Donepezil for Irradiated Brain Tumor Survivors: A Phase III Randomized Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial.

Purpose: Neurotoxic effects of brain irradiation include cognitive impairment in 50% to 90% of patients. Prior studies have suggested that donepezil, a neurotransmitter modulator, may improve cognitive function.

Patients And Methods: A total of 198 adult brain tumor survivors ≥ 6 months after partial- or whole-brain irradiation were randomly assigned to receive a single daily dose (5 mg for 6 weeks, 10 mg for 18 weeks) of donepezil or placebo.

Percutaneous umbilical blood sampling.

Percutaneous umbilical blood sampling (PUBS), also called cordocentesis, is a newly introduced technique that enables blood samples to be obtained from the fetus in utero for a variety of conditions. The major applications are for the diagnosis of fetal infections, karyotype analysis, fetal growth retardation, diagnosis of hematologic conditions, and metabolic evaluation. This procedure is gaining in popularity, since it provides direct information on fetal blood status.

Phase II trial of methotrexate-FAM (m-FAM) in adenocarcinoma of unknown primary.

Nineteen patients with adenocarcinoma of unknown primary were treated with the m-FAM regimen, consisting of methotrexate 50 mg/m2 days 0, 28; 5-fluorouracil 600 mg/m2 days 1, 8, 29, 36; Adriamycin 30 mg/m2 days 1, 29; and mitomycin-C 10 mg/m2 day 1. All drugs were recycled every 56 days. No complete responses were seen.

Therapy of advanced gastric carcinoma. The Georgetown-Lombardi Cancer Center experience.

Gastric carcinoma, despite a decreasing incidence in the United States over the past 40 years, is the seventh most common cause of cancer death in this country and remains a significant worldwide problem. The 5-fluorouracil, Adriamycin (doxorubicin), and mitomycin (FAM) chemotherapy regimen, which was initially reported by Georgetown in 1979, has become a standard for advanced gastric carcinoma with response rates in the 40% range. The FAM regimen as well as subsequent trials conducted at Georgetown and our current approach to management of this tumor are discussed.

Vascular distensibility and vascular surgery.

The elastic property of an arterial wall decreases considerably with aging and/or with a variety of pathological conditions. The resulting decrease in vascular compliance has a profound physiological effect on arterial perfusion. The objectives of this study were to assess a quantitative measure of peripheral vascular distensibility (D), to apply it in some clinical conditions, and to establish a potential means of predicting success in vascular surgery for limb salvage.

Noninvasive assessment of vascular disease in the lower limbs of diabetics.

One hundred and fifty seven limbs of diabetic patients free of any symptoms or signs of arterial insufficiency, were studied using noninvasive techniques to determine vascular distensibility in the lower extremities. A relationship between these values and the classification of the diabetic in terms of age, duration of diabetes and control of diabetes was sought. The results revealed a distinct inverse relationship between vascular distensibility and age of the diabetic subject, analogous to the trend found in a normal, non-diabetic group of volunteers.