Fourteen elderly patients (median age 85 years) who were considered non-candidates for R-CHOP were treated first-line with a combination of bendamustine and rituximab. Of these, 7 achieved a complete response and 2 achieved a partial response. Toxicity was minimal. Although promising, these results need to be confirmed in larger studies.
Apixaban could soon join the anticoagulation market; Chinese herbs for flu; chronic medication and discontinuation after hospitalization; and FDA actions.
For patients in the midst of chemotherapy, there are little data on the most efficacious time to administer influenza vaccine. In a randomized study of 38 patients receiving FEC chemotherapy for adjuvant treatment of breast cancer, it is apparent that vaccination early (on day 4 of a 21-day cycle) provided better antibody response than when administered late in the cycle (day 16).
A 70-year-old man undergoing preoperative evaluation for abdominal aortic aneurysm surgery was noted to have a 3 cm mass in the right adrenal gland with heterogeneous texture but clear margins.
The prognostic relevance of fms-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3) internal tandem duplications and point mutations at D835 in acute promeylocytic leukemia (APL) is controversial.
A 78-year-old man was referred for evaluation and treatment of recently discovered glioblastoma. While dining with his children he collapsed from his chair and was observed to have a grand mal seizure. He had transiently lost consciousness and when he awoke he had weakness in both upper and lower extremities on the right side.
In a review of nine Phase 3 trials enrolling 6,284 patients, data from 793 who were younger than 50 years old were compared to the remainder who were older than 50 years, with attention given to progression-free survival, response rates, and overall survival.
The use of sunlamps or sunbeds for tanning purposes has grown in popularity, such that their use is very common among teenagers and young adults. In a well-conducted Australian multicenter, case-controlled study, it is clear that such use among teenagers is associated with a significantly higher risk of cutaneous melanoma. In fact, the risk is higher than it is for middle-aged sunbed users.
