In lymphoma patients with resolved HBV infections, chemotherapy-induced HBV reactivation is not uncommon, but can be managed with regular monitoring of HBV DNA and prompt antiviral therapy. Serological breakthrough (i.e., reappearance of HBsAg) is the most important predictor of HBV-related hepatitis flare. (Hepatology 2014;59:2092-2100).

BackgroundFew randomized controlled trials (RCTs) report interventions targeting improvement of frailty status as an outcome.MethodsThis RCT enrolled 117 older adults (65-79 years of age) in Toufen, Taiwan who scored 3-6 on The Chinese Canadian Study of Health and Aging Clinical Frailty Scale Telephone Version and then score ≥1 on the Cardiovascular Health Study Phenotypic Classification of Frailty (CHS_PCF). With a two by two factorial design, subjects were randomly assigned to interventions (Exercise and nutrition, EN, n = 55 or problem solving therapy, PST, n = 57) or controls (non-EN, n = 62 or non-PST, n = 60). Educational booklets were provided to all. EN group subjects received nutrition consultation and a thrice-weekly exercise-training program while PST group subjects received 6 sessions in 3 month. Subjects were followed at 3, 6, and 12 months. Primary outcome was improvement of the CHS_PCF by at least one category (from pre-frail to robust, or from frail to pre-frail or robust) from baseline assessments. One hundred and one completed final assessments. Intention-to-treat analysis with the generalized estimating equation model was applied with adjustment for time and treatment-by-time interactions.ResultsMean age was 71.4 ± 3.7 years, with 59% females. Baseline characteristic were generally comparable between groups. EN group subjects had a higher improvement rate on the primary outcome than non-EN group subjects (45% vs 27%, adjusted p = 0.008) at 3 months, but not 6 or 12 months. They also had more increase of serum 25(OH) vitamin D level (4.9 ± 7.7 vs 1.2 ± 5.4, p = 0.006) and lower percentage of osteopenia (74% vs 89% p = 0.042) at 12 months. PST group subjects had better improvement (2.7 ± 6.1 vs 0.2 ± 6.7, p = 0.035, 6-month) and less deterioration (−3.5 ± 9.7 vs −7.1 ± 8.7, p = 0.036, 12-month) of dominant leg extension power than non-PST subjects. Some secondary outcomes were also improved in control groups (non-EN or non-PST). No adverse effects were reported.ConclusionsThe three-month EN intervention resulted in short-term (3-month) frailty status improvement and long-term effect on bone mineral density and serum vitamin D (12-month) among Taiwanese community-dwelling elders. The effect of PST was less pronounce.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov: EC0970301

The recent revision of the Declaration of Helsinki and the existence of many new therapies that affect survival or serious morbidity, and that therefore cannot be denied patients, have generated increased interest in active-control trials, particularly those intended to show equivalence or non-inferiority to the active-control. A non-inferiority hypothesis has historically been formulated in terms of a fixed margin. This margin was historically designed to exclude a 'clinically meaningful difference', but has become recognized that the margin must also be no larger than the assured effect of the control in the new study. Depending on how this 'assured effect' is determined or estimated, the selected margin may be very small, leading to very large sample sizes, especially when there is an added requirement that a loss of some specified fraction of the assured effect must be ruled out. In cases where it is appropriate, this paper proposes non-inferiority analyses that do not involve a fixed margin, but can be described as a two confidence interval procedure that compares the 95 per cent two-sided CI for the difference between the treatment and the control to a confidence interval for the control effect (based on a meta-analysis of historical data comparing the control to placebo) that is chosen to preserve a study-wide type I error rate of about 0.025 (similar to the usual standard for a superiority trial) for testing for retention of a prespecified fraction of the control effect. The approach assumes that the estimate of the historical active-control effect size is applicable in the current study. If there is reason to believe that this effect size is diminished (for example, improved concomitant therapies) the estimate of this historical effect could be reduced appropriately. The statistical methodology for testing this non-inferiority hypothesis is developed for a hazard ratio (rather than an absolute difference between treatments, because a hazard ratio seems likely to be less population dependent than the absolute difference). In the case of oncology, the hazard ratio is the usual way of comparing treatments with respect to time to event (time to progression or survival) endpoints. The proportional hazards assumption is regarded as reasonable (approximately holding). The testing procedures proposed are conditionally equivalent to two confidence interval procedures that relax the conservatism of two 95 per cent confidence interval testing procedures and preserve the type I error rate at a one-sided 0.025 level. An application of this methodology to Xeloda, a recently approved drug for the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancers, is illustrated. Other methodologies are also described and assessed - including a point estimate procedure, a Bayesian procedure and two delta-method confidence interval procedures. Published in 2003 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Poor glycemic control plays a role in impairing neutrophil phagocytosis of K1/K2 K. pneumoniae, but does not significantly affect the phagocytosis of non-K1/K2 K. pneumoniae. This study identifies poor glycemic control as a risk factor for susceptibility to serotype K1/K2 K. pneumoniae liver abscess and complicated endophthalmitis.

This study is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01267344). All patients gave written informed consent.