TASK DEFINITION: In this task, you are given a passage which has a question and the context. You have to generate an answer to the question based on the information present in the context.
PROBLEM: Context: Helicobater (H.) pylori eradication rates with standard first-line triple therapy have declined to unacceptable levels. To date, amoxicillin-resistant H. pylori strains have rarely been detected. Whether increasing the dosage of amoxicillin in a standard 7 days eradicating regimen may enhance its efficacy is not known. The aim of this paper is to compare the efficacy of a 7 days high-dose amoxicillin based first-line regimen with sequential therapy.', 'We have retrospectively analyzed data from 300 sex and age matched patients, who underwent 3 different therapeutic schemes: (1) standard LCA, lansoprazole 30 mg bid, clarithromycin 500 mg bid and amoxicillin 1000 mg bid for 7 days; (2) high dose LCA (HD-LCA), lansoprazole 30 mg bid, clarithromycin 500 mg bid and amoxicillin 1000 mg tid for 7 days; (3) sequential LACT, lansoprazole 30 mg bid plus amoxicillin 1000 mg bid for 5 days, followed by lansoprazole 30 mg bid, clarithromycin 500 mg bid and tinidazole 500 mg bid for 5 days. Eradication was confirmed by 13C-urea breath test. Compliance and occurrence of adverse effects were also assessed.', 'Eradication rates were: 55% for LCA, 75% for HD-LCA and 73% for LACT. Eradication rates were higher in HD-LCA group compared to LCA (p<0.01), while no significant differences were observed in HD-LCA group compared to LACT (p=ns). Compliance and occurrence of adverse effects were similar among groups.\Question: Is high dose amoxicillin-based first line regimen equivalent to sequential therapy in the eradication of H. pylori infection?

SOLUTION: High-dose amoxicillin based eradicating treatment is superior to standard triple therapy and equivalent to sequential therapy; compared to the latter, the shorter duration may represent an advantage.

PROBLEM: Context: Crohn's disease is a heterogeneous inflammatory bowel disease. The impact of age at diagnosis on the clinical course of patients varies widely as reported in the Western literature. Using the Vienna Classification, we seek to determine whether young Crohn's disease patients in an Asian population followed a different clinical course than old patients.", "The case records of 100 Crohn's disease patients who were treated at the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center, Singapore General Hospital, were studied retrospectively. The age group and location of disease and behavior according to the Vienna classification were determined at diagnosis.", 'A1 group (age <40 years) defined as "young" and A2 group (age > or =40) defined as "old" contained 65 and 35 patients, respectively. Median age for the young group was 27.4 years and that for the old group was 52.6 years. Of the young patients, 66.7% flared at least once compared with 28.6% of the old patients, odds ratio of 5.0 (P < 0.001). Young patients were more likely to be steroid dependent (20.0% of A1 versus 8.6% of A2, P = 0.14), received azathioprine (38.5% of A1 versus 5.7% of A2, P < 0.001) and experienced complications (31% of A1 versus 20% of A2, P = 0.25)-numerically higher rates that did not reach statistical significance. There was no significant difference between the age groups for the location and behavior of disease as well as requirement for surgery.\Question: Does crohn 's disease run a more aggressive course in young Asian patients?

SOLUTION: In this first Asian study looking specifically at the impact of age at diagnosis of Crohn's disease, we found that young patients underwent a more aggressive clinical course.

PROBLEM: Context: The International Atomic Energy Agency sponsored a large, multinational, prospective study to further define PET for risk stratification of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and to test the hypothesis that international biological diversity or diversity of healthcare systems may influence the kinetics of treatment response as assessed by interim PET (I-PET).', 'Cancer centers in Brazil, Chile, Hungary, India, Italy, the Philippines, South Korea, and Thailand followed a common protocol based on treatment with R-CHOP (cyclophosphamide, hydroxyadriamycin, vincristine, prednisolone with rituximab), with I-PET after 2-3 cycles of chemotherapy and at the end of chemotherapy scored visually.', 'Two-year survivals for all 327 patients (median follow-up, 35 mo) were 79% (95% confidence interval [CI], 74%-83%) for event-free survival (EFS) and 86% (95% CI, 81%-89%) for overall survival (OS). Two hundred ten patients (64%) were I-PET-negative, and 117 (36%) were I-PET-positive. Two-year EFS was 90% (95% CI, 85%-93%) for I-PET-negative and 58% (95% CI, 48%-66%) for I-PET-positive, with a hazard ratio of 5.31 (95% CI, 3.29-8.56). Two-year OS was 93% (95% CI, 88%-96%) for I-PET-negative and 72% (95% CI, 63%-80%) for I-PET-positive, with a hazard ratio of 3.86 (95% CI, 2.12-7.03). On sequential monitoring, 192 of 312 (62%) patients had complete response at both I-PET and end-of-chemotherapy PET, with an EFS of 97% (95% CI, 92%-98%); 110 of these with favorable clinical indicators had an EFS of 98% (95% CI, 92%-100%). In contrast, the 107 I-PET-positive cases segregated into 2 groups: 58 (54%) achieved PET-negative complete remission at the end of chemotherapy (EFS, 86%; 95% CI, 73%-93%); 46% remained PET-positive (EFS, 35%; 95% CI, 22%-48%). Heterogeneity analysis found no significant difference between countries for outcomes stratified by I-PET.\Question: Does prospective international cohort study demonstrate inability of interim PET to predict treatment failure in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma?

SOLUTION:
This large international cohort delivers 3 novel findings: treatment response assessed by I-PET is comparable across disparate healthcare systems, secondly a negative I-PET findings together with good clinical status identifies a group with an EFS of 98%, and thirdly a single I-PET scan does not differentiate chemoresistant lymphoma from complete response and cannot be used to guide risk-adapted therapy.