Pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy in patients with pancreatic cancer: A national prospective study (2021)

Type of publication:Journal article

Author(s):Harvey P.R.; McKay S.C.; Wilkin R.J.W.; Layton G.R.; Powell-Brett S.; Okoth K.; Trudgill N.; Roberts K.J.; Baker G.; Brom M.K.; Brown Z.; Farrugia A.; Haldar D.; Kalisvaart M.; Marley A.; Pande R.; Patel R.; Stephenson B.T.F.; Baillie C.; Croitoru C.; Eddowes P.J.; Elshaer M.; Farhan-Alanie M.M.; Laing R.; Mann K.; Materacki L.; Nandi S.; Pericleous S.; Prasad P.; Rinkoff S.; Selvaraj E.; Shah J.; Sheel A.R.G.; Szatmary P.; Williams P.; Milburn J.; Bekheit M.; Ghazanfar M.; Curry H.; Persson P.; Rollo A.; Thomson R.; Harper S.; Varghese S.; Collins J.; Stupalkowska W.; Afzal Z.; Badran A.; Barker J.; Hakeem A.; Kader R.; Saji S.; Sheikh S.; Smith A.C.D.; Stasinos K.; Steinitz H.; Malik H.; Burston C.; Carrion-Alvarez L.; Shiwani M.; Ahmad G.; Allen T.; Darley E.; Patil S.; Brooks C.; Cresswell B.; Welsh F.; Cook C.; Smyth R.; Booth R.; West M.; King A.; Tucker O.; Phelan L.; Burahee A.; Devogel C.; Javed A.; Kay R.; Khan S.; Leet F.; Troth T.; Ward A.; Young J.; Murray E.; Gray T.; Johnson R.; Lockwood S.; Young R.; Zhou G.; Portal J.; Rees J.; Arnold B.; Scroggie D.; Abeysekera K.W.M.; Asif A.; Hay F.; Maccabe T.; Pathak S.; Robertson H.; Sandberg C.; Woodland H.; Charalabopoulos A.; Kordzadeh A.; Anderson J.; Napier D.; Hodges P.; Jones G.; Sheiybani G.; Archer T.; Khan A.; Kirk S.; Walker N.; Hassam U.; Wong I.; Silva M.; Jones K.; Allen J.; Abbas S.H.; Harborne M.; Majid Z.; Eardley N.; Reilly I.; Wadsworth P.; Bell C.; Holloway K.; Stockton W.; Thomas R.; Williams K.J.; Canelo R.; Tay Y.; Adnan M.; Aroori S.; Rajaretnam N.; Rekhraj S.; Wilkins A.; Nelapatia R.; Verebcean M.; Braithwaite S.; Apollos J.; Robertson N.; Belgaumkar A.; Brant A.; Shahdoost A.; French J.J.; Sen G.; Thakkar R.; Kanwar A.; Klaptocz J.; Rodham P.; O'Riordan B.; Maharaj G.; Davies M.; Higgs S.; Cutting J.; Joseph M.; Backhouse L.; Butler J.; Cooper J.; O'nions T.; Shaukat S.; Kumar A.; George V.; Ingmire J.; Saha A.; Coe P.; Noor R.; Lykoudis P.; Elshaer A.; Andreou A.; Clarke T.; Davies O.; Rimmer P.; Kanakala V.; Mitra V.; Akol G.; Burgess M.; Elzubier M.; Jones R.; Majumdar D.; Wescott H.; Bailey A.; Gomez M.; Herman O.; Deguara J.; Whitehead-Clarke T.; Gorard L.; Law R.; Leung L.Y.; Whitelaw D.; Adil M.; Krivan S.; Waters J.; Fernandes R.; Mealey L.; Merh R.; Okaro A.; Shepherd J.; O'Reilly D.; Pilkington J.; Hussain Z.; Ingram S.; Stott M.C.; Abbott S.; Bhamra N.; Hirri F.; Lee K.; Murrell J.; Resool S.; Taylor M.; King M.; Madhotra R.; Ayubi H.; Ali J.; Chander N.; Mckune G.; Wothers T.; Shingler G.; Mortimer