abstract: The Role of Tumor Markers in the Surgical Approach of Ovarian Masses in Pediatric Age: A 10-Year Study and a Literature Review

Blogger's Note: See partial pdf below for tumor markers studied

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Purpose

The purpose of this study was to detect the role of serum tumor markers in the differential diagnosis and in the choice of
the surgical treatment of ovarian lesions in pediatric age.

Conclusions

The role of tumor markers is still controversial. This is the reason why, before considering a radical treatment, we suggest
caution to optimize future fertility.

abstract: Chinese Journal of Cancer Research - Attributable causes of breast cancer and ovarian cancer in China: Reproductive factors, oral contraceptives and hormone replacement therapy

Abstract

Objective

To provide an evidence-based, consistent assessment of the burden of breast cancer attributable to reproductive factors (RFs, including nulliparity, mean number of children, age at first birth and breastfeeding), use of oral contraceptives (OCs, restricted to the age group of 15–49 years), and hormone replacement therapy (HRT), as well as of the burden of ovarian cancer attributable to the mean number of children in China in 2005.

Methods

We derived the prevalence of these risk factors and the relative risk of breast and ovarian cancer from national surveys or large-scale studies conducted in China. In the case of RFs, we compared the exposure distributions in 2001 and counterfactual exposure.

Results

Exposure of RFs in 2001 was found to account for 6.74% of breast cancer, corresponding to 9,617 cases and 2,769 deaths, and for 2.78% of ovarian cancer (711 cases, 294 deaths). The decrease in mean number of children alone was responsible for 1.47% of breast cancer and 2.78% of ovarian cancer. The prevalence of OC use was 1.74% and the population attributable fraction (PAF) of breast cancer was 0.71%, corresponding to 310 cases and 90 deaths. The PAF of breast cancer due to HRT was 0.31%, resulting in 297 cases and 85 deaths.

Conclusion

RFs changes in China contributed to a sizable fraction of breast and ovarian cancer incidence and mortality, whereas HRT and OCs accounted for relatively low incidence of breast cancer in China.

Canadian Health Reference Guide: Heavy lifting for cancer research Increasing muscle mass can enhance quality of life

Blogger's Note:  sometimes when we think research is stupid - well, it just is - opinion of which is based obviously on the limited information available here


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“Although many cancer patients are in a palliative care situation, we want to maintain their quality of life as much as possible,” says co-author Antonio Vigano, a palliative care physician at the MUHC. “Participation would be high because activity gives patients control over their situation — control they feel they’ve lost. In addition we know there are other positive benefits to exercise, such as increased appetite.”

Partners in research:
This work was supported by the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Research Institute of the MUHC, the Fonds de recherche du Québec - Santé, and the Canadian Hypertension Society.

abstract: Has equity in relative survival improved over time in Finland - a methodological exercise.

Blogger's Note: full access to the text would be preferable to elicit exact differences; study = population based stats/regional differences

BACKGROUND:

Population-based relative survival is widely used as a method of monitoring the success of cancer control. This success may not be relevant only for an entire country but also regional developments over time are of interest. It would not only be important that the relative survival improved but also that the differences between regions decreased over time.

METHODS:

In this paper the authors show how relative survival methods can be used to study such differences. In addition to standard methods, some more recently introduced approaches are used, most notably a method for checking the goodness of fit of the relative survival model. This gives confidence in the obtained results and provides additional insight when assumptions are not met.

RESULTS:

An analysis of cancers of the colon and ovary by cancer control region in Finland in 1953-2003 shows an overall improvement in relative survival, accompanied in colon cancer also by a decrease of differences in relative survival between the regions. Thus, the desired course was observed in colon cancer but not in cancer of the ovary.

CONCLUSIONS:

These results, applied to further sites, should lead to investigation of differences in cancer control policies between regions.

abstract: Clinical impact of unclassified variants of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes.

"Women who carry a pathogenic mutation in BRCA1 or BRCA2 have high risks of developing breast and ovarian cancers.
The functional effect of many missense variants on BRCA1 and BRCA2 protein function is not known. Here, the authors construct a historical cohort of 4030 female first-degree relatives of 1345 unselected patients with ovarian cancer who have been screened for BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations.
The authors compared the risks by the age of 80 years for all cancers combined in female first-degree relatives of women with a pathogenic mutation, women with a variant of unknown significance (unclassified variant) and non-carriers.
The cumulative risk of cancer among the relatives of patients with a pathogenic mutation was much higher than the risk in relatives of non-carriers (50.2% vs 28.5%; HR=2.87, p<10(-4)). In contrast, the cumulative risk of cancer among relatives of patients carrying an unclassified variant was similar to the risk of cancer for relatives of non-carriers (27.6% vs 28.5%; HR=1.08, p=0.79). The authors used three different algorithms to predict the pathogenicity of unclassified variants and compared their penetrance with non-carriers. In this sample, only Align Grantham Variation Grantham Deviation appeared to predict penetrance based on first-degree relatives."

abstract: Quality of life of parents diagnosed with cancer: change over time and influencing factors.

"Suffering from cancer while having parental responsibilities can amplify the psychosocial strain that the disease puts on the individual as well as on the whole family system.
Our longitudinal study examines changes in the quality of life of cancer patients in relation to parenthood. The quality of life of cancer patients is assessed with the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire 30-item version during the initial treatment period (T1) and compared to the quality of life 2 years later (T2). Two groups of patients are compared: those who have children below the age of 18 years (n= 41) and those who do not have children (n= 28). Shortly after being diagnosed with cancer (T1), both groups report a similarly low quality of life. Two years later (T2), individuals with children below the age of 18 report better quality of life on the majority of the dimensions assessed. However, variance analysis did not show that this is an independent effect of parenthood. In fact, having a partner and being female proved to impact the quality of life. These findings support the existing body of research on the influence of social support and gender on quality of life. The resulting limitations and suggestions on how to overcome them in further research are discussed."

abstract: Age-Specific Incidence Rates for Breast Cancer in Carriers of BRCA1 Mutations from Norway (compared to Poland/North America)

Clin Genet. 2012 Feb 9. doi: 10.1111/j.1399-0004.2012.01855.x. [Epub ahead of print]

"Incidence rates of breast cancer among women with a BRCA1 mutation vary according to their reproductive histories and country of residence. To measure cancer incidence, it is best to follow cohort of healthy women prospectively. We followed a cohort of 675 women with a BRCA1 mutation who had not had breast or ovarian cancer prior to inclusion and who had a normal clinical examination and mammography at first visit. After a mean of 7.1 years, 98 incident cases of breast cancer were recorded in the cohort. Annual cancer incidence rates were calculated, and based on these, a penetrance curve was constructed. The average annual cancer risk for the Norwegian women from age 25 to 70 was 2.0%. Founder mutations had lower incidence rate (1.7%) than less frequent mutations (2.5%) (p=0.03). The peak incidence (3.1% annual risk) was observed in women from age 50 to 59. The age-specific annual incidence rates and penetrance estimate were compared with published figures for women from North America and from Poland. The risk of breast cancer to age 70 was estimated to be 61% for women from Norway, compared to 55% for women from Poland and 69% for women from North America. (of those BRCA1)"