Articles: prospective-studies.
-
Meta Analysis
Revisiting primary endocrine therapy versus surgery in older women with breast cancer: meta-analysis.
Old age is associated with increased co-morbidities, resulting in reduced life expectancy. Primary endocrine therapy is an alternative to primary surgical therapy for patients with breast cancer and increased co-morbidities. The aim was to review outcomes of primary endocrine therapy versus primary surgical therapy in older women with breast cancer. ⋯ Overall survival was worse among older women receiving primary endocrine therapy in an analysis including all studies, but comparable in RCTs and prospective studies. This may be due to confounding by age and co-morbidities in retrospective cohort studies of primary endocrine therapy.
-
Meta Analysis
The association between statin use and prognosis in esophageal cancer patients: A meta-analysis.
The impact of statin use on the survival of esophageal cancer patients remains unclear now. The aim of this study was to identify the relationship between statin use and the long-term survival of esophageal cancer patients. ⋯ Statin use is significantly associated with improved long-term survival of esophageal cancer patients and might serve as a promising prognostic indicator in esophageal cancer. However, more prospective high-quality studies are still needed to verify our findings.
-
Review Meta Analysis
Green tea consumption and the risk of stroke: A systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies.
Epidemiologic studies are inconsistent regarding the association between green tea consumption and the risk of stroke. We performed a meta-analysis to determine whether an association exists between them in cohort studies. ⋯ This meta-analysis suggests that green tea consumption is inversely associated with the risk of stroke, especially among those with moderate consumption. Our results support recommendations for green tea consumption to the primary prevention of stroke.
-
The associations between blood urea nitrogen (BUN)/albumin ratio and poor prognosis in patients with diagnosis of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) remain to be clarified. ⋯ This meta-analysis demonstrated a positive correlation between BUN/albumin ratio and poor outcome in patients with COVID-19. Additional large-scale prospective studies are needed to verify our findings.
-
Meta Analysis
Thunder-fire moxibustion for lumbar disc herniation: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Lumbar disc herniation (LDH) is a common degenerative disease that severely impacts the quality of life of patients. Thunder-fire moxibustion is an ancient Chinese medicine-based external therapeutic procedure that has been employed for pain relief until this day. The focus of our study was to demonstrate the effectiveness and safety of thunder-fire moxibustion in the treatment of LDH. ⋯ Thunder-Fire moxibustion is effective in relieving discomfort in patients with LDH. It has significant clinical efficacy, but there is still a need for prospective, multicentre, large-sample randomized controlled trials to enhance the clinical evidence due to the quality of included studies and methodological limitations.