Search results for "ASIS"
showing 10 items of 4190 documents
Randomized Multicenter Phase II Trial of Two Different Schedules of Irinotecan Combined with Capecitabine as First-Line Treatment in Metastatic Color…
2004
BACKGROUND The aim of the current randomized Phase II study was to investigate the efficacy and safety of capecitabine combined with irinotecan as first-line treatment in metastatic colorectal carcinoma (CRC). METHODS A total of 140 patients received capecitabine at a dose of 1250 mg/m2 twice daily on Days 2–15 and irinotecan at a dose of either 300 mg/m2 on Day 1 (Arm A) or 150 mg/m2 on Days 1 and 8 (Arm B) every 3 weeks. During the course of the study, enrollment was continued using lower doses of capecitabine (1000 mg/m2 twice daily) and irinotecan (Arm A: 240 mg/m2; Arm B: 120 mg/m2) to improve the safety profile of the combinations. RESULTS Efficacy was evaluable in 134 patients (68 in…
Preoperative chemoradiation may not always be needed for patients with T3 and T2N+ rectal cancer
2011
BACKGROUND: Preoperative chemoradiation is becoming the standard treatment for patients with locally advanced rectal cancer. However, since the introduction of total mesorectal excision (TME), local recurrence rates have been reduced significantly, and some patients can be spared from potentially toxic over treatment. The current study was designed to assess the factors that predict recurrence in an institutional series of patients with rectal cancer who had clinical T2 lymph node-positive (cT2N+) tumors or cT3N0/N+ tumors and underwent radical surgery without receiving preoperative chemoradiation. METHODS: Between November 1997 and November 2008, the authors' multidisciplinary group preope…
Cisplatin and vinorelbine followed by ifosfamide plus epirubicin vs the opposite sequence in advanced unresectable stage III and metastatic stage IV …
1997
A multicentric, prospective phase III study was carried out with the aim of testing the so-called 'worst drug rule' hypothesis, which suggests the use of an effective but 'less active' regimen that first eradicates tumoral cells resistant to a second effective and 'more active' regimen. With respect to this hypothesis, we considered the cisplatin plus vinorelbine regimen (CCDP/VNR) as the more active regimen compared with the non-cisplatin-containing regimen of ifosfamide plus high-dose epirubicin (IFO/EPI). Thus, a randomized study was carried out to compare the sequencial strategy of three cycles of CDDP/VNR followed by three cycles of IFO/EPI with the opposite sequence in advanced non-sm…
Ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration cytology in the early detection of melanoma metastases.
2000
BACKGROUND. The early detection and treatment of tumor recurrences in melanoma patients is dependent on reliable, sensitive, and specific techniques to verify suspected tumor metastases. As of now, fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) has yet to establish itself in the routine follow-up of melanoma patients. METHODS. FNAC procedures were performed in melanoma patients with palpable tumors or nonpalpable, ultrasonically suspicious lesions. Cytodiagnostic evaluation of fine-needle samples obtained from suspicious lesions was performed morphologically. Findings were validated either by histopathologic diagnosis or prolonged clinical follow-up. RESULTS. The cytologic examination of 739 FNACs …
Efficacy of ultrasound B-scan compared with physical examination in follow-up of melanoma patients
2001
BACKGROUND The value of ultrasound B-scan for routine follow-up of melanoma patients still is not generally accepted. Therefore, the authors compared the efficacy of physical examination (PE) with ultrasound B-scan (UBS) for detection of regional tumor recurrence in melanoma patients. The aim of the current study was to evaluate whether early detection of metastases improves relapse-free and overall survival. METHODS For a period of 4 years, 829 consecutive melanoma patients were followed prospectively. Physical examination of 3011 patients and concomitant UBS of in-transit routes and regional lymph node basins were performed. Suspicious lesions were diagnosed by fine-needle aspiration cyto…
Chloroquine Stimulates the Mitogen-Driven Lymphocyte Proliferation in Patients with Psoriasis
1993
Chloroquine is known to exacerbate psoriasis. Since immunological stimuli are considered to be important for the pathogenesis of psoriasis, we compared the effects of chloroquine on cell-mediated immunity in 15 healthy control individuals and 15 patients with psoriasis. We employed the spontaneous and phytohemagglutin (PHA)-induced uptake of 3H-thymidine to measure lymphocyte proliferation. Chloroquine was added to the cultures at concentrations ranging from 0.022 to 220 microM. We found that both spontaneous and PHA-driven lymphocyte proliferations were significantly lower in patients with psoriasis (p0.002). The spontaneous blastogenesis in both controls and patients remained stable under…
Autoimmune Polyendocrinopathy-Candidiasis-Ectodermal-Dystrophy (APECED) in Sicily: confirmation that R203X is the peculiar AIRE gene mutation.
2011
Background: Autoimmune polyendocrinopathycandidiasis-ectodermal-dystrophy (APECED), also known as autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome type 1 (APS-1) (OMIM 240300), is a very rare disease. Accepted criteria for diagnosis require the presence of at least 2 of 3 major clinical features: chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis (CMC), chronic hypoparathyroidism (CH), and Addison's disease (AD). Aim: We analyzed AIRE gene mutations and genotype-phenotype correlation in APECED patients originating from Sicily and in their relatives. Subjects and methods: In 4 patients, clinical evaluations, genetic analysis of AIRE, and APECED-related autoantibodies were performed. Results: Two patients carried the mutati…
Distributed BOLD-response in association cortex vector state space predicts reaction time during selective attention.
2006
Human cortical information processing is thought to be dominated by distributed activity in vector state space (Churchland, P.S., Sejnowski, T.J., 1992. The Computational Brain. MIT Press, Cambridge.). In principle, it should be possible to quantify distributed brain activation with independent component analysis (ICA) through vector-based decomposition, i.e., through a separation of a mixture of sources. Using event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during a selective attention-requiring task (visual oddball), we explored how the number of independent components within activated cortical areas is related to reaction time. Prior to ICA, the activated cortical areas were d…
Transcranial Doppler ultrasound study of the effects of nitrous oxide on cerebral autoregulation during neurosurgical anesthesia: a randomized contro…
2003
Object. Nitrous oxide has an adverse effect on cerebrovascular hemodynamics. Increased intracranial pressure, cerebral blood flow (CBF), cerebral metabolic rate of O2 (CMRO2), and reduced autoregulation indices have been reported, but their magnitudes are still being debated. This study was designed to evaluate the effect of N2O on CBF and autoregulatory indexes during N2O—sevoflurane anesthesia in a prospective randomized controlled series of patients. Methods. Two groups of 20 patients were studied on the basis of the use of N2O in the anesthetic gas mixture. The transient hyperemic response test, which relies on transcranial Doppler ultrasound techniques, was used to assess cerebral hemo…
Stromal myofibroblasts in oral leukoplakia and oral squamous cell carcinoma
2011
Objectives: Oral leukoplakia (OL) is the main potentially malignant disorder and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most common malignancy of the oral mucosa. Stromal myofibroblasts play an important role in tumor invasion and metastasis, due to its ability to modify the extracellular matrix. This study aimed to evaluate the presence of stromal myofibroblasts in OL and OSCC. Differences in the presence of myofibroblasts among OL with distinct grades of epithelial dysplasia as well as between histologically high- and low-invasive OSCC were also assessed. Study Design: A total of 30 OL and 41 OSCC from archival formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded specimens were evaluated. 10 samples of …