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Back to Basics Slide Deck Resource
In primary care, physicians routinely use risk scores to estimate 10-year and lifetime risk of cardiovascular events/mortality in their patients, but these do not currently include Lp(a) levels. The final slide deck in our Back to Basics series addresses the question, Cardiovascular risk assessment in primary care: What does Lp(a) add?, by looking at the potential of Lp(a) test results to enhance the prognostic value of commonly used risk scores.
In his accompanying expert video commentary, Lp(a) Forum Co-Chair, Professor Henry Ginsberg, explains how Lp(a) measurement can help guide more intensive risk factor management for patients with elevated levels.
Lilly has provided arms’ length sponsorship funding for the Lp(a) Forum Back to Basics Educational Resources but has had no influence or control over the content.
Latest Congress Highlights
As clinicians eagerly await the results of cardiovascular (CV) outcomes studies of novel Lp(a) lowering agents in development, leading lipid experts at this year’s European Atherosclerosis Congress (24-27 May, Athens, Greece) focused on the importance of managing conventional risk factors in today’s patients with elevated Lp(a). Other highlights included the potential of an Lp(a)-adjusted polygenic risk score to improve identification of individuals at high CV risk, and fresh insights into the impact of ethnicity on the relationship between Lp(a) and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. There were also early indications of the cost effectiveness of Lp(a) lowering therapy, and new data on the impact of unbound apo(a) on changes in cardiovascular and kidney biomarkers following treatment to block apo(a) binding to apoB.
Second Closed Scientific Expert Meeting of the Editorial Board
Update on Phase 2/3 investigations of lepodisiran and muvalaplin
Professor Steve Nissen, Cleveland Clinic, Ohio, USA, presents results of the ALPACA trial with lepodisiran and the KRAKEN trial of muvalaplin in patients with elevated Lp(a).
Update on the olpasiran clinical development programme
Professor Michelle O’Donoghue, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, USA, presents data from the Phase 2 OCEAN(a)-DOSE trial and previews the OCEAN(a)-OUTCOMES study.
Lp(a)HORIZON cardiovascular
outcome trial
Professor Steve Nissen, Cleveland Clinic, Ohio, USA, provides an update of the Lp(a)HORIZON trial – the first study due to report results of Lp(a) reduction on cardiovascular outcomes.
Elevated Lp(a) and coronary artery disease severity
Professor Ulf Landmesser, Charité University Medicine Berlin, Germany, presents research linking higher Lp(a) levels with more severe and complex-to-treat coronary artery disease.
About Lp(a) Forum
The Lp(a) Forum is a new, independent, non-profit, expert-led, global initiative providing clinicians and researchers worldwide with open access, peer-reviewed resources devoted to the exciting and rapidly developing area of Lp(a) science and therapeutics.
The Forum brings together internationally-recognised experts from the scientific and clinical communities who are committed to developing awareness, knowledge and understanding of the importance of Lp(a) as an independent risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) and aortic valve stenosis, even when LDL-cholesterol levels are low… Read more
Free Membership
Lp(a) Forum Co-Chair, Professor John Chapman, invites you to join Lp(a) Forum for open access to multimedia educational resources about Lp(a) science, management and research.
Why do we need this Forum?
In recent years, unequivocal evidence has been published supporting Lp(a) as a target for lipid lowering therapies to reduce cardiovascular risk in individuals with significantly elevated Lp(a) levels. Innovative Lp(a) targeted therapies are in development and there is now an urgent need for reliable, accessible scientific and clinical information about Lp(a) for the clinical and scientific community that is appropriate for all levels of expertise and interest.
Lp(a) Forum Co-Chair, Professor John Chapman, turns the spotlight on the accumulating observational, genetic and mechanistic evidence supporting Lp(a) as an independent, causal risk factor for cardiovascular disease, and discusses the promise of novel Lp(a)-lowering agents in development.
Lp(a) Forum Co-Chair, Professor Henry Ginsberg, explains why the time is right to focus on Lp(a) as an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease and to ensure that current knowledge and news of future advances are accessible to clinicians and researchers worldwide.
