Conclusions: Most subjects had positive views of enrollment, and acceptance generally correlated with results of community consultation studies. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“Purpose
Response to neo-adjuvant chemotherapy is an important prognostic factor for osteosarcoma (OS) and the Ewing sarcoma family of tumors (ESFT). [F-18]-fluorodeoxy-D-glucose JQ-EZ-05 (FDG)-positron
emission tomography (PET) is a non-invasive imaging modality that predicts histologic response to chemotherapy of various malignancies; however, limited data exist about the usefulness of FDG-PET in predicting the histologic response of pediatric bone tumors to chemotherapy. We analyzed the FDG-PET imaging characteristics of pediatric bone tumors
and determined the association with response to chemotherapy.
Materials and Methods
Pediatric patients with OS (n=19) or ESFT (n=17) were evaluated for FDG-PET standard uptake values before (SUV1) and after (SUV2) chemotherapy. The relationship to the chemotherapy response was assessed by histopathology in AS1842856 inhibitor surgically-excised tumors. A complete data set (SUV1, SUV2, and histologic response) was available in 23 patients.
Results
While the mean SUV1s were not different between patients with OSs and ESFTs (9.44 vs. 6.07, p=0.24), the SUV2s were greater in the patients with OSs than ESFTs (4.55 vs. 1.66, p=0.01). The ratios of SUV2-to-SUV1 (SUV2 : SUV1) were 0.65 and 0.35 for OS and ESFT, respectively (p=0.08). All of the patients with ESFTs and 47% of the patients with OS had a favorable histologic response to chemotherapy. The SUV2:1 [(SUV1-SUV2)/SUV1]>= 0.5 and SUV2 <=
2.5 were related to favorable histologic responses to chemotherapy; the sensitivity and specificity of SUV2:1 at 0.5 and SUV2 at 2.5 were 93% and 88%, and 88% and 78%, respectively.
Conclusion
FDG-PET can be used as a non-invasive surrogate to predict response to chemotherapy in children with bone tumors.”
“Azoospermia is a descriptive term referring to ejaculates that lack spermatozoa without implying a specific underlying cause. The traditional definition of azoospermia is ambiguous, which has ramifications on the diagnostic criteria. This PF-02341066 in vivo issue is further compounded by the apparent overlap between the definitions of oligospermia and azoospermia. The reliable diagnosis of the absence of spermatozoa in a semen sample is an important criterion not only for diagnosing male infertility but also for ascertaining the success of a vasectomy and for determining the efficacy of hormonal contraception. There appears to be different levels of rigor in diagnosing azoospermia in different clinical situations, which highlights the conflict between scientific research and clinical practice in defining azoospermia.