| 1. |
- Duarte-Salles, Talita, et al.
(författare)
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Circulating Osteopontin and Prediction of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Development in a Large European Population
- 2016
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Ingår i: Cancer Prevention Research. - 1940-6207 .- 1940-6215. ; 9:9, s. 758-765
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We previously identified osteopontin (OPN) as a promising marker for the early detection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In this study, we investigated the association between prediagnostic circulating OPN levels and HCC incidence in a large population-based cohort. A nested case-control study was conducted within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort. During a mean follow-up of 4.8 years, 100 HCC cases were identified. Each case was matched to two controls and OPN levels were measured in baseline plasma samples. Viral hepatitis, liver function, and a-fetoprotein (AFP) tests were also conducted. Conditional logistic regression models were used to calculate multivariable odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) for OPN levels in relation to HCC. Receiver operating characteristics curves were constructed to determine the discriminatory accuracy of OPN alone or in combination with other liver biomarkers in the prediction of HCC. OPN levels were positively associated with HCC risk (per 10% increment, ORmultivariable = 1.30; 95% CI, 1.14-1.48). The association was stronger among cases diagnosed within 2 years of follow-up. Adding liver function tests to OPN improved the discriminatory performance for subjects who developed HCC (AUC = 0.86). For cases diagnosed within 2 years, the combination of OPN and AFP was best able to predict HCC risk (AUC = 0.88). The best predictive model for HCC in this low-risk population is OPN in combination with liver function tests. Within 2 years of diagnosis, the combination of OPN and AFP best predicted HCC development, suggesting that measuring OPN and AFP could identify high-risk groups independently of a liver disease diagnosis.
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| 2. |
- Fedirko, Veronika, et al.
(författare)
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Exposure to bacterial products lipopolysaccharide and flagellin and hepatocellular carcinoma : a nested case-control study
- 2017
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Ingår i: BMC Medicine. - : BioMed Central. - 1741-7015. ; 72:15
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Leakage of bacterial products across the gut barrier may play a role in liver diseases which often precede the development of liver cancer. However, human studies, particularly from prospective settings, are lacking.METHODS: We used a case-control study design nested within a large prospective cohort to assess the association between circulating levels of anti-lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and anti-flagellin immunoglobulin A (IgA) and G (IgG) (reflecting long-term exposures to LPS and flagellin, respectively) and risk of hepatocellular carcinoma. A total of 139 men and women diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma between 1992 and 2010 were matched to 139 control subjects. Multivariable rate ratios (RRs), including adjustment for potential confounders, hepatitis B/C positivity, and degree of liver dysfunction, were calculated with conditional logistic regression.RESULTS: = 0.021). This finding did not vary substantially by time from enrollment to diagnosis, and did not change after adjustment for chronic infection with hepatitis B and C viruses.CONCLUSIONS: These novel findings, based on exposures up to several years prior to diagnosis, support a role for gut-derived bacterial products in hepatocellular carcinoma development. Further study into the role of gut barrier failure and exposure to bacterial products in liver diseases is warranted.
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| 3. |
- Lundgren, David, 1966-
(författare)
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The significance of low-grade inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract
- 2021
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- BackgroundGastrointestinal (GI) symptoms are commonly reported in a normal population. Mostly, the symptoms are of benign cause but occasionally the symptoms can be signs of a more harmful disease. In general, it is difficult to distinguish whether the reported symptoms are caused by a benign (functional) or organic (i.e., inflammatory) disease. To make this distinction, the tools available in clinical practice are medical history, blood and faecal tests, radiology, endoscopy and histological evaluation. Mucosal inflammation usually separates organic from functional disease and, in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), mucosal inflammation correlates with disease activity. Faecal calprotectin (FC) corresponds well with mucosal inflammation and is in clinical practice often used as the first line non-invasive test for gut inflammation. Although the sensitivity of the FC test to detect gut inflammation is good, there are uncertainties in how to interpret a modestly elevated FC level (i.e., in the span of 50-200µg/g) and in patients with IBD, there is a disagreement into which degree of inflammatory remission it is sufficient to reach.AimThe overall aim of this thesis was to study factors associated with low-grade inflammation based on biochemical markers, and to study the clinical significance of low-grade inflammation in patients with IBD and other patients with elevated FC levels. Is low-grade inflammation associated with reported