Sécularisation, Démocratisation et Monde musulman: Processus de changement

L'AFEMOTI a organisé les 25-26 novembre 2002, en collaboration avec l'Institut norvégien des relations internationales, et l'UNESCO dans le cadre du programme de ce dernier concernant "Gestion des transformations sociales" (MOST), un colloque international sur « Sécularisation, Démocratisation et Monde musulman : Processus de changement ». Un point de vue assez largement répandu dans les opinions publiques et les médias occidentaux affirme l'incapacité des sociétés musulmanes d'entrer dans la modernité et, notamment, d'acclimater en leur sein la sécularité et la démocratie, qui en sont des caractéristiques majeures. La notion de sécularité et les processus de sécularisation ont été privilégiés ici par rapport au concept de laïcité. Il s'agit moins de discuter des manières dont les institutions et les acteurs politiques et étatiques ­ partis, gouvernements, appareils d'Etat ­ fonctionnent dans ces pays, mais plutôt d'y identifier, dans l'espace public et l'espace privé et aux plans individuel et collectif, les discours, les idées et les comportements, qui peuvent être interprétés comme des signes, des indicateurs de processus de sécularisation et de démocratisation et leur impact sur les institutions politiques et étatique

Chronique scientifique : Sécularisation, démocratisation et monde musulman. Processus de changement. Colloque international, 25-26 novembre 2002

Cahiers d'Etudes sur la Méditerranée Orientale et le monde Turco-IranienInternational audienceL'AFEMOTI a organisé les 25-26 novembre 2002, en collaboration avec l'institut norvégien des relations internationales, et l'UNESCO dans le cadre du programme de ce dernier concernant "Gestion des transformations sociales" (MOST), un colloque international sur "Sécularisation, Démocratisation et Monde musulman : processus de changement". Un point de vue assez largement répandu dans les opinions publiques et les médias occidentaux affirme l'incapacité des sociétés musulmanes d'entrer dans la modernité et, notamment, d'acclimater en leur sein la sécularité et la démocratie, qui en sont des caractéristiques majeures. La notion de sécularité et les processus de sécularisation ont été privilégiés ici par rapport au concept de laïcité. Il s'agit moins de discuter de manières dont les institutions et les acteurs politiques et étatiques ? partis, gouvernements, appareils d'Etat ? fonctionnent dans ces pays, mais plutôt d'y identifier, dans l'espace public et l'espace privé et aux plans individuel et collectif, les discours, les idées et les comportements, qui peuvent être interprétés comme des signes, des indicateurs de processus de sécularisation et de démocratisation et leur impact sur les institutions politiques étatiques

Primary ocular adnexal mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma (MALT): single institution experience in a large cohort of patients

Extranodal marginal zone B-cell lymphoma is the most common orbital tumour. We conducted a retrospective analysis to examine: (i) the impact of initial presentation and staging on outcome and (ii) response to various treatment modalities and the effect of the latter on recurrence. Ninety patients with primary ocular adnexal marginal zone lymphoma (POAML) diagnosed at our institution between 1984 and 2009 were studied. POAML was associated with monoclonal gammopathy (13%) at presentation. Most POAML patients (86%) presented with Ann-Arbor stage I disease. Radiotherapy led to excellent local control, but relapses occurred in 18% of Ann-Arbor stage I patients during a median follow-up of 5 years. Local relapses, including secondary central nervous system (CNS) involvement, were observed in patients receiving radiation doses <30·6 Gy. No differences in relapse rate and survival were observed between patients who did or did not undergo staging bone marrow biopsy. Ann-Arbor stage II-IV disease and high lactate dehydrogenase levels were associated with shorter freedom from progression. In conclusion, POAML is an indolent lymphoma with continuous risk for relapse. Radiation doses of at least 30·6 Gy should be given in Ann-Arbor stage I disease, since lower doses may be more frequently associated with relapses, including CNS relapses

Primary CNS lymphoma in HIV-positive and -negative patients: Comparison of clinical characteristics, outcome, and prognostic factors.

Primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) accounts for approximately 4% of all primary brain tumors and has a poor prognosis in both immunocompetent as well as in immunocompromised patients. We conducted a retrospective analysis to examine the clinical characteristics and prognostic factors in HIV-negative and HIV-positive patients with PCNSL and to assess the effect of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) therapy on the outcome of HIV-positive patients. Patients diagnosed with PCNSL between 1999 and 2008 at our institution were divided into two groups based on their HIV status. Their demographic and clinical characteristics were compared using the chi-square test. Kaplan–Meier survival curves were constructed employing the univariate log-rank test. Multivariate analyses of survival were performed by Cox proportional hazards models incorporating the prognostic factors identified in the univariate log rank test. Forty-one HIV-positive patients and 45 HIV-negative patients were identified. HIV-positive patients were younger, more likely to present with seizures and elevated serum LDH levels. There were significant differences in complete remission (CR) rates (P = 0.010) and overall survival (OS) (P = 0.034) in favor of the HIV-negative group. In the HIV-positive group, OS was better in patients with KPS > 70 and patients who received HAART, but remained inferior to that in the HIV-negative patients. HIV-positive patients had a worse prognosis compared to HIV-negative patients despite similar clinical characteristics. Better performance status (KPS > 70) and treatment with HAART conferred better OS in HIV-positive patients

Preoperative docetaxel/cisplatin/5-fluorouracil chemotherapy in patients with locally advanced gastro-esophageal adenocarcinoma

Perioperative chemotherapy plus surgery improves survival compared to surgery alone in GE junctional (GEJ) and gastric adenocarcinomas. The docetaxel/cisplatin/5-fluorouracil (DCF) combination is superior to CF in patients with metastatic gastric cancer. We retrospectively evaluated the safety and efficacy of preoperative DCF chemotherapy in patients with locally advanced gastric and GEJ cancer. Twenty-one gastric and 10 gastroesophageal junctional (GEJ) cancer patients received 2-3 cycles of preoperative docetaxel 75 mg/m(2) and cisplatin 75 mg/m(2) on day 1, 5-FU 750 mg/m(2) (continuous infusion) on days 1-5 every 3 weeks. Clinical response was evaluated by comparing pre- and postchemotherapy CT scans. Overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were calculated from the initiation of chemotherapy. None of the patients achieved complete clinical remission while 11 (35%) patients achieved partial clinical remission. Ten patients with GEJ cancer (100%) and 13 with gastric cancer (62%) underwent curative surgery (P = 0.023). Seventeen (55%) patients experienced grade 3-4 chemotherapy-related adverse events. The most common adverse events were anemia, nausea/vomiting, diarrhea, and febrile neutropenia. At a median follow-up of 17.0 months, median OS and PFS were 26.1 months (95% CI: 22.7-29.5) and 18.8 months (95% CI: 9.9-27.7), respectively. The DCF regimen is active in patients with gastric and GEJ adenocarcinoma in the preoperative setting

Does delay of adjuvant chemotherapy impact survival in patients with resected stage II and III colon adenocarcinoma?

It is unclear whether delays in commencing adjuvant chemotherapy after surgical resection of colon adenocarcinoma adversely impact survival. Patients with stage II-III colon adenocarcinoma who received adjuvant chemotherapy at 2 centers were identified through the institutional tumor registry. Time to adjuvant chemotherapy, overall survival (OS), and relapse-free survival (RFS) were calculated from the day of surgery. Patients were dichotomized into early (time to adjuvant chemotherapy ≤ 60 days) and late treatment (time to adjuvant chemotherapy >60 days) groups. OS and RFS were compared using log-rank test and multivariate analysis by the Cox proportional hazards model. Of 186 patients included in the study, 49 (26%) had received adjuvant chemotherapy >60 days after surgical resection. Thirty percent of the delays were system related (eg, late referrals, insurance authorizations). Time to adjuvant chemotherapy >60 days was associated with significantly worse OS in both univariate analysis and a Cox proportional hazards model (hazard ratio, 2.17; 95% confidence interval, 1.08-4.36). Although difference in RFS between the 2 groups favored time to adjuvant chemotherapy <60, this did not reach statistical significance. Adjuvant chemotherapy delay >60 days after surgical resection of colon cancer is associated with worse OS

A retrospective study of neoadjuvant DCF (docetaxel, cisplatin, 5-fluorouracil) for locally advanced gastric or gastro-esophageal junction adenocarcinoma (GC)

