Criteria for eligibility to cisplatin in the curative treatment of head and neck cancer: Consensus opinion from a panel of experts.

Squamous-cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) is an important problem in Brazil, where epidemiological and socioeconomic features often create barriers to the implementation of combined modalities with curative potential. Cisplatin improves the efficacy of radiotherapy in the adjuvant treatment of localized SCCHN and in the definitive therapy of locally advanced disease. However, the addition of high-dose cisplatin to radiotherapy increases treatment toxicity and is not always warranted. A panel of experts convened in Sao Paulo, Brazil, for discussions and recommendations regarding the use of high-dose cisplatin in combination with radiotherapy in SCCHN. In addition to discussing their professional experience, panel members used the current literature to provide evidence-based, practical recommendations regarding sociodemographic or medical criteria that may preclude safe administration of cisplatin. It is hoped that the application of these recommendations in clinical practice may improve therapeutic results in Brazil and other countries with similar health-care environments.

Social choice functions: A tool for ranking variables involved in action plans against road noise.

Traffic noise is gaining importance in planning and operation of roads in developing countries, and particularly in Europe and Latin America. Many variables with different degrees of importance influence the perception of noise from roads. Thus, the problem of prioritizing road stretches for action against such noise is an important issue in environmental noise management. For example, it can be addressed using multicriteria methods. However, these methodologies require criteria or suitable variables to be ranked according to their relative importance. In the present study, for this ranking, a list of nine variables involved in the decision-making process (called "road stretch priority variables") was presented in the form of questionnaires to high-level experts from Andalusia, southern Spain. These experts ranked the variables by relevance. Using the same data, seven social choice functions (Plurality, Raynaud, Kemeny-Young, Copeland, Simpson, Schulze, and Borda) were used in order to rank the variables. The results indicate that the most important variables were those that take into account the parameters of greatest exposure for the citizens, followed by variables related to the intensity of the problem analyzed. The results show that a combination of the use of social choice functions on aggregated information from expert panels can provide a consensus for ranking priority variables related to road stretches.