Kaposi’s sarcoma: Good outcome with doxorubicin, bleomycin and vincristine sulphate (ABV) chemotherapy and highly active antiretroviral therapy

There is little published information on effective treatment of Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS) in children in low-income countries. We prospectively treated 12 patients with an institutional review board-approved protocol consisting of four monthly courses of doxorubicin (Adriamycin), bleomycin and vincristine sulphate (ABV), with highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) plus co-trimoxazole prophylaxis for those who were HIV-positive, with additional vincristine if remission was not achieved after 4 months. Maintenance HAART plus co-trimoxazole was given to all HIV-positive patients. A fine-needle aspirate and CD4+ count were done if possible, and staging was performed according to Mitsuyasu. Eight of ten HIV-positive patients with stage III - IVB disease, and both HIV-negative patients with stage I disease, were in remission after 473 - 1 490 (mean 939) days. One patient died after absconding during treatment, and one died from neutropenia-related pulmonary infection. ABV with or without HAART is an effective treatment option for children with KS

Kaposi’s sarcoma: Good outcome with doxorubicin, bleomycin and vincristine sulphate (ABV) chemotherapy and highly active antiretroviral therapy

There is little published information on effective treatment of Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS) in children in low-income countries. We prospectively treated 12 patients with an institutional review board-approved protocol consisting of four monthly courses of doxorubicin (Adriamycin), bleomycin and vincristine sulphate (ABV), with highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) plus co-trimoxazole prophylaxis for those who were HIV-positive, with additional vincristine if remission was not achieved after 4 months. Maintenance HAART plus co-trimoxazole was given to all HIV-positive patients. A fine-needle aspirate and CD4+ count were done if possible, and staging was performed according to Mitsuyasu. Eight of ten HIV-positive patients with stage III - IVB disease, and both HIV-negative patients with stage I disease, were in remission after 473 - 1 490 (mean 939) days. One patient died after absconding during treatment, and one died from neutropenia-related pulmonary infection. ABV with or without HAART is an effective treatment option for children with KS

Factors associated with inconsistent condom use in adolescents with negative or unknown HIV status in Northwest Cameroon

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the association between utilization of HIV testing and condom use amongst Cameroonian youths/adolescents who are not known to be HIV-infected. Worldwide, HIV is spreading most quickly amongst youths/adolescents. Between 44% and 82% of sexually active youths in Cameroon report inconsistent condom use. Data regarding utilization of HIV testing and condom use are lacking. A cross-sectional survey was administered to 431 youths ages 12-26 years in Cameroon from September 2011 to December 2011. Data on sociodemographics, sexual risk behaviors, self-reported HIV status, and condom use were collected. We compared rates of inconsistent condom use between those with known HIV negative status who utilized testing (HIV-N) and those with unknown status due to unutilized testing (HIV-U). Inconsistent condom use was defined as responding never, sometimes, or usually, while consistent condom use was defined as responding always to questions regarding frequency of condom use. Generalized estimating equations were applied to assess the association between HIV testing and inconsistent condom use, adjusting for other confounders. Of 414 eligible respondents, 205 were HIV-U and 209 were HIV-N. HIV-U subjects were younger (mean age - 16.4 vs. 17.9, p \u3c 0.001) and more likely to report living in an urban area (p - 0.002) than HIV-N subjects. Seventy-two percent (137/191) of sexually active youths reported inconsistent condom use. After adjusting for potential confounders, HIV-U status (odds ratio [OR] = 3.97, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.68-6.01) was associated with inconsistent condom use. Similarly, female gender (OR = 3.2, 95% CI = 1.29-7.89) was associated with inconsistent condom use, while older age at sexual debut was associated with a decreased risk for inconsistent condom use (OR = 0.67, 95% CI = 0.56-0.81). Cameroonian adolescents report high rates of inconsistent condom use which we found to be associated with self-reported unknown HIV status due to unutilized HIV testing. Successful HIV prevention programs among African youths/adolescents may benefit from expanded HIV testing programs

Вихретоковый анизотропный термоэлектрический первичный преобразователь лучистого потока

Представлена оригинальная конструкция первичного преобразователя лучистого потока, который может служить основой для создания приемника неселективного излучения с повышенной чувствительностью

Association between duration of smoking abstinence before non-small-cell lung cancer diagnosis and survival: a retrospective, pooled analysis of cohort studies.

