Adult ; Cyclophosphamide ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Prednisone ; therapeutic use ; Takayasu Arteritis ; drug therapy ; surgery

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the efficacy of cyclophosphamideplus, epirubicin, vincristine, prednisone plus etoposide and/or bleomycin, with or without rituximab (R±BEACOP) regimen in patient with poor-prognosis lymphoma.
 METHODS: A total of 89 patients, who had poor-prognosis lymphoma and received at least 1 cycle of R±BEACOP regimen during 2002 to 2012, were enrolled and analyzed by a retrospective study.
 RESULTS: The rate of complete response was 62.9% (56 patients). The efficacy of Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and T/NK NHL was better than that of other types of lymphoma. There was no significant difference in efficacy among the patients with different age, stage or international prognosis index (IPI) (all P>0.05).
 CONCLUSION R±BEACOP regimen is effective in some patients with poor prognosis, especially in HL patients. Thus, multicenter prospective study regarding the R±BEACOP regimen needs to be done to further test its efficacy.
Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; therapeutic use ; Bleomycin ; therapeutic use ; Cyclophosphamide ; therapeutic use ; Doxorubicin ; therapeutic use ; Etoposide ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Lymphoma ; classification ; diagnosis ; drug therapy ; Prednisone ; therapeutic use ; Procarbazine ; therapeutic use ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Rituximab ; therapeutic use ; Vincristine ; therapeutic use

Antirheumatic Agents ; therapeutic use ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; drug therapy ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Methotrexate ; therapeutic use ; Phytotherapy ; Prednisone ; therapeutic use

BACKGROUNDThalidomide is an immunomodulatory and anti-angiogenic drug that has shown promise in patients with myeloma. Trials comparing efficacy of standard melphalan and prednisone (MP) therapy with MP plus thalidomide (MPT) in transplant-ineligible or elderly patients with multiple myeloma (MM) have provided conflicting evidence. This meta-analysis aimed to determine the efficacy and toxicity of thalidomide in previously untreated elderly patients with myeloma.

METHODSMedline, the Cochrane Controlled Trials register, conference proceedings of the American Society of Hematology (1995-2014), the American Society of Clinical Oncology (1995-2014), and CBM, VIP, and CNKI databases were searched for randomized control trials with the use of the medical subject headings "MM " and "thalidomide ". Trials were assessed by two reviewers for eligibility. Meta-analysis was conducted using a fixed effects model. Sensitivity analysis was performed to test the robustness of the findings.

RESULTSOverall, seven trials were identified, covering a total of 1821 subjects. The summary hazard ratio (thalidomide vs. control) was 0.82 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.72-0.94) for overall survival (OS), and 0.65 (95% CI: 0.58-0.73) for progression-free survival, in favor of thalidomide treated group. The risk ratio of complete response with induction thalidomide was 3.48 (95% CI: 2.24-5.41). A higher rate of III/IV adverse events were observed in MPT arm compared with the MP arm. However, analysis of sub-groups administering anticoagulation as venous thromboembolism prophylaxis suggested no difference in relative risk of thrombotic events between two arms (RR = 1.47, 95% CI: 0.43-5.07, P = 0.54). Further analysis of trials on the treatment effects of MPT versus MP on adverse events-related mortality showed no statistical difference between two arms (RR = 1.24, 95% CI: [0.95-1.63], P = 0.120).

CONCLUSIONThalidomide appears to improve the OS of elderly and/or transplant-ineligible patients with MM when it is added to standard MP therapy.

Disease-Free Survival ; Humans ; Immunosuppressive Agents ; therapeutic use ; Melphalan ; therapeutic use ; Multiple Myeloma ; drug therapy ; mortality ; Prednisone ; therapeutic use ; Thalidomide ; therapeutic use

Clinical categories of Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) include single and multi-system disease. Pulmonary LCH is rare, which is an unusual interstitial lung disease with the characteristics of monoclonal proliferation and infiltration of Langerhans' cells to organs. We report our experience of a rare LCH case of multiple organs such as pulmonary and liver as the main clinical manifestation. The patient was treated with chemotherapy which included prednisone, vinblastine, methotrexate and 6-mercaptopurine for 52 weeks and follow up all along. The patient has a favorable clinical outcome.
Histiocytosis, Langerhans-Cell ; diagnosis ; drug therapy ; Humans ; Infant ; Liver ; pathology ; Lung ; pathology ; Male ; Mercaptopurine ; therapeutic use ; Methotrexate ; therapeutic use ; Prednisone ; therapeutic use ; Vinblastine ; therapeutic use

