ObjectiveTo estimate the risk of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) and Hodgkin’s lymphoma (HL) in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).DesignWe undertook a two-country population cohort study ...with all patients diagnosed with IBD in Norway and Sweden from 1987 and 1993 through 2015 and 2016, respectively, and analysed the risk of NHL and HL. In Sweden, we also analysed prescriptions of thiopurines and anti-tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α therapy from 2005. We calculated standardised incidence ratios (SIRs) with 95% CIs using the general populations as reference.ResultsAmong 131 492 patients with IBD with a medium follow-up of 9.6 years, we identified 369 cases of NHL and 44 cases of HL. The SIR of NHL was 1.3 (95% CI 1.1 to 1.5) in ulcerative colitis and 1.4 (95% CI 1.2 to 1.7) in Crohn’s disease. We found no compelling heterogeneity in analyses stratified by patient characteristics. We found a similar pattern and magnitude of excess risks for HL. At 10 years, cumulative incidence was 0.26% (95% CI 0.23% to 0.30%) and 0.06% (95% CI 0.04% to 0.08%) for NHL and HL, respectively. Higher excess risks were found among patients with NHL with concomitant primary sclerosing cholangitis (SIR 3.4; 95% CI 2.1 to 5.2) and in those prescribed thiopurines alone (SIR 2.8; 95% CI 1.4 to 5.7) or with anti-TNF-α agents (SIR 5.7; 95% CI 2.7 to 11.9).ConclusionPatients with IBD have a statistically significant increased risk of malignant lymphomas compared with the general population, but the absolute risk remains low.
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a serious health problem, and various screening programs to reduce CRC have been introduced worldwide. However, the cost‑effectiveness of a program based on ...once‑in‑a‑lifetime colonoscopy in Poland is unknown.
The main aim of this study was to assess the cost‑effectiveness of Polish Colonoscopy Screening Platform (PCSP), the colonoscopy screening program in Poland.
A Markov model was constructed to compare the strategy of colonoscopy screening as compared with no screening in 100 000 subjects. The model was based on data collected from the nationwide Polish CRC screening program whenever possible. The incremental cost‑effectiveness ratio (ICER) was calculated and compared with the willingness‑to‑pay thresholds. A sensitivity analysis was also performed using the Monte Carlo simulation.
Colonoscopy screening within PCSP resulted in a 18.9% reduction in CRC incidence and 19.8% reduction in CRC mortality. The strategy allowed a gain of 2317 life‑years saved (1959 after discount‑ ing). The cost of colonoscopy screening per participant examined was estimated at 267.70 USD (95% CI, 263.08-272.32 USD). The ICER was less than 6500 USD, which was much lower than the accepted willingness‑to‑pay thresholds, indicating that the screening was cost‑effective.
Colonoscopy screening within the PCSP is cost‑effective and may have a substantial impact on the Polish society due to life‑years saved. The results have good informative value not only for health policy makers and medical practitioners, but also for health technology assessment.
Immunomodulatory drugs (IMiDs) are effective in the treatment of multiple myeloma (MM), myelodysplastic syndrome with deletion of chromosome 5q and other haematological malignancies. Recent studies ...showed that IMiDs bind to cereblon (CRBN), a substrate receptor of the CRL4–CRBN complex, to induce the ubiquitination and degradation of IKZF1 and IKZF3 in MM cells, contributing to their anti-myeloma activity. We aimed to determine whether the CRL4–CRBN complex proteins’ expression predicts the prognosis of MM patients treated with IMiDs. Here, we evaluated the expression of CRL4–CRBN complex proteins and their downstream targets with immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining in 130 bone marrow samples from MM patients treated with thalidomide or lenalidomide-based regimens. We found that the expression of CRBN and CUL4A was associated with the superior IMiD-based treatment response (p = 0.007 and p = 0.007, respectively). Moreover, the CUL4A expression was associated with improved PFS (HR = 0.66, 95% CI 0.44–0.99; p = 0.046) and DDB1 expression showed a negative impact on OS both in the univariate (HR = 2.75, 95% CI 1.65–4.61; p = 0.001) and the multivariate (HR 3.67; 95% CI 1.79–7.49; p < 0.001) analysis. Overall, our data suggest that the expression of DDB1, CUL4A and CRBN assessed by IHC predicts the clinical course of MM patients and identifies patients with a high probability of responding to IMiD-based therapy.
