Phase I and Biomarker Study of Plerixafor and Bevacizumab in Recurrent High-Grade Glioma.

Although antiangiogenic therapy for high-grade glioma (HGG) is promising, responses are not durable. Correlative clinical studies suggest that the SDF-1α/CXCR4 axis may mediate resistance to VEGFR inhibition. Preclinical data have demonstrated that plerixafor (a reversible CXCR4 inhibitor) could inhibit glioma progression after anti-VEGF pathway inhibition.

A randomized, placebo-controlled pilot trial of armodafinil for fatigue in patients with gliomas undergoing radiotherapy.

Background: Fatigue is common among glioma patients undergoing radiotherapy (RT) and impacts quality of life (QOL). We evaluated whether armodafinil, a wakefulness-promoting medication, improves fatigue in glioma patients undergoing RT.

Methods: Eligibility criteria included age ≥18 years, Karnofsky performance status ≥60, and grade 2-4 glioma undergoing RT to a total dose of 50-60 Gy.

Design of 4-Oxo-1-aryl-1,4-dihydroquinoline-3-carboxamides as Selective Negative Allosteric Modulators of Metabotropic Glutamate Receptor Subtype 2.

Both orthosteric and allosteric antagonists of the group II metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGlus) have been used to establish a link between mGlu2/3 inhibition and a variety of CNS diseases and disorders. Though these tools typically have good selectivity for mGlu2/3 versus the remaining six members of the mGlu family, compounds that are selective for only one of the individual group II mGlus have proved elusive. Herein we report on the discovery of a potent and highly selective mGlu2 negative allosteric modulator 58 (VU6001192) from a series of 4-oxo-1-aryl-1,4-dihydroquinoline-3-carboxamides.

Arsenic in rice and diets of children.

Levels of arsenic in Australian and imported rice (n = 36) were evaluated using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) for total arsenic and a hyphenated high-performance liquid chromatography ICP-MS system for arsenic species. The study also assessed the daily intake of total As from diets of healthy children (n = 15), collected over three consecutive days. A wide variation of total As levels (range: <0.

A Multicenter, Phase II, Randomized, Noncomparative Clinical Trial of Radiation and Temozolomide with or without Vandetanib in Newly Diagnosed Glioblastoma Patients.

Purpose: Vandetanib, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor of KDR (VEGFR2), EGFR, and RET, may enhance sensitivity to chemotherapy and radiation. We conducted a randomized, noncomparative, phase II study of radiation (RT) and temozolomide with or without vandetanib in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma (GBM).

Experimental Design: We planned to randomize a total of 114 newly diagnosed GBM patients in a ratio of 2:1 to standard RT and temozolomide with (76 patients) or without (38 patients) vandetanib 100 mg daily.

Phase II study of panobinostat in combination with bevacizumab for recurrent glioblastoma and anaplastic glioma.

Background: Panobinostat is a histone deacetylase inhibitor with antineoplastic and antiangiogenic effects in glioma that may work synergistically with bevacizumab. We conducted a multicenter phase II trial of panobinostat combined with bevacizumab in patients with recurrent high-grade glioma (HGG).

Methods: Patients with recurrent HGG were treated with oral panobinostat 30 mg 3 times per week, every other week, in combination with bevacizumab 10 mg/kg every other week.

Phase II study of monthly pasireotide LAR (SOM230C) for recurrent or progressive meningioma.

Objective: A subset of meningiomas recur after surgery and radiation therapy, but no medical therapy for recurrent meningioma has proven effective.

Methods: Pasireotide LAR is a long-acting somatostatin analog that may inhibit meningioma growth. This was a phase II trial in patients with histologically confirmed recurrent or progressive meningioma designed to evaluate whether pasireotide LAR prolongs progression-free survival at 6 months (PFS6).

Phase II trial of triple tyrosine kinase receptor inhibitor nintedanib in recurrent high-grade gliomas.

Bevacizumab is FDA-approved for patients with recurrent GBM. However, the median duration of response is only 4 months. Potential mechanisms of resistance include upregulated FGF signaling and increased PDGF-mediated pericyte coverage.

Breast Reconstruction Post Mastectomy: Patient Satisfaction and Decision Making.

Background: Although breast reconstruction has been shown to improve psychological, physical, and sexual well-being, Australia still has one of the lowest reconstruction rates among well-developed countries. This study explores both the quality-of-life benefits of reconstruction and the factors that influence patients' decisions of whether or not to undergo reconstruction.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study (296 consecutive mastectomy patients from 2000 to 2010) uses an internationally validated questionnaire (BREAST-Q) to evaluate patients' satisfaction with or without breast reconstruction.

Luminal DMSO: effects on detrusor and urothelial/lamina propria function.

