The New England journal of medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study Clinical Trial
A comparison of oral and topical corticosteroids in patients with bullous pemphigoid.
Bullous pemphigoid is the most common autoimmune blistering skin disease of the elderly. Because elderly people have low tolerance for standard regimens of oral corticosteroids, we studied whether highly potent topical corticosteroids could decrease mortality while controlling disease. ⋯ Topical corticosteroid therapy is effective for both moderate and severe bullous pemphigoid and is superior to oral corticosteroid therapy for extensive disease.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study Clinical Trial
CHOP chemotherapy plus rituximab compared with CHOP alone in elderly patients with diffuse large-B-cell lymphoma.
The standard treatment for patients with diffuse large-B-cell lymphoma is cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (CHOP). Rituximab, a chimeric monoclonal antibody against the CD20 B-cell antigen, has therapeutic activity in diffuse large-B-cell lymphoma. We conducted a randomized trial to compare CHOP chemotherapy plus rituximab with CHOP alone in elderly patients with diffuse large-B-cell lymphoma. ⋯ The addition of rituximab to the CHOP regimen increases the complete-response rate and prolongs event-free and overall survival in elderly patients with diffuse large-B-cell lymphoma, without a clinically significant increase in toxicity.