Background: Preclinical results showing therapeutic effect and low toxicity of metronomic

Metronomic chemotherapy (MCT),

The study’s objective was to examine whether factors related to the host status may bear some relation with the profile of the immune response displayed by tuberculosis (TB) patients. The in vitro immune response (antigen-driven lymphoproliferation and cytokine production) and the presence of alcoholism or disease-related factors, like heart and respiratory rates, and weight loss (body mass index, BMI) were investigated in 31 males with active, untreated TB. Compared to 16 age-matched healthy males, TB patients presented depressed lymphoproliferation and increased IL-10 and TGF-β production. Multivariate analysis indicated that most differences were no longer significant when controlling for the BMI. Immune and endocrine changes coexisting with weight loss, such as circulating levels of TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-6, cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone and thyroid hormones, were also analyzed. While pairwise correlations between serum levels of IFN-γ, T3 or T4 and BMI were not significant, BMI was negatively correlated with IL-6 levels (p < 0.025). In turn, levels of IL-6 correlated positively with cortisol concentrations (p <0.001). Stepwise regression analysis demonstrated that BMI was only associated with IL-6 (r = –0.423, R² = 0.18), with the difference remaining significant following adjustment for the other variables. As regards IL-6, BMI, cortisol and IFN-γ could explain 74% of variability in IL-6 concentrations (R² = 0.74). No evidence for effect modification was shown when performing adjusted calculations. To conclude, the relation between weight loss and abnormal immune response of TB patients is partly associated with the immunoendocrine imbalance observed in parallel.

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POLETTO, L. et al. Prevalencia del habito de fumar en jóvenes y sus padres. Asociaciones relevantes con educacion y ocupación. Rev. Saúde públ., S. Paulo, 25: 388-93, 1991. Con el objetivo de conocer la prevalencia del hábito de fumar cigarrillos en los jóvenes, se estudiaron muestras aleatorias de varones de 18 años y de estudiantes universitarios de medicina y de economía, los que respondieron un cuestionario referido al hábito, escolaridad y ocupación propias y de sus padres, así como sus opiniones y motivaciones. La prevalencia del hábito fue mayor en los varones en ambas generaciones, en los estudiantes de medicina que en los de economía, y en los padres con nivel universitario. Se encontró asociación entre el hábito de los jóvenes de la problación general con el de sus padres (p<0.001), pero no entre el de éstos y sus hijos universitarios. Considerando el rol protagónico que los universitarios y en especial los médicos deberían cumplir en la comunidad, surge la necesidad del desarrollo de programas educativos no sólo en las escuelas sino también en la universidad.

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Aim:The objective of the study was to detect changes in quality of life (QoL) in metastatic breast cancer patients treated with metronomic chemotherapy with daily low doses of cyclophosphamide and celecoxib. Material & methods: Patients included in a Phase II trial, treated with metronomic cyclophosphamide and celecoxib were included in the QoL study. Assessment of QoL was carried out every 2 months by the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy Breast (FACT-B) questionnaire, Brief Pain Inventory and Eastern Cooperative Oncologic Group scale. Data were analyzed at three time points: baseline (BL); middle of treatment (MT); and end of treatment (ET). Results: A total of 20 patients were included. All patients were heavily pretreated. Treatment showed a good and safe therapeutic profile. With FACT-B questionnaire, no significant differences were observed during the response period (BL-MT). However, a significant increase was observed in the Emotional wellbeing and Additional concerns axes, when the last time point was included in the analysis (BL-MT-ET). A significant decrease in the proportion of patients with pain was found when comparing BL with ET (p = 0.046). The assessment with Eastern Cooperative Oncologic Group scale showed that 26.7% (4/15) of the patients improved their functional status and 40% (6/15) showed no changes, while 33.3% (5/10) worsened it. Conclusion: Patients treated metronomically for several months did not worsen their QoL. A high proportion of patients showed improvement or no changes and there were less patients with pain at the end of the treatment. The quality of life (QoL) is a very common term used in different fields of human health. Therefore, it is very difficult to find a unique definition since it could be related to all aspects of human life [1].In an attempt to define it, it can be said that it is "the perfect balance between well-being and distress" [2,3]. The concept of adaptation to chronic disease is different but it is related to that of QoL; adaptation is the process whereby individuals use conscious awareness and choice to create new human environmental integration [4,5]. Both are good indicators of the evolution of psychological features of cancer patients at different stages of the disease [6]. In oncology QoL is centered in patients' health, and refers to all aspects (general, social, personal, emotional, among others) of 1234RESEaRch aRticlE Perroud, Alasino, Rico et al. future science group the subject and their relationship to the cancer disease and its treatment.The presence of pain is a very complex aspect related to QoL, and it is one of the most difficult symptoms to evaluate and to treat; in many cases pain is caused by the pressure that the tumor exerts on bones and/or nerves, and also it could be caused by cancer treatment. One of the barriers in pain treatment is the inadequate measurement and assessment of pain. An optimal management includes the evaluation of intensity, characteristics and interference with daily habits and life style [7,8].The meas...