This study examined whether exposure to nitrate in drinking water is associated with increased risk for bladder cancer by conducting a comprehensive literature research. A meta-analysis was performed with and without adjustment for confounding factors. Three groups (reference, intermediate and high groups) were established in terms of different nitrate concentrations in each included study. Separate relative risk measures were calculated for intermediate and high groups. Heterogeneity was assessed by using the Q statistics. Publication bias was evaluated by Egger's and Begg's test. Quality assessment for studies was performed by using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale. Two cohorts, two case-controls, and one ecological study were included in this study. The adjusted data showed that the combined risk ratios (RRs) were 1.13 (95% CI: 0.81 to 1.57) and 1.27 (95% CI: 0.75 to 2.15) for intermediate and high groups respectively. For unadjusted data, the corresponding RRs were 1.18 (95% CI: 0.89 to 1.57) and 1.29 (95% CI: 0.81 to 2.07). Sensitivity test indicated that results were significantly underestimated when Ward's study was included. No significant publication bias was found. There was heterogeneity among studies. The results suggested that there was no sufficient evidence that nitrate in drinking water is associated with increased risks for bladder cancer.

Objective To investigate 13 high-risk types of HPV (HR HPV) infection rates in women with different grades of cervical lesions.Methods A total of 350 women, who were hospitalized in the department of gynecology in Bao′an Maternity & Child health hospital, were enrolled for the study.TCT technology was used to evaluate the cervical epithelium.The group were divided according to the cytology results.Multiplex real time PCR (mRT PCR) was used to detect the viral loads.HR HPV infection rate of different groups were analyzed using χ2 test or Fisher exact test.HR HPV viral loads of patients in different grades of cervical lesion groups were compared using Kruskal-Wallis or Wilcoxon test, and the age distribution of HR HPV positive group and negative group was analyzed by using Wilcoxon test.Results The HR HPV infection rates of NILM, ASCUS, LSIL, HSIL were 3.4% (10/295), 20.0% (7/35), 78.6% (11/14) and 100.0% (6/6), respectively.HR HPV positivity in NILM was lower than ASCUS (χ2=14.43,P<0.01) and LSIL (χ2=107.69,P<0.01), HR HPV positivity in ASCUS was lower than LSIL (χ2=14.76,P<0.01). The median of HR HPV viral loads in NILM, ASCUS, LSIL and HSIL were 4.10 (3.38-6.27), 5.33 (3.63-6.66), 5.77 (4.01-7.01) and 5.58 (4.19-5.85) respectively (copies/ml,lg).Combined ASCUS, LSIL and HSIL groups into cervical lesion group, HR HPV viral load of which was higher than that of NILM (U=43.0, P<0.05).The median Ages of HR HPV positive group and negative group were 36 and 33, respectively.No statistical significance was found between them (U=4 544, P>0.05).Conclusions The present study revealed that HR HPV infection was related to cervical lesion, but there was no correlation between viral load and cervical lesion grade. In additional, no difference in age distribution was found between HR HPV positive group and negative group.