gastrointestinal symptoms in patients with IBD and could low-grade inflammation be detected in the pre-clinical phase of IBD? How should an elevated FC level in patients with a normal colonoscopy be interpreted and could it be a risk factor for gastrointestinal disease or associated with other factors? Could low-grade inflammation cause IBS-like symptoms in patients with IBD?Methods and resultsThree of the manuscripts on which this thesis is based are from the Faecal and Endoscopic Colorectal Study in Umeå Sweden (FECSU) which consists of 1263 patients that underwent colonoscopy during the period of May 2007 to February 2013. The patients that accepted to participate in the FECSU study performed a FC test the day before the bowel preparation for the colonoscopy and simultaneously filled in questionnaires of gastrointestinal symptoms (GSRS), symptoms of anxiety and depression (HADS) and current medications. A thorough medical chart review that focused on endoscopic evaluations, histological judgements and medical history was performed. The included patients with IBD (n=157) in the FECSU study were analysed separately. Patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) in endoscopic remission reported lower total scores on GSRS-irritable bowel syndrome (GSRS-IBS) than controls (6 vs 10.5; p=0.062). However there was a moderate, yet significant association between GSRS-diarrhoea score and FC levels in the span £ 200 µg/g (rho 0.38;p=0.004) in patients with UC. To investigate pre-clinical biomarkers of IBD we identified 96 patients with IBD in the “Västerbotten Intervention Program (VIP)” and the “Mammography screening project” (MA). In the pre-clinical study in patients with IBD we found that patients who later developed UC had lower plasma albumin levels and patients who later developed Crohn’s disease (CD) had higher levels of CRP in plasma, reflecting signs of a low-grade systemic inflammation years before diagnosis. Plasma calprotectin levels were not elevated before IBD-diagnosis. In the FECSU study, all non-IBD patients with a normal colonoscopy were studied for factors associated with an elevated FC level. Patients with a FC > 50 µg/g more often used Proton-pump inhibitors (PPI) (multivariate OR: 3.843; CI: 2.338-6.316), Non-steroidal anti-ivinflammatory drugs (NSAID) (multivariate OR: 2.411; CI: 1.162-5.002) and acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) (multivariate OR: 2.934; CI: 1.085-3.448). One third of the patients with a normal colonoscopy had elevated FC levels (> 50 µg/g) and these patients were observed three years after the colonoscopy. There was no increased risk for developing gastrointestinal disease in the patients with an increased baseline FC level and a normal colonoscopy during the observation period.ConclusionPatients with longstanding UC in remission did not experience more IBS-like symptoms than controls. In patients with UC in remission, the FC levels in the lower span were moderately associated with symptoms of diarrhoea. Patients with IBD had elevated inflammatory biochemical markers in blood in the pre-clinical phase. P- CRP and P-albumin were more sensitive to detect a low grade systemic inflammation than P-calprotectin in the pre-clinical phase of IBD. More than one-third of the patients with a normal colonoscopy had a slightly elevated FC. In patients with a normal colonoscopy, the use of PPI, NSAID and ASA was associated with an increased FC level. No significant gastrointestinal disease developed in the patients with an increased FC level together with a normal colonoscopy during the three-year period following colonoscopy.
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| 4. |
- Stepien, Magdalena, et al.
(författare)
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Alteration of amino acid and biogenic amine metabolism in hepatobiliary cancers : findings from a prospective cohort study
- 2016
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Ingår i: International Journal of Cancer. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0020-7136 .- 1097-0215. ; 138:2, s. 348-360
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Perturbations in levels of amino acids (AA) and their derivatives are observed in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Yet, it is unclear whether these alterations precede or are a consequence of the disease, nor whether they pertain to anatomically related cancers of the intrahepatic bile duct (IHBC), and gallbladder and extrahepatic biliary tract (GBTC). Circulating standard AA, biogenic amines and hexoses were measured (Biocrates AbsoluteIDQ-p180Kit) in a case-control study nested within a large prospective cohort (147 HCC, 43 IHBC and 134 GBTC cases). Liver function and hepatitis status biomarkers were determined separately. Multivariable conditional logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals (OR; 95%CI) for log-transformed standardised (mean = 0, SD = 1) serum metabolite levels and relevant ratios in relation to HCC, IHBC or GBTC risk. Fourteen metabolites were significantly associated with HCC risk, of which seven metabolites and four ratios were the strongest predictors in continuous models. Leucine, lysine, glutamine and the ratio of branched chain to aromatic AA (Fischer's ratio) were inversely, while phenylalanine, tyrosine and their ratio, glutamate, glutamate/glutamine ratio, kynurenine and its ratio to tryptophan were positively associated with HCC risk. Confounding by hepatitis status and liver enzyme levels was observed. For the other cancers no significant associations were observed. In conclusion, imbalances of specific AA and biogenic amines may be involved in HCC development.
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| 5. |
- Stepien, Magdalena, et al.
