Objectives: The body adiposity index (BAI) is a proposed alternative to the body mass index (BMI) that has shown good cross‐sectional agreement with percent body fat (%BF) in validation studies. The objective of this study was to examine the ability of BAI to track adiposity change over time in a biracial sample of midlife women. Methods: African‐American (n = 159) and Caucasian (n = 206) women, aged 42–60 years, at the Chicago site of the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation were followed from 2002 to 2008. BAI and BMI were calculated from measurements taken at annual assessments. %BF was quantified using whole‐body dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry. Difference scores (BAIΔ, BMIΔ, and %BFΔ) quantified adiposity change over a mean of 1.6 (SD = 0.7) years. Lin's concordance correlation (ρc) and Bland–Altman limits‐of‐agreement assessed agreement between BAI and %BF. Results: In examining adiposity change, BAIΔ showed poor agreement with %BFΔ in the overall sample (ρc = 0.41), African‐American women (ρc = 0.36), and Caucasian women (ρc = 0.43). BAIΔ estimated %BFΔ with minimal bias (+0.4%) but low precision (±6.3%BF limits‐of‐agreement). %BFΔ had weaker correlations with BAIΔ (rs = 0.38–0.48) than with BMIΔ (rs = 0.48–0.59). BAI and BMI showed similar cross‐sectional associations with %BF in the overall sample and within each race (rs > 0.74). Conclusions: We conclude that BAI is less accurate than BMI in tracking adiposity change in midlife women, and would not be a suitable replacement for BMI in most research applications involving adiposity change. Am. J. Hum. Biol., 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

MPM is a disease with various types of presentation, frequently associated with thrombocytosis, sometimes with other tumors. Survival and diagnosis time can differ in various types of MPM. Prognosis is poor.

Second-line treatment of advanced NSCLC with pemetrexed plus carboplatin does not improve survival outcomes as compared with single-agent pemetrexed. The benefit observed with carboplatin addition in squamous tumors may warrant further investigation.

Background:The FAST is a 2 × 2 factorial trial addressing two questions: (1) the role of replacing cisplatin (P) with a non-platinum agent, vinorelbine (N), and (2) the role of adding a third agent, ifosfamide (I), in a doublet based on gemcitabine (G).Methods:A total of 433 stage IIIB–IV non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients were randomised to one of four arms: gemcitabine–cisplatin (GP), gemcitabine–vinorelbine, gemcitabine–ifosfamide-cisplatin or gemcitabine–ifosfamide–vinorelbine. Two comparisons were performed: N- vs P-containing regimens and I-triplets vs non-I doublets.Results:For N- vs P-containing regimens, adjusted overall survival was 9.7 vs 11.3 months (P=0.044), progression-free survival was 4.9 vs 6.4 months (P=0.020) and response rate was 24% vs 31% (P=0.124), respectively. No statistically significant difference was observed between doublets and triplets. Grade 3–4 haematological toxicity was significantly more frequent in P-containing therapy; grade 3–4 leucopenia was significantly more common in triplets. Concerning non-haematological toxicity, grade 3–4 nausea-vomiting was significantly increased in P-containing regimens.Conclusions:This trial provides evidence of a slight survival superiority of GP-containing regimens over platinum-free N-containing chemotherapy. This trial also confirms that the addition of a third chemotherapy agent (I) to a standard G-based doublet does not improve treatment outcome.

Overexpression of platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) has been observed in lung and pleural tumors. The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic and prognostic role of serum PDGF in pleural mesothelioma (PM). Four groups of subjects were studied: 93 malignant PM patients, 33 primary non small cell lung cancer patients, 51 subjects exposed to asbestos, defined as high-risk controls, and 24 healthy controls. PDGF-AB mean concentration was higher in PM patients (45.8 ng/ml) than in high-risk controls (33.1 ng/ml) and healthy controls (26.8 ng/ml). Using the cut-off level of 49.8 ng/ml, corresponding to the mean + 2SD of PDGF-AB in healthy controls, 43% of PM patients showed positive PDGF-AB levels. Survival was evaluated in 82 PM patients. At the end of the follow-up (median 9.8 months) 80.5% of patients had died. Median survival was 13.1 and 7.9 months for patients with PDGF-AB lower and higher than the cut-off, respectively. Adjusting for age, sex, histology and platelet count, positive PDGF-AB levels were associated with lower survival (OR = 1.2, 95%CI: 0.9–1.6), even if not significantly so. In conclusion, serum PDGF may represent a useful additional parameter to prognostic factors already available for PM.

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Malignant pleural effusions (MPEs) represent a common complication of advanced malignancies. However, adequate palliation of this highly symptomatic accompaniment to cancer can be achieved in most patients by adopting the appropriate therapy. Several options are available for the treatment of MPE. Systemic therapy may control the effusion in patients whose underlying malignancy is sensitive to anti-cancer agents. Repeated thoracocentesis can be appropriate for patients with limited life expectancy or slowly recurrent effusions. In the majority of the remaining cases the treatment of choice is pleurodesis with sclerosing agents administered via tube thoracostomy. Controversy still exists as to which drug produces the best results: talc and bleomycin appear to be among the most cost-effective agents. The debate over the best agent to be used for pleurodesis refers to the difficulty in comparing results of studies using different eligibility criteria, response assessment and end-points. This article describes the various treatments which have been reported in the literature to play a role in the management of MPEs. It is also aimed at providing guidelines in allocating patients to appropriate treatments.