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This is a survey of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in Swedish children from 1968 to 2001. The survival has increased from a few per cent to more than 80 per cent of children with ALL in these national complete patient materials. Changes in diagnosis and treatment are discussed as well as the importance of supportive care. The favorable results can almost certainly be ascribed to continuous cooperation between the Swedish pediatric departments, the Swedish Child Leukemia Group and international working groups.

The aim of this study is to describe the role of the GP in the care of one specified cancer patient per GP and to explore the GP's knowledge about that patient's disease and treatments. A further aim was to evaluate the effects of an extended information routine, including increased information from the specialist clinic to the GP. Twenty GPs were selected for a semi-structured interview about a patient randomised either to an extended GP information routine or to standard information. The results suggest that GPs are commonly involved in the care of cancer patients, particularly in the diagnosis of the disease but also during the period of treatments and follow-up. The information from the specialist clinic to the GP is insufficient in standard care. The extended information routine increased the GPs' knowledge about the disease and treatments and facilitated their possibilities to determine patients' need for support. However, this did not affect the extent of contacts with the patient.

In an observational study designed to determine whether metabolic changes during long-term antihypertensive drug treatment are associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD), 686 middle-aged hypertensive men recruited from a random population screening sample were followed up for 15 years. Antihypertensive treatment predominantly consisted of beta-adrenoceptor blockers and/or thiazide diuretics. CHD and diabetes mellitus were checked for at annual examinations. Time-dependent Cox regression analysis was used to determine correlation between the incidence of CHD and entry characteristics, the monitored serum levels of cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations and the development of diabetes mellitus. Univariate analysis showed the presence of diabetes mellitus a entry to the study and increased baseline serum concentrations of cholesterol and of triglycerides each to be a significant predictor of CHD, the respective relative risks (RR) being 2.12, 1.21 and 1.21. However, analysis of monitored levels of metabolic variables during follow-up showed only an increased serum cholesterol concentration to be significantly and independently associated with CHD (RR 1.07). Although serum triglyceride concentrations increased slightly during follow-up, they were unrelated to the incidence of CHD; nor was onset of diabetes mellitus during follow-up significantly associated with an increased risk of CHD (RR 1.48. Thus, the study showed the presence of metabolic disturbances such as diabetes mellitus and hyperlipidaemia before the start of antihypertensive treatment to be of positive predictive value in middle-aged hypertensive men, and an increase in the monitored serum cholesterol level to be an independent predictor of CHD, whereas neither drug-related diabetes nor an increase in the monitored serum triglyceride concentration seemed to be associated with the occurrence of CHD.