Objective To evaluate the contraception efficacy, mode of bleeding, side effects and other positive effects of drospirenone-ethinylestradiol (Yasmin) in healthy Chinese women. Methods This was a multicenter, randomized, control study of 768 healthy Chinese women who consulted about contraception. The subjects were randomized into Yasmin group (30 μg ethinylestradiol plus 3 mg drospirenone, 573 cases) or desogestrel group (30 μg ethinylestradiol plus 150 μg desogestrel, 195 cases) with the ratio of 3: 1. Each individual was treated for 13 cycles. Further visits were required at cycle 4, cycle 7, cycle 10 and cycle 13 of treatment. Weight, height, body mass index were evaluated at each visit. The menstrual distress questionnaire (MDQ) was given to the women at baseline, visit 3 (cycle 7) and visit 5 (after cycle 13). Results The values of basal features were similar between two groups (P> 0.05). The Pearl index (method failure) of Yasmin was 0. 208/hundred women year which was lower than that of desogestrel (0. 601/hundred women year). The mode of bleeding was similar between two groups after trial without showing any significant difference. According to MDQ subscale, the improvement of water retention and increasing appetite during inter-menstrual period and water retention and general well-being during menstrual period in the Yasmin group ( -0. 297, -0. 057, 0. 033, 0. 150 respectively) was more obvious than that in the desogestrel group ( - 0. 108, 0. 023, 0. 231, - 0. 023 respectively) with a significant difference (P < 0. 05 ). Some other values which improved in beth two groups, especially the improvement of breast tenderness and pain and skin abnormality in Yasmin group (18.0%, 89/494; 12. 6%, 62/494) was more distinct than that in desogestrel group (11.3%, 19/168; 5.4%, 9/168). The mean weight increased in desogestrel group (0. 57 kg) while it decreased in Yasmin group ( -0. 28 kg) with a significant difference (P < 0. 01 ). Conclusions Both Yasmin and desogestrel have good efficacy on contraception and similar modes of menstrual bleeding. Yasmin is better than desogestrel in terms of weight control and premenstrual syndrome of oral contraceptive.

OBJECTIVETo examine the significance of individual risk on diabetes to subjects who underwent diabetes screening.

METHODS2003 asymptomatic diabetes subjects with high-risk factors of diabetes as family history, obesity, hypertension, and/or dyslipidemia, fetal giant history were screened. 5362 subjects having no risk factors but from the same community were allocated as controls.

RESULTSThere were 131 (6.54%) diabetes identified in the screening group and 1547 (77.23%) subjects having 1 risk factor, 387 (19.27%) having 2 risk factors, 70 (3.49%) having 3 or more risk factors. There were 96 (1.79%) diabetes identified in the control group. Compared with control group, the OR (95% CI) value was 2.68 (2.20-3.25) after adjusted on age among the high risk group. The OR value of those having 1 risk factor was 2.89, but these having 3 or more risk factors increased to 4.68.

CONCLUSIONThe relation between the risk of high-risk group with diabetes and the number of risk factors of diabetes presented positive correlation. Early and regular screening for diabetes was essential in these individuals with high-risk factors.

Adult ; Aged ; China ; epidemiology ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; epidemiology ; etiology ; genetics ; Family Health ; Female ; Glucose Tolerance Test ; Humans ; Hyperlipidemias ; epidemiology ; Hypertension ; epidemiology ; Male ; Mass Screening ; Middle Aged ; Obesity ; epidemiology ; Odds Ratio ; Prevalence ; Risk Factors ; Smoking

This study examined whether exposure to nitrate in drinking water is associated with increased risk for bladder cancer by conducting a comprehensive literature research. A meta-analysis was performed with and without adjustment for confounding factors. Three groups (reference, intermediate and high groups) were established in terms of different nitrate concentrations in each included study. Separate relative risk measures were calculated for intermediate and high groups. Heterogeneity was assessed by using the Q statistics. Publication bias was evaluated by Egger's and Begg's test. Quality assessment for studies was performed by using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale. Two cohorts, two case-controls, and one ecological study were included in this study. The adjusted data showed that the combined risk ratios (RRs) were 1.13 (95% CI: 0.81 to 1.57) and 1.27 (95% CI: 0.75 to 2.15) for intermediate and high groups respectively. For unadjusted data, the corresponding RRs were 1.18 (95% CI: 0.89 to 1.57) and 1.29 (95% CI: 0.81 to 2.07). Sensitivity test indicated that results were significantly underestimated when Ward's study was included. No significant publication bias was found. There was heterogeneity among studies. The results suggested that there was no sufficient evidence that nitrate in drinking water is associated with increased risks for bladder cancer.
Drinking Water ; adverse effects ; Humans ; Nitrates ; adverse effects ; Risk Factors ; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms ; etiology

OBJECTIVETo analyze initial response rate of radiotherapy and chemotherapy for early nasal NK/T-cell lymphoma, and its prognostic factors.

