[en] Introduction: esophageal cancer in Cuba is one of the first five causes of death from tumors. The treatment includes chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery as well as the discovery of new potential targets for immunotherapy such as the epidermal growth factor receptor. The Cuban monoclonal antibody AcM HR3 (nimotuzumab) is studied at present internationally. Objective: to evaluate the efficacy and safety of nimotuzumab combined with radiochemotherapy in inoperable esophageal tumors and to compare it with the ordinary treatment given to patients seen at 'Hermanos Ameijeiras' hospital from December 2005 to June 2010. Method: open, controlled, randomized clinical study was designed for two groups of patients, one with radiochemotherapy plus biotherapy and the other one with radiochemotherapy. The main variable was the clinical response with which the tumor reduction is classified in accordance with the RECIST criteria: complete remission, partial remission, disease stabilization and progression. Toxicity tests evaluated the adverse events that occurred in patients of each of the groups. Results: regarding the objective response, a higher proportion was reached in the group with nimotuzumab (88,9 %) against the control group (22,2 %), with statistically significant difference between both groups of patients equal to 66,7 %. Cough, insomnia, gastrointestinal problems and retrosternal pain were frequent in the treatment group whereas the control group suffered gastrointestinal disturbances and asthenia more frequently. Conclusions: the patients treated with nimotuzumab presented better index of objective response and of disease control and its administration was safe when combined with the set therapy for treatment of inoperable esophageal cancer in line with the Cuban therapeutic standards. (author)

[en] Dopamine is an endogenous hormone in the catecholamine group, which is used to simulate the sympathetic nervous system action and to raise the heart rate and the blood pressure. However, this drug has high genotoxicity and is associated with the treatment of diseases such as schizophrenia and Parkinson's disease. For this reason, the determination of dopamine in wastewaters coming from its production has been of great interest. The validation used a RP-18 250 x 4.6 mm 5 μm column, mobile phase: 1 % NaH₂PO₄ /CH₃OH (90/10), 1.0 ml/min flow rate and a visible ultraviolet detector at 280 nm. Detection limits and quantitation were estimated in addition to evaluating the drug stability under the analysis conditions

[en] D-003, an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) purified from sugar cane (Saccharum officinarum L.) wax with cholesterol-lowering and antioxidant effects, is composed of a mixture of free saturated very long chain fatty acids (VLCFAs), each within specific relative concentration ranges as determined by the gas chromatography (GC). However, the spectroscopic characterization of D-003 had not been previously reported

[en] Paracetamol is an effective analgesic and antipyretic drug of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug group. Paracetamol oral drops are indicated for use in infant population aged up to 5 years to relieve fever, headache, toothache and symptomatic relief of common cold. To validate two analytical methods for the quality control and the stability study and to study the stability of 100 mg/ml Paracetamol oral drops made in Cuba

[en] Pain is a subjective characteristic found in many patients during their hospital stay. Pediatric population presents physiological and psychological characteristics different from those of the adults. Added to this, if a cancer process is present, for which they are subjected to numerous painful experiences during their diagnosis and treatment, adequate pain management is vital. The objective of this paper was to review the main factors that influence the perception of cancer pain in the pediatric patient and both non-pharmacological and pharmacological measures that are necessary to take into account for proper pain management. To this end, a literature review was made in MEDLINE database, which covered the scientific publications of the last 25 years. It can be concluded that oncological pain perception has a multifactoral component. Furthermore, in addition to appropriate use of pharmacologic measures, non-pharmacological actions are very important for a comprehensive approach to pain. (author)

[en] Medication mistakes in case of chemotherapy or adjuvant treatment used in any stage of drug application process: prescription, transcription, preparation, dispense or administration, are a frequent cause of side effects of antineoplastic drugs. (Author)

[en] To validate the analytical method for simultaneous determination of triclabendazole and al bendazole in triclazol 22 suspension for quality control. For quantitation of the active principle in the final product, the separation was performed through a liquid chromatographic column Lichrosorb RP-18 (5 μm) (250 x 4 mm), with ultraviolet detection range of 298 nm, by using a mobile phase of acetonitrile: ammonium acetate buffer solution of ph 6.6 (70:30); the quantitation was made against a reference sample by means of the external standard method

[en] Raloxifene is a selective estrogen receptor modulator from the benzothiophene family. The results of several large clinical trials have shown that raloxifene reduces the rate of bone loss in the dorsal spine and may increase bone mass at certain sites. High performance liquid chromatography analytical method has been developed for the estimation of raloxifene in Cuban pharmaceutical dosage form. In this method, RP 18 LichrosphermL 100 column with mobile phase consisting of methanol, de-ionized water and trietanolamine (ratio of 70:30:0.1) and 286 nm wavelength ultraviolet detector were used. The mobile phase flow was 1.5 mL/min and the injected volume reached 20 mL

[en] A valid method was developed to assess 2 mg Clonazepam tablets disolution without lactose by high-performance liquid chromatography by UV detection to 254 nm. Establishment of Clonazepam in dissolution medium was confirmed, and parameters of specificity, linearity, and accuracy were assessed, as well as influence of filtration and stability or active principle. Linearity curve was drawed in rank of 1, 2-2,6 μg/mL, with a correlation coefficient similar to 0,99418; statistical test wasn't statistically significant for interceptor and slope. In study, it was possible to demonstrate that stability or active principle in dissolution was maintained in more than double of duration of dissolution assay. (Author)

[en] One of the requirements to develop the studies of bioavailability and bioequivalence is to have analytic methodologies validated for the work with samples in biological fluids. A method was developed by high resolution liquid chromatography for the determination of carbamazepine in human plasma. A mixture of hydrogen phosphate of sodium: acetonitrile (65:35) adjusted to pH= 3.3 with phosphoric acid, flow of 1.2 mL/min and ultraviolet detection at 210 nm, was used as mobile phase. Propylparabene was used as an internal standard. According to the established regulations for the validation of the methods in biological fluids, the following parameters were studied: stability of the samples, lineality, specificity, precision, accuracy and limit of detection and quantification. The method proved to be specific and sensitive with a detection and quantification limit of 0.9 and 1.0 ng, respectively. The method was lineal, precise and exact in the range of concentrations of 1. 07 at 12.67 μg/mL. The mean recovery was not statistically different from 100.0 %. The analito in the proposed biological matrix remained in the studied period. The methodology described in this work is applied in our case to the study that evaluates the bioavailability and bioequivalence of a Cuban formulation of carbamazepine in healthy volunteers. (Author)