Physical performance and psychosocial status in lung cancer patients: results from a pilot study.

Background: The aim of this study was to assess the physical performance and psychosocial status of lung cancer patients.

Patients And Methods: Patients with predominantly advanced-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and small cell lung cancer (SCLC) were recruited. Muscle strength was assessed via hand-held dynamometry (HHD) and endurance capacity via the 6-minute walk test (6MWT), and results were compared to healthy reference values.

Complementary and alternative medicine in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Background: Despite the widespread use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in the general population for the treatment of chronic diseases, only few data have been published for patients with leukemia. The aim of this survey was to study systematically the use of CAM in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

Patients And Methods: A structured questionnaire was sent to 247 CLL patients of all clinical stages and disease durations, treated and untreated.

High rate of centrosome aberrations and correlation with proliferative activity in patients with untreated B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is characterized by a high rate of clonal genomic alterations and a low proliferative activity with cell cycle arrest in G(0)/G(1) phase. Recently, centrosome aberrations have been described as a possible cause of chromosomal instability and aneuploidy in many human malignancies. To investigate whether centrosome aberrations do occur in CLL and whether they correlate with common prognostic factors and disease activity, we examined peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from 70 patients with previously untreated CLL using an antibody to gamma-tubulin.

Autologous bone marrow transplantation in adult patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Autologous bone marrow transplantation (ABMT) was introduced as a treatment for terminal leukemic relapse more than 40 years ago. For childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) the role of ABMT is well defined. Some studies suggest that it is also beneficial for adult patients with high-risk factors or with relapse.