Chinese Med J Peking
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Chinese Med J Peking · Mar 2007
Weekly gemcitabine as a radiosensitiser for the treatment of brain metastases in patients with non-small cell lung cancer: phase I trial.
Conventional treatment for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) brain metastases (BM) is whole-brain radiotherapy (WBRT). The efficacy is limited. It might be increased by a potent radiosensitizer such as gemcitabine, which is believed to cross the disrupted blood-brain barrier. The primary objective of this study was to determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of weekly gemcitabine given concurrently with WBRT. ⋯ The MTD was reached at a dose of 700 mg/m(2). The dose of 600 mg/m(2) would be considered for further study.
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Chinese Med J Peking · Mar 2007
Modified conditioning regimen busulfan-cyclophosphamide followed by allogeneic stem cell transplantation in patients with multiple myeloma.
Allogeneic stem cell transplantation is a potential curative approach in patients with multiple myeloma. The very high transplant related mortality associated with standard allogeneic stem cell transplantation is currently the major limitation to wider use of this potentially curative treatment modality. The challenge for clinical investigators is to reduce the incidence of post-transplant complications for patients receiving autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantion for multiple myeloma. In this study the toxicity and efficacy of modified myeloablative conditioning regimen followed by allogeneic stem cell transplantation was investigated in patients with multiple myeloma. ⋯ Modified conditioning regimen busulfan-cyclophosphamide with peripheral blood stem cells + bone marrow cells transplantation result in a low incidence of severe GVHD with a relatively low treatment-related mortality, high complete remission rates and a long-term survival.
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Chinese Med J Peking · Mar 2007
Endogenous danger signals trigger hepatic ischemia/reperfusion injury through toll-like receptor 4/nuclear factor-kappa B pathway.
Restoration of blood flow to the ischemic liver lobes may paradoxically exacerbate tissue injury, which is called hepatic ischemia/reperfusion injury (IRI). Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), expressed on several liver cell types, and the nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappaB) signaling pathway are crucial to mediating hepatic inflammatory response. Because IRI is essentially a kind of profound acute inflammatory reaction evoked by many kinds of danger signals, we investigated TLR4/NF-kappaB signaling pathway activation in a murine model of partial hepatic IRI. ⋯ The TLR4/NF-kappaB signaling pathway may mediate hepatic IRI triggered by endogenous danger signals. Inhibition of the TLR4/NF-kappaB pathway may be a potential therapeutic target for attenuating ischemia/reperfusion-induced tissue damage in some clinical settings.
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Chinese Med J Peking · Feb 2007
Analysis of risk factors for hospital mortality in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases requiring invasive mechanical ventilation.
Accurate prediction for prognosis is important for hospitalized patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) requiring invasive mechanic ventilation (IMV) and for their family members to make end-of-life decisions. The response to therapy in such a patient population has rarely been investigated. The aim of the study was to evaluate the risk factors in these patients and investigate their response to IMV and the relationship between their responses and prognosis. ⋯ In COPD patients requiring IMV, the postintubation pH value can not only reflect patients' response to treatment, but also serve as an independent determinant of hospital mortality apart from other risk factors such as a higher preintubation APACHE II score and development of MODS. A close correlation between the response to IMV and prognosis was proved in these patients.