In this randomized trial involving 84,585 participants in Poland, Norway, and Sweden, the risk of colorectal cancer at 10 years was lower among those invited to undergo screening colonoscopy than ...among those assigned to no screening.
Background & Aims The quality of endoscopists' colonoscopy performance is measured by adenoma detection rate (ADR). Although ADR is associated inversely with interval colorectal cancer and colorectal ...cancer death, the effects of an increasing ADR have not been shown. We investigated whether increasing ADRs from individual endoscopists is associated with reduced risks of interval colorectal cancer and subsequent death. Methods We performed a prospective cohort study of individuals who underwent a screening colonoscopy within the National Colorectal Cancer Screening Program in Poland, from January 1, 2004, through December 31, 2008. We collected data from 146,860 colonoscopies performed by 294 endoscopists, with each endoscopist having participated at least twice in annual editions of primary colonoscopy screening. We used annual feedback and quality benchmark indicators to improve colonoscopy performance. We used ADR quintiles in the whole data set to categorize the annual ADRs for each endoscopist. An increased ADR was defined as an increase by at least 1 quintile category, or the maintenance of the highest category in subsequent screening years. Multivariate frailty models were used to evaluate the effects of increased ADR on the risk of interval colorectal cancer and death. Results Throughout the enrollment period, 219 endoscopists (74.5%) increased their annual ADR category. During 895,916 person-years of follow-up evaluation through the National Cancer Registry, we identified 168 interval colorectal cancers and 44 interval cancer deaths. An increased ADR was associated with an adjusted hazard ratio for interval colorectal cancer of 0.63 (95% confidence interval CI, 0.45–0.88; P = .006), and for cancer death of 0.50 (95% CI, 0.27–0.95; P = .035). Compared with no increase in ADR, reaching or maintaining the highest quintile ADR category (such as an ADR > 24.56%) decreased the adjusted hazard ratios for interval colorectal cancer to 0.27 (95% CI, 0.12–0.63; P = .003), and 0.18 (95% CI, 0.06–0.56; P = .003), respectively. Conclusions In a prospective study of individuals who underwent screening colonoscopy within a National Colorectal Cancer Screening Program, we associated increased ADR with a reduced risk of interval colorectal cancer and death.
ObjectivePain associated with colonoscopy is a major burden for patients. We investigated modifiable factors associated with patient-reported pain during and after colonoscopy.DesignThis ...cross-sectional analysis included database records from 23 centres participating in a population-based colonoscopy screening programme in Poland. Colonoscopies were performed under three sedation modalities: none, benzodiazepine-opioid sedation or propofol sedation. We used Gastronet (a validated tool) to assess patients’ pain during and after colonoscopy; pain was scored on a four-point scale (no, little, moderate or severe pain), with moderate to severe defined as painful. We used multivariate logistic regression models to estimate ORs for painful colonoscopy and calculated risk-adjusted ratios of painful colonoscopies per endoscopist and compared it to the mean rate.ResultsOf 35 216 screening colonoscopies in 2014 and 2015 included in our study, 22 725 (64.5%) patients returned valid Gastronet questionnaires. The proportion of examinations described as causing pain during (after) the procedure was 22.5% (14.2%) for unsedated, 19.9% (13.5%) for benzodiazepine-opioid sedation and 2.5% (7.5%) for propofol sedation. Propofol sedation, higher case volume of endoscopists, newest endoscope generation and adequate bowel preparation were significantly associated with lower odds of painful colonoscopy. Pain scores after colonoscopy showed similar associations. Adjusted pain rates during and after colonoscopy varied 11 and over 23-fold, respectively, between endoscopists.ConclusionWe identified several independent, modifiable factors associated with pain during and after colonoscopy, of which individual endoscopist was the most important. Dedicated training should be considered to decrease variability among endoscopists.
