A Vickers

..Information on conditions, interventions, methods, results and conclusions was extracted using a pretested form and summarized descriptively...

..We use the cognitive emotion of regret to serve as a link between systems 1 and 2 and to reformulate DCA...

..However, the association between PSA and cancer probably depends on a man's recent screening history...

..To study a commonly used Astragalus-based herbal formula previously found effective in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) on the pharmacokinetics of docetaxel in patients with NSCLC...

..Unfortunately, contemporary randomized trials have become increasingly expensive, complex and burdened by regulation, so much so that many trials are of doubtful feasibility...

..However, the literature clearly shows that simplistic application of PSA velocity cutoffs is not of value for early detection of prostate cancer...

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..We aimed to determine the effect size of acupuncture for 4 chronic pain conditions: back and neck pain, osteoarthritis, chronic headache, and shoulder pain...

..Data from the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial were used and simple decision analytic techniques were applied to compare different eligibility criteria for a screening trial...

..Although there is randomized evidence that radical prostatectomy improves survival, there are few data on how benefit varies by baseline risk...

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..Men with the top 10% of PSAs at a young age (PSA ~1.5 ng/ml or higher below 50) are at particularly high risk and should be subject to intensive monitoring...

..We aimed to determine the feasibility of implementing such a trial for radical prostatectomy...

..Basic advice on file preparation is provided along with procedural guidance on prospective and retrospective publication of raw data, with an emphasis on randomised controlled trials...

..Data from such studies are subject to what has been termed "verification bias". We evaluated statistical methods for verification bias correction when there are few false negatives...

..We aimed to determine whether this association holds for advanced cancers, defined as clinical stage T3 or higher, or skeletal metastasis at the time of the cancer diagnosis...

..Information on conditions, interventions, methods, results and conclusions was extracted using a pre-tested form and summarized descriptively...

..Information on conditions, interventions, methods, results and conclusions was extracted using a pretested form and summarized descriptively...

..The Acupuncture Trialists' Collaboration, a group of trialists, statisticians and other researchers, was established to synthesize patient-level data from several recently published large, high-quality trials...

..Decisions about the appropriate number of assessments to use can be based on statistical properties derived from simple formulae...

..In many cases, it is preferable to use specific symptoms, such as pain or fatigue, as opposed to more generic quality of life scales...

..We aimed to assess the published evidence for the clinical utility of PSA dynamics in this population...

..Most critically, decision curve analysis can be applied directly to a data set, and does not require the sort of external data on costs, benefits and preferences typically required by traditional decision analytic techniques...

..In current U.S. practice, however, many men who are screened are unlikely to benefit, most men found to have low-risk cancers are referred for unnecessary curative treatment, and much treatment is given at low-volume centers...

..The authors compare and contrast the diagnostic and risk prediction approaches and attempt to identify the types of medical problem to which each is best suited...

..We set out to determine whether a multivariable model including four kallikrein forms (total, free, and intact PSA, and human kallikrein 2 (hK2)) could predict prostate biopsy outcome in previously unscreened men with elevated total PSA...

..As such, it is doubly important that clinical research is conducted by those with appropriate training, statistical help, and institutional support...

..In the current study, the experimental designs and statistical methods used in contemporary molecular marker studies are reviewed, particularly with respect to whether these evaluated a marker's clinical value...

..It also suggests that little progress has been made in the conventional treatment of myeloma. This is highly misleading and may lead to cancer patients rejecting effective treatments...

..Surgical margin status is commonly used as an end point for surgical learning. We examined the surgical margin learning curve and investigated whether surgical margins are a good marker for oncological outcome...

..We previously demonstrated that there is a learning curve for open radical prostatectomy. We sought to determine whether the effects of the learning curve are modified by pathologic stage...

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..We analyzed the surgical learning curve for prostate cancer recurrence after radical prostatectomy...

..Patient burden can be reduced by limiting the number of hospital visits and avoiding excessive numbers of questionnaires...