BackgroundThe association between duration of smoking abstinence before non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) diagnosis and subsequent survival can influence public health messaging delivered in lung-cancer screening. We aimed to assess whether the duration of smoking abstinence before diagnosis of NSCLC is associated with improved survival.MethodsIn this retrospective, pooled analysis of cohort studies, we used 26 cohorts participating in Clinical Outcomes Studies of the International Lung Cancer Consortium (COS-ILCCO) at 23 hospitals. 16 (62%) were from North America, six (23%) were from Europe, three (12%) were from Asia, and one (4%) was from South America. Patients enrolled were diagnosed between June 1, 1983, and Dec 31, 2019. Eligible patients had smoking data before NSCLC diagnosis, epidemiological data at diagnosis (obtained largely from patient questionnaires), and clinical information (retrieved from medical records). Kaplan-Meier curves and multivariable Cox models (ie, adjusted hazard ratios [aHRs]) were generated with individual, harmonised patient data from the consortium database. We estimated overall survival for all causes, measured in years from diagnosis date until the date of the last follow-up or death due to any cause and NSCLC-specific survival.FindingsOf 42 087 patients with NSCLC in the COS-ILCCO database, 21 893 (52·0%) of whom were male and 20 194 (48·0%) of whom were female, we excluded 4474 (10·6%) with missing data. Compared with current smokers (15 036 [40·0%] of 37 613), patients with 1-3 years of smoking abstinence before NSCLC diagnosis (2890 [7·7%]) had an overall survival aHR of 0·92 (95% CI 0·87-0·97), patients with 3-5 years of smoking abstinence (1114 [3·0%]) had an overall survival aHR of 0·90 (0·83-0·97), and patients with more than 5 years of smoking abstinence (10 841 [28·8%]) had an overall survival aHR of 0·90 (0·87-0·93). Improved NSCLC-specific survival was observed in 4301 (44%) of 9727 patients who had quit cigarette smoking and was significant at abstinence durations of more than 5 years (aHR 0·87, 95% CI 0·81-0·93). Results were consistent across age, sex, histology, and disease-stage distributions.InterpretationIn this large, pooled analysis of cohort studies across Asia, Europe, North America, and South America, overall survival was improved in patients with NSCLC whose duration of smoking abstinence before diagnosis was as short as 1 year. These findings suggest that quitting smoking can improve overall survival, even if NSCLC is diagnosed at a later lung-cancer screening visit. These findings also support the implementation of public health smoking cessation strategies at any time.FundingThe Alan B Brown Chair, The Posluns Family Fund, The Lusi Wong Fund, and the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation

Cross-Cancer Genome-Wide Analysis of Lung, Ovary, Breast, Prostate, and Colorectal Cancer Reveals Novel Pleiotropic Associations

Identifying genetic variants with pleiotropic associations can uncover common pathways influencing multiple cancers. We took a two-stage approach to conduct genome-wide association studies for lung, ovary, breast, prostate, and colorectal cancer from the GAME-ON/GECCO Network (61,851 cases, 61,820 controls) to identify pleiotropic loci. Findings were replicated in independent association studies (55,789 cases, 330,490 controls). We identified a novel pleiotropic association at 1q22 involving breast and lung squamous cell carcinoma, with eQTL analysis showing an association with ADAM15/THBS3 gene expression in lung. We also identified a known breast cancer locus CASP8/ALS2CR12 associated with prostate cancer, a known cancer locus at CDKN2B-AS1 with different variants associated with lung adenocarcinoma and prostate cancer, and confirmed the associations of a breast BRCA2 locus with lung and serous ovarian cancer. This is the largest study to date examining pleiotropy across multiple cancer-associated loci, identifying common mechanisms of cancer development and progression. Cancer Res; 76(17); 5103-14. ©2016 AACR

Genome-wide association study of lung adenocarcinoma in East Asia and comparison with a European population.

