1,721,068 research outputs found
Efficacy and Safety of Bevacizumab Combined With Fluoropyrimidine Monotherapy for Unfit or Older Patients With Metastatic Colorectal Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Full text linkAbstractBackgroundWhether bevacizumab represents a feasible option for the first-line treatment of unfit and elderly patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) remains controversial. The present systematic review and meta-analysis evaluated the efficacy and safety data of bevacizumab combined with first-line fluoropyrimidine monochemotherapy for these complex patients.Patients and MethodsA systematic search of the published data was conducted through May 31, 2016. The random-effects model was used to combine the effect estimates and the I2 index to quantify the between-study heterogeneity unexplained by sampling error.ResultsWe included 3 randomized controlled trials, 4 single-arm phase II trials, and 1 prospective cohort study in the present meta-analysis (n = 782). The monochemotherapy administered was capecitabine in 531 patients (67.9%) and 5-fluorouracil in 251 (32.1%); 500 (63.9%) also received bevacizumab. The median age was 75 years, 441 patients (56.4%) were men, and the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status was 0 to 1 in 684 patients (87.7%). The combination with bevacizumab produced advantages in terms of both progression-free survival (hazard ratio, 0.52; 95% confidence interval, 0.43-0.64; P < .00001; I2 = 0%) and overall survival (HR, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.64-0.98; P = .03; I2 = 0%). The pooled effect estimates of the randomized controlled trials have been previously reported. As expected, all-grade hypertension (27% vs. 4.9%), bleeding (24% vs. 6.4%), thromboembolic events (10% vs. 5%), and proteinuria (25.6% vs. 8.2%) were more frequent in the bevacizumab combination group.ConclusionAdding bevacizumab to first-line fluoropyrimidine monochemotherapy significantly improved progression-free and overall survival in unfit and elderly patients with mCRC, with a manageable safety profile and no unexpected toxicities
Diagnostic and therapeutic appropriateness in different stages of esophageal/GEJ cancers. The FICOG project
No full textBackground: Esophageal cancer is a rare neoplasm, with more than 0.6 million new cases and 0.54 million deaths worldwide in 2020. The distal third of the esophagus and the gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) are mostly involved sites. The diagnosis and therapeutic management of early, locally advanced, and metastatic disease continue to present uncertainties, as existing guidelines may not fully address all clinical questions in these areas. Methods: A group of Italian Experts produced recommendations for early, locally advanced, and metastatic disease management using the RAND/UCLA Appropriateness Method. Statements were generated by a systematic revision of the literature and voted on twice by a panel of 29 expert physicians; the second vote took place during a meeting of the panelists. Results: Several topics covered diagnosis, staging, treatment, and early, localized, and metastatic disease management. Recommendations were stated. Conclusions: Interventions considered appropriate to improve compliance and outcomes of esophageal/GEJ cancer patients were identified
Hematological Toxicity of PARP Inhibitors in Metastatic Prostate Cancer Patients with Mutations of BRCA or HRR Genes: A Systematic Review and Safety Meta-analysis
No full textBackground: PARP inhibitors (PARPis) are effective treatment options for patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) as single agents or in combination with androgen receptor-targeted agents (ARTA). However, a clinically relevant adverse effect of these agents is hematological toxicity, a typical class adverse event (AE), which can lead to treatment modifications and discontinuations. Objective: We aimed to analyze the risk of hematological AEs, including anemia, neutropenia, and thrombocytopenia secondary to PARPi treatments in mCRPC. Patients and Methods: This systematic review and meta-analysis followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) statement. We systematically searched the PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane databases, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), and the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) meeting abstracts for clinical trials concerning the use of PARPis, both as single agents and in combination, in patients with mCRPC. The search deadline was 30 June, 2023. We analyzed the pooled incidence of all grades of and ≥ G3 anemia, neutropenia, and thrombocytopenia. We subsequently calculated risk ratios (RRs) for all grades of and ≥ G3 AEs of PARPis versus non-PARPis from randomized clinical trials (RCTs). Results: Eleven phase 2/3 trials with olaparib, niraparib, rucaparib, and talazoparib administered as single agents or combined with ARTA were selected. Anemia was the most common all grades (38.6%) and ≥ G3 AE (24.9%). In the analysis of relative risk, six RCTs were included. The administration of PARPis significantly increased the risk of developing all grades of anemia (RR = 2.44), neutropenia (RR = 3.15), and thrombocytopenia (RR = 4.66) compared with non-PARPis. Similarly, a significant increase in the risk of ≥ G3 anemia (RR = 5.73) and thrombocytopenia (RR = 5.44), and a not significant increased risk of neutropenia (RR = 3.41), were detected. Conclusions: In mCRPC, PARPis increase the risk of hematological toxicity compared with other treatments, both as single agents or combined with ARTA (high-quality evidence). Clinicians should be aware of this risk and the correct management, especially with the expected increased PARPis use in mCRPC
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Personalized Medicine for Metastatic Prostate Cancer: The Paradigm of PARP Inhibitors
No full textDespite remarkable progress in the last decade, metastatic prostate cancer (mPCa) remains incurable. The approval of PARP inhibitors (PARPis) represents a milestone in this field, which definitively enters the era of precision medicine, as mPCa is often enriched for defects of homologous recombination repair genes. PARPis are now used as single agents for patients with metastatic castration-resistant PCa. Moreover, combinations of PARPis plus androgen-receptor targeted agents and immune checkpoint inhibitors, and earlier applications of PARPis in the metastatic hormone-sensitive PCa are under evaluation, representing the possible upcoming applications of these agents. Mechanisms of sensitization and resistance have been only partially elucidated. In our review, we summarize the current clinical evidence regarding PARPis in mPCa and the future directions of these targeted agents
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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