METHODSFrom January 1996 to December 2002, 116 patients with nasal NK/T-cell lymphoma were diagnosed pathologically. Immunophenotyping was performed in 50 cases. According to Ann Arbor staging classification, 95 patients were stage I(E) and 21 II(E). Of the 116 patients, 22 received radiotherapy alone, 6 chemotherapy alone and 88 combined modality therapy (CMT), including, 41 radiotherapy followed by chemotherapy, and 47 chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy.

RESULTSThe 5-year overall survival (OS) rate and disease free survival (DFS) rate for all patients was 74.1% and 61.5%, respectively. For stage I(E) and II(E) patients, the 5-year OS rate was 75.1% and 68% (P = 0.45), and DFS rate was 64.7% and 47.8%, respectively (P = 0.07). The 5 year OS rate and DFS rate were 86.5% and 71.5% for patients who achieved complete response (CR), and 18.4% and 17.2% for those who didn't, respectively (P = 0.000). Sixty-three patients were treated with radiotherapy alone or radiotherapy followed by chemotherapy, while 53 with chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy or chemotherapy alone. The CR rate for radiotherapy was 74.6% while for chemotherapy was 20.8% (P = 0.000). The 5-year OS rate and DFS rate were 76.8% and 65.4% for radiotherapy with or without chemotherapy, and 78.8% and 61.8% for chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy (P > 0.05). Multivariate analysis by COX regression showed that CR rate was the only independent prognostic factor.

CONCLUSIONThe CR rate of radiotherapy is much higher than that of conventional chemotherapy. Addition of chemotherapy to radiotherapy do not improve the survival of patients with early stage nasal NK/T-cell lymphoma. Radiotherapy is the primary treatment for stage I and II nasal NK/T-cell lymphoma.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Child ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Drug Therapy ; methods ; statistics & numerical data ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Kaplan-Meier Estimate ; Lymphoma, Extranodal NK-T-Cell ; therapy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Nasal Cavity ; Nose Neoplasms ; therapy ; Prognosis ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Radiotherapy ; methods ; statistics & numerical data ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

Child ; Child, Preschool ; Enterocolitis, Neutropenic ; chemically induced ; diagnosis ; therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma ; drug therapy

OBJECTIVETo study the effect of anti-CD25 monoclonal antibody (mAb) combined with antithymocytic globulin (ATG) in the treatment of severe steroid-resistant acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) after unrelated donor hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (UD-HSCT).

METHODSTen leukemic patients who developed severe steroid-resistant aGVHD during UD-HSCT received a standard dose of anti-CD25 mAb and a medium or low dose of ATG. The effect on aGVHD control, patients' survival, infection and relapse after the therapy were analyzed.

RESULTSEight of the 10 patients had complete remission and 2 had partial remission after the combined therapy. In the 8 patients with complete remission, 2 developed third degree aGVHD 3-3.5 months after the transplantation, and were managed with a second combined therapy to successfully achieve complete remission. In the total of 12 combined treatments, the median time of therapeutic effect was 5 days (3-10 days); the median complete relief time was 12 days (8-30 days) in the 10 cases. Among the 8 patients who survived for more than 3 months, 7 were diagnosed to have chronic GVHD including 4 with extensive chronic GVHD. No relapse of leukemia was found in these patients. Five patients survived the 2-year-long follow-up after the transplantation with survival time over 2 years; of the 5 patients who died within 2 years after the transplantation, 1 survived for more than one year, and 4 for less than 6 months. Two patients died from invasive fungal infection, two from aGVHD and one from cGVHD-induced multiple organ failure.

CONCLUSIONAnti-CD25 mAb combined with ATG has good therapeutic effect on steroid-resistant sever aGVHD and may help achieve high complete remission rate and long-term survival in leukemic patients after UD-HSCT.

Acute Disease ; Adult ; Antibodies, Monoclonal ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Antilymphocyte Serum ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Drug Resistance ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Female ; Graft vs Host Disease ; drug therapy ; prevention & control ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; adverse effects ; Humans ; Interleukin-2 Receptor alpha Subunit ; immunology ; Male ; Prednisone ; therapeutic use ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo compare the effect of unrelated donor bone marrow (BM) transplantation and peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) transplantation in light of hemopoietic reconstitution, immune reconstitution, infection, incidence of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and other complications in patients with leukemia.

