paywalled - Survival of ovarian cancer patients in Germany in the early 21st century: a period analysis by age, histology, laterality, and stage

European Journal of Cancer Prevention:

Abstract

Population-based studies on ovarian cancer providing survival estimates by age, histology, laterality, and stage have been sparse. We aimed to derive the most up-to-date and detailed survival estimates for ovarian cancer patients in Germany. We used a pooled German national dataset including data from 11 cancer registries covering 33 million populations. A total of 21 651 patients diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 1997-2006 were included. Period analysis was carried out to calculate the 5-year relative survival (RS) for the years 2002-2006. Trends in survival between 2002 and 2006 were examined using model-based period analysis. Age adjustment was performed using five age groups (15-44, 45-54, 55-64, 65-74, and 75+ years). Overall, the age-adjusted 5-year RS in 2002-2006 was 41%. A strong age gradient was observed, with a decrease in the 5-year RS from 67% in the age group 15-49 years to 28% in the age group 70+ years. Furthermore, the prognosis varied markedly by histology, laterality, and stage, with the age-adjusted 5-year RS ranging from 25% (for carcinoma not otherwise specified) to 81% (for stromal cell carcinoma), reaching 46% for unilateral and 32% for bilateral carcinoma and reaching 82% for Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stages I and II, 36% for FIGO stage III, and 18% for FIGO stage IV. No improvement in survival could be observed for any of the subgroups in the period between 2002 and 2006. Our analyses suggest that an improvement in the 5-year RS for ovarian cancer may have stagnated in the early 21st century and underline the need for a more effective translation of therapeutic innovation into clinical practice.

CDC- Cancer Survivorship Twitter Chat Tuesday, June 19th 2-3 pm EDT

Join Us! Cancer Survivorship Twitter Chat Tomorrow

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
 

CDC's Division of Cancer Prevention and Control (DCPC) will host a Twitter chat about cancer survivorship on Tuesday, June 19 from 2:00 to 3:00 pm EDT.

Subject matter experts Blythe Ryerson and Dr. Elizabeth Rohan will answer questions. Visit DCPC's Twitter account at twitter.com/CDC_Cancer. You can follow the chat using the hashtag #CDCCancerChat, and you can send questions for the chat using that hashtag now.


Division of Cancer Prevention and Control
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Imperfect measure of hospital safety - CIHI

Imperfect measure of hospital safety

Imperfect measure of hospital safety

1. CMAJ

The failure to include hospital-acquired infections or medication errors as a performance indicator limits the utility of the Canadian Institute for Health Information’s (CIHI) new hospital benchmarking tool, critics say....

Predisposed to risk but not change CMAJ (genetic testing series)

......Of course, considering that the predictive power of genetic testing tends to be underwhelming, perhaps it’s no surprise that personalized genetic information induces more shoulder shrugs than lifestyle changes. “One of the challenges is that people are behaving rationally, to a degree, when they don’t change their behaviours. These genetic tests aren’t very predictive,” says Timothy Caulfield, a Canada Research Chair in Health Law and Technology who teaches in the law faculty and school of public health at the University of Alberta. “If you find you have a health risk of 2% instead of 1%, that type of risk is lost in the noise of risk in your life.” 

Editor’s note: Sixth of a multipart series on genetic testing.

Part 1: Separating hype from reality in the era of the affordable genome (www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.109-4143).

Part 2: Popping the genetics bubble (www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.109-4142).

Part 3: Who should hold the keys to your DNA? (www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.109-4141).

Part 4: A race-based detour to personalized medicine (www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.109-4133).

Part 5: Race and genetics in the doctor’s office (www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.109-4134).

Substantially Modified Ratios of Effector to Regulatory T Cells During Chemotherapy in Ovarian Cancer Patients Return to Pre-Treatment Levels at Completion: Implications for Immunotherapy

Published: 18 June 2012

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cancer Vaccines and Immunotherapy)

Download PDF Full-Text 

Abstract:  

Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death from gynaecological malignancy. Despite improved detection and treatment options, relapse rates remain high. Combining immunotherapy with the current standard treatments may provide an improved prognosis, however, little is known about how standard chemotherapy affects immune potential (particularly T cells) over time, and hence, when to optimally combine it with immunotherapy (e.g., vaccines). Herein, we assess the frequency and ratio of CD8+ central memory and effector T cells as well as CD4+ effector and regulatory T cells (Tregs) during the first 18 weeks of standard chemotherapy for ovarian cancer patients. In this pilot study, we observed increased levels of recently activated Tregs with tumor migrating ability (CD4+CD25^hiFoxp3+CD127−CCR4+CD38+ cells) in patients when compared to controls. Although frequency changes of Tregs as well as the ratio of effector T cells to Tregs were observed during treatment, the Tregs consistently returned to pre-chemotherapy levels at the end of treatment.