Clinical experience of Filipino clinicians on the use of Bedaquiline for treating multidrug-resistant Tuberculosis

@#<p><strong>BACKGROUND:</strong> The Philippines is among countries globally with high multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) burden. An operations research on Bedaquiline (BDQ), a new drug for MDR-TB, was launched by the Department of Health (DOH) in 2016.</p><p><strong>OBJECTIVES:</strong> This paper aimed to gather the opinions and first-hand experiences of clinicians in the Philippines regarding BDQ.</p><p><strong>METHODS:</strong> A facilitated roundtable discussion among nine clinicians included in the operations research on BDQ in the Philippines was conducted in June 2018. Topics covered included: (a) considerations in the use of BDQ, (b) outcomes of patients given BDQ, and (c) perceptions on effectiveness and safety of BDQ. Recordings and field notes from the discussion were subjected to framework analysis.</p><p><strong>RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:</strong> Participants gave BDQ an overall positive feedback due to the effectiveness, less toxicity, and ease of administration compared to other anti-TB drugs. Issues on BDQ included the novelty of the drug that caused doubts at first use and the limited application of the drug as dictated by the inclusion criteria within the context of the operations research, among others. The significant number of patients lost to follow up and ways to address this challenge were also discussed.</p>

Advanced prostate cancer management: Proceedings of a scientific session, 20-21 July 2018, Manila, Philippines

@#<p>Prostate cancer, the second most common cancer worldwide in 2012, poses a high public burden prompting the need to develop effective treatment strategies. To determine the progress made through the years, this paper documented the timeline of treatment strategies for advanced prostate cancer as presented in a scientific session held in July 2018. Two treatment strategies for metastatic prostate cancer were emphasized: the addition of docetaxel (chemotherapy) and abiraterone acetate plus prednisone to androgen-deprivation therapy (i.e. standard of care). Related clinical trials including but not limited to the CHAARTED trial, STAMPEDE trial, and LATITUDE trial showed that addition of either DOC or ABI led to a general increase in the overall survival of the patient. Furthermore, treatment strategies for non-metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer were also discussed. Evidence from clinical trials showed that addition of enzalutamide or apalutamide to ADT yielded better outcomes than ADT-placebo. These recent advancements have broadened the physician's options for treatment.</p>