Background:A British randomised study of gemcitabine plus cisplatin (GC) combination showed promising results in biliary tract cancer (BTC) patients. In our study, we evaluated the efficacy and safety of this combination compared with gemcitabine alone (G) in Japanese BTC patients.Methods:Overall, 84 advanced BTC patients were randomised to either cisplatin 25 mg m−2 plus gemcitabine 1000 mg m−2 on days 1, 8 of a 21-day cycle (GC-arm), or single-agent gemcitabine 1000 mg m−2 on days 1, 8 and 15 of a 28-day cycle (G-arm). Treatments were repeated for at least 12 weeks until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity occurred, up to a maximum of 48 weeks.Results:A total of 83 patients were included in the analysis. For the GC and G-arms, respectively, the 1-year survival rate was 39.0 vs 31.0%, median survival time 11.2 vs 7.7 months, median progression-free survival time 5.8 vs 3.7 months and overall response rate 19.5 vs 11.9%. The most common grade 3 or 4 toxicities (GC-arm/G-arm) were neutropenia (56.1%/38.1%), thrombocytopenia (39.0%/7.1%), leukopenia (29.3%/19.0%), haemoglobin decrease (36.6%/16.7%) and γ-GTP increase (29.3%/35.7%).Conclusions:Gemcitabine plus cisplatin combination therapy was found to be effective and well tolerated, suggesting that it could also be a standard regimen for Japanese patients.

Abstract. This large-scale observational study examined the long-term effectiveness and safety of growth hormone (GH) replacement therapy for adult GH deficiency (GHD) in Japanese clinical practice using the Hypopituitary Control and Complications Study database. The study included 402 GHD patients for safety analyses and a subset of 209 patients (149 adult-onset and 60 childhood-onset GHD patients) who had not previously received GH replacement therapy for the efficacy analyses. Data on clinical, metabolic, quality of life (QoL) characteristics, and all adverse events (AEs) were collected at baseline (start of GH treatment), 6 months, 1 year and 2 years. Over the observation period, there were improvements from baseline in insulin-like growth factor-I standard deviation scores (P < 0.001), although the changes in metabolic parameters were minimal. QoL (Short Form-36) Z-scores significantly increased from baseline in both onsettype groups for several subscale domains (P < 0.05). A total of 145 (36.1%) patients experienced ≥1 AE. Common AEs were hyperlipidaemia (2.7%) and hyperinsulinaemia (2.2%). Some patients experienced recurrent hypothalamic/pituitary tumour (events per 1000 patient-years: 2.78), new benign (0.93), malignant tumour (10.28) or other new tumour (0.93), new diabetes mellitus (7.45), and new stroke (3.71). Seven patients died during the observation period. Our safety findings are inconclusive about the associations between GH replacement and AEs, although the incidence of diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular events are similar to those reported in the Japanese general population. In conclusion, the key beneficial effects of GH replacement therapy for GHD are observed in routine clinical practice in Japan.

Path analysis segregates duloxetine's direct and indirect effects on pain and depression. The direct and indirect effects on depressive symptoms are the inverse of pain effects.