Expert Views
High risk patients: Breaking down barriers to evidence-based care
Professor Keith Ferdinand, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, USA, discusses how people of African, South Asian and Hispanic descent typically have higher levels of Lp(a) and more ASCVD risk, yet often miss out on essential healthcare interventions.
Clinical trials targeting Lp(a) – What’s new?
Professor Ioanna Gouni-Berthold, University of Cologne, Germany, discusses recently published and ongoing studies of antisense oligonucleotides, small interfering RNAs and small molecules targeting Lp(a).
Research highlights since Lp(a) Forum launch
Dr Elias Björnson, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, discusses some memorable scientific advances and clinical developments in the field of Lp(a) research and looks forward to further investigations.
The importance of Lp(a) testing
Professor Keith Ferdinand, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, USA, highlights the importance of testing Lp(a) levels.
Lp(a) and coronary plaque progression
Professor Marc Dweck, University of Edinburgh, UK, reports recent imaging research that links Lp(a) to progression of the most unstable coronary plaques.
Slides
Lp(a): A new causal risk factor for ASCVD and aortic valve stenosis
Download this topical introductory slide deck to Lp(a), developed by Lp(a) Forum Co-Chair, Professor John Chapman, which summarises key evidence supporting the role of Lp(a) as a causal risk factor in cardiovascular disease
Trials
Multiple Lp(a) targeted therapeutics are undergoing extensive clinical trials to investigate their safety, efficacy and tolerability, and potential benefits for cardiovascular outcomes.
Video Library
International experts discuss hot topics on all aspects of the epidemiology, genetics and pathophysiology of Lp(a).
Lp(a): What do the guidelines say?
Multiple expert guidelines recognise Lp(a) as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease and advise on Lp(a) measurement and treatment as part of broader risk management…
Back to Basics
Back to Basics summarises current thinking on key aspects of Lp(a) science and management
What is Lp(a)
Lp(a) is a plasma lipoprotein that consists of an LDL-like particle in which apolipoprotein B100 is covalently linked to the plasminogen-like protein…
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Lp(a) measurement
Lp(a) level is measured as Lp(a) particle number (nmol/L) or Lp(a) mass concentration (mg/dL), and levels ≥100/125 nmol/L (≥50 mg/dL) are …
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Why test Lp(a)?
Professor Keith Ferdinand, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, USA, discusses the advantages of Lp(a) testing for patients and their families…
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Lp(a) and CVD
Elevated Lp(a) is associated with increased risk of coronary heart disease, ischaemic stroke, peripheral artery disease, heart failure, aortic stenosis and mortality …
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Lp(a) therapies
No Lp(a) targeted therapies have been approved, but experts agree that intensive management of other risk factors is important in individuals with elevated …
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News
Lp(a) risk variants linked to plaque rupture
Two major Lp(a) risk variants (rs10455872 and rs3798220) associated with elevated Lp(a) and increased risk of coronary …
Studies support Lp(a) link to high risk plaque
Further support for the link between elevated Lp(a) and high risk plaque (HRP) features comes from two recently published studies …
Machine learning model could mean fewer Lp(a) tests
A machine learning guided approach to prioritise Lp(a) testing could reduce the number of tests needed to identify individuals with …
New US dyslipidaemia guidelines stress importance of Lp(a) measurement
Measurement of Lp(a) concentration in all adults at least once, so that results can be included in assessment of ASCVD risk …
Validation for direct Lp(a)-cholesterol assay
A sensitive, high-throughput, immunocapture-based assay for direct quantification of Lp(a)-cholesterol has …
Other Congress News
First clinical data with a new LPA mRNA targeting siRNA, new results showing inhibition of Lp(a) oxidation by eicosapentaenoic acid, and evidence of the impact of Lp(a) testing on initiation of lipid lowering therapies were among the Lp(a) research presentations attracting attention at the American College of Cardiology congress in New Orleans, USA, this week. Also on the agenda was a warning that Latino patients are missing out on Lp(a) testing, reassuring news of a good correlation between serum and plasma Lp(a) levels, and latest investigations into links between elevated Lp(a) and mitral valve disorders and atrial fibrillation.
Upcoming Congress
ESC Congress 2026
28 – 31 August, Munich, Germany
