| 11. |
- Carlsson, Maria, 1958-
(author)
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Informational support for patients with gynaecological cancer and their families
- 1997
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The main purpose of the present thesis was to gain a deeper knowledge and understanding of the informational need by women with gynaecological cancer and their families. The studies evaluate the experience of different kind of information giving; a telephone-help line; a 3 years educational group support programme; and information givings in ordinary care.There was a significant correlation to interest in an educational supportive group in the prestudy depending on age, legal status, educational level. Younger individuals, couples and people with a higher formal education were generally more interesting in participating (p<0.05). Patients who actively chose to participate m a an educational support group differed from the unselected control group even prior the intervention, they with a higher formal education were generally more interesting in participating, they felt more confused and angry than the control group. After intervention, the patients in the interventional group reported a significant improved level of knowledge about cancer.Both patients and next-of-kin request information about medical- and psychological aspects of the disease and its treatment. The evaluation of the questions in the educational supportive group show that patients and their relatives asked questions of a general nature, related to basic knowledge of cancer and treatment principles, and not directly related to their own illness. There was no general difference in knowledge level between cancer patients and the controls of healthy women. The length of formal education was the most important determinator of correct answers (p<0.01).Two main themes were revealed at the interviews about the patients informations preferences. These were to actively address questions and the right to receive honest information;It is concluded that differential information giving techniques are required to satisfy the patients' different preferences. The patients express an active role in the information giving process. They preferred information with numerous opportunities to address questions, that the staff have time for questions and that the questions are honestly answered.
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| 12. |
- Jernström, Helena
(author)
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Effects of Oral Contraceptives on Endogenous Hormones, Body Constitution, and Breast Epithelium in Healthy, Young Women
- 1996
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- This thesis concerns the effects of low-dose oral contraceptives (OCs) on endogenous hormones, insulin-like growth-factor-1 (IGF-1), sexual hormone binding globulin (SHBG), and body constitution in two groups of healthy women aged 1925 who had never been pregnant. Prolactin concentrations were elevated in a subgroup of present and former users. IGF-1 concentrations were significantly decreased during menstrual cycle days 1823 in present OC users compared with never users, while no effect was seen during cycle days 510. Former users had significantly higher follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) concentrations than never users. This rebound-like phenomenon peaked one year after cessation of use. High FSH concentrations could increase the number of ovulations and thereby the ovarian cancer risk, especially among intermittent users who may experience repeated rebound peaks. Among present and former users SHBG concentrations were significantly correlated with reported weight gain in connection with OC start. SHBG was not related to the same hormonal and constitutional parameters in former users as in never users. Breast size was significantly larger in present users than in former and never users, and approximately half of the ever users reported breast tenderness or enlargement in connection with OC start. Breast epithelial proliferation rate was studied by means of a new monoclonal antibody, Ki-S5, in 58 women who had undergone reduction mammoplasties and who were born 1940 or later. There was no significant difference in breast tissue proliferation between present, former and never users. Women who had used OCs before the first full-term pregnancy had a significantly higher proliferation rate in the breast tissue than other women, regardless of present OC status. Women who used exogenous hormones and who had a first and/or second degree relative relative with breast cancer had a significantly higher proliferation rate in the breast tissue than other women. A high proliferation rate may increase the risk of developing breast cancer.
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| 13. |
- Johansson, Maria C
(author)
-
Improvements of the Bromodeoxyuridine-DNA Flow Cytometry Method for the Study of Cell Proliferation
- 1999
-
Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Potential doubling time (Tpot), DNA synthesis time (TS), and labelling index (LI) are fundamental growth kinetics parameters in clinical and experimental cancer research, which may be of further practical importance regarding prognosis and treatment prediction of cancer. They can be measured by bromodeoxyuridine(BrdUrd)/flow cytometry (FCM) methods, where BrdUrd, an analogue of thymidine, is incorporated into DNA and quantified simultaneously with the DNA content. However, this method requires improvements. Since in many applications only a single sample is available, the method must be reproducible, accurate, and independent of the time of sample collection in relation to BrdUrd pulse-labelling. With the modifications we describe, growth kinetic data could be obtained in response to the demands, both in vitro and in vivo and they were in agreement with those obtained with the [3H]thymidine/autoradiography method. Thus, the BrdUrd/FCM method can replace traditional [3H]thymidine-based methods. The modifications included new mathematic formulas for the calculation of LI and TS. They were compared with various other formulas, in several cell lines and experimental tumours. Our formulas did show sampling time independence in several cell lines studied. The labelling time should be kept as short as possible. The proposed TS formula is used preferable in more slowly growing cell populations. Tpot values based on our formulas did not depend on sampling time. In conclusion, with our modified BrdUrd/FCM method for growth kinetic studies, experimentally and/or clinically, it is possible to obtain reproducible and sampling time independent data from only one sampling, an advantage of great importance when clinical applications are concerned.
