Women's access to modern methods of fertility regulation.

Preventing unintended pregnancies through access to modern family planning could avert 20-35% of maternal deaths, saving the lives of more than 100,000 women each year. Obstacles to wider access still exist, but they may be overcome by overt policy commitment to reproductive health services, partnership between stakeholders, community involvement and quality programs.     

Avascular osteonecrosis after hyperthermia in children and adolescents with pelvic malignancies: a retrospective analysis of potential risk factors.

PURPOSE: In children with locally advanced or recurrent malignant tumours, prognosis can be improved by regional deep hyperthermia (RHT) in combination with platin-based chemotherapy. However, because of the increasing number of patients that achieve long-time remission with this therapy, it is necessary to evaluate long-term sequelae of thermochemotherapy. During the years 1993-2004 one has observed avascular osteonecrosis (AON) of the femoral head after RHT in seven children with pelvic germ cell tumours or rhabdomyosarcomas. METHODS: Although AON may develop in patients with malignancies treated with chemo- or radiotherapy alone, RHT might nevertheless contribute to the occurrence of AON. In order to determine potential risk factors for AON after RHT, this study analysed the relationship of AON to the patient's age, medical history and treatment parameters such as thermal dose equivalent and power output. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: In the present study AON was associated with young age as well as intensity of hyperthermia indicated by high power levels that exceed 20 W per kg body weight and/or application of eight or more heat sessions as well as additional radiotherapy. Based on this observation, it was assumed that an optimized three dimensional thermal field modelling may be helpful to avoid hazardous temperatures in the femoral heads during RHT treatment and to reduce AON of the femoral heads.     

对芸香科芦荟不会发生接触性过敏

芦荟自古就被用作化妆品和药物添加剂，近来更受喜爱。虽应用广泛，但过敏反应罕有报道。作者用芦荟叶的油性提取物、来自整个植株的芦荟粉及浓缩的芦荟凝胶，对相继就诊的702例患者做斑贴试验。设计专门的问卷调查芦荟的使用、使用原因、使用部位、不良反应、患者职业、个人爱好及是否为遗传性过敏体质。患者均未对任一制剂发生任何反应。需对芦荟所含的两种成分加以鉴别：即芦荟叶皮含有的具有促进肠蠕动、潜在抗菌及抗癌特性的蒽醌类物质。     

Operationsrisiko nach neoadjuvanter Therapie gastrointestinaler Karzinome

Zusammenfassung Viele gastrointestinale Tumoren werden im Rahmen multimodaler Therapiekonzepte behandelt. Für den Chirurgen ist die neoadjuvante, präoperative Behandlung von besonderem Interesse, da sie durch therapiebedingte Nebenwirkungen und Komplikationen zu einer Beeinflussung des postoperativen Verlaufs führen kann. Die neoadjuvante Radiochemotherapie ist fester Bestandteil der Therapie beim primären T4-Rektumkarzinom, beim Rektumkarzinomrezidiv und bei tief sitzenden primären Rektumkarzinomen. Durch Erhöhung der R0-Resektionsrate können die lokale Tumorkontrolle verbessert und die Überlebenszeit verlängert werden. Die postoperative Komplikationsrate ist dabei nicht wesentlich erhöht. In der Behandlung des primär resektablen Ösophaguskarzinoms deutet sich ein Vorteil der neoadjuvanten Radiochemotherapie im Vergleich zur alleinigen Chirurgie an. Beim lokal fortgeschrittenen Ösophaguskarzinom bietet die präoperative Radiochemotherapie häufig die einzige Chance zur Resektion, jedoch mit einer deutlich erhöhten postoperativen Morbidität und Mortalität. Die Wirksamkeit und Sicherheit einer neoadjuvanten Chemo- oder kombinierten Radiochemotherapie beim fortgeschrittenen Magenkarzinom wird derzeit im Rahmen von Studienprotokollen untersucht.     

Modern wound dressings: Making and properties. II. Wound dressings containing immobilized proteolytic enzymes (a review)

Published data devoted to making and characterization of the properties of polymeric wound dressings with proteolytic action are reviewed. These data are indicative of individual dependence of the physicochemical properties, activity, and stability of each particular enzyme on the type of polymer matrix and the method of immobilization. In order to obtain wound dressings, which are active in physiological medium and retain their activity upon sterilization, it is necessary to optimize the composition and characteristics of a polymer matrix and the enzyme included into its structure. __________ Translated from Khimiko-Farmatsevticheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 40, No. 8, pp. 24–28, August, 2006.     

Induktionschemotherapie zur Evaluation einer definitiven Radiochemotherapie bei Patienten mit Larynxkarzinomen

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

BCR-ABL activity and its response to drugs can be determined in CD34+ CML stem cells by CrkL phosphorylation status using flow cytometry.

In chronic myeloid leukaemia, CD34(+) stem/progenitor cells appear resistant to imatinib mesylate (IM) in vitro and in vivo. To investigate the underlying mechanism(s) of IM resistance, it is essential to quantify Bcr-Abl kinase status at the stem cell level. We developed a flow cytometry method to measure CrkL phosphorylation (P-CrkL) in samples with <10(4) cells. The method was first validated in wild-type (K562) and mutant (BAF3) BCR-ABL(+) as well as BCR-ABL(-) (HL60) cell lines. In response to increasing IM concentration, there was a linear reduction in P-CrkL, which was Bcr-Abl specific and correlated with known resistance. The results were comparable to those from Western blotting. The method also proved to be reproducible with small samples of normal and Ph(+) CD34(+) cells and was able to discriminate between Ph(-), sensitive and resistant Ph(+) cells. This assay should now enable investigators to unravel the mechanism(s) of IM resistance in stem cells.