Nutrition support for the patient with cancer is an important part of the overall treatment regimen. Nutrition support for the child with cancer poses a special challenge. For the purpose of reviewing the special nutritional needs of children with cancer, a Task Force was formed by the American Academy of Pediatrics to review the current state of knowledge. The work of the Task Force was supported by the Food and Drug Administration through its Liaison Representative, Joginder Chopra, M.D., Staff support from the Academy was provided by Jean D. Lockhart, M.D., This review is prepared from the Task Force Report to the FDA. It is designed to review factors enhancing nutritional risks for the child with cancer and to discuss nutritional intervention strategies and their efficacies.

Child↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Concurrent use of salmeterol with inhaled corticosteroids is more effective than inhaled corticosteroid dose increases.

This randomized, double-blind, parallel, multi-center study was designed to determine whether the addition of salmeterol to existing inhaled corticosteroid therapy provides greater therapeutic benefit than doubling the dose of inhaled corticosteroids in symptomatic patients with asthma. A total of 514 adults were randomized to either beclomethasone 168 micrograms plus salmeterol 42 micrograms twice daily or beclomethasone 336 micrograms twice daily for 24 weeks. Both treatments resulted in significantly improved symptom control and increased pulmonary function. However, beclomethasone plus salmeterol provided greater improvements than doubling the dose of beclomethasone (p < or = 0.05) in FEV1 and in daily-recorded measurements of morning (38 L/minute versus 20 L/minute after treatment with higher dose beclomethasone) and evening peak expiratory flow, asthma symptom scores, symptom-free days, supplemental albuterol use, and days and nights not requiring albuterol. There were no significant differences between treatment groups in the number of patients with abnormal response to corticotropin stimulation at Treatment Week 24. No treatment differences in asthma exacerbation and adverse event frequency rates were seen. Beclomethasone 168 micrograms plus salmeterol 42 micrograms administered twice daily was superior to beclomethasone 336 micrograms taken twice daily in patients symptomatic on beclomethasone 168 micrograms, with no added safety risks.

Administration, Inhalation↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Studies on human cord blood progenitor cells.

Analysis of agar cultures throughout a 56-day period determined the concentration and cell cycle status of at least 4 different subclasses of hemopoietic colony forming cells (CFC) in human cord blood (CB). Although the concentration of CFC in CB was not significantly different from bone marrow (BM) in day-12 cultures, neutrophil colonies reached their peak on about day 23 in CB cultures and on day 12 in BM cultures. This suggests that the CFC in CB are more primitive than those in BM. In CB cultures, colonies of small cells contained predominantly neutrophils on day 14 and eosinophils on day 35, while the late developing (day 35) colonies of large cells contained mast-cell-like cells (MCL).

Adult↗