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Virus found in patients with ALS
For the first time, researchers have found solid evidence of a viral infection in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Neurology 2000;54[1]:20-5). The cause remains unknown, but there has been speculation about the role of a persistent enteroviral infection. Now French researchers have found RNA from an enterovirus (probably echovirus 7) in 15 of 17 patients with ALS. The viral RNA was found in only 1 of 29 control subjects tested. The researchers caution that further work is required to confirm the involvement of the virus in ALS, but the finding lends weight to the theory of a viral cause.
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Stems cells, high-dose chemotherapy and breast cancer
In an article published in the Apr. 13 New England Journal of Medicine and released early on the Internet, a large US trial has shown that stem-cell transplantation plus high-dose chemotherapy provides no more benefits than conventional chemotherapy in treating metastatic breast cancer. Two trials conducted in the late 1980s had shown excellent results in metastatic breast cancer after high-dose chemotherapy and autologous transplantation of hematopoietic stem cells, leading to great demand for the treatment. In this trial, 310 patients with a partial or complete response to induction chemotherapy were randomly assigned to either conventional chemotherapy or stem-cell transplantation plus high-dose chemotherapy. Survival after 3 years and time until disease progression did not differ significantly between the 2 groups.
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