DMSO is used as a treatment for interstitial cystitis and this study examined the effects of luminal DMSO treatment on bladder function and histology. Porcine bladder was incubated without (controls) or with DMSO (50%) applied to the luminal surface and the release of ATP, acetylcholine, and LDH assessed during incubation and in tissues strips after DMSO incubation. Luminally applied DMSO caused ATP, Ach, and LDH release from the urothelial surface during treatment, with loss of urothelial layers also evident histologically.

Dupuytren's contracture: an analysis of outcomes of percutaneous needle fasciotomy versus open fasciectomy.

Background: Percutaneous needle fasciotomy (PNF) is a minimally invasive technique used to manage Dupuytren's contracture. We compared outcomes of PNF versus open fasciectomy (OF) to examine the suitability of PNF in Australia.

Method: A retrospective cohort study using two questionnaires regarding Dupuytren's treatment was used to assess patients with uncomplicated primary disease.

Discovery of (R)-(2-fluoro-4-((-4-methoxyphenyl)ethynyl)phenyl) (3-hydroxypiperidin-1-yl)methanone (ML337), an mGlu3 selective and CNS penetrant negative allosteric modulator (NAM).

A multidimensional, iterative parallel synthesis effort identified a series of highly selective mGlu3 NAMs with submicromolar potency and good CNS penetration. Of these, ML337 resulted (mGlu3 IC50 = 593 nM, mGlu2 IC50 >30 μM) with B:P ratios of 0.92 (mouse) to 0.

Risk factors in idiopathic adhesive capsulitis: a case control study.

Background: The etiology of idiopathic adhesive capsulitis (IAC) of the shoulder is poorly understood. In this case control study, we examine potential risk factors for the development of IAC.

Methods: Consecutive patients who presented to the senior author with IAC between 2000 and 2009 were included retrospectively in this case control study.

The active management of surgical waiting lists: a urological surgery case study.

Elective surgery waiting list management is a major public healthcare issue. This case study describes an integrated multifaceted approach to waiting list management at Peninsula Health, a public health service in Victoria, Australia. At the commencement of this study it was recognised that several issues associated with the urological surgical service constituted potential clinical risk.

Mercury concentrations and omega-3 fatty acids in fish and shrimp: Preferential consumption for maximum health benefits.

The consumption of fish and shrimp containing omega-3 fatty acids can result in protective health effects including a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, and diabetes. These protective effects may be decreased by the presence of mercury in the muscle tissue of fish and shellfish. Mercury can increase the risk of cardiovascular problems and impede neurological development.

Components of socioeconomic risk associated with head and neck cancer: a population-based case-control study in Scotland.

The complex associations between socioeconomic circumstances and risk for head and neck cancer are under-explored. We investigated components of social class and their relative influence on the risk of head and neck cancers by studying 103 patients (age range 24-80 years) who had been diagnosed with cancer of the head and neck between April 2002 and December 2004, and 91 controls who were randomly selected from general practitioners' lists. Information about occupation, education, smoking, and alcohol consumption was collected at personal interview.

Socioeconomic factors influence selection and participation in a population-based case-control study of head and neck cancer in Scotland.

Objective: We aimed to investigate the association between socioeconomic factors and selection and participation biases in a population-based case-control study of head and neck cancer conducted in the city of Glasgow, UK.

Methods: General Practices (GP) of the case subjects were the sampling frame from which age and sex-matched controls were randomly selected. Participant and nonparticipant postcodes of cases and controls were linked to the area-based Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation.

Analytical and clinical performance of the Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics VITROS amino-terminal pro-B type natriuretic peptide assay.

Background: Measurement of amino-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) is useful for evaluating patients with heart failure (HF).

Methods: We evaluated the performance of a new automated NT-proBNP assay.

Results: The VITROS NT-proBNP assay had mean within-run and total imprecision of 1.

Multi-organ transplantation: is there a protective effect against acute and chronic rejection?

Background: Heart-lung transplantation (Tx) is known to offer a protective effect against acute cardiac rejection. This study was undertaken to evaluate acute and chronic heart and/or lung rejection in the setting of multiple-transplanted organs from the same donor compared with single-organ transplantation.

Methods: Acute (treated rejection episodes of heart or lungs) and chronic (allograft vasculopathy in hearts and bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome [BOS] in lungs) rejection events were analyzed in 348 heart transplant (H) recipients, 24 heart-lung (HL) recipients, 82 double-lung (L) recipients and 8 heart-kidney (HK) recipients >18 years of age, who were transplanted between 1990 and 2002.

Routinely asking women about domestic violence in health settings.

Health professionals are ideally placed to identify domestic violence but cannot do so without training on raising the issue and knowledge of advice and support services

A critique of evaluated adolescent smoking cessation programmes.

Rates of adolescent smoking appear to be on the increase, with a number of authors documenting increases in the 1990's. However, the issue of prevention rather than cessation has received greater attention in tobacco control programmes among youth. This review provides details of published school based and other tobacco cessation programmes for adolescents and compares their efficacy.