Average Median Survival Research Articles

Evaluation of the Antineoplastic Activity of Guduchi (Tinospora cordifolia) in Ehrlich Ascites Carcinoma Bearing Mice

The anticancer activity of dichloromethane extract of guduchi [Tinospora cordifolia (Willd.) Miers ex Hook. F. & Thoms. Family: Menispermaceae (TCE)] in the mice transplanted with Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC) was investigated. The EAC mice receiving 25, 30, 40, 50 and 100 mg/kg, TCE showed a dose dependent elevation in tumor-free survival and a highest number of survivors were observed at 50 mg/kg TCE, which was considered as an optimum dose for its neoplastic action. The average survival time (AST) and median survival time (MST) for this dose were approximately 56 and 55 d, respectively when compared with 19 d of non-drug treated controls. Administration of 50 mg/kg TCE resulted in 100% long-term survivors (up to 90 d). An attempt was also made to evaluate the effectiveness of TCE in the various stages of tumor development, where 50 mg/kg TCE was administered intraperitoneally after 1, 3, 6, 9, 12 or 15 d of tumor inoculation and these days have been arbitrarily designated as stage I, II, III, IV or V, respectively for reasons of clarity. The greatest anticancer activity was recorded for stage I, II and III where number of long term survivors (LTS) was approximately 33, 25 and 17%, respectively. However, treatment of mice at stage IV and V did not increase LTS, despite an increase in AST and MST. The EAC mice receiving 50 mg/kg TCE showed a time dependent depletion in the glutathione (GSH) activity up to 12 h post-treatment and marginal elevation thereafter. This depletion in GSH was accompanied by a drastic elevation in lipid peroxidation (LPx) and a maximum elevation in LPx was observed at 6 h that declined gradually thereafter. TCE exerted cytotoxic effect on tumor cells by reducing the GSH concentration and increase in LPx simultaneously.

The incremental effect of dementia-related problem behaviors on the time to nursing home placement in poor, frail, demented older people.

To examine the incremental effect of dementia-related problem behaviors (DRPBs) on the risk of and time to nursing home placement (NHP) in poor, frail, demented older people. Client assessments were reviewed retrospectively for clinical, functional, and cognitive information, particularly the presence of DRPBs and the time during enrollment at which they occurred. The Georgia Community Care Services Program (CCSP), a Medicaid 1915-C home and community-based services program (HCBS). A random sample of demented clients (n = 204) discharged during fiscal year 1996 from four CCSP regions. The risk of and time to nursing home placement. Cox proportional hazards models and an extended Cox model with a time-varying covariate for the presence of DRPBs were used to evaluate the risk factors associated with NHP in demented older people. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were used to estimate the time to NHP for several risk groups. In demented older people in a HCBS program, having a DRPB was found to increase the hazard rate of NHP. Having a problem behavior shortened average median survival in the community by approximately 2 years. DRPBs in demented older people shorten the time to NHP. Exploration of effective interventions is warranted.

Differences Between the Circadian System of Two Strains of Senescence-Accelerated Mice (SAM)

SANCHEZ-BARCELÓ, E. J., M. MEGIAS, R. VERDUGA AND D. CRESPO. Differences between the circadian system of two strains of senescence-accelerated mice (SAM). PHYSIOL BEHAV 62(6) 1225–1229, 1997.—The aim of this study was to look for morphological or functional differences between the circadian system of two substrains of Senescence Accelerated Mice (SAM): senescence-prone (SAMP8; average median survival time = 10.0 months) and senescence-resistant (SAMR1; average median survival time = 18.9 months). Neither the general structure nor the quantitative analysis of the number of VP-positive neurons in matched sections revealed differences between SAMP8 and SAMR1 mice. Under LD 12/12 photoperiod, all animals showed the typical pattern of wheel running activity with maximum activity in the first half of darkness period. The period of the locomotor activity in free running as well as the time course for synchronization after a 6 h phase delay of LD cycle were similar in both strains of SAM mice. However, SAMP8 animals reentrained significantly earlier (3.4 ± 0.4 days) than SAMR1 (6.3 ± 0.9 days) after a 6 h phase advance of LD cycle. We conclude that the circadian system of SAMP8 mice presents some functional differences with that of SAMR1, which could help to explain their different rate of ageing.

