Prospective comparative study of pemetrexed and carboplatin versus paclitaxel and carboplatin as first-line chemotherapy in adenocarcinoma lung

Background: The worldwide epidemiology of lung cancer is ever changing, and non-squamous non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in never-smoking women has been gradually increasing. In Indian population, adenocarcinoma lung was more common in never smoker persons. Approximately 70–80% of lung cancer cases are NSCLC. Most of NSCLC patients present with advanced disease or brain metastasis. The prognosis of patients with advanced NSCLC is generally considered poor, with a median survival of 9–11 months and a 2-year survival around 20–30%. There are no enough data in Eastern India regarding disease response, treatment-related toxicity, overall survival, and progression-free survival in advanced adenocarcinoma lung treated with chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Objectives: The objectives of this study were to compare disease response, toxicity, overall survival, and progression-free survival in advanced adenocarcinoma lung treated as first line with pemetrexed/carboplatin versus paclitaxel/carboplatin. Materials and Methods: A total of 123 patients were placed in Group A and another 117 in Group B (stage III disease). Group A patients were treated with pemetrexed 500 mg/m2 and carboplatin area under the concentration (AUC) 6 every 3 week. Group B patients were treated with carboplatin at dose AUC 6 and paclitaxel 200 mg/m2 administered 3 weekly. Dose of radiation was planned 60 Gy in 30# for 6 weeks in conventional fractionation schedule 3 weeks after completion of chemotherapy. Results: Hematological toxicities were Grade 3 anemia 27 (22%) in Group A and 29 (24.8%) Group B, Grade 3 neutropenia 34 (27.6%) in Group A and 33 (28.2%) in Group B, and Grade 4 neutropenia 5 (4%) in Group A and 4 (3.4%) in Group B. Grade 3 sensory neuropathy was seen in Group B 17 (14.5%). There was no Grade 3 or Grade 4 sensory neuropathy in Group A. Grade 3 fatigue was seen in Group B 19 (16.2%). Grade 3 diarrhea was seen 9 (7.3%) in Group A and 8 (6.8%) in Group B. Overall response rate was 63 (51.2%) in Group A and 43 (36.8%) in Group B. The complete response of disease was 19 (15.4%) in Group A and 6 (5.1%) in Group B. The partial response was 44 (34.6%) in Group A and 37 (31.6%) in Group B. Stable disease was 41 (33.3%) in Group A and 51 (43.6%) in Group B. The progressive disease was 19 (15.4%) in Group A and 23 (19.6%) in Group B. Median overall survival was 14.6 months in Group A and 14.4 months in Group B. Conclusion: In our study, pemetrexed/carboplatin provides better efficacy and tolerance, a reduced need for supportive therapies, and more convenient administration than paclitaxel/carboplatin for the first-line treatment of patients with advanced adenocarcinoma lung.

Palliative treatment with radiotherapy in patients of advanced esophageal carcinoma

Background: Esophageal carcinoma is high prevalence in Asia, including India and most of the patients present in advanced and inoperable stage. Most of the patients have poor nutritional status and low performance status. These patients are unable to tolerate radical treatment. Prognosis of these patients is very poor. There are no enough data of prospective study in palliation of dysphagia of the patients with inoperable esophageal carcinoma with radiotherapy in Eastern India. Objectives: The main objective of our study was palliation of dysphagia of the patients with inoperable esophageal carcinoma with radiotherapy. Materials and Methods: The study was done with 43 patients with histopathologically proven squamous cell carcinoma and/or adenocarcinoma at thoracic esophagus, intraluminal brachytherapy feasible. Patients were received external beam radiotherapy palliative dose 30 Gy in 10 fractions for 2 weeks followed by intraluminal high-dose rate brachytherapy 6 Gy per fraction per week for 2 weeks. Results: In our study, the mean age of the patients was 58 years (age range 48 years–70 years). 1 month after completion of intraluminal brachytherapy, a number of patients with improvement of dysphagia were 34 (79%). The improvement of dysphagia was maintained 25 (73.5%) patients at 3-month completion of treatment and 14 (56%) patients at 6-month completion of treatment. The median duration of dysphagia relief was 5.2 months. Post-radiotherapy complications as chest pain were seen in 10 (23.2%) patients, esophageal strictures were developed in 7 (16.3%) patients, ulcerations were in 4 (9.3%) patients, and esophageal fistula was developed in 1 (2.3%) patient. Conclusion: The patients with advanced inoperable or metastatic esophageal carcinoma and poor performance status, palliative radiotherapy are effective modality of treatment for the improvement of dysphagia.