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| 14. |
- Johnsson, Anders
(author)
-
Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic studies on cisplatin in mice and men
- 1996
-
Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Methodological tools for studies of the cytostatic agen cisplatin (CDDP) were explored and applied to elucidate various aspects of pharmacokinetics, drug distribution, chemomodulation and pharmacodynamics. An immunohistochemical assay for analysis of CDDP-DNA adducts, i.e. the drug in its probable target position, was modified to allow quantitation with computerized image analysis. The methodological sources of error were estimated. We found the method to be feasible for comparing samples of the same tissue type, stained in the same batch and preferrably measured by one observer on one occasion. The pharmacokinetics were studied as platinum (Pt) and CDDP-DNA adducts in nude mice. The highest tissue concentration was noted in kidney at 15 min. A biphasic elimination of Pt was observed in most sample types and the terminal half-life was similar (55h-76h) in whole-blood, serum, kidney, liver and testis. In brain the pharmacokinetics differed with a gradual accumulation during the study period of 7 days. Peak adduct levels were reached between 30 min and 4h. Each tissue type had its specific adduct staining pattern. With escalating CDDP doses there was a linear increase in both Pt concentrations and CDDP-DNA adducts including tumor. There were also good correlations between serum-Pt, tissue levels of Pt and adducts, respectively. Heterogeneities in the intratumoral drug distribution were described and a model was presented for investigating the potential influence of vascularization and cell proliferation on intratumoral adduct distribution by using different immunohistochemical stainings of parallel sections. A weak correlation was found between adducts and proliferation, which might indicate that drug uptake and adduct formation is increased in proliferating cells. The antifungal agent amphotericin B was given to glioma-bearing rats with the purpose of enhancing the cytotoxicity of CDDP. The combined treatment resulted in excessive nephrotoxicity and in increase levels of CDDP-DNA adducts on kidneys. This indicates that nephrotoxicity is related to adduct formation in kidneys. It also shows that adduct analysis can be a valuable tool for assessing the mechanisms of interaction between CDDP and modulation agents. Ten patients were studies during the first cycle of CDDP-based chemotherapy. With limited-sampling and a population approach useful pharmacokinetic information was obtained. CDDP-DNA adducts in lymphocytes and buccal cells showed different kinetic profiles, possibly due to differences in cell turn-over. Renal damage, studied in terms of urinary protein excretion, was first displayed as tubular damge and later as impaired glomerular barrier function. Significant correlations were found between tubular dysfunction and pharmacokinetic parameters. These results could be the basis for further pharmacodynamic studies aiming towards individualized dose adaptation for cancer chemotherapy.
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| 15. |
- Sriplakich, S., et al.
(author)
-
Epidermal growth factor receptor expression : predictive value for the outcome after cystectomy for bladder cancer?
- 1999
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In: BJU International. - Oxon, United Kingdom : Blackwell Publishing. - 1464-4096 .- 1464-410X. ; 83:4, s. 498-503
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objective: To determine whether epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) immunostaining of tumour cells is associated with cancer-specific death after cystectomy for locally advanced bladder cancer.Patients and Methods: The hospital records of all patients treated with cystectomy for urothelial cancer of the urinary bladder between 1967 and 1992 were reviewed retrospectively. The paraffin-embedded specimens obtained before treatment from 173 patients were processed for immunohistochemical staining, using the monoclonal antibody NCL-EGFR (Novocastra, UK). EGFR immunostaining was considered positive if membrane staining was found in at > or = 20% of tumour cells in one or more fields at > or = 200 (area 0.59 mm2).Results: Most patients (149) received preoperative irradiation and one had neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The mean observation time was 81.3 months; 63 patients (36%) had tumour recurrence within 1-80 months (mean 18.3). Positive EGFR immunostaining was found in 100 patients (58%). The proportion of T2-4 tumours was higher in those EGFR-positive than in those EGFR-negative. Proportional-hazards analysis revealed that clinical stage was significantly associated with cancer-specific death, but EGFR expression was not.Conclusion: Although positive immunostaining for EGFR was more frequent in higher stages of locally advanced bladder cancer, this variable was not an independent predictor of outcome after cystectomy.