Ascorbic Acid ; therapeutic use ; Bandages ; Calcium Gluconate ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Levofloxacin ; therapeutic use ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prednisone ; therapeutic use ; Sarcoidosis ; drug therapy ; Skin Ulcer ; drug therapy

Biopsy ; Calcitriol ; therapeutic use ; Calcium ; therapeutic use ; Fanconi Syndrome ; diagnosis ; drug therapy ; Humans ; Immunosuppressive Agents ; therapeutic use ; Pilot Projects ; Prednisone ; therapeutic use

Antibodies, Monoclonal ; therapeutic use ; Cell Transformation, Neoplastic ; Dexamethasone ; therapeutic use ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Glucocorticoids ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Immunosuppressive Agents ; therapeutic use ; Lichen Planus, Oral ; diagnosis ; pathology ; therapy ; Phototherapy ; Prednisone ; therapeutic use ; Recombinant Fusion Proteins ; therapeutic use

BACKGROUND: To compare the efficacy and safety of dose-adjusted etoposide, prednisone, vincristine, cyclophosphamide, and doxorubicin plus rituximab (DA-EPOCH-R) with standard rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP) in Waldeyer's ring diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (WR-DLBCL) at a single institution. METHODS: This retrospective study included 115 newly diagnosed patients with WR-DLBCL, of whom 68 patients received R-CHOP, and 47 patients received DA-EPOCH-R as their first-line treatment. The baseline features of the two groups were well balanced using a 1:1 propensity score matching method, and a total of 84 cases were obtained, including respective 42 cases in the R-CHOP and DA-EPOCH-R groups, for further survival and prognosis analysis. The primary objectives included progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). RESULTS: During a median follow-up of 45 months, there were nine (21.4%) deaths in the R-CHOP group and two (4.8%) in the DA-EPOCH-R group. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed statistically significant improvements in PFS and OS in patients with DA-EPOCH-R compared with those treated with R-CHOP (log-rank test, P  = 0.025 and P  = 0.035, respectively). The 2-year PFS and OS rates in the DA-EPOCH-R group were 90.1% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 81.4-99.8%) and 95.2% (95% CI: 89.0-100.0%), respectively, and 80.5% (95% CI: 69.3-93.6%) and 90.5% (95% CI: 52.8-99.8%) in the R-CHOP group. Patients without B symptoms and elevated lactate dehydrogenase levels had a higher PFS in the DA-EPOCH-R group, with P values of 0.038 (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.11; 95% CI: 0.01-0.88) and 0.042 (HR: 0.19; 95% CI: 0.04-0.94), respectively. There were no statistically significant differences in clinical responses and treatment-related toxicities between the two groups. CONCLUSION Compared with patients received R-CHOP, those treated by DA-EPOCH-R had superior PFS, OS, and controlled toxicity in patients with WR-DLBCL.
Humans ; Rituximab/therapeutic use* ; Vincristine/therapeutic use* ; Retrospective Studies ; Prednisone/therapeutic use* ; Etoposide/therapeutic use* ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols/therapeutic use* ; Lymphoma, Large B-Cell, Diffuse/drug therapy* ; Cyclophosphamide/therapeutic use* ; Doxorubicin/therapeutic use*

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the efficacy of thalidomide in the treatment of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA).

METHODSTwelve children with JIA who did not respond to conventional treatment were administered with thalidomide (2 mg/kg daily). The symptoms, signs, and laboratory test results were compared before and after treatment. The thalidomide-related side effects were observed.

RESULTSThe average dosage of prednisone was reduced from 1.92 ± 0.16 mg/kg•d to 0.49 ± 0.42 mg/kg•d in the 12 patients 6 months after thalidomide treatment (P<0.01). Four patients did not need prednisone treatment any more. White blood cell count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C reactive protein (CRP) and serum ferritin (SF) significantly decreased after treatment in all of 12 patients (P<0.01). Hemoglobin level increased to normal in 8 patients after treatment (P<0.01). The number of affected joints decreased from 5 before treatment to zero to 2 after treatment in patients with polyarticular JIA (P<0.01). Signs of hip involvement and Schober's sign turned negative in enthesitis-related cases. No thalidomide-related side effects were observed.

CONCLUSIONSThalidomide is effective in the treatment of JIA in children who do not respond to conventional treatment.

Adolescent ; Arthritis, Juvenile ; blood ; drug therapy ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Prednisone ; therapeutic use ; Retrospective Studies ; Thalidomide ; therapeutic use