The epidemiology of drug treatment failure in rheumatoid arthritis

The length of time that patients remain on anti-rheumatic therapy is an important measure of the effectiveness of that therapy since length of time on therapy is a composite measure that accounts for sustained, positive therapeutic benefit as well as negative therapeutic benefit (e.g. adverse reactions, unacceptable costs and loss of efficacy), and accounts for noise (non-compliance, psychological factors, misunderstanding, etc.). Effectiveness is a measure of how well a drug does work, while efficacy, the measure used in randomized controlled trials, means that a drug can work; however, efficacy may or may not translate to usefulness in the clinic. To understand drug effectiveness we reviewed studies of 5809 patients receiving various SMARDs. The average median time on drug ranged from 1.10 to 2.27 years, excluding methotrexate, with shortest survival times falling to sulfasalazine (1.10) and auranofin (1.16), intermediate times to hydroxychloroquine (1.59), penicillamine (1.42), IM gold (1.40), and the longest time to azathioprine (2.27). Overall, excluding methotrexate, the average median survival time was 1.41 for 3998 patients. Median time on drug was 3.3 times greater for all other drugs combined, averaging 4.61 years. Expressed in terms of '5-year survival,' an average of 55.7% of patients remained on methotrexate 5 years after it was started. Better results noted here for methotrexate stand in contradistinction to short-term randomized controlled trials which find most SMARDs to be equal in efficacy. Other factors that may influence drug survival time include age, age, education level, psychological status, presence of fibromyalgia, rank order of SMARD administration, disease severity or corticosteroid administration. Studies can provide more information if they also measure clinical variables as well as time on drug, providing area-under-the-curve measurements.

1 The epidemiology of drug treatment failure in rheumatoid arthritis

The length of time that patients remain on anti-rheumatic therapy is an important measure of the effectiveness of that therapy since length of time on therapy is a composite measure that accounts for sustained, positive therapeutic benefit as well as negative therapeutic benefit (e.g. adverse reactions, unacceptable costs and loss of efficacy), and accounts for noise (non-compliance, psychological factors, misunderstanding, etc.). Effectiveness is a measure of how well a drug does work, while efficacy, the measure used in randomized controlled trials, means that a drug can work; however, efficacy may or may not translate to usefulness in the clinic. To understand drug effectiveness we reviewed studies of 5809 patients receiving various SMARDs. The average median time on drug ranged from 1.10 to 2.27 years, excluding methotrexate, with shortest survival times falling to sulfasalazine (1.10) and auranofin (1.16), intermediate times to hydroxy-chloroquine (1.59), penicillamine (1.42), IM gold (1.40), and the longest time to azathioprine (2.27). Overall, excluding methotrexate, the average median survival time was 1.41 for 3998 patients. Median time on drug was 3.3 times greater for methotrexate than for all other drugs combined, averaging 4.61 years. Expressed in terms of ‘5-year survival,’ an average of 55.7% of patients remained on methotrexate 5 years after it was started. Better results noted here for methotrexate stand in contradistinction to short-term randomized controlled trials which find most SMARDs to be equal in efficacy. Other factors that may influence drug survival time include age, education level, psychological status, presence of fibromyalgia, rank order of SMARD administration, disease severity or corticosteroid administration. Studies can provide more information if they also measure clinical variables as well as time on drug, providing area-under-the-curve measurements.

Colorectal cancer: the natural history of disseminated disease - a review.

The natural history of disseminated colorectal cancer has been reviewed with reference to its dissemination to the liver. The overall median survival rate of patients with hepatic metastases from colorectal primary cancer has been shown to vary from three to 11 months, with an average median survival of 7 months. Many patients survive for three years and some patients for more than ten years without any specific treatment. This may therefore form a basis for comparison of uncontrolled reports of prolongation of survival due to treatment.