M.; Dykes K.; Edwards H.; Menon S.; Gautham A.; Ali I.; Anjum R.; Brookes M.; Wilkinson B.; Tait I.; Noaman I.; Wilson M.; Mogan S.; Rushbrook S.; Hyde S.; Baker S.; Hall P.; Lucas H.; Pease J.; Millar A.; Tariq Z.; Blad W.; Cunningham M.; Hall M.; Luthra P.; Seymour K.; Aawsaj Y.; Jones M.; Elliott D.; Finch J.G.; Rajjoub Y.; Gupta A.; Molloy P.; Mykoniatis I.; Atallah E.; Albraba E.; Asimba V.; Baxter A.; Chin A.; Vojtekova K.; Ong L.; Modi H.N.; Muscara F.; Perry M.; Katz C.; Shaban N.; Dichmont L.; Dissanayake T.; Mostafa W.; Ghosh D.; Hwang S.; Bajomo O.; Lloyd T.; Wye J.; Holt A.; Pathanki A.; Townsend S.; Babar N.; Giovinazzo F.; Kennedy L.; Kandathil M.; King D.; Pillai M.; Glen P.; Holroyd D.; Drozdzik S.; Kourounis G.; Thompson J.; McNally S.; Thomas I.; Reddy Y.; Subar D.; Heywood N.; Khoo E.; Austin A.; Awan A.; Tan H.; Kasi M.; Prasad S.; Baqai M.; Abd Alkoddus M.; Al-Allaf O.; Mitchell K.; Mole S.; Yoong A.; Fusai G.; Brown S.; Bulathsinhala S.; Gilliland J.; Boyce T.; Al-Ardah M.; Matthews E.; Wakefield C.; Hou D.; Thomasset S.; Guest R.; Falconer S.; Hughes M.; Johnston C.; Kung J.W.C.; Lee E.; McNally E.; Sherif A.E.; Stutchfield B.; Baron R.D.; Dunne D.F.J.; Dickerson L.D.; Exarchou K.E.; Knight E.; Whelan P.; Hutchins R.; Wilson P.; Phillpotts S.; Badrulhisham F.; Dawes A.; Derwa Y.; Rajagopal S.; Ramoutar S.; Vaik T.; Bhogal R.H.; McLaren N.; Policastro T.; *Butterworth J.; *Riera M.; *Ismail A.; *Ahmed A.; *Alame R.; *Alford K.; *Banerjee S.; *Bull C.; *Kirby G.; Athwal T.; Hebbar S.; Ishtiaq J.; Kamran U.; Abbasi A.; Kamarul-bahrin M.; Banks A.; Khalil A.; Karanjia N.; Trivedi D.; Chakravaratty S.; Frampton A.; Gabriella J.; Pinn G.; Colleypriest B.; Betteridge F.; Murugiah D.; Rossiter A.; Yong K.; Sellahewa C.; Chui K.; Ehsan A.; Fisher N.; Iyer S.; McMurtry H.; Garbutt G.; Mahgoub S.; Alleyne L.; Harvey J.; Johnson K.; Richards E.; Palaniyappan N.; Bowler C.; Inumerable R.; Abu M.; Suhool A.; Talbot T.; Westwood J.; Zumbo G.; Osborne A.; Botes A.; Dyer S.; Thomas-Jones I.; Merker L.; Przemioslo R.; Roderick M.; Valverde J.; Zerafa A.; Barker S.; Wan A.; Lalani R.; Barrett C.; Kapirial N.; McCarthney K.; Ramamoorthy R.; Yalchin M.; Huggett M.; Macutkiewicz C.; Smith A.; Buchanan A.; Burke J.; Goodchild G.; Keane M.G.; Potts J.; Disney B.; McFarlane M.; Baker E.; Bullock S.; Coleman S.; Mcardle C.; Morgan J.; Mozdiak E.; Obisesan A.; O'Flynn L.; Mowbray N.; de Berker H.T.; Driscoll P.; Alberts J.C.; Sadien I.D.; Webb K.; Khalil H.; Parmar C.; Sadigh D.; Seyed-Safi P.; Shala L.; Somasundaram M.; Bryce G.; McCormack K.; Jamieson W.; Mitchell L.; Cheung D.; Hicken B.; Abbas N.; Kurian A.; Tahir I.; Spearman J.; Johnston T.; Jones C.

