\n\nNineteen patients with histologically confirmed unresectable or recurrent gastric cancer with peritoneal dissemination were enrolled. Oral S-1 at 80 mg/m(2)/day was administered twice daily for 2 weeks, followed by 1 drug-free week. Docetaxel infusion at 40 mg/m(2) was performed on day 1, simultaneous with S-1 administration. The primary endpoints were overall survival (OS) and time to progression (TTP). The secondary endpoints were the response rates and safety status.\n\nPatients received a median of 4 cycles of the S-1 and

docetaxel regimen (range 1-43). The disease control rate was 73.7 % (14/19). Median overall survival was 459 days (15.3 months), while median time to progression selleck inhibitor was 212 days (7.1 months). Neutropenia was the most common type of toxicity (n = 7, 36.8 %).\n\nCombination chemotherapy with S-1 and docetaxel is a tolerable and effective treatment for advanced or recurrent gastric cancer patients with peritoneal dissemination.”
“Objective. We previously showed that Adamantiades-Behcet’s disease (A-BD) is associated with a lower incidence of malignancy compared with the general population. Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) has been shown to play a role

AZD7762 in cartilage regeneration and is increased in patients with A-BD. We also found 2 functional polymorphisms of the TGF-beta pathway, TGFBRI*6A and TGFBI*CC, that are associated with risk of malignancy. We tested whether incidence of these polymorphisms would differ in patients Staurosporine with A-BD compared with healthy controls of similar age and geographic location.\n\nMethods. We performed a case-control study including 139 cases and 128 controls from Greece. Cases and controls were genotyped for TGFBRI*6A and TGFBI*CC.\n\nResults. We found that cases had lower incidence

of TGFBRI*6A compared with controls (11.3% vs 13.3%, respectively). Also, the incidence of TGFBI*CC was lower in cases than controls (24.6% vs 27.0%, respectively). These differences were not statistically significant.\n\nConclusion. Although there is a suggestion that the lower incidence of TGFBRI*6A in A-BD patients may play a protective role against development of malignancy, larger studies would be needed to fully evaluate the role of TGF-beta and its polymorphisms in A-BD. (First Release Oct 15 2008: J Rheumatol 2008:35:2376-8; doi: 10.3899/jrheum.080676)”
“Based on the analysis of more than 270 patents and scientific articles, this state-of-the-art review presents Ganoderma lucidum, a medicinal basidiomycete mushroom with immunomodulatory and anti-cancer effects. Cultivation methods for the commercial production of G. lucidum fruit bodies and mycelia are summarized, with main active compounds of triterpenoids, polysaccharides, and proteins, often found in forms of proteoglycans or glycopeptides.