Long-term control of refractory follicular lymphoma after treatment of secondary acute promyelocytic leukemia with arsenic trioxide (As₂O₃) and all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA)

No abstract available.

Anaerobic bacterial degradation of kitchen waste - a review.

Kitchen (food waste) was collected from hostels of Cancer Hospital & Research Institute (CHRI), Gwalior’s Mess as feedstock for bio-reactor which works as anaerobic digester system to produce biogas energy. Production of biogas ,used as energy source, will be more cost effective, eco-friendly, cut down on landfill waste, generate a high-quality renewable fuel, and reduce CH4 and CO2 emissions, and also bio-fertilizer which contains beneficial bacterial community. This bacterial community plays a major role in the regulation of soil properties on the basis of their biological activity. The absence of oxygen leads to controlled conversion of complex organic pollutions, mainly CH4 and CO2. Anaerobic treatment has favourable effects like removal of higher organic concentration, low sludge production, high pathogen removal, high biogas gas production and low energy consumption. The continuously fed digester requires addition of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) to maintain the alkalinity and pH at 7.0. For this purpose, we have prepared an excellent bacterial community which is applied into mixture of cow dung slurry along with the kitchen waste in bioreactor for CH4 production in large quantity. A combination of these, an excellent bacterial community, was used for biogas production at 37°C in small scale laboratory reactor of 10L capacity.

Algunos aspectos esenciales del pensamiento de Jean Watson y su teoría de cuidados transpersonales / Some essential aspects of Jean Watson thought and her transpersonal caring theory

En este trabajo se realiza una síntesis del pensamiento de Jean Watson a partir de dos perspectivas fundamentales a saber: su filosofía de cuidados y su teoría de cuidados transpersonales. El análisis se centra, por una parte, en los fundamentos filosóficos del cuidado que derivan del existencialismo y de la teoría de la alteridad levin-asiana y, por otra, en los 10 factores de cuidado que caracterizan su teoría. El artículo además rescata aspectos de la utilización de su teoría de cuidados en diferentes contextos de enfermería. Las autoras del artículo valoran el significado y trascendencia de cada uno de ellos para la disciplina, y la oportunidad que supone aplicarlos en la praxis del trabajo cotidiano y en el desarrollo de una vida buena.

A display of Jean Watson's thoughts, based on the understanding of her philosophy and theory of transpersonal care is undertaken. On one hand, the analysis is centered in her philosophical assumptions which are based on Existentialism and Levinas theories. On the other hand, the analysis is centered on the ten factors of caring defined on her theory. Beside that this article described the benefits of applying her theory in different contextual nursing situations. The authors make reference to the meaning and transcendence of each one of her ten factors for nursing, and the improvement opportunities coming from their implementation on the way that nurses provide care today as well as on their own personal leaves.

Comparison of a dipstick enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with commercial assays for detection of Japanese encephalitis virus-specific IgM antibodies.

BACKGROUND: Japanese encephalitis (JE) is a major public health concern in Asia including India. Objectives: To evaluate an in-house developed dipstick enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test vis-à-vis two commercial kits for detection of JE virus-specific IgM antibodies. SETTING AND DESIGN: Comparative study carried out in Research and Development centre. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 136 specimens comprising 84 serum and 52 CSF samples were tested by in-house dipstick ELISA, Pan-Bio IgM capture ELISA (Pan-Bio, Australia) and JEV CheX IgM capture ELISA (XCyton, India). RESULTS: The overall agreement among all three tests was found to be 92% with both serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples. The sensitivity of the dipstick ELISA was found to be 91% with serum and 89% with CSF samples respectively. The specificity of the dipstick ELISA with reference to both commercial assays was found to be 100% in serum and CSF samples in this study. CONCLUSIONS: The in-house dipstick ELISA with its comparable sensitivity and specificity can be used as a promising test in field conditions since it is simple, rapid and requires no specialized equipment.

Globe calcification in congenital toxoplasmosis.

Various patterns of distribution of intracerebral calcification have been described in congenital toxoplasmosis. We report a case of congenital toxoplasmosis with a rare finding of calcification in the globe detected by CT scan that has not been described earlier.

Tyrosinemia type I: a clinico-laboratory case report.

Progressive hepatocellular dysfunction in a neonate, resulting in elevated serum alpha-fetoprotein together with raised blood levels of tyrosine and methionine, a generalized amino aciduria and the absence of urinary delta-aminolevulinic acid and succinylacetone, suggests a diagnosis of tyrosinemia type Ib. Classical tyrosinemia type I arises from a deficiency of fumarylacetoacetate hydrolase while the variant tyrosinemia type Ib results from a deficiency of maleylacetoacetate isomerase.