..The information given to patients during any initial contact should be as simple and general as possible: presenting too much information too soon can be overwhelming and off-putting...

..The authors aimed to model the effects of the Adjuvant! decision aid on expected survival in women with early stage breast cancer. PATIENTS and..

..Here we aim to characterise the learning curve for laparoscopic radical prostatectomy...

..Data include markers of cancer severity (stage, grade and prostate-specific antigen level), cancer outcome, and surgeon variables such as training and experience...

..We hypothesized that the risk of prostate cancer on biopsy for a given PSA level is affected by identifiable characteristics of the cohort under study...

..Logistical problems associated with using paper questionnaire limit their use in the clinic. We have implemented a web-interface ("STAR") for patient-reported outcomes after radical prostatectomy...

..We determined whether prostate specific antigen velocity could predict repeat biopsy results in men with persistently increased prostate specific antigen after initial negative biopsy...

..Data on urinary and erectile outcomes, however, are lacking...

..We aimed to replicate our findings in a large, independent, representative, population-based cohort...

..Although this model accurately predicts the result of biopsy in unscreened men, its properties for men with a history of PSA screening have not been fully characterized...

..Simple comparison of results before and after surgical modification may be confounded by the surgical learning curve. We developed a statistical method applicable to analyzing before/after surgical studies...

..Such decision analytic techniques hold the promise of determining whether clinical implementation of prediction models would do more good than harm...

..These two steps often lead to discordant conclusions...

..Clinicians who believe that it is unnecessary to prevent all cancers, but that preventing those readily detectable by screening would be desirable, would be best off recommending finasteride only to a high-risk subgroup...

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..It has been suggested that changes in prostate-specific antigen (PSA) over time (ie, PSA velocity [PSAV]) aid prostate cancer detection. Some guidelines do incorporate PSAV cut points as an indication for biopsy...

..Such a design asks whether patients treated by the new agent are doing better than expected; if so, this suggests that the agent should be tested further in phase III trials...

..Although our findings have no direct clinical implications, studies investigating biological variables as predictors of outcome after curative resection of cancer should consider the impact of surgeon-specific factors...

..We sought to determine the proportion of phase II trials that require historical data to establish the null and to determine how these historical estimates were derived...

..Placebo-controlled trials have high internal validity but may be difficult to apply to clinical practice; the situation is reversed for trials without placebo control...

..To determine whether improvement in postchemotherapy fatigue following acupuncture treatment is substantial enough to warrant a controlled trial...

..There may be several clinically and scientifically reasonable alternative combinations of subscales for the primary outcome measure...

..Each trial used statistical methods that did not adjust for baseline pain scores and were thus of suboptimal power. The objective of this study is to reanalyze the trials using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA)...

..Computer randomization can easily incorporate extensions of randomization, such as blocking, stratification, and minimization, which can help ensure balance between groups...

..Given that ANOVA is easily misapplied in the analysis of randomized trials, alternative approaches such as regression methods should be considered in preference...

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..The objective of this study was to review systematically the methodologies applied in clinical trials of unconventional treatments specifically for cancer...

..The rationale for its use in influenza comes from the homoeopathic principle of 'let like be cured by like'. This medicine is manufactured from wild duck heart and liver, which are said to be reservoirs for influenza viruses...

..In the current study, the authors evaluated whether time from biopsy to radical prostatectomy (RP) was predictive of postoperative biochemical disease recurrence (BCR)...

..Increasing the use of phase I methodology would ensure a more systematic development of botanicals as anticancer agents. This would likely increase the chance that at least one such agent would be proven to extend lives...

..To determine the effects of a policy of "use acupuncture" on headache, health status, days off sick, and use of resources in patients with chronic headache compared with a policy of "avoid acupuncture."..

..Further research might usefully examine the value of global assessment for imputation of missing data in a variety of different settings...

..There has been little guidance in the literature as to selecting the optimal number of repeated measures...

..A significant constituency within CAM, however, appears to have substantive doubts about EBM and some are expressly hostile...

