Response rates

Table 19.6 Response rate by industrial sectors in the 1981 corrosion monitoring survey...

Most controiiers have adjustments, not oniy to the set points hut to differentiais, time deiays and response rates. It is of paramount importance that these are set up hy an engineer who completely understands their function. Such settings should he marked on the instrument itself and recorded separately, since unauthorized persons may later upset these adjustments [63]. 

Aminooglutethimide was the fust aromatase inhibitor to be used in patients with metastatic breast cancer, where response rates of up to 30% have been reported. Unfortunately, due to its lack of selectivity for aromatase, it induced a medical adrenelectomy that resulted in suppression of aldosterone and cortisol. With the development of more selective aromatase... 

Metastatic renal cell carcinoma has a poor prognosis and resists conventional chemotherapy. Immunotherapy with IL-2 and/or IFN-a is currently regarded as the most effective therapy with, however, modest response rates of 15-20%. Similar results are also observed in patients with metastatic melanoma and the response to IFN-a and IL-2 correlates with the occurrence of tumor-infiltrating CD4+ T-lymphocytes identified in aspirates from melanoma metastases. Determination of these cells therefore seems to be a method to predict responders prior to the initiation of cytokine therapy. 

Kaposi sarcoma (KS) - an angiogenic-inflammatory neoplasm - is the most prevalent cancer in HIV-infected patients and its appearance is preceded by infection with human Heipesvitus-8 (HHV-8). Although chemotherapy has become the treatment of choice approved by the FDA, there are also good response rates in patients treated with IFN-a. Fortunately, today highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has dramatically decreased the incidence of KS in AIDS patients. 

Interestingly, all these monoclonal antibodies have a poor antitumor activity when used as single agents, with overall response rates of about 10%. Thereby, these monoclonal antibodies have all been approved in combination with classical cytotoxic agents or radiation therapy. 

Researchers are facing difficulties in improving the properties and response rates of chemomechanical andelectrochemomechanical systems based on polymer gels or proteins that are intended to be used as actuators in robotics. Lack of mechanical toughness and long-term durability are other problems to be solved. A basic improvement in the low efficiency... 

Several studies have tested IFN-p for chronic hepatitis C, achieving response rates similar to those obtained with IFN-a and with similar or fewer adverse effects (Barbaro et al. 1999 Castro et al. 1997 Habersetzer et al. 2000 Montalto et al. 

Consensus IFN-a has been used in various populations of HCV-infected patients but the published results are variable. Consensus IFN-a gave a higher response rate than the combination of standard IFN-a and ribavirin in patients who relapsed... 

Bain VG, Marotta P, Kaita K, Yoshida E, Swain MG, Bailey R, Neumann AU, Cronin PW, McHutchison JG, Pulkstenis E, Subramanian GM (2007) Comparable antiviral response rates with albumin interferon alpha-2b dosed at Q2W or Q4W intervals in naive subjects with genotype 2 or 3 chronic hepatitis C. J Hepatol 46 S7... 

Fig. 1 Sustained virologic response rates from pivotal trials in patients with chronic hepatitis C according to treatment regimen and HCV genotype. For references see text...

The development of pegylated (peg) interferons that possess a sustained absorption, a slower rate of clearance, and a longer half life than unmodified interferons led to further improvement of sustained virologic response rates especially for patients infected with genotype 1 (Fig. 1) (Fried et al. 2002 Manns et al. 2001 Zeuzem et al. 2000). 

Patients infected with HCV genotype 1,4, 5 or 6 are treated with peginterferon-a in combination with ribavirin for 48 weeks (Table 3). In the pivotal trials, sustained virologic response rates achieved with patients infected with these genotypes were 46-51% with peginterferon-a2a and ribavirin and 42-48% with peginterferon-a2b and ribavirin. Different baseline parameters (female gender, age <40 years, low body... 

Further reduction of treatment duration to gain even better tolerability and lower side effects without compromising the sustained virologic response rates was... 

To further improve sustained virologic response rates, different treatment approaches are currently under investigation. For example, individualized therapy durations on the basis of the HCV RNA concentration at baseline and early during therapy are the subject of clinical studies (Berg et al. 2006 Zeuzem et al. 2005a). In addition, triple therapy with other antiviral compounds, such as amantadine, has been evaluated in multiple studies, leading to contradictory results (Mangia et al. 2004). 

Brief economic analyses suggested risperidone Response rate markedly higher... 

Over the last ten years or so, the emphasis on selectivity of action has waned. This is because the relative importance of blocking noradrenaline and 5-HT reuptake remains uncertain and it is possible that it could be beneficial to block both. Some drugs that act in this way have already been developed. It is hoped that this approach might increase the response rate of patients who are resistant to more selective drug treatments and even reduce the therapeutic lag that dogs their predecessors. As yet, there is not enough information on these compounds to know whether or not this has turned out to be the case. 

The reinforeing properties of psychomotor stimulants have also been linked to the aetivation of eentral dopamine neurons and their postsynaptie reeep-tors. When the synthesis of eatecholamines is inhibited by administering alpha-methyl-para-tyrosine, an attenuation of the subjective effeets of euphoria assoeiated with psyehomotor stimulants oeeurs in man (Jonsson et al. 1971), and a bloekade of the reinforeing effects of methamphetamine occurs in animals (Pickens et al. 1968). Furthermore, low doses of dopamine antagonists will increase response rates for intravenous injections of h-amphetamine (Risner and Jones 1976 Yokel and Wise 1975 Yokel and Wise 1976). 

FIGURE 2. Dose-response curve for the effects of PCP on response rates in rats trained to discriminate various doses of PCP from vehicle. N=10/dose. 

NOTE Response rates in each of tour daily response periods are shown before... 

Several pharmacologic classes are available for the treatment and maintenance of IBD. Because there may be differences in the underlying disease process, distribution, and severity between CD and UC, response rates to drugs in the same pharmacologic class may differ between these two diseases. Therefore, initial selection of an appropriate agent for patients with active IBD should be designed to deliver maximum efficacy while minimizing toxicity. Response rates to individual classes of medications for both UC and CD will be discussed within the specific treatment section for each disease. 

Topical mesalamine products provide a more rapid response than oral preparations. Improvement in symptoms may be seen in as little as 2 days, but 2 to 4 weeks of treatment may be necessary for maximal response. Response rates of up to 90% after 4 weeks of topical therapy have been reported, compared to 45% to 62% response rates with oral therapy.6,18 Oral and topical mesalamine preparations may be used together to provide maximal effect. Oral mesalamine may also be used for patients who are unwilling to use topical preparations. 

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