Adjuvant! (www.adjuvantonline.com) is a web-based tool that predicts 10-year breast cancer outcomes with and without adjuvant systemic therapy, but it has not been independently validated.
Using the ...British Columbia Breast Cancer Outcomes Unit (BCOU) database, demographic, pathologic, staging, and treatment data on 4,083 women diagnosed between 1989 and 1993 in British Columbia with T1-2, N0-1, M0 breast cancer were abstracted and entered into Adjuvant! to calculate predicted 10-year overall survival (OS), breast cancer-specific survival (BCSS), and event-free survival (EFS) for each patient. Individual BCOU observed outcomes at 10 years were independently determined. Predicted and observed outcomes were compared.
Across all 4,083 patients, 10-year predicted and observed outcomes were within 1% for OS, BCSS, and EFS (all P > .05). Predicted and observed outcomes were within 2% for most demographic, pathologic, and treatment-defined subgroups. Adjuvant! overestimated OS, BCSS, and EFS in women younger than age 35 years (predicted-observed = 8.6%, 9.6%, and 13.6%, respectively; all P < .001) or with lymphatic or vascular invasion (LVI; predicted-observed = 3.6%, 3.8%, and 4.2%, respectively; all P < .05); these two prognostic factors were not automatically incorporated within the Adjuvant! algorithm. After adjusting for the distribution of LVI, using the prognostic factor impact calculator in Adjuvant!, 10-year predicted and observed outcomes were no longer significantly different.
Adjuvant! performed reliably. Patients younger than age 35 or with known additional adverse prognostic factors such as LVI require adjustment of risks to derive reliable predictions of prognosis without adjuvant systemic therapy and the absolute benefits of adjuvant systemic therapy.
Painful sunburns are implicated in the pathogenesis of squamous cell carcinoma, basal cell carcinoma, and malignant melanoma. Chronic exposure to ultraviolet radiation is known as the most important ...risk factor for the development of actinic keratoses and squamous cell carcinoma. The purpose of the study was to assess the effect of painful sunburns and lifetime sun exposure on the development of actinic keratoses and seborrheic warts in relation to the development of squamous cell carcinoma and basal cell carcinoma, and on the development of melanocytic nevi and atypical nevi in relation to the development of malignant melanoma. We made use of a cohort of 966 individuals who participated in a case-control study to investigate environmental and genetic risk factors for skin cancer. Exposure measurements for sunlight were collected and actinic keratoses, seborrheic warts, melanocytic nevi, and atypical nevi were counted. Relative risks were estimated using exposure odds ratios from cross-tabulation. Multivariate logistic regression was used to adjust for potential confounders. The recall of painful sunburns before the age of 20 y was associated with an increased risk of squamous cell carcinoma, nodular basal cell carcinoma, and multifocal superficial basal cell carcinoma as well as actinic keratoses. Odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals adjusted for age, sex, and skin type were 1.5 (0.97; 2.3); 1.6 (1.1; 2.2); 2.6 (1.7; 3.8); and 1.9 (1.4; 2.6) for the three types of nonmelanoma skin cancer and actinic keratoses, respectively. Painful sunburns before the age of 20 y were also associated with an increased risk of malignant melanoma and the development of its precursors, melanocytic nevi and atypical nevi. Odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals adjusted for age, sex, and skin type were 1.4 (0.86; 2.1); 1.5 (1.1; 2.0); and 1.4 (0.88; 2.3) for malignant melanoma and the two types of precursors, respectively. Lifetime sun exposure was predominantly associated with an increased risk of squamous cell carcinoma (p-value for trend=0.03) and actinic keratoses (p-value for trend <0.0001) and to a lesser degree with the two types of basal cell carcinoma. By contrast, lifetime sun exposure appeared to be associated with a lower risk of malignant melanoma, despite the fact that lifetime sun exposure did not diminish the number of melanocytic nevi or atypical nevi. Neither painful sunburns nor lifetime sun exposure were associated with an increased risk of seborrheic warts.