Serological & virological investigation of an outbreak of dengue fever in Gwalior, India.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: An outbreak of febrile illness occurred between September to November 2001 in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh affecting individuals mostly in the age group < 30 yr. A total of 312 febrile indoor patients suspected to have dengue infection were investigated. METHODS: The investigation included examination of blood samples from patients for dengue specific IgM and IgG antibodies, isolation of virus in suckling mouse pups and in C(6/36) cell line followed by confirmation and typing through reverse transcriptase-PCR and nested PCR. RESULTS: The serological analysis of the 312 samples indicated 65 per cent positivity of which 21 per cent are of recent infection as indicated by the presence of IgM antibody and 78 per cent are found to be secondary in nature by showing the presence of IgG and/or IgM antibodies. The RT-PCR analysis of patients' sera employing dengue virus group specific conserved amplimer confirmed the etiological agent as dengue complex by showing the characteristic 511 bp amplicons. None of the antibody positive samples were found to be positive by RT-PCR. A total of 13 (6%) samples positive by RT-PCR, were processed for virus isolation in mouse pups and in C(6/36) cells. Of these 9 samples (80%) were confirmed positive for virus isolation as identified by RT-PCR. INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSION: The typing of isolates by nested PCR employing serotype specific amplimer revealed 119 bp amplicon characteristic of dengue virus type-2 and thus confirming the outbreak attributed to dengue virus type-2.

Comparison of two colorimetric assays to determine viral infectivity in micro culture virus titration.

Efficacy of two colorimetric assays, viz. MTT (3-4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-(yl-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide) and neutral red (NR) assays, performed by integrating them to micro culture virus titration (MCVT), was compared with the conventional MCVT method in terms of percentages of infectivity and 50% infectivity end points by employing Polio virus type-3 and Dengue virus type 4 as the candidate viruses. The results suggested that MTT assay has an edge over NR assay as well as conventional MCVT method. For the first time, NR assay has been successfully employed for the determination of virus infectivity titre.

Randomized controlled trial of once vs. twice daily gentamicin therapy in newborn.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the efficacy of once daily gentamicin administration to the conventional twice daily dosage schedule by estimation of serum gentamicin concentrations (SGC) in neonates. DESIGN: Randomized controlled trial. SETTING: Medical college hospital. SUBJECTS: Seventy three neonates of gestational age>32 weeks at risk or with clinical features of sepsis. METHODS: The subjects were divided into preterm and term groups. Babies in each of these groups were randomized to receive a single daily dose (4 mg/kg) or a twice daily dose (2.5 mg/kg) of injection gentamicin intravenously. Trough and peak SGC were estimated half an hour prior and one hour after the second dose. Statistical analysis was done using the equivalence method. RESULTS: In preterm as well as term babies, the mean peak and trough gentamicin levels were comparable in the two regimens. There is statistically significant evidence to show that the effect of once daily and twice daily dosage is similar. CONCLUSION: Once daily gentamicin administration is as effective as twice daily therapy and would be more cost effective.

Bacterial profile of sepsis in a neonatal unit in south India.

OBJECTIVE: To study the pattern of sepsis in a neonatal unit in south India and assess the influence of maternal factors on early onset sepsis (EOS). DESIGN: Prospective survey from 1995-1996. SETTING: Medical College Hospital. SUBJECTS: All inborn babies who had clinical signs of sepsis or were born to mothers with potential risk factors for infection were screened for sepsis. Neonatal septicemia was defined as a disease of infants who were younger than 1 month of age, were clinically ill, and had positive blood cultures. RESULTS: Among 13,367 live births in the study period, there were 131 episodes of neonatal septicemia among 125 newborn infants, 18 (14.4%) of whom died. Thirty (24%) had EOS (< or = 48 hours) and 95 (76%) had late onset sepsis (LOS) (> or = 48 hours). Sepsis occurred in 9.8 per 1000 livebirths and 4.4% of all nursery admissions. E. coli and E. fecalis were the predominant organisms causing EOS, while Klebsiella and E. fecalis were the predominant organisms in LOS. The mean gestational age (GA) and birth weight (BW) of babies with EOS was significantly higher than those with LOS. Maternal factors significantly associated with EOS were meconium staining of liquor and multiple vaginal examinations. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of neonatal bacterial sepsis is 9.8 per 1000 livebirths. E. coli and Klebsiella were the most common organisms causing EOS and LOS, respectively. E. fecalis was also a major pathogen, both in EOS and LOS.