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| 16. |
- Lundin, Catarina
(author)
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Cytogenetic studies of benign breast lesions
- 1998
-
Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- In the present thesis benign breast lesions of various histologies, i.e., fibrocystic lesions from women with and without a known hereditary predisposition to breast cancer, fibroadenomas, phyllodes tumors, and papillomas were cytogenetically investigated with the aim to characterize the chromosomal patterns, and to relate the findings with those in breast carcinomas. No lesion-specific aberration was detected; on the contrary, changes repeatedly encountered in short-term cultures from breast cancer samples were found in these benign entities as well, e.g., gain of 1q, interstitial deletion of 3p, and trisomies 7, 18, and 20, and some cases even displayed cytogenetic polyclonality. Especially intriguing is the prevalence of rearrangements of the short arm of chromosome 3, with the minimally deleted bands 3p13-14, in proliferative lesions from prophylactic mastectomies in breast cancer families. The potential tumor suppressor gene(s) in this region remains, however, to be identified. In general, the frequency of benign cases with chromosome abnormalities is lower compared to breast cancer, and seems to correlate with the histologic features of the tissue, and the corresponding risk of developing invasive mammary carcinoma. The anomalies are generally less complex than those detected in invasive carcinoma, and more often involve balanced rearrangements. Furthermore, the degree of cytogenetic complexity seems to correlate with the description of a phyllodes tumor as benign or malignant: malignant phyllodes tumors have a more complex karyotype.
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| 17. |
- Johannsson, Oskar, et al.
(author)
-
Incidence of malignant tumours in relatives of BRCA1 and BRCA2 germline mutation carriers
- 1999
-
In: European Journal of Cancer. - 1879-0852. ; 35:8, s. 1248-1257
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We investigated cancer incidence between 1958 and 1995 in 1873 individuals belonging to 29 consecutively identified BRCA1 and 20 BRCA2 associated families from Southern Sweden using data from parish and local tax authorities, as well as the Swedish Cancer Registry, Cause of Death Registry and Census Registry. 150 malignant tumours were analysed from 1145 relatives in the BRCA1 families and 87 tumours were analysed from 728 relatives in the BRCA2 families. After excluding index cases which led to the mutation analysis, the incidence for all malignant tumours was significantly increased for both BRCA1- standardised morbidity rate, SMR, 1.98, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.59-2.45; P < 0.0001 and BRCA2- (SMR 1.79, 95% CI 1.35-2.31; P < 0.0001) associated family members. For women in BRCA1-associated families, the incidence of breast cancer (SMR 3.76, 95% CI 2.29-5.80, P < 0.0001), ovarian cancer (SMR 15.49, 95% CI 9.46-23.92, P < 0.0001), stomach cancer (SMR 5.86, 95% CI 1.60-15.01, P = 0.005) were significantly increased. Amongst men only invasive squamous cell cancer of the skin was significantly increased (SMR 6.02, 95% CI 1.96-14.05, P = 0.002). In BRCA2 associated families, female breast cancer (SMR 3.03, 95% CI 1.61-5.18, P = 0.0005) was increased after exclusion of index cases. If these were included, ovarian cancer (SMR 5.16, 95% CI 1.89-11.24, P = 0.001), invasive cervical cancer (SMR 4.21, 95% CI 1.15-10.79, P = 0.016), male breast cancer (SMR 290.52, 95% CI 125.42-572.43, P < 0.0001), and prostate cancer (SMR 2.21, 95% CI 0.89-4.56, P = 0.042) were significantly increased. The increased risk for ovarian cancer in BRCA2 related families were limited to the cases leading to mutation analysis. Our data suggest that apart from breast and ovarian cancer, the incidence of other cancer types do not appear to be greatly increased in BRCA1- and BRCA2-associated families and does not warrant specific clinical follow-up in carriers.
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| 18. |
- Larsson, Gunnel, et al.
