Association with LDE preserves the cytotoxicity of carmustine and markedly diminishes its side effects.

Pancreatic heterotopia is rare. Patients with pancreatic ectopia diagnosed by pathological study, whether asymptomatic or with mild symptoms, should be observed. Lesions incidentally detected during surgeries need to be removed by conservative procedures.

Background. There are concerns about growing barriers to cancer research. We explored the characteristics of and barriers to global clinical cancer research. Methods. The American Society of Clinical Oncology International Affairs Committee invited 300 selected oncologists with research experience from 25 countries to complete a Web‐based survey. Fisher's exact test was used to compare answers between participants from high‐income countries (HICs) and low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMICs). Barriers to clinical cancer research were ranked from 1 (most important) to 8 (least important). Mann‐Whitney's nonparametric test was used to compare the ranks describing the importance of investigated obstacles. Results. Eighty oncologists responded, 41 from HICs and 39 from LMICs. Most responders were medical oncologists (62%) at academic hospitals (90%). Researchers from HICs were more involved with academic and industry‐driven research than were researchers from LMICs. Significantly higher proportions of those who considered their ability to conduct academic research and industry‐driven research over the past 5 years more difficult were from HICs (73% vs. 27% and 70% vs. 30%, respectively). Concerning academic clinical cancer research, a lack of funding was ranked the most important (score: 3.16) barrier, without significant differences observed between HICs and LMICs. Lack of time or competing priorities and procedures from competent authorities were the second most important barriers to conducting academic clinical research in HICs and LMICs, respectively. Conclusion. Lack of funding, lack of time and competing priorities, and procedures from competent authorities might be the main global barriers to academic clinical cancer research.

Context Bariatric surgery has become the most effective method for producing weight loss in obese patients. The evaluation of improvement of comorbidities and changes in the quality of life are important outcome factors; however, it is necessary to investigate whether they persist over the long term. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted on 143 obese patients from our institution from February 2007 to February 2008. These patients were divided into five independent groups, one being a control group, plus four other groups with 1, 2, 3, 4 or more years following surgical Roux-en-Y gastric bypass with a silicon ring banded. quality of life forms and anthropometric measurements were performed and its scores correlated with social factors, weight loss success, and status of obesity-related conditions. Results For the group that was 1 year postoperative, a significant percentage of excess body weight loss (EBWL%) of 81.7% was observed. The groups with 2, 3, 4 or more years of post-surgical follow-up showed a EBWL decline, but without significant difference. The main comorbidity percentages in all patients who had the surgery was as follows: 69.7% for hypertension; 88.2% for diabetes mellitus; and 27.5% for arthropathy. There was a significant decrease in the rate for diabetes resolution (P = 0.035) observed by evolutionary assessment of the comorbidity resolution. The results obtained by BAROS were good, very good, or excellent in more than 96% of patients in all evaluations that were performed. The use of the Moorehead-Ardelt Questionnaire (M/A) demonstrated improvement in the quality of life. Moreover, the quality of life, when evaluated through SF-36, also showed improvement in all related areas after 1 year; however, after 4 years, improvement remained elevated only in the areas of general state of health and functional capacity. Conclusions The Roux-en-Y gastric bypass procedure was able to achieve EBWL of 81.7% after 1 year following surgery, remaining steady with little decline after this period. Important resolution of comorbidities, such as hypertension and diabetes, was also seen. Immediate surgical outcomes assessed by SF-36 and M/A in the area of quality of life were satisfactory, but the general state of health and functional capacity areas were sustained satisfactory at a later time only.

The increasing popularity and availability of electronic cigarettes (i.e., e-cigarettes) in many countries has promoted debate among health professionals as to what to recommend to their patients who might be struggling to stop smoking or asking about e-cigarettes. In the absence of evidence based guidelines for using e-cigarettes for smoking cessation, some health professionals have urged caution about recommending them due to the limited evidence of their safety and efficacy, while others have argued that e-cigarettes are obviously a better alternative to continued cigarette smoking and should be encouraged. The leadership of the IASLC asked the Tobacco Control and Smoking Cessation Committee to formulate a statement on the use of e-cigarettes by cancer patients to help guide clinical practice. Below is this statement, which we will update periodically as new evidence becomes available.