Maintenance daily oral etoposide versus no further therapy following induction chemotherapy with etoposide plus ifosfamide plus cisplatin in extensive small-cell lung cancer: a Hoosier Oncology Group randomized study.

Background: We performed this phase III study to determine whether the addition of 3 months of oral etoposide in non-progressing patients with extensive small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) treated with four cycles of etoposide plus ifosfamide plus cisplatin (VIP) improves progression-free survival (PFS) or overall survival.

Patients And Methods: Patients with extensive SCLC with a Karnofsky performance score (KPS) > or =50, adequate renal function and bone marrow reserve were eligible. Patients with CNS metastasis were eligible and received concurrent whole-brain radiotherapy.

A study of strontium binding to albumins, by a chromatographic method involving atomic emission spectrometric detection.

A chromatographic method involving ICP-AES (inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry) detection has been successfully applied for the study of strontium-protein complexes. The chromatographic step involves the use of gel filtration-a large-zone Hummel and Dreyer method-which allows to dissociate the bound metallic ions and the free ones. This step is followed by an ICP-AES analysis of fractions collected throughout the chromatographic experiment: the concentration of ionic metallic species in solution can therefore be calculated.

Chromatographic method involving inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometric detection for the study of metal-protein complexes.

A chromatographic method has been used to study metal ion-protein complexes. It involves successively a gel filtration technique to separate and distinguish the complexed from the free metallic ions, and a spectrometric technique, inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES), which allows us to calculate accurately the concentration of ionic metallic species in solution. In the chromatographic step, we applied a large-zone Hummel and Dreyer method.

Update on postoperative pain management.

Numerous postoperative analgesic therapies are continuing to develop as interest increases in the control of acute pain, particularly within the specialty of anaesthesia. Further progress will be made in the near future in relation to preemptive analgesia and reduction of postoperative pain by controlling spinal cord plasticity.(41,42) The concept of multimodal or balanced analgesia(43) in which the combined use of specific agents blocking specific segments of the pain pathway is another area which may provide improvements in postoperative analgesia.