METHODSThe clinical outcomes of 16 patients receiving unrelated PBSC graft mobilized by granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) were compared with 30 patients receiving unrelated BM transplantation.

RESULTSEngraftment was achieved in 97.83% of the total patients. Compared with BM transplantation group, PBSC graft contained significantly more nucleated cells (P=0.000), resulting in a significantly shorter time-to-neutrophil (16.21-/+3.09 vs 12.81-/+4.15 days, P=0.003) and platelet engraftment (20.31-/+7.19 vs 15.50-/+6.91 days, P=0.035). T cell reconstitution differed little between the two groups at different time points after transplantation. The incidences of early-stage infection were 37.50% and 50.00% (P=0.644) in the PBSC and BM groups, respectively. In PBSC and BM groups, the incidences of grades I to IV acute GVHD (aGVHD) were 56.25% and 70.00% (P=0.456), 18.75% and 13.79% (P=0.661) for grades III to IV aGVHD, and 30.77% and 36.36% (P=0.413) for chronic GVHD (cGVHD), respectively. The nonrelapse transplant-related mortality (TRM) rates were 18.75% in PBSC group and 33.33% in BM group (P=0.295). The relapse occurred in 18.75% and 6.90% (P=0.226) of the patients in the two groups, respectively, and the 2-year disease-free survival (DFS) rates were 62.19% and 56.23% (P=0.615), respectively.

CONCLUSIONG-CSF-mobilized PBSCs allow more rapid engraftment in unrelated donor recipients in comparison with conventional BM, but T cell reconstitution and the incidence of infection between the two groups differ little, nor are there significant differences in the incidence or severity of aGVHD and cGVHD, nonrelapse TRM or 2-year DFS rates between the two groups.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Bone Marrow Transplantation ; methods ; Female ; Graft vs Host Disease ; pathology ; Humans ; Leukemia ; surgery ; Male ; Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Transplantation ; methods ; Tissue Donors ; Transplantation Conditioning ; Transplantation, Homologous ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo compare the hemopoietic reconstitution, immune reconstitution, infection, incidence of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and clinical outcome between unrelated donor peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) transplantation and bone marrow (BM) transplantation for leukemias.

METHODSThe clinical results of 21 leukemia patients receiving G-CSF mobilized PBSC graft from unrelated donors were compared with that of 32 patients receiving unrelated BM transplants.

RESULTSCompared with BM grafts, the PBSC graft contained significantly more nucleated cells (P = 0.000), and resulted in a significantly shorter time-to-neutrophil (12.43 +/- 3.67 vs 16.16 + 2.99 days) and platelet engraftment (14.67 +/- 6.19 vs 21.23 +/- 8.25 days), (P = 0.000 and 0.003, respectively). T cell reconstitution between the two groups differed little after transplantation. The incidences of early-stage infection (42.86% vs 53.13%), the probabilities of acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) (61.90% vs 71.88%), the grades III to IV aGVHD (23.81% vs 15.63%), the chronic GVHD (47.06% vs 43.48%) and the probabilities of relapse (6.90% vs 12.50%) between PBSC and BM groups all has no statistical significance (NS). The 2-year disease free survival (DFS) rates of the two groups were (50.14 +/- 12.00) % and (59.81 +/- 8.99)%, respectively also have no NS.

CONCLUSIONG-CSF-mobilized unrelated donor PBSCs engraft more rapidly in the recipients as compared with conventional BM grafts. The T cell reconstitution, the incidence of infection, the incidence and severity of aGVHD and cGVHD, and the 2-year DFS rates between the two groups all have no significant differences.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Bone Marrow Transplantation ; methods ; Disease-Free Survival ; Female ; Humans ; Leukemia ; surgery ; Male ; Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Transplantation ; methods ; Tissue Donors ; Transplantation Conditioning ; Transplantation, Homologous ; Treatment Outcome