(författare)
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Circulating copper and zinc levels and risk of hepatobiliary cancers in Europeans
- 2017
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Ingår i: British Journal of Cancer. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1532-1827 .- 0007-0920. ; 116:5, s. 688-696
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Copper and zinc are essential micronutrients and cofactors of many enzymatic reactions that may be involved in liver-cancer development. We aimed to assess pre-diagnostic circulating levels of copper, zinc and their ratio (Cu/Zn) in relation to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), intrahepatic bile duct (IHBD) and gall bladder and biliary tract (GBTC) cancers.METHODS: A nested case-control study was conducted within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition cohort. Serum zinc and copper levels were measured in baseline blood samples by total reflection X-ray fluorescence in cancer cases (HCC n=106, IHDB n=34, GBTC n=96) and their matched controls (1:1). The Cu/Zn ratio, an indicator of the balance between the micronutrients, was computed. Multivariable adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals (OR; 95% CI) were used to estimate cancer risk.RESULTS: For HCC, the highest vs lowest tertile showed a strong inverse association for zinc (OR=0.36; 95% CI: 0.13-0.98, Ptrend=0.0123), but no association for copper (OR=1.06; 95% CI: 0.45-2.46, Ptrend=0.8878) in multivariable models. The calculated Cu/Zn ratio showed a positive association for HCC (OR=4.63; 95% CI: 1.41-15.27, Ptrend=0.0135). For IHBC and GBTC, no significant associations were observed.CONCLUSIONS: Zinc may have a role in preventing liver-cancer development, but this finding requires further investigation in other settings.
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| 6. |
- Stepien, Magdalena, et al.
(författare)
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Prediagnostic alterations in circulating bile acid profiles in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma
- 2022
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Ingår i: International Journal of Cancer. - : Wiley. - 0020-7136 .- 1097-0215. ; 150:8, s. 1255-1268
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Bile acids (BAs) play different roles in cancer development. Some are carcinogenic and BA signaling is also involved in various metabolic, inflammatory and immune-related processes. The liver is the primary site of BA synthesis. Liver dysfunction and microbiome compositional changes, such as during hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development, may modulate BA metabolism increasing concentration of carcinogenic BAs. Observations from prospective cohorts are sparse. We conducted a study (233 HCC case-control pairs) nested within a large observational prospective cohort with blood samples taken at recruitment when healthy with follow-up over time for later cancer development. A targeted metabolomics method was used to quantify 17 BAs (primary/secondary/tertiary; conjugated/unconjugated) in prediagnostic plasma. Odd ratios (OR) for HCC risk associations were calculated by multivariable conditional logistic regression models. Positive HCC risk associations were observed for the molar sum of all BAs (ORdoubling = 2.30, 95% confidence intervals [CI]: 1.76-3.00), and choline- and taurine-conjugated BAs. Relative concentrations of BAs showed positive HCC risk associations for glycoholic acid and most taurine-conjugated BAs. We observe an association between increased HCC risk and higher levels of major circulating BAs, from several years prior to tumor diagnosis and after multivariable adjustment for confounders and liver functionality. Increase in BA concentration is accompanied by a shift in BA profile toward higher proportions of taurine-conjugated BAs, indicating early alterations of BA metabolism with HCC development. Future studies are needed to assess BA profiles for improved stratification of patients at high HCC risk and to determine whether supplementation with certain BAs may ameliorate liver dysfunction.
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| 7. |
- Stepien, Magdalena, et al.
(författare)
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Prospective association of liver function biomarkers with development of hepatobiliary cancers
- 2016
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Ingår i: Cancer Epidemiology. - : Elsevier. - 1877-7821 .- 1877-783X. ; 40, s. 179-187
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Introduction: Serum liver biomarkers (gamma-glutamyl transferase, GGT; alanine aminotransferase, ALT; aspartate aminotransferase, AST; alkaline phosphatase, ALP; total bilirubin) are used as indicators of liver disease, but there is currently little data on their prospective association with risk of hepatobiliary cancers. Methods: A nested-case control study was conducted within the prospective EPIC cohort (>520,000 participants, 10 European countries). After a mean 7.5 mean years of follow-up, 121 hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), 34 intrahepatic bile duct (IHBC) and 131 gallbladder and biliary tract (GBTC) cases were identified and matched to 2 controls each. Circulating biomarkers were measured in serum taken at recruitment into the cohort, prior to cancer diagnosis. Multivariable adjusted conditional logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals (OR; 95% CI). Results: In multivariable models, 1SD increase of each log-transformed biomarker was positively associated with HCC risk (OR(GGT) = 4.23, 95% CI: 2.72-6.59; OR(ALP) = 3.43, 95% CI: 2.31-5.10; OR(AST) = 3.00, 95% CI: 2.04-4.42; OR(ALT) = 2.69, 95% CI: 1.89-3.84; OR(Bilirubin) = 2.25, 95% CI: 1.58-3.20). Each liver enzyme (OR(GGT) = 4.98; 95% CI: 1.75-14.17; OR(AST) = 3.10, 95% CI: 1.04-9.30; OR(ALT) = 2.86, 95% CI: 1.26-6.48, OR(ALP) = 2.31, 95% CI: 1.10-4.86) but not bilirubin (OR(Bilirubin) = 1.46,95% CI: 0.85-2.51) showed a significant association with IHBC. Only ALP was significantly associated with GBTC risk (OR (ALP) = 1.59, 95% CI: 1.20-2.09). Conclusion: This study shows positive associations between circulating liver biomarkers in sera collected prior to cancer diagnoses and the risks of developing HCC or IHBC, but not GBTC.
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