–Modest treatment effect of canakinumab may limit clinical role in heart disease, but strong anti-cancer signal sparks interest. Despite questions about its clinical importance, the CANTOS trial is being hailed by experts for finally validating the role of inflammation in heart disease. The cardiovascular benefits in the trial were real but modest. Even more exciting,…
What Is The Benefit Of Adding CRP To Risk Factor Assessment?
October 3, 2012 by Leave a Comment
In recent years controversy has swirled around the role of inflammation in cardiovascular disease and the relative worth of measuring novel risk factors like CRP. Now, in a new paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers from the Emerging Risk Factors Collaboration provide detailed calculations that estimate the benefits of adding two of…
Studies Provide Strongest Evidence To Date For Causative Role of Inflammation in Heart Disease
March 15, 2012 by 4 Comments
Two large new meta-analyses published in the Lancet provide the first strong evidence demonstrating a cause-and-effect relationship between a specific inflammatory protein and the development of coronary heart disease (CHD). Both studies illuminate the role of interleukin-6 receptor (IL6R) by focusing on the common Asp 358Ala variant of the IL6R gene. The variant is known to dampen the…
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