Disclosure: No potential conflicts of interest were disclosed.Background. The optimal combination of chemotherapy with radiation therapy for treatment locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains an open issue. This randomized phase II study compared gemcitabine in two different schedules and cisplatin -as induction chemotherapy, followed by radiation therapy concurrent with cisplatin and etoposid.Patients and methods. Eligible patients had microscopically confirmed inoperable non-metastatic non-small cell lung cancer; fulfilled the standard criteria for platin-based chemotherapy; and signed informed consent. Patients were treated with 3 cycles of induction chemotherapy with gemcitabine and cisplatin. Two different aplications of gemcitabine were compared: patients in arm A received gemcitabine at 1250 mg/m 2 in a standard half hour i.v. infusion on days 1 and 8; patients in arm B received gemcitabine at 250 mg/m 2 in prolonged 6-hours i.v. infusion on days 1 and 8. In both arms, cisplatin 75 mg/m 2 on day 2 was administered. All patients continued treatment with radiation therapy with 60-66 Gy concurrent with cisplatin 50 mg/m 2 on days 1, 8, 29 and 36 and etoposid 50 mg/m 2 on days 1-5 and 29-33. The primary endpoint was response rate (RR) after induction chemotherapy; secondary endpoints were toxicity, progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS).Results. From September 2005 to November 2010, 106 patients were recruited to this study. No statistically signifficant differences were found in RR after induction chemotherapy between the two arms (48.1% and 57.4%, p = 0.34).Toxicity profile was comparable and mild with grade 3/4 neutropenia as primary toxicity in both arms. One patient in arm B suffered from acute peripheral ischemia grade 4 and an amputation of lower limb was needed. With a median follow-up of 69.3 months, progression-free survival and median survival in arm A were 15.7 and 24.8 months compared to 18.9 and 28.6 months in arm B. The figures for 1-and 3-year overall survival were 73.1% and 30.8% in arm A, and 81.5 % and 44.4% in arm B, respectively.Conclusions. Among the two cisplatin-based doublets of induction chemotherapy for inoperable NSCLC, both schedules of gemcitabine have a comparable toxicity profile. Figures for RR, PFS and OS are among the best reported in current literature. While there is a trend towards better efficacy of the treament with prolonged infusion of gemcitabine, the difference between the two arms did not reach statistical significance.

Introduction. Orthodontics experience has shown that dental compensation of some skeletal irregularities is under the positive influence of external factors. During sagittal development of cranial base and dental arches, they can be placed in relationship of I, II or III skeletal and dentoalveolar class. Malocclusion may be caused by a skeletal irregularity. Despite that, normal occlusion can be achieved by dentoalveolar compensation. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of orofacial functions on maxillary and mandibular growth, as well as occlusion development in sagittal plane. Material and method. This study consisted of 60 male and female adolescents (average age 15.9). Types of respiration and deglutition were clinically determined. Molar relation and length of dental arch were evaluated from study models. On the lateral cephalograms the following parameters were measured: angles SNA, SNB, ANB, I/SpP and i/MP. Results showed that 78.8% of patients with regular orofacial functions and 11.1% of patients with irregular functions had developed molar class I. Patients with skeletal Class I and Class III and irregular orofacial functions, had protrusion of upper incisors in 88.9% (I) and 80% (III) and high length of maxillary dental arches in 58.8% (I) and 70%(III). Conclusion. There is relationship between orofacial functions and dental compensation of sagittal skeletal irregularities.

Background/Aim. Haemoglobin determination is a routine part of the blood donor selection process. Previously reported studies have revealed that iron deficiency is common in frequent donors. This prospective investigation was aimed at examining iron status among blood donors with low circulating haemoglobin and evaluating capillary methods for haemoglobin determination in relation to reference values from venous blood count (BC) and ferritin level. Methods. Between February 2017 and December 2018, 200 consecutively recruited regular blood donors with low haemoglobin, aged 19 to 64 years (median 39) were included. Haemoglobin was determined using copper sulphate and HemoCue capillary methods as well as in venous blood samples on a haematology analyzer. Plasma ferritin was determined turbidimetrically. Results. In 42.7% of the men and 57.3% of the women ferritin concentration was low (P = 0.008). The relative numbers of males and females with levels <12 μg/L (P=0.023) or >50 μg/L (P=0.022) differed. Comparison of the values obtained with the capillary methods with reference haemoglobin obtained from the blood count (BC) showed that the copper sulphate procedure gave false fails in 10.5% cases (P<0.001). Values from HemoCue were significantly correlated with haemoglobin from BC, but no correlation was observed between ferritin levels and either capillary method. Conclusion. In 51.5% of Serbian blood donors referred due to low haemoglobin a low ferritin was observed. Based on our study results the determination of the algorithm in the iron deficiency detection is necessary, while capillary method (HemoCue) represents more convenient method for haemoglobin testing prior to donation.