IQWiG

Compared to conventional chemotherapy, autologous stem cell transplantation can extend "event-free survival” for breast cancer patients. Clinical trials provide proof of this for breast cancer with and without distant metastases. However, there are indications that this type of stem cell transplantation can more frequently give rise to severe complications affecting almost all organ systems. This is the conclusion of IQWiG's final report published on 16 December.

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Contrary to the widely-held belief, there is no proof that non-insulin-dependent patients with type 2 diabetes benefit from glucose self-monitoring. Due to a lack of suitable trials, it remains unclear whether an additional benefit is displayed by the blood test compared to the urine test or vice versa, in other words, whether one or other of the tests might offer an advantage to patients. This is the conclusion of the final report of IQWiG, published on 14 December.

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Due to a lack of suitable studies, it remains unclear whether children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes benefit more or less from long-term treatment with rapid-acting insulin analogues than with short-acting human insulin. Certainly, there is no proof of additional benefit from the available results from clinical trials of maximum one year duration. According to the final report of IQWiG, this applies both in the comparison with human insulin and in the comparison between analogues. The Institute believes that studies of longer duration are urgently needed because insulin performs a variety of functions particularly during stages of human growth and development and it is not clear what effect insulin analogues have.

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