Estrogen receptor (ER) expression predicts improved breast cancer-specific survival and reduced risk of recurrence and is targeted in breast cancer therapy. A high-quality antibody to identify ...ER-positive patients plays an important role in clinical decision making for women with breast cancer. This study evaluates immunohistochemistry using two anti-ER antibodies, a new rabbit monoclonal antibody (SP1) and the mouse monoclonal antibody (1D5), in relation to biochemical ER assay results and clinical data on survival and adjuvant systemic therapy.
A population-based tissue microarray series of 4,150 invasive breast cancers was constructed. All patients had staging, pathology, treatment, and follow-up information. The median follow-up was 12.4 years and the median age at diagnosis 60 years. Survival analysis and log-rank tests were used to evaluate the prognostic value of ER status and correlations with clinical data.
Among the 4,105 samples interpretable for both antibodies, SP1 detected ER positivity in 69.5% and 1D5 in 63.1% of cases. Both monoclonal antibodies are demonstrated to be good prognostic indictors for breast cancer-specific and relapse-free survival. In multivariate analysis, including age, tumor size, grade, and lymphovascular and nodal status, SP1 was a better independent prognostic factor than 1D5. Among patients with discrepant ER results, the 8% of patients who were SP1 positive/1D5 negative showed good outcomes, and the 2% SP1-negative/1D5 positive had poor outcomes. Maintaining the same 92% specificity and 98% positive predictive value, SP1 is 8% more sensitive than 1D5 using biochemical assay as gold standard.
SP1 represents an improved standard for ER immunohistochemistry assessment in breast cancer.
Gastric and esophageal cancers are among the most lethal human malignancies. Their epidemiology is geographically diverse. This study compares the survival of gastric and esophageal cancer patients ...among several ethnic groups including Chinese, South Asians, Iranians and Others in British Columbia (BC), Canada.
Data were obtained from the population-based BC Cancer Registry for patients diagnosed with invasive esophageal and gastric cancer between 1984 and 2006. The ethnicity of patients was estimated according to their names and categorized as Chinese, South Asian, Iranian or Other. Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was used to estimate the effect of ethnicity adjusted for patient sex and age, disease histology, tumor location, disease stage and treatment.
The survival of gastric cancer patients was significantly different among ethnic groups. Chinese patients showed better survival compared to others in univariate and multivariate analysis. The survival of esophageal cancer patients was significantly different among ethnic groups when the data was analyzed by a univariate test (p = 0.029), but not in the Cox multivariate model adjusted for other patient and prognostic factors.
Ethnicity may represent underlying genetic factors. Such factors could influence host-tumor interactions by altering the tumor's etiology and therefore its chance of spreading. Alternatively, genetic factors may determine response to treatments. Finally, ethnicity may represent non-genetic factors that affect survival. Differences in survival by ethnicity support the importance of ethnicity as a prognostic factor, and may provide clues for the future identification of genetic or lifestyle factors that underlie these observations.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
CONTEXT High nevus density is a risk factor for cutaneous malignant melanoma.
Melanocytic nevi originate in childhood and are largely caused by solar exposure. OBJECTIVE To determine whether use of ...broad-spectrum, high–sun protection
factor (SPF) sunscreen attenuates development of nevi in white children. DESIGN Randomized trial conducted June 1993 to May 1996. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS A total of 458 Vancouver, British Columbia, schoolchildren in grades
1 and 4 were randomized in 1993. After exclusion of nonwhite children and
those lost to follow-up or with missing data, 309 children remained for analysis.
Each child's nevi were enumerated at the start and end of the study in 1996. INTERVENTION Parents of children randomly assigned to the treatment group (n=222)
received a supply of SPF 30 broad-spectrum sunscreen with directions to apply
it to exposed sites when the child was expected to be in the sun for 30 minutes
or more. Children randomly assigned to the control group (n=236) received
no sunscreen and were given no advice about sunscreen use. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Number of new nevi acquired during the 3 years of the study, compared
between treatment and control groups. RESULTS Children in the sunscreen group developed fewer nevi than did children
in the control group (median counts, 24 vs 28; P=.048).
