Six-Month Survivorship Prediction in Spinal Metastatic Patients by Oncologists Shows Reliable Prognostication.

Study Design: A retrospective analysis of oncologist-provided prognoses vs actual survival outcomes of patients referred with Metastatic spinal cord compression (MSCC) to a supra-regional multidisciplinary team (MDT).

Objectives: Prognostic scoring systems, such as the revised Tokuhashi, are commonly used to help guide the treatment of MSCC. However, scoring systems do not accommodate for the improved outcomes of contemporary cancer therapy.

The imperative of arachidonic acid in early human development.

This review is about the role of arachidonic acid (ArA) in foetal and early growth and development. In 1975 and '76, we reported the preferential incorporation of ArA into the developing brain of rat pups, its conservation as a principal component in the brains of 32 mammalian species and the high proportion delivered by the human placenta for foetal nutrition, compared to its parent linoleic acid (LA). ArA is quantitatively the principal acyl component of membrane lipids from foetal red cells, mononuclear cells, astrocytes, endothelium, and placenta.