Recommendation of surveillance colonoscopy should be based on risk of colorectal cancer and death after adenoma removal. We aimed to develop a risk classification system based on colorectal cancer ...incidence and mortality following adenoma removal.
We performed a multicenter population-based cohort study of 236,089 individuals (median patient age, 56 years; 37.8% male) undergoing screening colonoscopies with adequate bowel cleansing and cecum intubation at 132 centers in the Polish National Colorectal Cancer Screening Program, from 2000 through 2011. Subjects were followed for a median 7.1 years and information was collected on colorectal cancer development and death. We used recursive partitioning and multivariable Cox models to identify associations between colorectal cancer risk and patient and adenoma characteristics (diameter, growth pattern, grade of dysplasia, and number of adenomas). We developed a risk classification system based on standardized incidence ratios, using data from the Polish population for comparison. The primary endpoints were colorectal cancer incidence and colorectal cancer death.
We identified 130 colorectal cancers in individuals who had adenomas removed at screening (46.5 per 100,000 person-years) vs 309 in individuals without adenomas (22.2 per 100,000 person-years). Compared with individuals without adenomas, adenomas ≥20 mm in diameter and high-grade dysplasia were associated with increased risk of colorectal cancer (adjusted hazard ratios 9.25; 95% confidence interval CI 6.39–13.39, and 3.58; 95% CI 1.96–6.54, respectively). Compared with the general population, colorectal cancer risk was higher or comparable only for individuals with adenomas ≥20 mm in diameter (standardized incidence ratio SIR 2.07; 95% CI 1.40–2.93) or with high-grade dysplasia (SIR 0.79; 95% CI 0.39–1.41), whereas for individuals with other adenoma characteristics the risk was lower (SIR 0.35; 95% CI 0.28–0.44). We developed a high-risk classification based on adenoma size ≥20 mm or high-grade dysplasia (instead of the current high-risk classification cutoff of ≥3 adenomas or any adenoma with villous growth pattern, high-grade dysplasia, or ≥10 mm in diameter). Our classification system would reduce the number of individuals classified as high-risk and requiring intensive surveillance from 15,242 (36.5%) to 3980 (9.5%), without increasing risk of colorectal cancer in patients with adenomas (risk difference per 100,000 person-years, 5.6; 95% CI –10.7 to 22.0).
Using data from the Polish National Colorectal Cancer Screening Program, we developed a risk classification system that would reduce the number of individuals classified as high risk and require intensive surveillance more than 3-fold, without increasing risk of colorectal cancer in patients with adenomas. This system could optimize the use of surveillance colonoscopy.
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This study evaluated the impact of power setting and proton pump inhibitor (PPI) dose on efficacy and safety of argon plasma coagulation (APC) of Barrett's esophagus (BE) with low-grade dysplasia ...(LGD). METHODS : 71 patients were randomized to APC with power set at 90 W or 60 W followed by 120 mg or 40 mg omeprazole. The primary outcome was the rate of complete (endoscopic and histologic) ablation of BE at 6 weeks. Secondary outcomes included safety and long-term efficacy. RESULTS : Complete ablation rate in the 90 W/120 mg, 90 W/40 mg, and 60 W/120 mg groups was 78 % (18/23; 95 % confidence interval CI 61-95), 60 % (15/25; 95 %CI 41-79), 74 % (17/23; 95 %CI 56-92), respectively, at 6 weeks and 70 % (16/23; 95 %CI 51-88), 52 % (13/25; 95 %CI 32-72), and 65 % (15/23; 95 %CI 46-85) at 2 years post-treatment (differences not significant). Additional APC was required in 28 patients (23 residual and 5 recurrent BE). At median follow-up of 108 months, 66/71 patients (93 %; 95 %CI 87-99) maintained complete ablation. No high-grade dysplasia or adenocarcinoma developed. Overall, adverse events (97 % mild) did not differ significantly between groups. Chest pain/discomfort was more frequent in patients receiving 90 W vs. 60 W power (
< 0.001). One patient had esophageal perforation and two developed stenosis.
APC power setting and PPI dose did not impact efficacy and safety of BE ablation. Complete ablation of BE with LGD was durable in > 90 % of patients, without any evidence of neoplasia progression in the long term.