A significant interaction was detected between freckling and study group,
indicating that sunscreen use was much more important for children with freckles
than for children without. Modeling of the data suggests that freckled children
assigned to a broad-spectrum sunscreen intervention would develop 30% to 40%
fewer new nevi than freckled children assigned to the control group. CONCLUSIONS Our data indicate that broad-spectrum sunscreens may attenuate the number
of nevi in white children, especially if they have freckles.
There is controversy about whether patients with synchronous bilateral breast cancer (SBBC) have similar or worse outcomes compared with patients with unilateral breast cancer. The purpose of this ...study was to determine whether survival outcomes for patients with SBBC can be estimated from the characteristics of their individual cancers.
Patients had invasive breast cancer, without metastases or inflammatory disease, diagnosed in British Columbia between 1989 and 2000. There were 207 cases with SBBC (diagnosed ≤ 2 months apart) and 15,497 with unilateral breast cancer. By using 10-year breast cancer-specific survival (BCSS) estimates, the higher-risk cancer of each SBBC case was determined and matched with three breast cancers from the unilateral cohort to select 621 high-risk matches. The priority sequence of matching the prognostic and predictive variables was positive lymph node number, primary tumor size, age, grade, lymphovascular invasion, estrogen receptor status, local therapy used, margin status, treating clinic, diagnosis year, and type of systemic therapy used.
With a median follow-up of 10.2 years, the overall 10-year BCSS was significantly higher for the unilateral cohort (81%; 95% CI, 81% to 82%) than for the SBBC cases (71%; 95% CI, 63% to 77%). The SBBC cases had significantly higher mean age and stage at presentation. The 10-year BCSS was 74% (95% CI, 69% to 77%) for the high-risk matches.
BCSS was not significantly different between the SBBC cases and their high-risk matches.
Effect of Smoking and Sun on the Aging Skin Kennedy, Cornelis; Bastiaens, Maarten T.; Willemze, Rein ...
Journal of investigative dermatology,
04/2003, Letnik:
120, Številka:
4
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Smoking and ultraviolet radiation are known to have a detrimental effect on human skin. Important characteristics of the aging skin are elastosis and telangiectasia. The purpose of the study was to ...assess the relative importance of age per se, and the detrimental effects caused by sun exposure and smoking on the development of cutaneous elastosis and telangiectasia in a well-defined group of individuals. We made use of 966 individuals who participated in a case-control study to investigate environmental and genetic risk factors for skin cancer. Exposure measurements for sunlight and smoking were collected and the amount of elastosis and telangiectasia in the face and neck was recorded according to a four-graded score varying from none to severe. Relative risks were estimated using exposure odds ratios from cross-tabulation and logistic regression. Multivariate logistic regression was used to adjust for potential confounders. Among both sexes a strong association was observed between increasing age, sun exposure, and amount of elastosis. The association between increasing age, sun exposure, and amount of telangiectasia was strong among men, but less apparent among women. Smoking was also associated with elastosis among both sexes, and with telangiectasia predominantly among men. Intrinsic differences between men and women (e.g., hormones) or behavior differences (e.g., more frequent use of creams and cosmetics among women) could account for this apparent difference in the occurrence of telangiectasia. In contrast to elastosis, telangiectasia may not be a good marker of the aging skin, specifically not in women.
