Contemporary OB/GYN week in review: Endometriosis, ovarian cancer, and more

Thank you for visiting the Contemporary OB/GYN® website. Take a look at some of our top stories from last week (Monday, September 30 - Friday, October 04, 2024), and click each link to read and watch anything you may have missed.

Pilot data indicates efficacy from anakinra against endometriosis

The interleukin-1 (IL-1) antagonist anakinra (Kineret; Swedish Orphan Biovitrum) has shown efficacy against endometriosis symptoms, according to a pilot study published in the International Journal of Women’s Health.

The study drug was administered during menses through subcutaneous injections. During the first visit, participants’ pelvic pain was assessed using the Biberoglu & Behrman (B&B) scale and a visual-analog scale (VAS), while the Endometriosis Health Profile 30 (EHP-30) questionnaire was used to determine quality of life.

A reduction in mean B&B dysmenorrhea scores was reported during anakinra treatment cycles vs placebo, but this decline was not statistically significant, at 1.4 vs 1.6, respectively. However, an improvement was found for mean dysmenorrhea VAS scores, at 37.5 vs 42.6, respectively.

Improvements were also noted for EHP-30 domains. Powerlessness and self-image domains were significantly improved, at 54.5 and 58.1, respectively, for anakinra treatment vs 63.3 and 66.7, respectively, for placebo.

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HPV 16 and 18 linked to ovarian cancer risk

Human papillomavirus (HPV) types 16 and 18 increase the risk of ovarian cancer (OC), according to a recent study published in Oncology Letters.

In a fixed-effect model, the prevalence of HPV genotypes in OC was 20%, vs 10% in a random-effect model. These rates were 17% and 7%, respectively, for HPV 16 and 18.

For serous and non-serous OC, the HPV genotype prevalence was 6% and 5%, respectively. When restricting the analysis to HPV 16 and 18 genotypes, these rates were 4% and 2%, respectively, indicating an approximately 2-fold increase in prevalence for serous OC.

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Practitioner attitudes toward RSV counseling revealed

There is a lack of strong awareness about respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and its impact on infants, according to a recent survey conducted by Contemporary OB/GYN.

Usually discussing RSV immunizations with patients was reported by 21.43% of respondents, sometimes by 14.29%, rarely by 21.43%, and never by 4.76%. Only 23.81% were extremely confident in their ability to counsel patients about RSV immunizations, with 19.05% being not so confident and 4.76% being not at all confident.

Approximately 52% noted that it is extremely important for expectant mothers to receive RSV vaccination, but 9.52% believed it is not so important. Similar results were found when respondents were asked about the importance of infants receiving RSV vaccination at birth.

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Low exclusive breastfeeding rates reported

Only a slight increase in the prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding was observed among children in the United States aged under 4 months from 2016 to 2022, according to a recent study published in JAMA Network Open.

There were 18,261 infants included in the analysis at 4 months and 16,793 in the analysis at 6 months, 51.7% and 51.9%, respectively, of whom were boys. An overall prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding at 4 months of 33.5% was reported in 2016, vs 20.5% for breastfeeding at 6 months. These rates were 37.5% and 26.1%, respectively, in 2022.

These increases in exclusive breastfeeding rates at 4 months were minor, leading to under half of US children meeting the APA and WHO breastfeeding recommendations. Additionally, while rates increased for breastfeeding at 6 months, they remained under the Healthy People 2030 goal of 42.4%.

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Underdiagnosis and undertreatment of menopause symptoms reported

There is a lack of timely identification and treatment of menopause symptoms in primary care settings, according to a recent study published in Menopause, the journal of The Menopause Society.

Documented symptoms of menopause in an electronic health record were reported in only 22.7% of women. Additionally, of women who had not previously used systemic HT without contraindications, only 6.1% reported initiation of systemic HT use.

The safety concerns of HT may be addressed through the use nonhormonal methods, many of which have been proven effective in women with contraindications to HT use. A nonhormone prescription therapy rate of 14.8% was reported among women without contraindications to HT.

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