..The statistical power of each method was determined for a hypothetical randomized trial under a range of correlations between baseline and post-treatment scores...

..Such complementary therapies are increasingly provided at mainstream cancer centres...

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..There are considerable economic and ethical advantages to reducing sample size by a third; however, ANCOVA is statistically complex and expert statistical help is required...

..Phase I and II methodology is also problematic: botanicals have low toxicity and are unlikely to cause rapid tumor regression. There is currently minimal regulation of botanical medicines...

..The objective of this study was to determine whether standard deviations (SDs) used in sample size calculations are smaller than those found in the resulting study sample, thereby leading to underpowered studies...

..Here we investigate the properties of our panel in men subject to clinical work-up before biopsy...

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..To prospectively compare in a contemporary and contemporaneous series the positive surgical margin (PSM) rate between laparoscopic (LRP) and retropubic (RRP) radical prostatectomy at the same institution...

..In the current study, the authors attempted to surmount the deficiencies of previous surveys and elicit information regarding the use of alternative treatments of cancer worldwide...

..We describe here the results obtained using this s.c. immunization model with seven botanicals purported to have immune stimulant effects...

..We sought to determine whether an acupuncture technique specially developed for a surgical oncology population (intervention) reduces pain or analgesic use after thoracotomy compared with a sham acupuncture technique (control)...

..No clinical toxicity was observed. The therapeutic efficacy and lack of toxicity of this combination supports further investigation into its clinical utility...

..Similarly, the STX transcript level of posttreatment marrows was also highly prognostic of outcome (PFS, p = 0.001; OS, p < 0.0005). We conclude that STX mRNA has potential clinical utility as a molecular marker of metastatic NB...

..In a nonrandomized prospective fashion we compared the oncological, functional and morbidity outcomes after laparoscopic and retropubic radical prostatectomy...

..Given the favorable efficacy and toxicity profile of oral beta- D-glucan treatment, the role of natural products that contain beta-glucan in cancer treatment as an enhancer of the effect of mAb therapy deserves further study...

..We assessed the effect of radical prostatectomy (RP) and external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) on distant metastases (DM) rates in patients with localized prostate cancer treated with RP or EBRT at a single specialized cancer center...

..We determined if the association of age and perioperative outcomes differed between nephrectomy types...

..We evaluated patients undergoing post-chemotherapy retroperitoneal lymph node dissection for nonseminomatous germ cell tumors to determine predictors of teratomatous elements in the retroperitoneum...

..To determine the immediate and long-term effects of true acupuncture versus sham acupuncture on hot flash frequency in women with breast cancer...

..We conclude that CCND1 has potential clinical utility as a novel molecular marker of MRD in the bone marrow of patients with metastatic NB...

..Acupuncture is useful complementary therapy in cancer care. Its integration into regular oncology practice can improve the supportive care of cancer patients...

..This surgical experience provides a contemporary foundation as new targeted therapeutic agents are integrated into the neoadjuvant or adjuvant treatment of locally advanced and metastatic renal cancer...

..0.715, p=0.039). In this setting, hK2 did not add diagnostic information. Measurements of individual forms of suPAR and PSA isoforms contributed significantly to discrimination of men with PCa from those with no evidence of malignancy...

..However, the overall risk of recurrence is low and is not clearly associated with overall survival. The data do not support routine intraoperative frozen sections to assess ureteral involvement...

..APA preservation can be undertaken without compromise to the oncological integrity of the laparoscopic radical prostatectomy...

..In smokers, such lesions should raise concern for lung cancer...

..We evaluated the manner in which the LND was applied at NU, the patterns of lymph node (LN) involvement and the preoperative variables that could identify patients at high risk for lymph node metastasis (LNM)...

..We estimated the learning curve of laparoscopic radical prostatectomy for positive surgical margins compared to a published learning curve for open radical prostatectomy...

..Our objective was to determine preoperative risk factors and the association of ipsilateral degree of neurovascular bundle dissection (intraoperative factor) with side-specific PSMs in these patients...

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