A systematic review of the impact of contemporary treatment modalities for cervical cancer on women's self-reported health-related quality of life.

PURPOSE: Given the high survival rate of cervical cancer patients, understanding women's health-related quality of life (HRQL) during and after treatment is of major clinical importance. We conducted a systematic review to synthesize all available evidence about the effects of each contemporary treatment modality for cervical cancer on all dimensions of women's HRQL, including symptoms, functioning, and global HRQL. METHODS: We searched four electronic databases from January 2000 to September 2019, cross-referenced and searched by author name for studies of patients treated for cervical cancer that reported patient-reported outcomes (PROs) before treatment and with at least one post-treatment measurement. Two independent reviewers applied inclusion and quality criteria and extracted findings. Studies were categorized by treatment to determine specific treatment effects on PROs. Results were narratively summarized. RESULTS: We found twenty-nine papers reporting 23 studies. After treatments with curative intent for early or locally advanced disease, lymphedema, diarrhea, menopausal symptoms, tight and shorter vagina, pain during intercourse, and sexual worries remained long-term problems; however, sexual activity improved over time. HRQL and psychological distress were impacted during treatment with also worsening of global HRQL but improved 3-6 months after treatment. In patients with metastatic or recurrent disease, pain improved during palliative treatment or remained stable, with no differences in global HRQL found over time. CONCLUSION: Whereas most symptoms worsen during treatment and improve in the first 3 months after completing treatment, symptoms like lymphedema, menopausal symptoms, and sexual worries develop gradually and persist after curative treatment. These findings can be used to inform clinical practice and facilitate communication and shared decision-making. More research is needed in very early cervical cancer and the impact of fertility sparing therapy on PROs.

Choice of thin-layer chromatographic systems for the routine screening for neutral drugs during toxicological analyses.

The efficiencies of fifteen thin-layer silica gel chromatographic systems for separating commonly encountered neutral drugs are compared. The discriminating powers of the systems are measured both individually and in combination. Chloroform-acetone (4:1) is found to be the best system. The combination of the ethyl acetate-methanol-ammonia (85:10:5) system with this gives the best pair of systems. A suitable sequence of spray reagents is also suggested. The chloroform-acetone (4:1) system is recommended as the best system to use when screening for both acidic and neutral drugs.

Choice of thin-layer chromatographic systems for the routine screening for acidic drugs during toxicological analyses.

The efficiencies of fifteen thin-layer silica gel chromatographic systems in separating commonly encountered acidic drugs are compared. The discriminating powers of the systems are measured both individually and in combination. Ethyl acetate and chloroform-methanol (9:1) are found to be the two best systems. The combination of the ethyl acetate-methanol-ammonia (85:10:5) system with either of these gives the best pair of systems. Various sequences of spray reagents are also examined.

Evidence for the simultaneous expression of alternatively spliced alkylpurine N-glycosylase transcripts in human tissues and cells.

We have isolated a novel human alkylpurine N-glycosylase (APNG) cDNA from a placental library by screening with an oligonucleotide based on the published sequence of the human liver cDNA encoding this protein. The nucleotide sequences of the two cDNAs were essentially identical, but the 5' untranslated region of the new sequence was truncated and the 5'-terminal 92 nucleotides of the novel cDNA were different, indicating the possibility of alternative transcripts. This region included a portion of the open reading frame, so that the predicted protein was truncated and the seven N-terminal amino acids differed from the published sequence for APNG. PCR amplification of reverse transcribed mRNA, using 5' primers unique to the two cDNAs and a common 3' primer showed that the alternative transcripts can be co-expressed in the same cells and tissues.