Angiogenic and Immune-Related Biomarkers and Outcomes Following Axitinib/Pembrolizumab Treatment in Patients with Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma.

Purpose: Combined axitinib/pembrolizumab is approved for advanced renal cell carcinoma (aRCC). This exploratory analysis examined associations between angiogenic and immune-related biomarkers and outcomes following axitinib/pembrolizumab treatment.

Patients And Methods: Prospectively defined retrospective correlative exploratory analyses tested biospecimens from 52 treatment-naïve patients receiving axitinib and pembrolizumab (starting doses 5 mg twice daily and 2 mg/kg respectively, every 3 weeks).

Sample size considerations when groups are the appropriate unit of analysis.

This article discusses issues to be considered by nurse researchers when groups should be used as the unit of randomization. Advantages and disadvantages are presented, with statistical calculations needed to determine the effective sample size. Examples of these concepts are presented using data from the Black Cosmetologists Promoting Health Program.

Evidence of real-world effectiveness of a telephone quitline for smokers.

Background: Telephone services that offer smoking-cessation counseling (quitlines) have proliferated in recent years, encouraged by positive results of clinical trials. The question remains, however, whether those results can be translated into real-world effectiveness.

Methods: We embedded a randomized, controlled trial into the ongoing service of the California Smokers' Helpline.