Abstract Background Axillary lymph node involvement remains the most important prognostic factor in early-stage breast cancer. We hypothesized that molecular classification based on breast cancer ...biology would predict the presence of nodal involvement at diagnosis, which might aid treatment decisions regarding the axilla. Patients and Methods From a clinically annotated tissue microarray of 4444 early-stage breast cancers, expression of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PgR), HER2, epidermal growth factor receptor, and cytokeratin 5/6 was determined by immunohistochemistry. Cases were classified by published criteria into molecular subtypes of luminal, luminal/HER2 positive, HER2 positive/ER negative/PgR negative, and basal. Risk of axillary nodal involvement at diagnosis was determined in 2 multivariable logistic regression models: a “core biopsy model” including molecular subtype, age, grade, and tumor size and a “lumpectomy model,” which also included lymphovascular invasion. Luminal was used as the reference group. After internal validation of findings in 2 independent sets, we conducted combined analysis of both. Results In the core biopsy model, the molecular subtypes had a predictive effect for nodal involvement ( P = .000001), with the basal subtype having an odds ratio for axillary lymph node involvement of 0.53 (95% CI, 0.41-0.69). Tumor grade ( P = 5.43 × 10−12 ) and size ( P = 8.52 × 10−35 ) were also predictive for nodal involvement. Similar results were found in the lumpectomy model, where lymphovascular invasion was also predictive ( P = 2.74 × 10−115 ). Conclusion These results indicate that the basal breast cancer molecular subtype predicts a lower incidence of axillary nodal involvement, and including biomarker profiles to predict nodal status at diagnosis could help stratification for decisions regarding axillary surgery and locoregional radiation.
Racial and ethnic disparities in breast cancer incidence, stage at diagnosis, survival and mortality are well documented; but few studies have reported on disparities in breast cancer treatment. This ...paper compares the treatment received by breast cancer patients in British Columbia (BC) for three ethnic groups and three time periods. Values for breast cancer treatments received in the BC general population are provided for reference.
Information on patients, tumour characteristics and treatment was obtained from BC Cancer Registry (BCCR) and BC Cancer Agency (BCCA) records. Treatment among ethnic groups was analyzed by stage at diagnosis and time period at diagnosis. Differences among the three ethnic groups were tested using chi-square tests, Fisher exact tests and a multivariate logistic model.
There was no significant difference in overall surgery use for stage I and II disease between the ethnic groups, however there were significant differences when surgery with and without radiation were considered separately. These differences did not change significantly with time. Treatment with chemotherapy and hormone therapy did not differ among the minority groups.
The description of treatment differences is the first step to guiding interventions that reduce ethnic disparities. Specific studies need to examine reasons for the observed differences and the influence of culture and beliefs.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Lynch syndrome is defined by the presence of germline mutations in mismatch repair (MMR) genes. Several models have been recently devised that predict mutation carrier status (Myriad Genetics, ...Wijnen, Barnetson, PREMM and MMRpro models). Families at moderate‐high risk for harboring a Lynch‐associated mutation, referred to the BC Cancer Agency (BCCA) Hereditary Cancer Program (HCP), underwent mutation analysis, immunohistochemistry and/or microsatellite testing. Seventy‐two tested cases were included. Twenty‐five patients were mutation positive (34.7%) and 47 were mutation negative (65.3%). Nineteen of 43 patients who were both microsatellite stable and normal on immunohistochemistry for MLH1 and MSH2 were also genotyped for mutations in these genes; all 19 were negative for MMR gene mutations. Model‐derived probabilities of harboring a MMR gene mutation in the proband were calculated and compared to observed results. The area under the ROC curves were 0.75 (95%CI; 0.63–0.87), 0.86 (0.7–0.96), 0.89 (0.82–0.97), 0.89 (0.81–0.98) and 0.93 (0.86–0.99) for the Myriad, Barnetson, Wijnen, MMRpro and PREMM models, respectively. The Amsterdam II criteria had a sensitivity and specificity of 0.76 and 0.74, respectively, in this cohort. The PREMM model demonstrated the best performance for predicting carrier status based on the positive likelihood ratios at the >10%, >20% and >30% probability thresholds. In this referred cohort, the PREMM model had the most favorable concordance index and predictive performance for carrier status based on the positive LR. These prediction models (PREMM, MMRPro and Wijnen) may soon replace the Amsterdam II and revised Bethesda criteria as a prescreening tool for Lynch mutations.