Increasing response rates from physicians in oncology research: a structured literature review and data from a recent physician survey.

Although the physician survey has become an important tool for oncology-focused health services research, such surveys often achieve low response rates. This mini-review reports the results of a structured review of the literature relating to increasing response rates for physician surveys, as well as our own experience from a survey of physicians as to their referral practices for suspected haematologic malignancy in the United States. PubMed and PsychINFO databases were used to identify methodological articles assessing factors that influence response rates for physician surveys; the results were tabulated and reviewed for trends. We also analysed the impact of a follow-up telephone call by a physician investigator to initial non-responders in our own mailed physician survey, comparing the characteristics of those who responded before vs after the call. The systematic review suggested that monetary incentives and paper (vs web or email) surveys increase response rates. In our own survey, follow-up telephone calls increased the response rate from 43.7% to 70.5%, with little discernible difference in the characteristics of early vs later responders. We conclude that in addition to monetary incentives and paper surveys, physician-to-physician follow-up telephone calls are an effective method to increase response rates in oncology-focused physician surveys.

Probiotic properties of Lactobacillus salivarius and closely related Lactobacillus species.

Lactobacillus salivarius has been frequently isolated from the mammalian digestive tract and has been studied as a candidate probiotic. Research to date has described the immunomodulatory properties of the species in cell-lines, mice, rats and humans for the alleviation of intestinal disease and the promotion of host well-being. The ability of L. salivarius to inhibit pathogens and tolerate host antimicrobial defenses demonstrates the adaptation of this species to the gastrointestinal niche. L. salivarius is the best characterized of 25 species in the L. salivarius clade of the genus Lactobacillus. Several other species of this clade are candidate probiotics; however, their probiotic potential has not yet been exploited. This review summarizes the research defining the probiotic nature of L. salivarius, by focusing in particular on L. salivarius UCC118 as a representative strain. The emergent research detailing the probiotic potential of other species in this phylogenetic clade will also be discussed.

Marital status and survival following bladder cancer.

BACKGROUND: Marital status has been implicated as a prognostic factor in bladder cancer survival. However, few studies have explored potential mechanisms through which this might occur. METHODS: The study identified 19,982 bladder cancer patients from the SEER-Medicare database (1992-8) and constructed sex-specific Cox proportional hazard models to assess the relation between marital status and 5-year survival, while sequentially adding covariates to test possible mechanisms. RESULTS: Multivariable Cox analyses suggest that at every stage, married men had better survival than unmarried men independent of age, race, ecologic socioeconomic status, comorbidities, any or aggressive treatment (assessed separately), and accessing a teaching hospital (hazard ratio (HR) 0.80; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.74 to 0.87). Among women with stages II-IV bladder cancer, age and the presence of comorbid conditions explained the association between marital status and survival. However, among those diagnosed with stage I bladder cancer, none of the covariates explained the association between marital status and decreased mortality (fully adjusted HR 0.72; 95% CI 0.62 to 0.84). CONCLUSION: The lack of evidence of mediation through treatment, overall health, SES, or quality of healthcare institution among married men and women with stage I disease suggests they may be benefiting from something other than these factors, perhaps practical or social support.

An integrated proteomic approach to studying glomerular nephrotoxicity.

A single dose of puromycin aminonucleoside (PAN) given parenterally to rats induces ultrastructural glomerular changes and a nephrotic syndrome similar in many respects to human minimal change nephropathy. The exact aetiologies of both the human and the experimental syndromes are unknown, and are probably multifactorial. However, among the observed consequences in humans and rats is increased plasma protein excretion in urine, beginning in the latter typically 3-6 days after PAN administration. In view of this, two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2-D PAGE) has been used to profile urinary proteins during PAN-induced nephrotoxicity and subsequent recovery in the rat. In addition, urinary high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) profiles and high resolution proton nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy has been utilised to simultaneously detect toxin-induced changes in the relative concentrations of a number of metabolites. The proteomic approach, in conjunction with these other techniques, has the potential to provide significantly more mechanistic information than is provided readily by traditional clinical chemistry.