María del Carmen Martínez-García

Intestinal anti-spasmodic effect of a phytodrug of Psidium guajava folia in the treatment of acute diarrheic disease.

Ancestral medicinal use of guava (Psidium guajava L. Fam. Myrtaceae) is today supported by numerous biomedical studies concerning the properties of leaf extracts. However, insufficient clinical studies are reported on the use of this plant resource in the treatment of gastrointestinal ailments. The present work reports a randomized, double-blinded, clinical study performed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a phytodrug (QG-5) developed from guava leaves, standardized in its content of quercetin and orally administered to a group of adult patients with acute diarrheic disease. Capsules containing 500 mg of the product were administered to 50 patients every 8 h during 3 days. Results obtained showed that the used guava product decreased the duration of abdominal pain in these patients.

Epidemiología descriptiva de las neoplasias malignas en niños

El objetivo de este estudio es presentar la epidemiologia descriptiva del cancer en los ninos menores de 15 anos a nivel mundial y nacional. Se realizo una revision de la literatura internacional y nacional de los articulos publicados sobre cancer en los ninos, seleccionando aquellos que trataran los aspectos epidemiologicos de tiempo, lugar y persona y analizandose tanto la incidencia como la mortalidad por cancer en ninos. La incidencia mundial es de 100 a 150 casos x 10(6) ninos/ano. La incidencia especifica varia de acuerdo al tipo cancer, el pais o region que se estudie. El patron latinoamericano de neoplasias lo constituyen las leucemias, los linfomas y los tumores del sistema nervioso central (TSNC); en el norteamericano y europeo los TSNC ocupan el segundo lugar; y en el africano predominan los linfomas. La incidencia es mayor en los menores de 5 anos en el medio urbano y existe un incremento de 1% anual de canceres en los ninos de Estados Unidos de America. La mortalidad por cancer en ninos ha disminuido de forma importante principalmente en los paises desarrollados, como Estados Unidos e Inglaterra; en los subdesarrollados permanece estable o hay una leve disminucion. La incidencia es mayor en paises desarrollados; sin embargo, en los paises subdesarrollados puede estar subestimada. Aun hay muchos datos que se desconocen sobre la epidemiologia del cancer en el nino, por lo que son necesarios mas estudios.The object of this study is to present the descriptive epidemiology of cancer in children at the world and national levels. The international and national literature published on cancer in children was comprehensively reviewed, with emphasis on reports treating epidemiological aspects of time, place and person. For practical reasons and with the aim of integrating the information, only the more relevant publications were included. Incidence and child mortality were analyzed. Overall incidence is between 100 and 150 (annual rates = cases x 10(6) children). Specific incidence varies according to the type of cancer, the region and the country. The Latin American pattern of neoplasms is constituted by leukemias, lymphomas, and central nervous system tumors (CNST); in the Northamerican/European pattern the CNST appear in second place and in the African pattern, lymphomas show predominance. Incidence is higher among the younger than 5 year olds, from urban environments, and there is a 1% annual increase of cancer in Northamerican children. Child mortality has diminished remarkably, mainly in developed countries, whereas in developing or underdeveloped countries, incidence remains stable or shows a slight fall. The incidence of cancer in children is greater in developed countries, but in underdeveloped countries it may be underestimated. These countries have not managed to reduce the incidence of child mortality caused by cancer, as have the United States or Great Britain. Further studies on the epidemiology of cancer in children are necessary, since many data remain unknown.

Frequency of cancer in children residing in Mexico City and treated in the hospitals of the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (1996–2001)

