To the Editor: Jacobson et al. (May 22 issue)1 report encouragingresults in their placebo-controlled trial of thalidomide foraphthous ulceration in patients with human immunodeficiencyvirus (HIV) infection. However, potential enthusiasm must bemuted because of the preliminary nature of the findings andthe unanticipated safety issues raised by the results. The dataare based on an interim analysis of only 57 patients. Even inthis small sample, major adverse events were seen during thefour-week treatment phase, including grade 4 neutropenia intwo thalidomide recipients. Approximately half the study participantseither discontinued the study medication or had a . . . [Full Text of this Article]
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Needham, C. W., Granat, P.
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