Survival and recurrence after concomitant chemotherapy and radiotherapy for cancer of the uterine cervix: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: The US National Cancer Institute alert in February, 1999, stated that concomitant chemotherapy and radiotherapy should be considered for all patients with cervical cancer. Our aim was to review the effects of chemoradiotherapy on overall and progression-free survival, local and distant control, and acute and late toxicity in patients with cervical cancer.

Methods: With the methodology of the Cochrane Collaboration, we did a systematic review of all known randomised controlled trials done between 1981 and 2000 (17 published, two unpublished) of chemoradiation for cervical cancer.

Small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of the urinary bladder: case report of a rare primary tumor.

Primary small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of the bladder is a rare condition, with fewer than 140 cases having been reported. It is an aggressive tumor with an average five-year survival rate of less than 10 percent as cited by multiple case reports. We report a 73-year-old white woman with primary small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of the bladder who was treated with radical cystectomy and adjuvant cisplatin/etoposide-based chemotherapy.

Outcome events in patients with claudication: a 15-year study in 2777 patients.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to delineate the natural history of claudication and determine risk factors for death.

Methods: We reviewed the key outcomes (death, revascularization, amputation) in 2777 male patients with claudication identified over 15 years at a Veterans Administration hospital with both clinical and noninvasive criteria. Patients with rest pain or ulcers were excluded.

Preoperative radiotherapy for esophageal carcinoma.

Background: The existing randomized evidence has failed to conclusively demonstrate the benefit or otherwise of preoperative radiotherapy in treating patients with potentially resectable esophageal carcinoma.

Objectives: This meta-analysis aimed to assess whether there is benefit from adding radiotherapy prior to surgery and whether or not any pre-defined patient subgroups benefit more or less from preoperative radiotherapy

Search Strategy: Medline and CancerLit searches were supplemented by information from trial registers and by hand searching relevant meeting proceedings and by discussion with relevant trialists, organisations and industry. The search strategy was run again in Medline, Embase and the Cochrane Library on 2nd May 2000, one year after original publication.

Is there bias in the publication of individual patient data meta-analyses?

Objective: There is increasing empirical evidence for the existence of bias in the publication of primary clinical research, with statistically significant results being published more readily, more quickly, and in higher impact journals. Meta-analysis of individual patient data (IPD) may represent a gold standard of "secondary" clinical research, giving the best possible summary of current evidence for a particular question, but publication of these may also be subject to bias. This study aimed to explore which factors might be associated with publication of IPD meta-analyses and to identify potential sources of bias.

Preoperative radiotherapy for esophageal carcinoma. Oeosphageal Cancer Collaborative Group.

Background: The existing randomized evidence has failed to conclusively demonstrate the benefit or otherwise of preoperative radiotherapy in treating patients with potentially resectable esophageal carcinoma.

Objectives: This meta-analysis aimed to assess whether there is benefit from adding radiotherapy prior to surgery and whether or not any pre-defined patient subgroups benefit more or less from preoperative radiotherapy

Search Strategy: Medline and CancerLit searches were supplemented by information from trial registers and by hand searching relevant meeting proceedings and by discussion with relevant trialists, organisations and industry.

Selection Criteria: Trials were eligible for inclusion in this meta-analysis provided they randomized patients with potentially resectable carcinoma of the esophagus (of any histological type) to receive radiotherapy or no radiotherapy prior to surgery.

Practical issues in geriatric psychopharmacology.

In summary, clinicians must consider multiple changes in the absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination of psychotropic drugs among older patients. Lower starting doses (often one-quarter to one-half the usual adult dose) is advisable, with slow dosing adjustments (no sooner than every 5 to 7 days) as needed. The time required to see steady-state therapeutic levels, or for elimination of most medications, are substantially longer in the elderly.

Can the published data tell us about the effectiveness of neoadjuvant chemotherapy for locally advanced cancer of the uterine cervix?

The effect of neoadjuvant chemotherapy on survival of patients with locally advanced cervical cancer was investigated by conducting a systematic review and meta-analysis of the published data. Of the 21 randomised trials that we identified, only 15 were published. Furthermore, 2-year survival data could be extracted from only seven trial reports and 3-year survival from only nine trial reports.

Preoperative radiotherapy in esophageal carcinoma: a meta-analysis using individual patient data (Oesophageal Cancer Collaborative Group).

Purpose: The existing randomized evidence has failed to conclusively demonstrate the benefit or otherwise of preoperative radiotherapy in treating patients with potentially resectable esophageal carcinoma. This meta-analysis aimed to assess whether there is benefit from adding radiotherapy prior to surgery.

Methods And Materials: This quantitative meta-analysis included updated individual patient data from all properly randomized trials (published or unpublished) comprising 1147 patients (971 deaths) from five randomized trials.

Safety and pharmacokinetics of multiple doses of recombinant human CuZn superoxide dismutase administered intratracheally to premature neonates with respiratory distress syndrome.

Objectives: To examine the safety and pharmacokinetics of multiple intratracheal (IT) doses of recombinant human CuZn superoxide dismutase (rhSOD) in premature infants with respiratory distress syndrome who are at risk for developing bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). Methods. Thirty-three infants (700 to 1300 g) were randomized and blindly received saline, 2.