Lancet
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Review Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Preoperative chemotherapy in patients with resectable non-small cell lung cancer: results of the MRC LU22/NVALT 2/EORTC 08012 multicentre randomised trial and update of systematic review.
Although surgery offers the best chance of cure for patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the overall 5-year survival rate is modest, and improvements are urgently needed. In the 1990s, much interest was generated from two small trials that reported striking results with neo-adjuvant chemotherapy, and therefore our intergroup randomised trial was designed to investigate whether, in patients with operable non-small cell lung cancer of any stage, outcomes could be improved by giving platinum-based chemotherapy before surgery. ⋯ Although there was no evidence of a difference in overall survival with neo-adjuvant chemotherapy, the result is statistically consistent with previous trials, and therefore adds considerable weight to the current evidence.
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Outcomes of transplantation of unrelated donor umbilical cord blood and bone marrow in children with acute leukaemia: a comparison study.
Although umbilical cord blood is an accepted alternative to bone marrow for transplantation, allele-matched bone marrow is generally regarded as the preferred graft source. Our aim was to assess leukaemia-free survival after transplantations of these alternatives compared with present HLA-matching practices, and to assess the relative effect of cell dose and HLA match, and their potential interaction on leukaemia-free survival after cord-blood transplantation. ⋯ These data support the use of HLA-matched and one- or two-antigen HLA-mismatched umbilical cord blood in children with acute leukaemia who need transplantation. Because better HLA matching and higher cell doses significantly decrease the risk of transplant-related mortality after umbilical-cord-blood transplantation, greater investment in large-scale banking is needed to increase HLA diversity.
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Despite therapeutic advances, vulvovaginal candidosis remains a common problem worldwide, affecting all strata of society. Understanding of anti-candida host defence mechanisms in the vagina has developed slowly and, despite a growing list of recognised risk factors, a fundamental grasp of pathogenic mechanisms continues to elude us. The absence of rapid, simple, and inexpensive diagnostic tests continues to result in both overdiagnosis and underdiagnosis of vulvovaginal candidosis. I review the epidemiology and pathogenesis of this infection, and also discuss management strategies.