The West Midlands Bladder Cancer Prognosis Programme: rationale and design.

OBJECTIVE To describe the rationale and design of the Bladder Cancer Prognosis Programme (BCPP), and to demonstrate the capability of this design. METHODS There is a need to understand the determinants of bladder cancer to help reduce recurrence, progression, morbidity, mortality and related costs. We previously showed that lifestyle factors are important for determining the risk of bladder cancer, but little is known about their importance in determining the risk of recurrence or progression after diagnosis.

Periosteal Osteosarcoma: A Review of 17 Cases with Mean Follow-up of 52 Months.

Purpose: Periosteal osteosarcomas are rare cartilage-rich bone tumours characterized by a juxtacortical eccentric position and are normally regarded oncologically as of intermediate to high grade.Their low incidence is mirrored by a small number of reported cases in the world literature. While there is general agreement that wide surgical excision is required, there is a paucity of evidence regarding adjuvant therapy.

Modern approaches to a rapid diagnosis of tuberculosis: promises and challenges ahead.

The limitations of the conventional methods for diagnosing tuberculosis have spurred multi-faceted research activities in this field throughout the world. Chromatographic methods appear promising but may not be widely available in the developing countries. Immuno-diagnostic methods using combinations ("cocktails") of antigens have high sensitivity and specificity and can easily be applied in the peripheral laboratories and in the field settings.

Change in histological grade in locally recurrent soft tissue sarcomas.

Histological examination of locally recurrent soft tissue sarcomas usually reveals an appearance similar to that of the original tumour. Occasionally, however, recurrent sarcomas appear more or less malignant histologically than the initial lesion. The goals of this paper were to identify the frequency with which this phenomenon occurs, factors that predict for a change in grade and to determine if this change is associated with a different prognosis from other patients with local recurrence.