Good News for Patients With Dry AMD

HOT TOPIC

FDA Approves First Device to Treat Vision Loss Related to Dry AMD

This past week, the FDA granted authorization to LumiThera to market its Valeda Light Delivery System. The approval was made under the De Novo authorization pathway, which makes the Valeda system the first FDA-authorized device to treat vision loss in patients with dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

LumiThera

The Valeda therapy uses photobiomodulation technology, which involves different wavelengths of light to stimulate activity in the retina cells, targeting the mitochondria to enhance metabolism and cellular proliferation. The company’s clinical trials demonstrated that the Valeda system improved BCVA by more than 5 letters over 24 months, significantly reducing the progression to geographic atrophy compared with sham treatment.

The FDA’s authorization is expected to provide a noninvasive treatment option for patients with dry AMD, potentially improving vision and addressing the disease before more permanent vision loss can occur.

“We have been working hard to bring Valeda, a multiwavelength photobiomodulation device, to our US patients for several years. We now have a noninvasive treatment option for dry AMD patients that may improve vision and address the disease earlier …” said Clark Tedford, PhD, President and CEO, in a company news release.

My Two Cents

What a fantastic development! This is something I’ve been watching for quite some time now. There are still a lot of questions about the procedure and the journey our patients will take to get it. Will this procedure be found in primary care offices? Retinal specialists’ practices only? What about insurance coverage—will it be cash pay? Here’s hoping Valeda learns from the countless companies before them in all areas of eye care that have demonstrated that you can’t ignore optometry if you want your technology to take off. Hopefully, we’ll see them at some of our conventions to drive home this point!

OUTSIDE THE LANE

Cancer Rates Expected to Increase

A new population-based study published in JAMA Network Open analyzed 36 cancer types from 185 countries and territories and concluded that by 2050, 35.3 million cases of cancer are expected to be present worldwide. This is a projected 76.6% increase from the 2022 estimate of 20 million.

The study also predicts 18.5 million cancer-related deaths by 2050, an 89.7% increase from the 2022 estimate of 9.7 million. The paper’s abstract states that the COVID-19 pandemic and armed conflicts have challenged cancer prevention and care efforts worldwide, causing a decline in the global human development index (HDI), particularly in low- and middle-income countries.

According to the study authors, cases of cancer and related deaths will nearly triple in the low HDI (poor) countries by 2050 compared with a relatively moderate increase in high HDI (rich) countries. Cases of cancer in low HDI countries are expected to rise by 142.1%, while cases of cancer in general will increase by 146.1%. At the same time, high HDI countries are expected to see a 41.7% increase in cases of cancer and a 56.8% increase in cancer deaths.

Also of note, males had a higher rate of cancer deaths in 2022 than women, and that rate is predicted to increase to 16% by 2050. This fact caused the authors to state that cancer disparities were evident across HDI, geographic regions, age, and sex, with further widening projected by 2050.

My Two Cents

Quite the sobering study. As much as I profile all the fantastic advances in technology and medicine each week in this newsletter, it’s simply stunning to see just how much cancer is expected to become an even bigger menace in the future. This disease hits home for me, as I lost my grandfather, with whom I was extremely close, to lung cancer. Here’s hoping all those researching cancer treatments continue making incredible gains in developing future therapies to save millions of lives.

CAN YOU RELATE

I love when individuals or groups from the eye care industry visit my clinic to see how we do things at Williamson Eye Center. Much of the time, my clinic and I are the appetizer, and Blake K. Williamson, MD, and our CEO, Charles H. Williamson, MD, FACS, FWCRS, are the main course—especially when visitors are not interested in dry eye or contact lenses.

We expect a friendly group of visitors this week, as many people from all over the South are coming to watch the Louisiana State University vs. Alabama football game. I’m particularly excited to welcome Andy Lovre-Smith and his team from Bryn Mawr Communications so we can show them just how smoothly we operate.

All this to say, I love showing off my adopted city of Baton Rouge to our visitors—not just the four walls of our clinic and everything contained within. Whether it’s “Death Valley,” where the LSU Tigers play, our incredible Cajun/Creole cuisine (seriously some of the best in the world), or the various sites along the Mighty Mississippi River, it’s always fun to share with others what makes our homes unique. Sometimes, we forget how unique and full of soul our towns and states are.

I challenge you to take a day over the next few weeks and take a little “staycation” to enjoy your own city. Go to that “famous” restaurant, visit the trails, walk downtown while supporting your fellow local businesses, and fall in love with your home again. Pretend you’re showing off your city for an out-of-towner, and beam with pride while doing it!

IMAGE OF THE WEEK

Limbal stem cell deficiency.

Paul Hammond, OD, FAAO, @kmkoptometrypro

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“The magic thing about home is that it feels good to leave, and it feels even better to come back.”

— Wendy Wunder, author