Background Ovarian cancer is the sixth most common cancer and seventh most common cause of cancer death in women worldwide. Three-quarters of women present when the disease has spread throughout the abdomen (stage III or IV) and treatment consists of a combination of debulking surgery and platinum-based chemotherapy. Although initial responses to chemotherapy are good, most women will relapse and require further chemotherapy and will eventually develop resistance to chemotherapy. PARP (poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase) inhibitors, are a novel type of medication that works by preventing cancer cells from repairing their DNA once they have been damaged by other chemotherapy agents. It is not clear how PARP inhibitors compare to conventional chemotherapy regimens for the treatment of ovarian cancer, with respect to survival, side effects and quality of life. Objectives To determine the benefits and risks of PARP inhibitors for the treatment of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC).
The benefits of laparoscopic surgery to the patient are well recognised, however it is more physically demanding on the surgeon. A survey was sent to members of the British Society of Gynaecological Endoscopy to ascertain musculoskeletal symptoms and vertebral disc prolapse thought to occur as a result of undertaking laparoscopic surgery. A total of 19 (15%) participants were diagnosed with a vertebral disc prolapse, for which one-third needed definitive treatment. There was a statistically significant association with length of practice and numbers of hours worked per week, with the risk of disc prolapse. There was a multitude of other musculoskeletal symptoms reported. These findings suggest that gynaecological laparoscopic surgery carries a high personal health risk to the surgeon, which is likely to increase as the capability and superiority of laparoscopic techniques develop. There is an urgent need to explore further the ergonomic impact of laparoscopic work to enable improvements to be made.
This article explores contributors to the rapid growth of the annual UK alcohol abstinence challenge 'Dry January' and the benefits of registration. Evidence from four sources is presented: (i) registrations via the Dry January website, (ii) surveys of population-representative samples of drinkers, (iii) surveys of Dry January registrants and (iv) surveys of a control group of drinkers who wanted to change to their drinking behaviour but had not registered for Dry January. The data revealed that Dry January registrations increased 15-fold in 4 years. Participants reported that encouragement received from Dry January helped them to avoid drinking. Comparisons of Dry January registrants to the control group suggest that registering for Dry January reduced problematic drinking and enhanced the capacity to refuse alcohol. The four sources of data suggest that 'social contagion' and 'diffusion' have aided the growth of the awareness, appeal and practice of Dry January.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.