(author)
-
Health-related quality of life in patients with endocrine tumours of the gastrointestinal tract
- 1999
-
In: Acta Oncologica. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0284-186X .- 1651-226X. ; 38:4, s. 481-490
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) (EORTC QLQ-C30) and levels of anxiety and depression (HADS) were investigated in patients with endocrine tumours of the gastrointestinal tract treated with interferon and/or a somatostatin analogue. In addition, patient perceptions of the importance of and satisfaction with some HRQOL aspects were studied. QOL was perceived as quite good, but more than half of the patients reported diarrhoea. The levels of anxiety and depression were low. Patients perceived physical HRQOL aspects as most important for a good QOL and stated the highest satisfaction with some social aspects. Patients who reported high levels of anxiety or depression were less satisfied with several HRQOL aspects, had more health problems, and a lower level of functioning on several of the EORTC QLQ-C30 scales and single items. Neither demographic nor medical background variables seemed to have an influence on the results. The relatively high QOL could be explained by the fact that most patients had had their treatment for a long period and thus had time to adjust to the situation.
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| 19. |
- Oohashi, T, et al.
(author)
-
Mouse ten-m/Odz is a new family of dimeric type II transmembrane proteins expressed in many tissues
- 1999
-
In: Journal of Cell Biology. - 0021-9525. ; 145:3, s. 563-577
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Drosophila gene ten-m/odz is the only pair rule gene identified to date which is not a transcription factor. In an attempt to analyze the structure and the function of ten-m/odz in mouse, we isolated four murine ten-m cDNAs which code for proteins of 2,700-2, 800 amino acids. All four proteins (Ten-m1-4) lack signal peptides at the NH2 terminus, but contain a short hydrophobic domain characteristic of transmembrane proteins, 300-400 amino acids after the NH2 terminus. About 200 amino acids COOH-terminal to this hydrophobic region are eight consecutive EGF-like domains. Cell transfection, biochemical, and electronmicroscopic studies suggest that Ten-m1 is a dimeric type II transmembrane protein. Expression of fusion proteins composed of the NH2-terminal and hydrophobic domain of ten-m1 attached to the alkaline phosphatase reporter gene resulted in membrane-associated staining of the alkaline phosphatase. Electronmicroscopic and electrophoretic analysis of a secreted form of the extracellular domain of Ten-m1 showed that Ten-m1 is a disulfide-linked dimer and that the dimerization is mediated by EGF-like modules 2 and 5 which contain an odd number of cysteines. Northern blot and immunohistochemical analyses revealed widespread expression of mouse ten-m genes, with most prominent expression in brain. All four ten-m genes can be expressed in variously spliced mRNA isoforms. The extracellular domain of Ten-m1 fused to an alkaline phosphatase reporter bound to specific regions in many tissues which were partially overlapping with the Ten-m1 immunostaining. Far Western assays and electronmicroscopy demonstrated that Ten-m1 can bind to itself.
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| 20. |
- Wängberg, Bo, 1953, et al.
(author)
-
Survival of patients with disseminated midgut carcinoid tumors after aggressive tumor reduction.
- 1996
-
In: World journal of surgery. - 0364-2313. ; 20:7
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Sixty-four consecutive patients with disseminated midgut carcinoids were treated during an 8-year period according to a single clinical protocol aimed at aggressive tumor reduction by surgery alone or with subsequent hepatic artery embolization. All patients had markedly elevated urinary 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) levels (581 +/- 79 micromol/24 h) and hormonal symptoms. Fourteen patients (22%) reached anatomic and biochemical cure by surgery alone. At follow-up, the mean 5-HIAA levels were still normal after 69.0 +/- 6. 2 months; two patients had died from unrelated causes. With the introduction of somatostatin receptor scintigraphy, subclinical disease was diagnosed in 7 of these 14 patients. Forty patients with bilobar hepatic disease underwent embolization in combination with octreotide. In this group, 5-HIAA levels were still reduced by 55% after 71 +/- 11 months of follow-up, and the 5-year survival was 56%, estimated from the total death hazard function. After embolization, two subgroups could be identified with marked differences in their long-term response to treatment. Ten patients were not embolized owing to complicating diseases. The 5-year survival for the entire series was 58%. A significantly increased risk of cardiovascular deaths was seen, which underlines the importance of total survival analysis in a disease with multiple hormonal effects. It is concluded that an active surgical approach must be recommended to patients with the midgut carcinoid syndrome. In patients with bilobar hepatic disease, embolization combined with octreotide treatment markedly reduced the 5-HIAA excretion and suggested a prolonged 5-year survival.
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