La Revue de médecine interne
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Review
[What are the new therapeutic strategies in metastatic colorectal cancer including biotherapies?].
Colorectal cancer remains one of the major causes of cancer death. Recent identification of new molecular targets led to the development of novel agents directed against growth factor receptors or key factors of angiogenesis. Recent phase III trials demonstrated a significant clinical benefit with bevacizumab, a VEGF inhibitor, and with EGFR-inhibitors, namely cetuximab and panitumumab. In this article we review the diverse treatment options combining cytotoxic and targeted therapies available for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.
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Comparative Study
[Pain prevention with fixed 50% nitrous oxide-oxygen mixture during bone-marrow biopsy].
During bone-marrow biopsy, one third of patients score their pain as moderate or severe. Combination of analgesic and hypnotic is effective at reducing pain, but prolonged medical surveillance is necessary. The objective of the study was to assess the effectiveness and ease of use of the equimolar nitrous oxide-oxygen mixture (nitrous oxide), a short acting analgesic with little sedative effect, during bone-marrow biopsy. ⋯ Nitrous oxide is an effective analgesic when performing bone-marrow biopsies. Ten percent of patients feel a moderate to severe pain instead of one third. Despite some mild side effects, there is a very good appreciation by patients. Since this study, the authors routinely use nitrous oxide.
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Review Comparative Study
[Mesenchymal stem cells and immunomodulation: toward new immunosuppressive strategies for the treatment of autoimmune diseases?].
Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) represent a population of the bone marrow microenvironment, which participates in the regulation of haematopoietic stem cells (HSC) self-renewal and differentiation. MSC are multipotent non-haematopoietic progenitors, which have been explored as a promising treatment in tissue regeneration. ⋯ Experimental and clinical data gave encouraging results, showing that MSC injection allowed controlling refractory GVHD, restoring bone development in children with osteogenesis imperfecta or improving heart function after myocardial infarction. Phase I-II studies are in progress in various countries to investigate the potential benefit from MSC due to their immunosuppressive properties, as an adjunctive therapy for severe refractory autoimmune disease.