Purpose: We used randomized trials of radiotherapy (RT) with or without chemotherapy in non-metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma to investigate the survival benefit of chemoradiotherapy regimens between two/three-dimensional radiotherapy (2D/3D RT) and intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT). Methods: Overall, 27 trials and 7,940 patients were included. Treatments were grouped into seven categor...

the invention of polymerase chain reaction (pcr) has been a milestone in the history of biological and medical sciences. the applications of pcr have not only completely revolutionised the research in the field of molecular genetics as well as animal and plant biotechnology, but the technique has also proved its relevance and ingenious utility in other fields of forensic sciences, molecular sys...

BACKGROUND Nucleic acid isolation, the most technically demanding and laborious procedure performed in molecular diagnostics, harbors the potential for improvements in automation. A recent development is the use of magnetic beads covered with nucleic acid-binding matrices. We adapted this technology with a broad-range 23S rRNA real-time reverse transcription (RT)-PCR assay for fast and sensitiv...

BACKGROUND The relative efficacy of induction chemotherapy (IC) followed by concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) versus IC followed by radiotherapy (RT) alone in locoregionally advanced NPC remains unclear. METHODS A total of 877 patients with locally advanced NPC who underwent IC/CCRT or IC/RT at four institutions in China between January 2004 and December 2010 were retrospectively assessed. ...

BACKGROUND Real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is routinely used to detect viral infections. In Brazil, it is mandatory the use of nucleic acid tests to detect hepatitis C virus (HCV), hepatitis B virus and human immunodeficiency virus in blood banks because of the immunological window. The use of an internal control (IC) is necessary to differentiate the true neg...

An immunocapture reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (IC-RT-PCR) method for a highly sensitive analysis of raspberry bushy dwarf virus (RBDV) in infected plants is described. In the method, preliminary purification of virus particles or viral RNA from the plant material is not necessary. Viruses are enriched during the assay by antibodies bound in the PCR microplate wells, followed ...

The paper by Daigo et al. used mouse gene arrays to compare fundic tissue from control mice and mice that do not have the cell type IC-IM. The objective obviously was to use this technique to learn more about the role of IC-IM, and the consequence of the W mutation in general. Several genes were found to be upregulated or downregulated and a few of these changes were confirmed by semi-quantitat...

A novel GII.17 norovirus has emerged as a major cause of epidemic and endemic acute gastroenteritis in several countries in Asia. We used a small panel of stool samples in which GII.17 virus had been quantified by real-time RT-PCR to evaluate four commercially available norovirus immunochromatography (IC) kits. At least 10(8) copies/mL of GII.17 virus were required by each IC kit for a positive...