RESUMEN
On 18 April 2014, a case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection was laboratory confirmed in Athens, Greece in a patient returning from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Main symptoms upon initial presentation were protracted fever and diarrhoea, during hospitalisation he developed bilateral pneumonia and his condition worsened. During 14 days prior to onset of illness, he had extensive contact with the healthcare environment in Jeddah. Contact tracing revealed 73 contacts, no secondary cases had occurred by 22 April.
Asunto(s)
Infecciones por Coronavirus/diagnóstico , Coronavirus/aislamiento & purificación , Neumonía Viral/virología , Infecciones del Sistema Respiratorio/diagnóstico , Viaje , Anciano , Trazado de Contacto , Coronavirus/genética , Infecciones por Coronavirus/genética , Infecciones por Coronavirus/virología , Diarrea , Fiebre/etiología , Grecia , Humanos , Masculino , Infecciones del Sistema Respiratorio/virología , Reacción en Cadena de la Polimerasa de Transcriptasa Inversa , Arabia Saudita , Síndrome , Resultado del TratamientoRESUMEN
With 69 years being the median age at diagnosis in the United States, management of elderly patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has become a common problem faced by the oncology practitioner. We evaluated a biweekly administration of the combination regimen using docetaxel (Sanofi Aventis, Athens) and gemcitabine (Eli Lilly, Athens) in a phase II study (objective response rate, median survival, median response duration and safety). A total of 198 cycles were administered to 38 patients with advanced NSCLC with a median age of 72 years (range 65-85 years). Patients received docetaxel 80 mg/m(2 )and gemcitabine 1000 mg/m (2 )on days 1 and 14 of a 28-day cycle. Twenty patients achieved a partial response (PR) (20/34, 58.8%), 4 patients had stable disease (SD) (4/34, 11.7%) and 10 (10/34, 29.4%) had progressive disease (PD). The median time to disease progression was 3 months (range 1-11 months) with a mean survival of 7 months (range 1-29 months). Hematological and non-hematological toxic effects were generally mild to moderate and manageable: grade 3 neurotoxicity and grade 3 allergy occurred in 5 patients (13.1%) and 1 patient (2.6%), respectively. Peripheral neuropathy, mostly grades 1 and 2, was reported in 29 patients (76.3%), which was seen more frequently in patients >70 years of age (P=0.048).We conclude that the biweekly administration of a docetaxel/gemcitabine combination with G-CSF support constitutes a tolerable and convenient regimen for the treatment of elderly patients with advanced NSCLC, with efficacy similar to that reported in other regimens. Hence, this two-drug combination appears promising and warrants further evaluation.