Current Issue : January - March Volume : 2020 Issue Number : 1 Articles : 5 Articles
Background: Regimens that could treat both rifampin-resistant (RR) and rifampin-susceptible tuberculosis (TB)\nwhile shortening the treatment duration have reached late-stage clinical trials. Decisions about whether and how to\nimplement such regimens will require an understanding of their likely clinical impact and how this impact depends\non local epidemiology and implementation strategy.\nMethods: A Markov state-transition model of 100,000 representative South African adults with TB was used to\nsimulate implementation of the regimen BPaMZ (bedaquiline, pretomanid, moxifloxacin, and pyrazinamide), either\nfor RR-TB only or universally for all patients. Patient outcomes, including cure rates, time with active TB, and time on\ntreatment, were compared to outcomes under current care. Sensitivity analyses varied the drug-resistance\nepidemiology, rifampin susceptibility testing practices, and regimen efficacy.\nResults: Using BPaMZ exclusively for RR-TB increased the proportion of all RR-TB that was cured by initial treatment........................
Background: Roles of cancer stem cells and early growth response gene 1 (Egr1) in carcinogenesis have been\nextensively studied in lung cancer. However, the role of Egr1 in the metastasis of lung cancer remains\nundetermined, especially in regard to stem cell-related pathways.\nMethods: Egr1, osteopontin (OPN) and Oct4 expression in human lung cancer was determined by performing\nimmunohistochemistry. Immunoblotting, ELISA, luciferase reporter assay, chromatin immunoprecipitation assay and\nRT-PCR were performed to validate the regulation of Oct4-Egr1-OPN axis. Moreover, the effect of Oct4-Egr1-OPN\naxis on lung cancer progression was evaluated by cell migration assay and mice study.\nResults: We detected Oct4, Egr1, and OPN expression in clinical specimens from 79 lung cancer patients, including\n72 adenocarcinomas and 7 squamous cell carcinomas. High expression of Oct4, Egr1, and OPN accounted for 53,\n51, and 57% of the patients, respectively. All of the three biomarkers were positively correlated in clinical human\nlung cancer. Patients with high expression of OPN were significantly associated with shorter disease-free survivals\nthan those with low expression of OPN (p < 0.05). In lung cancer cells, Oct4 transactivated the Egr1 promoter and\nupregulated Egr1 expression. In a human lung cancer xenograft model, Oct4-overexpressing tumors expressed\nelevated levels of Egr1. Furthermore, overexpression of Oct4 in lung cancer cells increased the metastatic potential.\nConclusions: Egr1 exerts a promoting effect on cancer metastasis in Oct4-overexpressing lung cancer. Thus,\ntherapeutic strategies targeting the Oct4/Egr1/OPN axis may be further explored for the treatment of lung cancer,\nespecially when lung cancer is refractory to conventional treatment due to cancer stem cells....
Background: Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a high grade neuroendocrine\ntumor, and has aggressive nature, so the majority of cases are presented with\nextensive disease. SCLC was staged into 2 categories: limited-stage disease\n(LS-SCLC) and extensive disease (ES-SCLC). Despite SCLC is sensitive to radiotherapy\nand chemotherapy, SCLC has high tendency for rapid dissemination\nto regional and distant sites. Median survival time ranged from 2 - 4\nmonths in patients with untreated SCLC. Multiagent chemotherapy was the\nprimary treatment for SCLC. Aim of the work: This retrospective study was\nconducted to evaluate and analyze clinical features, treatment outcome, survival\nand prognostic factors affecting survival in patients with SCLC presented\nto Clinical Oncology and Nuclear Medicine department, Chest department\nand Medical oncology unit in Mansoura Oncology Centre during\nthe period from 2000-2015. Methods: Data of patients were collected from\ntheir files. The information obtained included demographic features, treatment\nreceived; its toxicity and outcome, survival and its prognostic factors.\nDemographic data were: age, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance\nStatus (ECOG-PS), smoking status, stage of disease. Data also included\ndisease presentation and metastatic sites. Several factors affecting survival\nwere analysed as age, sex, stage, PS, smoking status and LDH. Results:\nSixty-three patients were enrolled in this study........................
Background: To investigate the prevalence and factors associated with the prevalence of multidrug/rifampicinresistant\ntuberculosis among suspected drug resistant tuberculosis patients in Botswana.\nMethods: A retrospective review of medical records of suspected drug resistant tuberculosis patients receiving care\nat public health facilities in Botswana was conducted from January, 2013 and December, 2014. Patient\ncharacteristics and drug susceptibility data were abstracted from 2568 medical records on to a pre-tested checklist\nform. The prevalence of multidrug/rifampicin resistance was computed. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression\nwas carried out to determine the factors associated with the prevalence of multidrug/rifampicin in the study\npopulation.\nResults: Overall, multidrug/ rifampicin - resistance among suspected drug resistant tuberculosis patients in\nBotswana were found in 139 (5.4%) cases with 1.3% among new cases and 7.7% among previously treated\ntuberculosis patients. Being a previously treated tuberculosis patient and having a positive smear were found to be\nfactors associated with the prevalence of multidrug/rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis (p < 0.05). However, age, sex,\nliving in urban area and HIV status were not associated with this disease (p > 0.05).\nConclusion: This study highlights a low burden of multidrug/rifampicin resistant tuberculosis among suspected\ndrug resistant tuberculosis patients receiving care at public health facilities in Botswana. Strategies in controlling\nMDR/RR-TB should emphasize on effective implementation of Directly Observation Treatment â?? short course\nstrategy, continuous surveillance of drug resistance cases, prevention of the development of new cases of MDR/RRTB\nand to treat existing patients. Further interventions should focus on strengthening TB infection control activities....
Background: Tuberculosis disease affects survival among HIV co-infected\npatients on antiretroviral therapy. Prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis in\nwestern Uganda is 15.3% and 7.2% in Tororo, Eastern Uganda. A study in\nKampala revealed Tuberculosis prevalence among immuno-incompetent\ngroup at 10%. To assess the prevalence of Pulmonary Tuberculosis (PTB) infection\nin HIV/AIDS patients attending ART clinic in Bududa general hospital,\nBududa district, a hospital-based, cross-sectional study was carried out.\nMethods and materials: Two hundred thirty eight (238) HIV/AIDS positive\npatients attending ART clinic were recruited using consecutive simple\nnon-probability sampling on consenting. Data collection guide was used to\ncapture the socio-demographic information from study participants and two\nsputum samples (spot and early morning samples) were obtained from each\nparticipant, and processed using Hot Ziehl Neelsen for Tubercle Bacilli. Data\ncollected was entered into MS Excel spreadsheets and Statistical Package of\nSocial Sciences was used for descriptive data analysis and outputs in form of\npercentages, figures and tables presented. Results: Out of 238 study participants\nrecruited, 14/238 were positive for Acid Fast Bacilli (AFB); giving a\nprevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis at 5.9% (14/238) and the most affected\nage group was between 26- 35 years with the prevalence of 3.4%. More females\n(65.6%) participated in the study than males (34.4%). Conclusion:\nTuberculosis remains a health challenge in HIV/AIDS positive people in Bududa\ndistrict and there is need for early screening of all HIV patients for TB\nas part of their routine and intensification to follow up TB positive patients.\nWe recommend large-scale studies on the trends in TB/HIV co-infection and\nassociated factors should be carried out in this area. In addition, \nwe recom mend intensification of public awareness campaign about TB infection\n in relation to its transmission, prevention and control....
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