By Beth Gilbert HealthDay Reporter
The annual meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians was held this year from Oct. 19 to 22 in Chicago, hosting participants from around the world, including specialists and heath care professionals focused on pulmonary medicine, critical care, and sleep medicine. The conference featured presentations focusing on clinical updates in thoracic medicine.
In one study, Anika Chowdhury, M.D., of Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and colleagues found that esmolol appears to be the most effective beta blocker for improving survival and clinical outcomes in patients with septic shock.
The authors performed a comprehensive Bayesian network meta-analysis of eight randomized controlled trials (916 participants) and found that esmolol ranked highest for improving outcomes in adults with septic shock, including a decrease in 28-day mortality (hazard ratio, 0.47; surface under the cumulative ranking curve, 99 percent), intensive care unit mortality (hazard ratio, 0.54; surface under the cumulative ranking curve, 91 percent), heart rate (–18 bpm), and serum lactate, as well as shorter hospital stay. Meanwhile, landiolol was less effective across outcomes.
“Esmolol may serve as an adjunctive therapy in septic shock, especially in patients with high sympathetic drive,” Chowdhury said. “However, further large-scale trials are needed to confirm safety, efficacy, and integration into sepsis protocols before routine use.”
In another study, Cosmo Fowler, M.D., of Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta, and colleagues found that glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) offer a greater mortality risk reduction in patients with type 2 diabetes who also have obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).
Using the TriNetX U.S. Collaborative Network, the authors evaluated claims and electronic health records for 120 million patients from 69 health care organizations. They found that patients with type 2 diabetes and OSA prescribed GLP-1 RAs had lower one-year mortality compared with patients with type 2 diabetes and OSA not prescribed GLP-1 RAs.
“OSA may represent an effect modifier for survival in patients prescribed a GLP-1 RA — this might be explained by the notion that OSA is an independent mortality risk factor and GLP-1 RA prescription may specifically mitigate this, in addition to other well-studied benefits,” Fowler said. “While further research is needed and limitations to this study include its retrospective nature, these findings drawn from real-world patient data suggest GLP-1 RA prescription may provide a survival advantage that is specific to patients with a diagnosis of OSA.”
Several authors disclosed financial ties to Ferring, Idorsia, Merck, Huxley, and Zoll.
Katherine Ortmeyer Welch, M.D., of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and colleagues found that sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors may slow early-stage cancer progression and reduce the need for surgery among patients with preinvasive and minimally invasive lung adenocarcinoma.
According to the authors, ground glass nodules (GGNs) are frequently detected and can represent early lung adenocarcinoma, yet current management is limited to surveillance or surgery, with no available medical therapies.
The researchers conducted a retrospective matched cohort study of patients with diabetes and persistent GGNs, comparing those treated with SGLT2 inhibitors to those on non-SGLT2 inhibitor diabetes medications. SGLT2 inhibitor use was associated with a significantly lower rate of nodule progression (12 versus 24 percent; hazard ratio, 0.38) and a reduction in surgical interventions (3 versus 13 percent).
“Our findings suggest that SGLT2 inhibitors, which are already widely prescribed, safe, and orally available, may slow early lung cancer progression and could represent the first viable medical therapy for patients under surveillance for GGNs, particularly those who are high-risk surgical candidates or have multiple lesions,” Welch said.
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THURSDAY, Oct. 23, 2025 (HealthDay News) — For U.S. patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, nerandomilast slows the decline in forced vital capacity, according to a study presented at CHEST 2025, the annual meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians, held from Oct. 19 to 22 in Chicago.
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CHEST: SGLT2 Inhibitors May Slow Nodule Growth in Pulmonary Malignancies
MONDAY, Oct. 20, 2025 (HealthDay News) — For patients with diabetes and early-stage pulmonary malignancies, administration of a sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitor slows nodule growth and reduces the need for surgical interventions, according to a study presented at CHEST 2025, the annual meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians, held from Oct. 19 to 22 in Chicago.
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CHEST: Mortality Down With GLP-1 Receptor Agonist Use in T2D, Especially in Those With OSA
MONDAY, Oct. 20, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus prescribed glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists have significantly lower one-year mortality, especially those also diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea, according to a study presented at CHEST 2025, the annual meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians, held from Oct. 19 to 22 in Chicago.
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