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Background: Considerable efforts have been undertaken in the United States to reduce cervical cancer incidence and mortality by increasing screening; however, disparities in screening rates continue to exist among certain racial and ethnic minority groups. The objective of the current study was to determine the effectiveness of a lay health worker-delivered intervention-AMIGAS (Ayudando a las Mujeres con Informacion, Guia, y Amor para su Salud [helping women with information, guidance, and love for their health])-to increase Papanicolaou (Pap) test screening among 3 populations of women of Mexican origin., Methods: Six hundred thirteen women of Mexican origin in 3 treatment sites were randomized among 4 study arms: the full AMIGAS program with a video and a flip chart (n = 151), the AMIGAS program without the video (n = 154), the AMIGAS program without the flip chart (n = 155), and a usual care control group (n = 153). Six months after enrollment, women were surveyed and reported whether or not they had been screened., Results: Women in any of the intervention arms were statistically significantly more likely to report being screened than those in the usual care group in both an intent-to-treat analysis and a per-protocol analysis. In the intent-to-treat analysis, 25% of women in the control group and 52% in the full AMIGAS program group reported having had Pap tests (P < .001); in the per-protocol analysis, the percentages were 29% and 62%, respectively (P < .001)., Conclusions: AMIGAS was effective in increasing Pap test screening among women of Mexican descent when used in a 1-to-1 setting. Future research should compare the 1-on-1 intervention with the group-based intervention., (Copyright © 2012 American Cancer Society.)

Background: The current study was conducted to evaluate the association between colony-stimulating factor (CSF) use and the risk of developing therapy-related myelodysplastic syndromes or acute myeloid leukemia (t-MDS/AML) among a large cohort of elderly patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) who were treated with chemotherapy., Methods: A total of 13,203 NHL patients were identified from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results-Medicare database who were diagnosed from 1992 through 2002. Patients were followed from their initial chemotherapy date until the date they were diagnosed with t-MDS/AML, death, or last follow-up (October 31, 2006), whichever occurred first., Results: Overall, 40% (n = 5266) of patients received CSF. During the follow-up period (median follow-up, 2.9 years [range, 1-14.7 years]), 272 (5.2%) patients who were treated with CSF developed t-MDS/AML, compared with 230 (2.9%) patients who did not (P < .0001, log-rank test). The 5-year incidence of t-MDS/AML for patients receiving CSF was 14.1 per 1000 person-years compared with 8.3 per 1000 person-years for patients not receiving CSF. In a multivariable Cox regression analysis adjusted for gender, histology, stage, comorbidities, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy agent, CSF use was found to be independently associated with a 53% increased risk of t-MDS/AML (hazard ratio [HR], 1.53; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 1.26-1.84). The observed association between CSF use and t-MDS/AML persisted across histologic subgroups (ie, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, follicular lymphoma, and others). Patients who received both CSF and antimetabolite chemotherapy were found to have a 2.5-fold increased risk of t-MDS/AML (HR, 2.49; 95% CI, 1.91-3.26) compared with patients who received neither agent., Conclusions: The current study, which to our knowledge is the first large population-based study published to date, demonstrated that the administration of CSF among elderly NHL patients receiving chemotherapy was associated with an increased risk of t-MDS/AML, although the absolute risk was low., (Copyright © 2010 American Cancer Society.)