Plos One
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Medical studies are more likely to report favorable findings when a conflict of interest is declared. We aim to quantify and determine the effect of author disclosure of conflict of interest on scientific reporting. ⋯ No association existed between the presence of a related disclosure and the results of the studies. While the actual compliance with reporting a potential conflict of interest is unable to be determined, the value amount related to the disclosures made was inadequately reported according to meeting guidelines.
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The effectiveness of immunotherapy for postoperative hepatocellular carcinoma patients is still controversial. To address this issue, we did a systemic review of the literatures and analyzed the data with emphasis on the recurrence and survival. ⋯ Adjuvant immunotherapy with cytokine induced killer cells or lymphokine activated killer cells may reduce recurrence in postoperative hepatocellular carcinoma patients, but may not improve survival.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Randomized, placebo-controlled trial of mipomersen in patients with severe hypercholesterolemia receiving maximally tolerated lipid-lowering therapy.
Mipomersen, an antisense oligonucleotide targeting apolipoprotein B synthesis, significantly reduces LDL-C and other atherogenic lipoproteins in familial hypercholesterolemia when added to ongoing maximally tolerated lipid-lowering therapy. Safety and efficacy of mipomersen in patients with severe hypercholesterolemia was evaluated. ⋯ Mipomersen significantly reduced LDL-C, apolipoprotein B, total cholesterol and non-HDL-cholesterol, and lipoprotein(a). Mounting evidence suggests it may be a potential pharmacologic option for lowering LDL-C in patients with severe hypercholesterolemia not adequately controlled using existing therapies. Future studies will explore alternative dosing schedules aimed at minimizing side effects.
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Both gastric and colorectal cancers (CRC) are the most frequently occurring malignancies worldwide with the overall survival of these patients remains unsatisfied. Identification of tumor suppressor genes (TSG) silenced by promoter CpG methylation uncovers mechanisms of tumorigenesis and identifies new epigenetic biomarkers for early cancer detection and prognosis assessment. Cystathionine-beta-synthase (CBS) functions in the folate metabolism pathway, which is intricately linked to methylation of genomic DNA. Dysregulation of DNA methylation contributes substantially to cancer development. ⋯ A novel finding from this study is that the folate metabolism enzyme CBS mRNA levels are frequently downregulated through CpG methylation of the CBS gene in gastric cancer and CRC, suggesting that CBS functions as a tumor suppressor gene. These findings warrant further study of CBS as an epigenetic biomarker for molecular diagnosis of gastrointestinal cancers.
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Acute liver failure is a rare disease with high mortality and liver transplantation is the only life saving therapy. Accurate prognosis of ALF is crucial for proper intervention. ⋯ There are many studies on prognostic models for ALF but they show methodological and reporting limitations. Future studies could be improved by better reporting and handling of missing data, the inclusion of model calibration aspects, use of absolute risk measures, explicit considerations for variable selection, the use of a more extensive set of reference models and more thorough validation.