Induction chemotherapy prior to surgery with or without postoperative radiotherapy for oral cavity cancer patients: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Locoregionally advanced oral cavity cancers are aggressive tumours with high risk of relapse after definitive treatment. This study was performed to assess the effectiveness and safety of induction chemotherapy prior to surgery for untreated oral cavity cancer patients.

Material And Methods: Only prospective phase III randomised studies comparing induction chemotherapy followed by surgery with or without postoperative radiotherapy (Chemo Group) compared with surgery with or without postoperative radiotherapy (Control Group) were eligible.

Accelerated partial irradiation for breast cancer: systematic review and meta-analysis of 8653 women in eight randomized trials.

Background And Purpose: Accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) is the strategy that allows adjuvant treatment delivery in a shorter period of time in smaller volumes. This study was undertaken to assess the effectiveness and outcomes of APBI in breast cancer compared with whole-breast irradiation (WBI).

Material And Methods: Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials of WBI versus APBI.

Intensity-modulated radiation therapy for head and neck cancer: systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background And Purpose: Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) provides the possibility of dose-escalation with better normal tissue sparing. This study was performed to assess whether IMRT can improve clinical outcomes when compared with two-dimensional (2D-RT) or three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy (3D-CRT) in patients with head and neck cancer.

Methods And Materials: Only prospective phase III randomized trials comparing IMRT with 2D-RT or 3D-CRT were eligible.

Lidocaine for systemic sclerosis: a double-blind randomized clinical trial.

Background: Systemic sclerosis (scleroderma; SSc) is an orphan disease with the highest case-specific mortality of any connective-tissue disease. Excessive collagen deposit in affected tissues is a key for the disease's pathogenesis and comprises most of the clinical manifestations. Lidocaine seems to be an alternative treatment for scleroderma considering that: a) the patient's having excessive collagen deposits in tissues affected by scleroderma; b) the patient's demonstrating increased activity of the enzyme prolyl hydroxylase, an essential enzyme for the biosynthesis of collagen; and c) lidocaine's reducing the activity of prolyl hydroxylase.