Review of determinants of patients' preferences for adjuvant therapy in cancer.

PURPOSE: Many studies have determined cancer patients' preferences for adjuvant therapy, for example, by asking patients the extent of benefit they would need in order to accept the therapy. However, little is known about the determinants that influence these preferences. Our research goal was to explore which determinants underlie patients' preferences by means of a literature review. METHODS: PubMed searches were conducted to identify studies in which cancer patients' preferences for adjuvant therapy had been elicited by means of a treatment preference instrument. Twenty-three papers were evaluated with regard to reported relationships between preferences and potential determinants. A total of 40 determinants were recorded and classified into one of seven categories: (1) treatment-related determinants, (2) sociodemographic characteristics and current quality of life, (3) clinical characteristics, (4) measurement instrument-related determinants, (5) time-related determinants, (6) cognitive/affective determinants, and (7) specialist-related determinants. Results: The benefit and toxicity of treatment, experience of the treatment, and having dependents (eg, children) living at home were important determinants of patients' preferences. Furthermore, qualitative data suggested that cognitive/affective and specialist-related determinants might have a large impact on patients' treatment preferences. CONCLUSION: Our results show that patients' preferences cannot fully be explained on the basis of treatment-related determinants and patient and clinical characteristics. More research is needed in the area of cognitive/affective and specialist-related determinants because of the lack of quantitative results. Furthermore, we recommend carrying out larger studies in which the (internal) relationships between determinants and preferences are assessed in the context of a cognitive cost-benefit model.     

Pretreatment of bone with osteoclasts affects phenotypic expression of osteoblast-like cells.

Implant surface morphology regulates osteoblast phenotypic expression. Osteoblast sensitivity to non-biologic surfaces suggests that native bone surface features may also affect osteoblast response. To test this, MG63 osteoblast-like cells were grown for 7 days on bovine cortical bone wafers pretreated with rat bone marrow osteoclasts for 0, 10 or 20 days. Response to osteoclast-treated surfaces was compared to the response of MG63 cells to titanium surfaces with smooth and rough microtopographies. Cell number, differentiation (alkaline phosphatase activity and osteocalcin levels), and local factors (PGE(2) and TGF-beta1) were measured in confluent cultures. Compared to culture on plastic, cell number was reduced on all three types of bone wafers; this effect was dose-dependent with increasing resorption of the surface. Alkaline phosphatase specific activity was increased (P相似文献   

Coma arousal procedure: A therapeutic intervention in the treatment of head injury

This study reports on the efficacy of a 'coma arousal procedure'. This procedure involved a programme of vigorous sensory stimulation administered to comatose patients by relatives using Comakits. An experimental group of 12 severely head-injured patients received the coma arousal procedure while a matched control group did not. Total duration of coma and weekly Glasgow Coma Scale Scores were recorded for the two groups. Results indicate that the total duration of coma was significantly shorter and that coma lightened more rapidly for the experimental group.     

Growth modulation of hepatocytes and rat liver epithelial cells (WB-F344) by 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD)

Modulation of DNA synthesis by 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodi-benzo-p-dioxin(TCDD) was studied in primary cultures of hepatocytes and inrat liver epithelial cells (WB-F344) to develop models for studieson the interactions between the activated Ah receptor and cellulargrowth control. In hepatocytes TCDD either positively or negativelymodulated EGF-stimulated DNA synthesis. In the presence of ethlnylestradiol10^–12 M TCDD moderately increased EGF-stimulated DNA synthyesis(     

Specific and sensitive diagnosis of syphilis using a real-time PCR for Treponema pallidum

A real-time PCR assay with a Taqman probe was developed that targeted the polA gene of Treponema pallidum. The test was validated using an analytical panel (n = 140) and a clinical panel of genital samples (n = 112) from patients attending a sexually transmitted infections clinic. High sensitivities and specificities of 94-100% were achieved using two real-time PCR platforms, the Rotor-Gene and the iCycler. The assay can be completed within 2 h, enabling reporting in <8 h. This fast and robust assay is suitable for implementation in routine laboratories for diagnosing primary syphilis.     

Lifetime diagnoses in patients with somatoform disorders: Which came first?

Thirty inpatients with somatoform disorders were examined with the structured clinical interview SCID for psychiatric lifetime diagnosis. In the present diagnoses, we found a concordance of 63% for somatoform and affective disorders and the lifetime comorbidity of both disorders was 87%. Additionally, patients with somatoform disorders frequently had a history of other psychiatric disorders (for example, anxiety disorders, 40%). For 73% of patients with somatoform disorders and a history of affective disorders, the onset of the somatoform disorder was prior to the onset of another psychiatric disorder. The time interval between the onsets of somatoform disorders and affective disorders was greater than 1 year for most patients; for 46% of the patients with a history of both disorders, the time interval between the two disorders was more than 5 years. The course of illness for somatoform and affective disorders was quite different; while affective disorders tended to episodic periods with interim remissions, the somatoform disorders usually showed long, chronic courses (mean duration of the current somatoform disorder was 11.9 years). Finally, the Symptom Check List SCL-90R demonstrated good discrimination between patients with affective and anxiety disorders. However, the SCL-90R failed to discriminate patients with somatoform disorders from affective- and anxiety-disordered subjects. Therefore, the development of other psychometric scales is necessary for the evaluation of patients with somatoform disorders.