Topic Review
Oncolytic Viruses in Controlled Trials
Oncolytic virotherapy is a promising antitumor therapeutic strategy. It is based on the ability of viruses to selectively kill cancer cells and induce host antitumor immune responses. However, the clinical outcomes of oncolytic viruses (OVs) vary widely. Therefore, we performed a meta-analysis to illustrate the efficacy and safety of oncolytic viruses. The Cochrane Library, PubMed, and EMBASE databases were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published up to January 31, 2020. The data for objective response rate (ORR), overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), and adverse events (AEs) were independently extracted by two investigators from 11 studies that met the inclusion criteria. In subgroup analyses, the objective response rate benefit was observed in patients treated with oncolytic DNA viruses (odds ratio (OR) = 4.05; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.96–8.33; p = 0.0002), but not in those treated with oncolytic RNA viruses (OR = 1.00, 95% CI: 0.66–1.52, p = 0.99). Moreover, the intratumoral injection arm yielded a statistically significant improvement (OR = 4.05, 95% CI: 1.96–8.33, p = 0.0002), but no such improvement was observed for the intravenous injection arm (OR = 1.00, 95% CI: 0.66–1.52, p = 0.99). Among the five OVs investigated in RCTs, only talimogene laherparepvec (T-VEC) effectively prolonged the OS of patients (hazard ratio (HR), 0.79; 95% CI: 0.63–0.99; p = 0.04). None of the oncolytic virotherapies improved the PFS (HR = 1.00, 95% CI: 0.85–1.19, p = 0.96). Notably, the pooled rate of severe AEs (grade ≥3) was higher for the oncolytic virotherapy group (39%) compared with the control group (27%) (risk difference (RD), 12%; risk ratio (RR), 1.44; 95% CI: 1.17–1.78; p = 0.0006). This review offers a reference for fundamental research and clinical treatment of oncolytic viruses. Further randomized controlled trials are needed to verify these results.
  • 680
  • 14 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Disinfectants to Clean Thermoplastic Polymeric Appliances in Orthodontics
Chemical disinfectants can use corrosion of the thermoplastic appliances and change in color, resulting in shorter service life. It is difficult to determine the optimum disinfection time interval of chemical disinfectants, and most often, the treatments are not aligned with the consumer use patterns, making it difficult in regard to cleaning patterns.
  • 679
  • 24 Jun 2022
Topic Review
Oleanolic Acid
Oleanolic acid (OA) is a pentacyclic triterpenoid, abundantly found in plants of the Oleaceae family, and is well known for its beneficial pharmacological activities. 
  • 679
  • 11 Nov 2021
Topic Review
Cyclo- and Polyphosphazenes for Biomedical Applications
Cyclic and polyphosphazenes are extremely interesting and versatile substrates characterized by the presence of -P=N- repeating units. The chlorine atoms on the P atoms in the starting materials can be easily substituted with a variety of organic substituents, thus giving rise to a huge number of new materials for industrial applications. A wide variety of new phosphazene systems, either trimeric or polymeric, have been developed as biomaterials in view of different applications. The materials to apply in biomedical applications should be biocompatible.
  • 678
  • 09 Dec 2022
Topic Review
Fine Wine and Gout
From ancient times to the present day, gout has been associated in the popular and scientific literature with wealthy men who overindulge in fancy foods, fine wine, and debauchery. Curiously, amongst diseases, gout was thought to be good, a malady to be accepted because of otherwise beneficial effects on health, and longevity. 
  • 679
  • 13 Jun 2022
Topic Review
Management of COVID-19-Associated Mucormycosis
The outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which comes with several comorbidities, was declared a pandemic in early 2020 by World Health Organization (WHO). Glucocorticoids that are used in severe cases of COVID-19 as therapeutic measures may lead to opportunistic fungal infections in such patients. Mucormycosis is one of these infections and mostly occurs in immune-compromised patients such as those who undergo transplant surgeries. 
  • 679
  • 26 May 2022
Topic Review
Biomarkers in Prostate Cancer Diagnosis
Early detection of prostate cancer (PC) is largely carried out using assessment of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level; yet it cannot reliably discriminate between benign pathologies and clinically significant forms of PC. Exosomes are extracellular vesicles that are secreted from all mammalian cells and virtually detected in all bio-fluids, thus allowing their use as tumor biomarkers.
  • 679
  • 04 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Episodic Memory Performance
The aim of this entry was to investigate whether oxygen is a rate limiting factor for any of the main cognitive domains in healthy young individuals. Subjects were randomly assigned to either increased oxygen supply using hyperbaric oxygen (two atmospheres of 100% oxygen) or to a “sham” treatment (simulation of increased pressure in the chamber breathing normal air). While in the chamber, participants went through a battery of tests evaluating the major cognitive domains including information processing speed, episodic memory, working memory, cognitive flexibility, and attention. The results demonstrated that from all evaluated cognitive domains, a statistically significant improvement was found in the episodic memory of the hyper-oxygenized group. The hyper-oxygenized group demonstrated a better learning curve and a higher resilience to interference. The results of this study indicate that memory function is a continuum that does not reach its maximal ceiling effect at the normal sea level environment even in healthy young individuals. Understanding the biological limitation of our cognitive functions is important for future development of interventional tools that can be used in the daily clinical practice.
  • 679
  • 30 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Experimental Pharmacotherapy for Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) includes a range of chronic conditions characterized by excessive hepatic lipid accumulation, defined by the presence of steatosis in >5% of hepatocytes, in the absence of significant alcohol consumption or other causes of liver injury.
  • 679
  • 14 Feb 2022
Topic Review
Astaxanthin Delivery Systems for Skin
Astaxanthin (AST) is a biomolecule known for its powerful antioxidant effect, which is considered of great importance in biochemical research and has great potential for application in cosmetics, as well as food products that are beneficial to human health and medicines. Unfortunately, its poor solubility in water, chemical instability, and low oral bioavailability make its applications in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical field a major challenge for the development of new products. To favor the search for alternatives to enhance and make possible the use of AST in formulations, this article aimed to review the scientific data on its application in delivery systems.
  • 679
  • 26 Sep 2021
  • Page
  • of
  • 1352
Video Production Service