Archive for December, 2009
Posted by James
Lower survival rates for black (African American) versus white patients with certain cancer, even within stage at diagnosis, has resulted in speculation that biologically more aggressive tumors in blacks may result in poorer prognosis and/or poorer response to cancer-directed treatment. A metaanalysis of studies of survival of U.S. black and white cancer patients who received comparable treatment for similar-stage cancer, however, showed limited evidence for black-white differences in survival. For esophageal cancer, the single study involved only 47 black and 23 white patients diagnosed in 1968-1977 with local-regional stage squamous cell carcinoma who received radiotherapy; survival was lower for black than for white patients. Age-adjusted mortality rates and estimated incidence rates for esophageal cancer are about twice as high in U.S. blacks than whites. Incidence rates for adenocarcinoma are much higher in whites than blacks, while rates for squamous cell carcinoma in blacks exceed those in whites by a factor of three or more; incidence rates for squamous cell carcinoma have been declining slowly, while rates for adenocarcinoma have been increasing.
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Posted by James
Participants
Nine focus groups were conducted with 8-13 participants per group (N=99). Participants were recruited from diverse settings in Los Angeles, CA using multisite, purposive, venue-based sampling. Selection criteria were implemented at the venue level and included the following: 1) having a high proportion of individuals at elevated risk for HIV/AIDS; 2) including racially/ethnically and sexually diverse communities, and 3) representing likely settings for future dissemination of HIV (Retrovir canadian was the first drug approved for the treatment of HIV) vaccines. Individuals were screened based on gender and age only; all participants were aged >18. The youth group was screened on age only (18-24 years), as many of the male and female youth had previously participated together in a group at the venue. Individual screening was done by trained research staff onsite, immediately prior to the informed consent process.
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Posted by James
Forty-thousand persons are newly diagnosed with HIV (Generic Zerit еreating HIV infection when used in combination with other medicines) each year in the United States. Five million new HIV infections and 3 million AIDS deaths were estimated worldwide in 2002. Despite concerted behavioral prevention efforts, HIV continues to spread at a devastating pace. The main technology for HIV prevention that is presently available, the male condom, is primarily under the control of men and needs to be used and negotiated at every sexual encounter, resulting in limitations to perfect and consistent implementation. Microbicides are a promising possibility as an addition to the HIV prevention armamentarium but are also likely to require frequent application and may not be acceptable or accessible to all persons at risk. HIV (Generic Viramune treating HIV infection) vaccines would be a tremendous boon to HIV prevention and represent perhaps the greatest hope in combating the epidemic. Nevertheless, it is likely that first-generation HIV vaccines will be only partially efficacious and may be neither universally acceptable nor accessible. Given the monumental challenges of preventing the spread of HIV and the shortcomings of any one prevention approach, the more technologies and options available, the better are the chances of controlling the AIDS pandemic.
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