Cancer Treatment Today

The drug Xifaxin is approved for traveler's diarrhea but not for bacterial overgrowth. Xifaxin ( rifaximin) is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat traveler's diarrhea caused by E. coli. It is especially effective for prophylaxis. It is not effective against Campylobacter jejuni, and there is no evidence of efficacy against Shigella or Salmonella species. There is evidence that it may be efficacious in relieving chronic functional

T-SPOT is an assay used for tuberculosis diagnosis. It which belongs to the group of interferon-gamma release assays. The test is manufactured by Oxford Immunotec in the UK.and it counts the number of anti-mycobacterial effector T cells, white blood cells that produce interferon-gamma, in a sample of blood. This gives an overall measurement of the host immune response against mycobacteria, which can reveal the presence of infection with Mycobacterium

VISTIDE (cidofovir) is indicated for the treatment of CMV retinitis in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). The FDA says: "THE SAFETY AND EFFICACY OF VISTIDE (cidofovir) HAVE NOT BEEN ESTABLISHED FOR TREATMENT OF OTHER CMV INFECTIONS (SUCH AS PNEUMONITIS OR GASTROENTERITIS), CONGENITAL OR NEONATAL CMV DISEASE, OR CMV DISEASE IN NON-HIV-INFECTED INDIVIDUALS." It is a nephrotoxoc drug and cannot be administered to people with kidney

Pneumocystis carinii(PCP) infection remains a common complication of AIDS. NebuPent is indicated for prophylaxis of Pneumocystis Carinii  infections in HIV positive patients. There is precedent for using this drug or Bactrim for prophylaxis in other immuno-compromised states than AIDS. For example,the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines on prevention and treatment of cancer-related infections consider CLL patients receiving purine

The immediate post stem cell transplantation period is a dangerous time in which the patient is immunocompromised and susceptible to infections. Viral infections are among the most dangerous because they are difficult to treat. Unfortunately not much is know about prophylaxis. Ribavirin alone is not appropriate for post-transplant prophylaxis without evidence of infection because supporting literature is scant. The respiratory viruses (eg, RSV, influenza,

The immediate post stem cell transplantation period is a dangerous time in which the patient is immunocompromised and susceptible to infections. Viral infections are among the most dangerous because they are difficult to treat. Unfortunately not much is know about prophylaxis. Ribavirin alone is not appropriate for post-transplant prophylaxis without evidence of infection because supporting literature is scant. The respiratory viruses (eg, RSV, influenza,