1. Non-haem iron absorption from a variety of vegetable meals was studied in parous Indian Women, using the erythrocyte utilization of radioactive Fe method.2. The studies were undertaken to establish whether Fe absorption could be correlated with the chemical composition of the foodstuff.3. Addition of the following organic acids commonly found in vegetables, improved the geometric mean Fe absorption from a basic rice meal as follows: from 0.028 to 0.085 with 1 g citric acid, from 0.031 to 0.081 with 15 mg ascorbic acid, from 0,048 to 0.095 with 1 g L-malic acid, from 0.041 to 0.096 with 1 g tartaric acid. The only exception was oxalic acid; the addition of I g calcium oxalate to cabbage (Brassica oleraceae) was associated with some depression in Fe absorption from 0.320 to 0.195.4. There was a marked inhibition of the geometric mean absorption when 500 mg tannic acid was added to a broccoli (Brassica oleraceae) meal ( 6. All the vegetables associated with moderate or good Fe bioavailability contained appreciable amounts of one or more of the organic acids, malic, citric and ascorbic acids.7. Poor Fe bioavailability was noted in vegetables with high phytate contents (e.g. wheat germ 0.007, butter beans 0.012, brown lentils 0.024 and green lentils 0.032).8. The fact that a number of vegetables associated with low Fe-absorption turned bluish-black when Fe was added to them, suggested that the total polyphenol content in them was high. The vegetables included aubergine, spinach, brown lentils, green lentils and beetroot greens. When the total polyphenol content in all the vegetables tested was formally measured, there was a significant inverse correlation (r 0,859, P < 0401) between it and Fe absorption. The inverse correlation between the non-hydrolysable polyphenol content and Fe absorption was r 9. The major relevance of these findings is the fact that the total absorption of non-haem-Fe from a mixed diet may be profoundly influenced by the presence of single vegetables with either marked enhancing or inhibiting effects on Fe bioavailability. 0.901 (P < 0.001).

The data show letrozole 2.5 mg once daily to be more effective and better tolerated than MA in the treatment of postmenopausal women with advanced breast cancer previously treated with antiestrogens.

HD-CNV appears to be a promising schedule that results in a significant proportion of CRs and increased survival in patients with metastatic breast cancer.

The single-agent efficacy of gemcitabine is equivalent to other agents commonly used to treat NSCLC. Gemcitabine has an unusually mild side effect profile for such an active agent. The nausea and vomiting experienced with gemcitabine are mild and generally well controlled with standard antiemetics; 5-HT3 receptor antagonists are typically not required. The use of gemcitabine does not cause significant alopecia, and hematologic toxicity is modest and unlikely to require hospitalization. Gemcitabine may have a role as monotherapy in patients with inoperable NSCLC.

The interrelationships between various components of the non-immune inflammatory response (white cell count, plasma lactoferrin, C-reactive protein, ferritin, iron and iron-binding capacity), were studied serially in a variety of inflammatory conditions including acute lobar pneumonia, active pulmonary tuberculosis, rheumatoid arthritis on gold therapy and sepsis in the face of marrow hypoplasia induced by chemotherapy. Lactoferrin concentrations paralleled the white count in all groups. They were highest in pneumonia and tuberculosis, mildly elevated in rheumatoid arthritis and markedly decreased in neutropenic sepsis. Very high initial lactoferrin concentrations were associated with a poor prognosis in acute pneumonia. C-reactive protein and ferritin concentrations remained elevated through the period of study in acute pneumonia and neutropenic sepsis, while they gradually normalised over weeks in subjects with tuberculosis or rheumatoid arthritis on therapy. In pneumonia and tuberculosis moderate hypoferraemia and a reduced iron-binding capacity were evident. In contrast, a raised percentage saturation was present in neutropenic sepsis, probably related to erythroid marrow suppression. Comparisons between ferritin, lactoferrin and C-reactive protein in the various groups supported the concept that ferritin behaves in part as an acute phase reactant and that hypoferraemia in inflammation is due to deviation of iron into ferritin stores. The suggestion that lactoferrin is responsible for the hypoferraemia and hyperferritinaemia was not supported by the present data. Iron deficiency appeared to limit the hyperferritinaemic response in rheumatoid arthritis, while erythropoietic inhibition by chemotherapy dampened the hypoferraemic response in neutropenic sepsis.