Search

The article discusses a study on the role of serum CA 125, a tumor marker, and tissue polypeptide specific (TPS) antigen levels in the determination of survival of ovarian cancer patients after three chemotherapy courses during long-term follow-up. Their overall survival were analyzed using multivariate analysis. The results showed that CA 125 and TPS serum levels were not independent prognostic factors and those with high levels of both markers showed unfavorable prognosis.

Most thyroid cancers are slow-growing, easily treatable tumors with an excellent prognosis after surgical resection and targeted medical therapy. Unfortunately, 10% to 15% of thyroid cancers exhibit aggressive behavior and do not follow an indolent course. Approximately one-third of patients with differentiated thyroid cancers will have tumor recurrences. Distant metastases are present in about 20% of patients with recurrent cancer. Approximately half of patients with distant metastases die within 5 years. The loss of the ability to concentrate radio-iodine and produce thyroglobulin is a sign of dedifferentiation, which occurs in about 30% of patients with persistent or recurrent thyroid cancer. Dedifferentiation is associated with poorer responses to conventional therapy and difficulty monitoring tumor burden. Clinicians must identify tumors with more aggressive biology and treat them accordingly with more aggressive regimens. Part 1 of this two-part article, which appeared in March, described in detail the distinct types of thyroid cancer, as well as risk factors, outcomes, treatment, and prognostic factors, with a focus on thyroid cancers of follicular cell origin. Part 2 covers risk assessment and staging, findings that suggest the presence of aggressive tumors, recurrent/metastatic disease, and treatment with chemotherapy and external-beam radiotherapy. Experimental treatments utilizing molecular targets, redifferentiation agents, and gene therapy are covered briefly as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: In previous studies we observed the existence of a circadian variation of the blood glucose response to oral glucose in pregnant women with higher values at 4 PM. Some women with increased risk of diabetes with normal oral glucose tolerance tests at 8 AM also had values above maximum normal levels at 4 PM. The aim of this trial was to determine the clinical significance of this impaired tolerance in the afternoon.Study Design: Seventy-seven pregnant women with normal risk of diabetes (65 of normal weight and 12 overweight), 75 with increased risk of diabetes (26 overweight), and 12 patients with gestational diabetes were incorporated in the study. All women underwent two oral glucose tolerance tests (1.5 gm/kg) at 31 to 32 weeks' gestation at 8 AM and 4 PM with a 1-week interval. At 33 weeks' gestation a whole-day blood glucose profile was performed with usual food intake; samples were withdrawn before each meal and at 30, 60, and 120 minutes after each meal. The weight of the newborns was recorded.Results: (1) Results of oral glucose tolerance tests confirmed a circadian variation of the response in all groups; (2) 37 women with increased risk of diabetes had higher values after oral glucose tolerance testing than the normal threshold at 4 PM but not at 8 AM; (3) among women with normal risk of diabetes all values were within the normal range despite the circadian variation; (4) blood glucose levels during whole-day profiles were normal in women with normal risk of diabetes and with increased risk of diabetes with normal oral glucose tolerance testing at 4 PM, whereas all women with increased risk of diabetes and impaired tolerance in the afternoon showed hyperglycemic episodes; (5) the percentage of newborns with high weight (>90th percentile) among women with increased risk of diabetes and abnormal oral glucose tolerance tests at 4 PM was similar to the percentage found in women with gestational diabetes and much higher than the one observed in women with normal oral glucose tolerance tests in the afternoon.Conclusions: The impairment of the response to oral glucose tolerance testing seen in some patients with increased risk of diabetes at 4 PM but not at 8 AM seems of clinical significance in view of the abnormal whole-day blood glucose profile these women had and the weights of the newborns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on various studies related to clinical biochemistry. It refers to a study which has used the West Midlands Hypopituitarism database to look for the cause of death over an 8-year period in 514 men and 500 women with hypopituitarism. It further mentions a study which considered three aspects of the clinical use of human chorionic gonadotrophic (hCG) immunoassays including method-related differences in recognition of purified hCG-related molecules.

This presentation is to show how libraries have changed over time and become academically responsible for more that handling books, periodicals, videos and the like. As libraries have changed and led in the area of technology on many university campuses, they find that information is becoming more and more accessible via technology of one kind or another; either the internet or CD-ROMs. Libraries have to be involved in the process of education as they have in the past, now is their opportunity to do so by offering a service to instructors for designing the electronic materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]