline chemotherapy. Single-line ALK TKI was given to 366 patients (crizotinib: 211; alectinib: 146; ceritinib: 9), whereas 128 patients received two different ALK TKI (frontline crizotinib: 100, alectinib: 24, ceritinib: 4); 40 patients received three lines and 15 patients four ALK TKI lines or more. With frontline chemotherapy, the mean (standard deviation) DOT was 1.07 (1.25) years for the entire TKI therapy sequence compared to 1.23 (1.28) years with frontline ALK TKI. The median (95% confidence interval) OS was 1.83 (1.48-2.13) years for the entire cohort, 1.44 (0.89-1.98) years for patients given frontline chemotherapy, and 2.02 (1.60-2.58) years for patients given frontline ALK TKI. Conclusion This study provides a unique overview of the patient population treated with ALK TKI in Sweden and reveals the treatment patterns applied in real clinical practice. More research is needed when longer follow-up data are available for later-generation ALK TKI, to fully understand ALK TKI sequencing and its effect on patient survival in a real-world setting., Funding Agencies|Pfizer

The incidence of psoriatic arthritis in patients with psoriasis is unclear; existing estimates differ by a factor of ten. Complete population-level data is needed to provide accurate estimates with high confidence. A total of 123,814 adults with psoriasis, free from pre-existing psoriatic arthritis, were identified in population-based data from secondary care in Sweden during 2007 to 2017. Incidence was calculated as the number of psoriatic arthritis diagnosis events per 100 patient-years. Time to diagnosis was assessed using cumulative incidence and Cox proportional hazards models to identify risk factors. Incidence of psoriatic arthritis in patients with psoriasis was 1.69 per 100 patient-years (95% confidence interval 1.65-1.72) overall, and 1.48, 3.00, and 5.49 per 100 patient-years in patients with mild, moderate and severe psoriasis, respectively. Risk of psoriatic arthritis was 3.2 times higher amongst patients with severe psoriasis compared with mild disease. Dermatologists should regularly assess risk factors for psoriatic arthritis in clinical practice in order to improve the detection of psoriatic arthritis.

Data for the period 2015-04 to 2015-09 was analyzed in order to examine the possible relationship between teat wash failure and the result on milk yield for dairy cows. Data provided by Sveriges Lantrbruksuniversitet over 49 093 specific milking events were used. Two linear mixed-effects models and one basic OLS-model were estimated. In order to perform the analysis a lot of data manipulation also had to be performed. The data analysis was divided into to two parts. First the variable of interest (teatwash) was examined by constructing two versions of the different models; an unrestricted- and a restricted version were teatwash had been excluded. Because of the large sample and linear mixed-effect models an out-of-sample forecasting method was used as the primary evaluation criteria. The prediction errors were evaluated on the basis of root mean squared error (RMSE) and mean squared error (MSE). The difference between the unrestricted- and restricted models was very small and no indication of a relationship between teat wash failure and milk yield was found. The second part involved the comparison of prediction errors between the two mixed-effect models and the OLS-model. Surprisingly, the basic OLS-model resulted in the lowest prediction error although obvious breach of assumptions.