Objective To investigate the development of biofilm research over the last 10 years in China based on a bibliometric approach. Methods We searched PubMed (1997 to 2007), China Hospital Knowledge Database (1997 to 2007), and VIP Chinese Journal Database (1997 to 2007). Quality assessment and data collection were performed by two reviewers independently. The amount of literature, research institutions, financial assistance, and contents of biofilm research were analyzed. Results A total of 240 Chinese papers were included. Colleges were the leading research institutions in China, and most of research focused on pseudomonas aeruginosa and staphylococci, primarily based on in vitro models. Available antibiotics were the main measures for biofilm control. Only 4 RCTs with a C grade in terms of methodological quality were included. Conclusion Biofilm research in China can keep pace with the international development, but its integration with engineering, material science and immunology needs to be strengthened.
Objective To evaluate the diagnostic value of serum neuron specific enolase (NSE) in patients with small cell lung cancer. Methods We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, The Cochrane Library and other databases (1966 to March 2007) to collect studies which evaluated the diagnostic value of NSE in patients with small cell lung cancer. The heterogeneity of included studies was tested by the Cochrane Collaboration’s software RevMan 4.2. The Summary Receiver Operating Characteristic (SROC) curve and meta-analyses were performed by MetaDisc. Results Fifteen studies involving 4221 patients (672 SCLC and 3549 NSCLC patients, all diagnosed by the gold standard) were included. Meta-analyses showed that the heterogeneity among studies was high (P=0.000 2, I2=66.1%), the pooled sensitivity was 0.67 (95%CI 0.64 to 0.71) and the pooled specificity was 0.91 (95%CI 0.90 to 0.92). Subgroup analyses indicated that 4 of the studies which used the reagent supplied by The Academy of Military Medical Sciences (P=0.33, I2=13.4%, AUC= 0.9672, SE=0.0393) and another 4 which used the reagent supplied by Roche (P=0.23, I2=29.9%, AUC=0.8311, SE=0.0836) had no heterogeneity. Conclusion NSE could be regarded as one of the reference tests in patients with small cell lung cancer, but more high quality trials are required.
Objective To assess the clinical efficacy and safety of paclitaxel in the first-line and second-line treatment of patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC). Methods We searched The Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CBM, CNKI, VIP and etc to collect all clinical controlled trials involving the addition of paclitaxel to chemotherapy in SCLC patients. Two reviewers evaluated the quality of included trials independently. The Cochrane Collaboration’s software RevMan 4.2.2 was used for meta-analyses. Results Nine trials involving 1675 SCLC patients were included. Five trials were randomized controlled trials, and all trails didn’t mention the blinding methods. Meta analyses indicated that the PET arm (paclitaxel+cisplatin+etoposide) had a similar response rate compared with the EP arm (etoposide+cisplatin) (OR1.35, 95%CI 0.98 to 1.85). The incidences of severe thrombocytopenia (OR 1.68, 95%CI 1.12 to 2.52) and lethal toxicity (OR 4.00, 95%CI 1.77 to 9.04) were higher in the PET arm than those in the EP arm, but the incidence of severe leukocytopenia was lower in the PET arm (OR 0.50, 95%CI 0.37 to 0.68). A total of 54 treatment-related deaths were reported. Conclusion In the first-line treatment of SCLC, the combination of paclitaxel, carboplatin and etoposide improved the progression-free survival, but the combination of paclitaxel and EP did not improve the survival and was more toxic than EP alone. Paclitaxel as the second-line treatment showed some therapeutic effect. Due to the poor quality and small sample size of included trials, more well-designed multi-center randomized controlled trials should be performed.