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Hauschild et al present the results of a phase II trial of pegylated interferon and dacarbazine for metastatic melanoma. The combination appeared well tolerated, and 7 of 25 patients either had stable disease, partial or complete remission. This combination is worthy of additional study in larger, randomized clinical trials for the treatment of melanoma.
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Some women with DVT may stop warfarin after six months; Vytorin and cancer; preventing recurrent stroke; and FDA news.
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Tam et al report long-term data from 300 CLL patients treated with the fludarabine, cyclophosphamide, and rituximab (FCR) regimen. Complete and overall response rates were 72% and 95%, respectively. The median time to progression was 80 months, and six-year overall survival was 77%. Late infection occurred in 10% after the first year of treatment, and almost 19% had persistent cytopenias after treatment. After adjusting for pre-treatment factors, FCR was associated with prolonged survival compared to other fludarabine regimens for initial treatment at the same center. The high activity and prolonged remissions suggest FCR as an excellent front-line regimen for CLL in select patients.
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Three CLL cellular markers have been shown to be of prognostic value in determining those patients likely to have aggressive disease. Of the three, ZAP-70 was shown, in this current report from the CLL Research Consortium, to be the greatest discriminator of need for early treatment. The current value of these markers remains investigational.
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This second publication from the COURAGE investigators reports on multiple assessments of quality of life, particularly angina presence and severity, between the two groups over the study observation.
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Diabetic patients are at higher risk for in-stent restenosis and stent thrombosis than their non-diabetic counterparts.
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The management of anticoagulation in patients requiring long-term warfarin therapy is often problematic when they need cardiac catheterization.
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In patients with elevated triglycerides, other atherogenic particles may be as important as LDL-cholesterol (C). These particles and LDL-C are measured as non-HDL-C, and are considered a secondary target of therapy.
