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Drug dosing based on the body surface area (BSA) has been the mainstay of oncological treatment over the last decades. Although this seems to be an adequate measure of an individual’s appropriate dose for traditional chemotherapeutic drugs according to their somatometric data, it is currently being questioned due to the delivery of novel treatments such as monoclonal antibodies. Most modern regimes require either a flat (fixed)-dosing model, independent of body weight, or a weight-based administration pattern, mainly depending on specific pharmacokinetic data. However, even in this case, some controversy exists about whether this model is sufficient. Given the recent findings from pharmacokinetic studies, perhaps we should reconsider the solid hypothesis that drug efficacy correlates with dose, as many molecules seem to be efficient even in the lowest doses administered, with minimum toxicity.

The optimal management of locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) often presents a therapeutic challenge. Balancing the benefits of treatment against toxicities and reducing the risk for local and distal recurrences are the mainstay of therapeutic approaches. Recently, several studies have compared a more aggressive approach of delivering several cycles of systemic chemotherapy to the established standard of combined chemoradiation. This approach is termed total neoadjuvant therapy and appears to be beneficial, at least for a subset of patients. The results of the main Phase III studies along with their variations in study design are hereby discussed with the goal of extracting useful clinical suggestions for treatment.

Cancer is becoming a major public health issue as patients enjoy longer survivals than ever before due to the introduction innovative but expensive drugs in the clinic. In addition, the ageing of the population in Greece is expected to increase the absolute incidence of cancer. The National Health System should rapidly and efficiently adapt to the new challenges, including increased pharmaceutical costs. Resources ought to be allocated rationally and efficiently while maintaining adequate coverage for the insured population. Economising due to large-scale operations should be pursued by the governmental single payor (EOPYY), so that affordable coverage remains feasible. Establishment of mechanisms to deal with new and very costly drugs should be put in place. The major changes in anchor oncologic hospitals are needed in order to play a role as regional leaders in oncologic care, including merging of similar divisions, subspecialisation of services and promotion of clinical research. These major centres could coordinate a host of satellite oncology services in other urban hospitals and in the provinces. In addition, joint operations in training and patient care should be pursued with major private centres, without mutual mistrust or obsolete inflexibilities. The current financial crisis represents an excellent opportunity for revisioning and restructuring oncologic care in Greece, taking into account the societal needs and based on flexibility and efficiency.

Drug dosing based on the body surface area (BSA) has been the mainstay of oncological treatment over the last decades. Although this seems to be an adequate measure of an individual's appropriate dose for traditional chemotherapeutic drugs according to their somatometric data, it is currently being questioned due to the delivery of novel treatments such as monoclonal antibodies. Most modern regimes require either a flat (fixed)-dosing model, independent of body weight, or a weight-based administration pattern, mainly depending on specific pharmacokinetic data. However, even in this case, some controversy exists about whether this model is sufficient. Given the recent findings from pharmacokinetic studies, perhaps we should reconsider the solid hypothesis that drug efficacy correlates with dose, as many molecules seem to be efficient even in the lowest doses administered, with minimum toxicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The optimal management of locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) often presents a therapeutic challenge. Balancing the benefits of treatment against toxicities and reducing the risk for local and distal recurrences are the mainstay of therapeutic approaches. Recently, several studies have compared a more aggressive approach of delivering several cycles of systemic chemotherapy to the established standard of combined chemoradiation. This approach is termed total neoadjuvant therapy and appears to be beneficial, at least for a subset of patients. The results of the main Phase III studies along with their variations in study design are hereby discussed with the goal of extracting useful clinical suggestions for treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2005.11.021 Byline: Christos J. Emmanouilides (a), Richard B. Davies (b) Keywords: Marketing; Multi-agent systems; Social interactions; Innovation diffusion; Choice models Abstract: We present a new product choice model in which individual agents are assumed to interact with each other across spatial hierarchies under random Gaussian laws. A restricted form that allows estimation of the model and inference on the random interaction structure on available data is then derived. This is essentially a random coefficients model which we estimate on repeated cross-sectional data for the adoption of video cassette recorders in Britain. It is argued that the random coefficient approach, based on economic and social-theoretic arguments allows for more accurate inference on the structure of social interactions, and thus may provide a useful way to help alleviate the inferential problem caused by the identification issues stated in the literature. This very same problem has for long been at the core of the debate between alternative economic and marketing theories of new product diffusion. Author Affiliation: (a) Department of Economics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, P.O. Box 170, 546 21 Thessaloniki, Greece (b) University of Wales Swansea, Singleton Park, Swansea SA2 88P, Wales, UK Article History: Received 1 February 2005; Accepted 1 November 2005

The ability of palifermin is tested to decrease oral mucosal injury induced by cytotoxic therapy was tested. It was found that palifermin reduced the duration and severity of oral mucositis after intensive chemotherapy and radiotherapy for hematologic cancers.