Citation:Pancreatology; Sep 2021; vol. 21 (no. 6); p. 1127-1134

Abstract:Objective: UK national guidelines recommend pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy (PERT) in pancreatic cancer. Over 80% of pancreatic cancers are unresectable and managed in non-surgical units. The aim was to assess variation in PERT prescribing, determine factors associated with its use and identify potential actions to improve prescription rates. Design(s): RICOCHET was a national prospective audit of malignant pancreatic, peri-ampullary lesions or malignant biliary obstruction between April and August 2018. This analysis focuses on pancreatic cancer patients and is reported to STROBE guidelines. Multivariable regression analysis was undertaken to assess factors associated with PERT prescribing. Result(s): Rates of PERT prescribing varied among the 1350 patients included. 74.4% of patients with potentially resectable disease were prescribed PERT compared to 45.3% with unresectable disease. PERT prescription varied across surgical hospitals but high prescribing rates did not disseminate out to the respective referring network. PERT prescription appeared to be related to the treatment aim for the patient and the amount of clinician contact a patient has. PERT prescription in potentially resectable patients was positively associated with dietitian referral (p = 0.001) and management at hepaticopancreaticobiliary (p = 0.049) or pancreatic unit (p = 0.009). Prescription in unresectable patients also had a negative association with Charlson comorbidity score 5-7 (p = 0.045) or >7 (p = 0.010) and a positive association with clinical nurse specialist review (p = 0.028). Conclusion(s): Despite national guidance, wide variation and under-treatment with PERT exists. Given that most patients with pancreatic cancer have unresectable disease and are treated in non-surgical hospitals, where prescribing is lowest, strategies to disseminate best practice and overcome barriers to prescribing are urgently required.

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Improving outcomes for older people with diabetes (2021)

Type of publication:
Journal article

Author(s):
*Morris, David

Citation:
Practice Nursing; Jul 2021; vol. 32 (no. 7); p. 270-276

Abstract:
Older people with diabetes have unique challenges. David Morris discusses the importance of individualising care for this group of people An individualised approach aiming to maximise safety, preserve autonomy and improve quality of life is needed when helping an older person to manage their diabetes. It is important to interpret the older person's diabetes in the context of their overall health concerns, including reference to co-morbidities, cognitive function, lifestyle, social setting, and life expectancy, and practice nurses are well placed to work in partnership with people with diabetes to achieve this. Pharmacological treatment goals must be realistic, acknowledging the metabolic consequences of old age, the risks of hypoglycaemia and the dangers of
polypharmacy.

Evidence-based use of newer agents in type 2 diabetes (2021)

Type of publication:
Journal article

Author(s):
*Morris, D.

Citation:
Journal of Prescribing Practice; Jun 2021; vol. 3 (no. 6); p. 224-234

Abstract:
The DPP-4 inhibitors, GLP-1 receptor agonists and SGLT-2 inhibitors are newer agents for glycaemic control in type 2 diabetes that can offer additional health benefits. All three treatments carry a low risk of hypoglycaemia. GLP-1 RAs and SGLT-2 inhibitors are associated with weight loss and DPP-4 inhibitors are weight neutral. The GLP-1 RAs and SGLT-2 inhibitors offer protection against cardiovascular events. SGLT-2 inhibitors are the agents of choice to add on to metformin for glycaemic control in chronic kidney disease and heart failure, with GLP-1 RAs an alternative to be considered if SGLT-2 inhibitors are poorly tolerated or contraindicated. DPP-4 inhibitors are very well tolerated. Gastrointestinal side-effects can be problematic with GLP-1 RAs though frequently these settle with time. Genital thrush is a common side-effect with SGLT-2 inhibitors and diabetic ketoacidosis is a rare but serious side-effect. It is important that healthcare professionals with responsibility in diabetes familiarise themselves with these treatments in order to know when and how to safely and effectively deploy them. The selection of newer agents should be based on careful assessment of individual circumstances. Overall, the standpoint has shifted from a largely glucocentric approach to one considering the impact of treatments on weight, risk of hypoglycaemia, and co-morbidities (notably atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, heart failure and chronic kidney disease). Case histories are used in the article to illustrate the pragmatic use of these agents.

GLP-1 receptor agonists in type 2 diabetes: An underused asset? Updated January 2021 (2021)

Type of publication:
Journal article

Author(s):
*Morris, David

Citation:
Journal of Diabetes Nursing; Jan 2021; vol. 25 (no. 1); p. 1-13

Abstract:
As our understanding of the incretin hormones has increased, a number of drugs targeting this system have been developed. The realisation of this potential has developed rapidly, and glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) are now a standard feature in management guidelines for type 2 diabetes. This article reviews the operation of the incretin system and the mechanism by which GLP-1 RAs act to provide benefit in type 2 diabetes. The availability and indications for use of the GLP-1 RAs, and their clinical benefits and disadvantages, are summarised. The position of GLP-1 RAs in the management of type 2 diabetes is discussed pragmatically, with reference to various key guidelines. This article has been updated in January 2021 to incorporate recent guideline changes and the launch in the UK of an oral formulation of semaglutide.