Lung adenocarcinoma is the most common type of lung cancer. Known risk variants explain only a small fraction of lung adenocarcinoma heritability. Here, we conducted a two-stage genome-wide association study of lung adenocarcinoma of East Asian ancestry (21,658 cases and 150,676 controls; 54.5% never-smokers) and identified 12 novel susceptibility variants, bringing the total number to 28 at 25 independent loci. Transcriptome-wide association analyses together with colocalization studies using a Taiwanese lung expression quantitative trait loci dataset (n = 115) identified novel candidate genes, including FADS1 at 11q12 and ELF5 at 11p13. In a multi-ancestry meta-analysis of East Asian and European studies, four loci were identified at 2p11, 4q32, 16q23, and 18q12. At the same time, most of our findings in East Asian populations showed no evidence of association in European populations. In our studies drawn from East Asian populations, a polygenic risk score based on the 25 loci had a stronger association in never-smokers vs. individuals with a history of smoking (Pinteraction = 0.0058). These findings provide new insights into the etiology of lung adenocarcinoma in individuals from East Asian populations, which could be important in developing translational applications

Genome-wide association study of lung adenocarcinoma in East Asia and comparison with a European population

Lung adenocarcinoma is the most common type of lung cancer. Known risk variants explain only a small fraction of lung adenocarcinoma heritability. Here, we conducted a two-stage genome-wide association study of lung adenocarcinoma of East Asian ancestry (21,658 cases and 150,676 controls; 54.5% never-smokers) and identified 12 novel susceptibility variants, bringing the total number to 28 at 25 independent loci. Transcriptome-wide association analyses together with colocalization studies using a Taiwanese lung expression quantitative trait loci dataset (n = 115) identified novel candidate genes, including FADS1 at 11q12 and ELF5 at 11p13. In a multi-ancestry meta-analysis of East Asian and European studies, four loci were identified at 2p11, 4q32, 16q23, and 18q12. At the same time, most of our findings in East Asian populations showed no evidence of association in European populations. In our studies drawn from East Asian populations, a polygenic risk score based on the 25 loci had a stronger association in never-smokers vs. individuals with a history of smoking (P interaction  = 0.0058). These findings provide new insights into the etiology of lung adenocarcinoma in individuals from East Asian populations, which could be important in developing translational applications

Burkitt's lymphoma: The prevalence of HIV/AIDS and the outcome of treatment

The prevalence of HIV in Burkitt’s lymphoma (BL) patients and the outcome of treatment in Cameroon were unknown. Records of all patients diagnosed with BL at three Cameroon Baptist Convention hospitals were reviewed to ascertain the recorded HIV status and outcome of treatment. Of 979 patients diagnosed with BL, 717 were tested for HIV and 11 (1.5%) were HIV-positive. Three of eight patients treated with both cyclophosphamide (CPM)-based chemotherapy and antiretrovirals were alive at 62, 96 and 111 months, respectively. The HIV rate was comparable to that of 1% for the general population of children aged <15 years. Low-cost high-frequency CPM was the only available treatment option for BL and was associated with 37.5% long-term survival in a resource-limited setting

Kaposi’s sarcoma : good outcome with doxorubicin, bleomycin and vincristine sulphate (ABV) chemotherapy and highly active antiretroviral therapy

CITATION: Hesseling, P. B., et al. 2017. Kaposi’s sarcoma : good outcome with doxorubicin, bleomycin and vincristine sulphate (ABV) chemotherapy and highly active antiretroviral therapy. South African Medical Journal, 107(11):952-953, doi:10.7196/SAMJ.2017.v107i11.12559.The original publication is available at http://www.samj.org.zaThere is little published information on effective treatment of Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS) in children in low-income countries. We prospectively treated 12 patients with an institutional review board-approved protocol consisting of four monthly courses of doxorubicin (Adriamycin), bleomycin and vincristine sulphate (ABV), with highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) plus co-trimoxazole prophylaxis for those who were HIV-positive, with additional vincristine if remission was not achieved after 4 months. Maintenance HAART plus co-trimoxazole was given to all HIV-positive patients. A fine-needle aspirate and CD4+ count were done if possible, and staging was performed according to Mitsuyasu. Eight of ten HIV-positive patients with stage III - IVB disease, and both HIV-negative patients with stage I disease, were in remission after 473 - 1 490 (mean 939) days. One patient died after absconding during treatment, and one died from neutropenia-related pulmonary infection. ABV with or without HAART is an effective treatment option for children with KS.http://www.samj.org.za/index.php/samj/article/view/12109Publisher's versio