BackgroundThe objective of this article is to present the frequency of cancer in Mexican children who were treated in the hospitals of the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social in Mexico City (IMSS-MC) in the period 1996–2001.MethodsThe Registry of Cancer in Children, started in 1996 in the IMSS-MC, is an on-going, prospective register. The data from 1996 through 2001 were analyzed and the different types of cancer were grouped according to the International Classification for Cancer in Children (ICCC). From this analysis, the general and specific frequencies by age and by sex were obtained for the different groups of neoplasms. Also, the frequency of the stage of the disease that had been diagnosed in cases of children with solid tumors was obtained.ResultsA total of 1,702 new cases of children with cancer were registered, with the male/female ratio at 1.1/1. Leukemias had the highest frequency with 784 cases (46.1%) and, of these, acute lymphoblastic leukemias were the most prevalent with 614 cases (78.3%). Thereafter, in descending order of frequency, were tumors of the central nervous system (CNST) with 197 cases (11.6%), lymphomas with 194 cases (11.4%), germinal cell tumors with 110 cases (6.5%), and bone tumors with 97 cases (5.7%). The highest frequency of cancer was found in the group of one to four year-olds that had 627 cases (36.8%). In all the age groups, leukemias were the most frequent. In the present work, the frequency of Hodgkins disease (~4%) was found to be lower than that (~10%) in previous studies and the frequency of tumors of the sympathetic nervous system was low (2.3%). Of those cases of solid tumors for which the stage of the disease had been determined, 66.9% were diagnosed as being Stage III or IV.ConclusionsThe principal cancers in the children treated in the IMSS-MC were leukemias, CNST, and lymphomas, consistent with those reported by developed countries. A 2.5-fold reduction in the frequency of Hodgkins disease was found. Of the children, the stage of whose disease had been determined, two thirds were diagnosed as having advanced stages of the disease.

Incidencia de las leucemias agudas en niños de la ciudad de México, de 1982 a 1991

Objective. To measure the incidence rate and trend of acute leukemia (AL) in political districts of Mexico City. Material and methods. Descriptive longitudinal study conducted at six hospitals that care for nearly 97.5% of all cancer cases among children in Mexico City. Study data were collected in 1995 and 1996, and were analyzed in 1999, at the National Medical Center “Siglo XXI” Children’s Hospital, of the Mexican Institute for Social Security. Calculations of acute leukemia annual incidence rates, standardized rates, and standardized morbidity rates (SMR) with 95% confidence intervals, were obtained for each district. Morbidity trends were assessed through average change rates. Results. In this study we observed an increasing trend of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) incidence in five districts: Alvaro Obregon, Cuauhtemoc, Gustavo A. Madero, Iztacalco, and Venustiano Carranza. Acute myeloblastic leukemia (AML) showed no significantly statistic increase of incidence in any district. AML did show a significant SMR in Alvaro Obregon district (SMR= 2.91, 95% CI 1.63 - 4.80). Higher SMRs were found in the south and southwest areas of the city. Conclusions. Increasing incidence of ALL was observed in five districts of Mexico City. AML incidence was the highest in Alvaro Obregon district. Mejia-Arangure JM, Fajardo-Gutierrez A, Bernaldez-Rios R, Paredes-Aguilera R, Flores-Aguilar H, Martinez-Garcia MC. Incidencia de las leucemias agudas en ninos de la ciudad de Mexico, de 1982 a 1991. Salud Publica Mex 2000;42:431-437.

Tendencia de la incidencia de los tumores hepáticos en la infancia

Objective. To evaluate the incidence trends of hepatic tumors among children living in Mexico City. Material and Methods. A cross-sectional hospital survey was conducted to yield two databases. The first database contains the registry of all the cases of hepatic tumors occurring during the period 1982-1991, in public hospitals of Mexico City. The second database contains all hepatic tumor cases found between 1996 and 1999 in Hospital de Pediatria del Centro Medico Nacional “Siglo XXI” and in Hospital General del Centro Medico La Raza, both hospitals pertaining to Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (Mexican Institute of Social Security). The average annual incidence rates (AAIR) were calculated for each type of hepatic tumor. The rates were standardized with the direct method, using as standard the world population under 15 years of age. The trends were evaluated with the annual incidence rates and the average rate of change assuming a Poisson distribution. Results. The AAIR for hepatoblastoma during the period 1982-1991 was three times higher for men than for women, with a value of 0.6 x10 6 . The group of 1-4 years of age was the most affected. For hepatocarcinomas the AAIR was twofold for women (0.14) as compared to men. Between 19961999 the AAIR for hepatoblastoma was 5.11 in women and 1.85 in men. The age group with the highest rate was women