HER2 testing to manage patients with breast cancer or other solid tumors.

Objectives: Systematic review of trastuzumab outcomes among breast cancer patients who have negative, equivocal, or discordant HER2 assay results; use of HER2 assay results to predict outcomes of chemotherapy or hormonal therapy regimen for breast cancer; use of serum HER2 to monitor treatment response or disease progression in breast cancer patients; and use of HER2 testing to manage patients with lung, ovarian, prostate, or head and neck tumors. Also, narrative review of concordance of HER2 assays.

Data Sources: We abstracted data from: three articles plus one conference abstract on negative, equivocal, or discordant HER2 results; 26 studies on selection of chemotherapy or hormonal therapy; 15 studies on serum HER2; and 26 studies on ovarian, lung, prostate, or head and neck tumors.

Treatment of primary and secondary osteoarthritis of the knee.

Objectives: Systematic review of outcomes of three treatments for osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee: intra-articular viscosupplementation; oral glucosamine, chondroitin or the combination; and arthroscopic lavage or debridement.

Data Sources: We abstracted data from: 42 randomized, controlled trials (RCTs) of viscosupplementation, all but one synthesized among six meta-analyses; 21 RCTs of glucosamine/chondroitin, 16 synthesized among 6 meta-analyses; and 23 articles on arthroscopy. The search included foreign-language studies and relevant conference proceedings.

Evidence for management of small cell lung cancer: ACCP evidence-based clinical practice guidelines (2nd edition).

Purposes: This systematic review addressed the following key questions on managing small cell lung cancer (SCLC): the sequence, timing, and dosing characteristics of primary thoracic radiotherapy (TRTx) for limited-stage disease; primary TRTx for extensive-stage disease; effect of prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI); positron emission tomography (PET) for staging; treatment of mixed histology tumors; surgery; and second-line and subsequent-line treatment for relapsed/progressive disease.

Methods: The review methods were defined prospectively in a written protocol. We primarily sought randomized controlled trials that compared the interventions of interest.

Management of small cell lung cancer.

Objectives: This is a systematic review of evidence on issues in managing small cell lung cancer (SCLC). Key questions addressed are: the sequence, timing, and dosing characteristics of primary thoracic radiotherapy (TRTx) for limited-stage disease; primary TRTx for extensive-stage disease; effect of prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI); positron emission tomography (PET) for staging; treatment of mixed histology tumors; surgery; and second- and subsequent-line treatment for relapsed/progressive disease.

Data Sources: MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Register

Review Methods: The review methods were defined prospectively in a written protocol.

Nonmyeloablative allogeneic stem-cell transplantation for hematologic malignancies: a systematic review.

Background: Increasingly, clinicians advocate the use of nonmyeloablative allogeneic stem-cell transplants (NM-allo-SCTs, "mini-transplants") to manage hematologic malignancies. They hypothesize that NM-allo-SCT is equally efficacious to standard allo-SCT but produces less regimen-related toxicity.

Methods: To analyze available evidence on the benefits and harms of "mini-transplants," we identified 23 manuscripts, 1 abstract, and 1 letter that reported the outcome of mini-transplants in hematologic malignancies.