138 Background: Perioperative chemotherapy (chemo) with ECF (epirubicin/cisplatin/5-fluorouracil) plus surgery improved survival over surgery alone in GC in the MAGIC trial. Herein we report our experience using DCF in the perioperative setting in patients (pts) with locally advanced GC. Methods: We conducted a retrospective IRB-approved study of pts with potentially resectable locally advanced GC who were treated with DCF with neoadjuvant intent. Pts received 3 cycles of preoperative (pre-op) DCF every 3 weeks, followed by surgery, then 3 cycles of postoperative (post-op) DCF. Patients with a poor pathologic response could be changed to radiation (RT) or an alternate chemo regimen postop. Results: A total of 41 pts were identified, 24 with gastric and 17 with GEJ adenocarcinoma. All pts received at least 1 cycle of DCF and 78% received at least 3 cycles pre-op. Five pts progressed during neoadjuvant DCF, 4 were unresectable by CT after neoadjuvant DCF and 2 were lost to follow-up. The remaining 30 pts had surgery with curative intent. Post-op, 2 pts were lost to follow-up, 12 received DCF (with 6 of these also receiving RT), 11 received a different chemo regimen due to a poor response to neoadjuvant DCF (including 6 pts who also received RT). Two pts received post-op RT only. The median PFS was 16.8 months (95% CI 7.7 - 25.9) and the median OS was 26.9 months (95% CI 18.7–35.1). The PFS was longer for pts who had a radiological or pathological response to neoadjuvant DCF (log rank p = 0.005 and 0.02 respectively) and for pts who received DCF post-op (log rank p = 0.005). Among pts who did not receive DCF post-op, there was no survival difference between the pts who were switched to an alternative chemo or chemoRT regimen post-op compared to those who received no further therapy. The most common chemo-related adverse events were anemia (27% grade 3 or 4), nausea/vomiting (17% G3 or 4), and febrile neutropenia (12%). Conclusions: The DCF regimen is well tolerated in locally advanced GC. Patients who do not have a good response (either radiologic or pathologic) to pre-op DCF appear to have a poor prognosis regardless of the post-op treatment given

Vitamin D receptor upregulation in alloreactive human T cells

Vitamin D deficiency is adversely associated with diseases characterized by inflammation. The combination of the high incidence of vitamin D deficiency in patients undergoing allogeneic stem cell transplants (SCT) and the potential role of vitamin D deficiency in influencing graft-versus-host disease led us to further characterize the expression of VDR on alloreactive T cells. We hypothesized that vitamin D receptor expression may directly regulate alloreactive T cell responses. To overcome existing limitations in measuring VDR in bulk cellular populations, we developed a flow cytometric assay to measure cytoplasmic VDR in human T cells. Upon stimulation, VDR was expressed extremely early and exhibited sustained upregulation with chronic stimulation. VDR expression was also coupled to cytokine production, proliferation, and ERK1/2 phosphorylation. In addition, VDR exhibited a maturation stage-specific pattern of expression, with greatest expression on cells known to mediate GVHD, naïve and early memory T cells. Alloreactive T cells upregulated VDR, whereas the nonreactive T cells did not. Finally, repletion of vitamin D in vitro was sufficient to significantly reduce alloreactive T cell responses. These data suggest that vitamin D effects on T cells may be important in reducing graft versus host disease (GVHD) in the allogeneic stem cell transplant setting

Zidovudine-based lytic-inducing chemotherapy for Epstein–Barr virus-related lymphomas

Treatment of Epstein–Barr virus (EBV)-related lymphomas with lytic-inducing agents is an attractive targeted approach for eliminating virus-infected tumor cells. Zidovudine (AZT) is an excellent substrate for EBV-thymidine kinase: it can induce EBV lytic gene expression and apoptosis in primary EBV+ lymphoma cell lines. We hypothesized that the combination of AZT with lytic-inducing chemotherapy agents would be effective in treating EBV+ lymphomas. We report a retrospective analysis of 19 patients with aggressive EBV+ non-Hodgkin lymphoma, including nine cases of acquired immune deficiency syndrome-associated primary central nervous system lymphoma (AIDSPCNSL) treated with AZT-based chemotherapy. Our results demonstrate that high-dose AZT–methotrexate is efficacious in treating highly aggressive systemic EBV+ lymphomas in the upfront setting. In primary EBV+ lymphoma cell lines, the combination of AZT with hydroxyurea resulted in synergistic EBV lytic induction and cell death. Further, AZT–hydroxyurea treatment resulted in dramatic responses in patients with AIDSPCNSL. The combination of AZT with chemotherapy, especially lytic-inducing agents, should be explored further in clinical trials for the treatment of EBV-related lymphomas