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We apply the optimality conditions of nondifferentiable minimax programming to formulate a general second-order Mond-Weir dual to the nondifferentiable minimax programming involving second-order pseudoquasi Type I functions. We establish also weak, strong, and strict converse duality theorems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We apply the optimality conditions of nondifferentiable minimax programming to formulate a general second-order Mond-Weir dual to the nondifferentiable minimax programming involving second-order pseudoquasi Type I functions. We establish also weak, strong, and strict converse duality theorems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A prospective randomized study was carried out in patients with squamous carcinoma of the cervix, stage IIIB. The trial considers the randomization in three different arms: the control group, 53 evaluable patients who were treated with radiotherapy; the neoadjuvant chemotherapy plus radiotherapy group, in which 52 evaluable patients were subjected to the neoadjuvant treatment followed by radiotherapy, and the surgical group which included 50 evaluable patients who were administered neoadjuvant cytostatic treatment followed by surgery and whole pelvis irradiation. The `quick VBP scheme' was the neoadjuvant scheme used. Overall survival is, after 4 years follow-up, 37% in the control group, 53% in the neoadjuvant radiotherapy group and 63% in the surgical group; this was due to a decrease in pelvic recurrences. Distant metastases were similar in the three groups. In those cases with good response, in the neoadjuvant radiotherapy group, an unexplained unusual incidence of distant metastasis was observed. Surgery is`a priori' the best treatment after neoadjuvant chemotherapy because the best cure rates were obtained with it; but the patients with unresectable tumors after neoadjuvant chemotherapy constitute a high risk group. Patients with hydronephrosis, bilateral parametrial involvement or bulky lymph node metastases are another high risk group in which the development of new therapeutic strategies is wholly justified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A prospective randomized trial was carried out in patients with squamous carcinoma of the cervix uteri, stage Ib bulky. The protocol considers two arms: the control group (75 patients) and the neoadjuvant one (76 patients). All the patients were classified according to the FIGO staging system and in order to determine the tumor size objectively, an ultrasound scanning was done. After this a Wertheim-Meigs operation followed by adjuvant whole-pelvis irradiation was performed. In the neoadjuvant group the same procedures were carried out but three courses of chemotherapy with the "quick" VBP scheme were given before the treatment. The new therapeutic strategy proved to be very useful in bulky tumors in which the clinical examination showed a cervix increased in size and the ultrasound scanning a volume larger than 60 c.c. (> 4 x 4 x 4 cm). In those cases statistically significant differences were found between both groups when free disease interval and survival were considered. These were due to the fact that operability has been improved and the parametrial extension has been decreased as well as other risk factors such as vascular embolism, lymph node involvement, tumor-cervix quotient, and tumor volume. The use of this new strategy is not justified in small tumors (< 3-4 cm in diameter) because in those cases, survival is not improved with neoadjuvant therapy.

One hundred and sixty-nine patients with squamous cancer of the cervix uteri treated with three courses of neoadjuvant chemotherapy with the modified VBP scheme are presented. All were subjected to a Wertheim-Meigs operation with paraaortic lymph-adenectomy. The incidence of lymph node metastases is analyzed according to clinical stage, tumor volume, residual tumor in the surgical specimen, and clinical response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. A significant decrease in the incidence of lymph node involvement was observed in good responders. Survival rates, after 2 years of follow-up, improved in those cases with small residual tumor, negative parametria, and negative nodes.

Use of the colposcope for vulvar and vaginal examination in four cases of long-standing vulvodynia led to the identification of lesions with an unusual appearance. In the vulvar vestibule, epithelial projections resembling cactus, camel humps or stony colonial pavement were observed. In the vagina, the lesions looked more like cerebral folds. Biopsies of these lesions showed histopathologic changes diagnostic of human papillomavirus infection, scored according to Reid's criteria. In one case, capsid antigen was detected with the peroxidase technique in the nuclei of the superficial cells. Past history and positive findings in the sexual partners of some of the patients suggested long-standing herpesvirus activity in the lower genital tract. In some cases of recalcitrant vulvodynia, colposcopic examination of the vulva and vagina may lead to a viral explanation for symptoms previously considered psychosomatic in origin.