| 1. |
|
|
| 2. |
- Fabian, ID, et al.
(författare)
-
Travel burden and clinical presentation of retinoblastoma: analysis of 1024 patients from 43 African countries and 518 patients from 40 European countries
- 2021
-
Ingår i: The British journal of ophthalmology. - : BMJ. - 1468-2079 .- 0007-1161. ; 105:10, s. 1435-1443
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The travel distance from home to a treatment centre, which may impact the stage at diagnosis, has not been investigated for retinoblastoma, the most common childhood eye cancer. We aimed to investigate the travel burden and its impact on clinical presentation in a large sample of patients with retinoblastoma from Africa and Europe.MethodsA cross-sectional analysis including 518 treatment-naïve patients with retinoblastoma residing in 40 European countries and 1024 treatment-naïve patients with retinoblastoma residing in 43 African countries.ResultsCapture rate was 42.2% of expected patients from Africa and 108.8% from Europe. African patients were older (95% CI −12.4 to −5.4, p<0.001), had fewer cases of familial retinoblastoma (95% CI 2.0 to 5.3, p<0.001) and presented with more advanced disease (95% CI 6.0 to 9.8, p<0.001); 43.4% and 15.4% of Africans had extraocular retinoblastoma and distant metastasis at the time of diagnosis, respectively, compared to 2.9% and 1.0% of the Europeans. To reach a retinoblastoma centre, European patients travelled 421.8 km compared to Africans who travelled 185.7 km (p<0.001). On regression analysis, lower-national income level, African residence and older age (p<0.001), but not travel distance (p=0.19), were risk factors for advanced disease.ConclusionsFewer than half the expected number of patients with retinoblastoma presented to African referral centres in 2017, suggesting poor awareness or other barriers to access. Despite the relatively shorter distance travelled by African patients, they presented with later-stage disease. Health education about retinoblastoma is needed for carers and health workers in Africa in order to increase capture rate and promote early referral.
|
|
| 3. |
- Attarbaschi, A., et al.
(författare)
-
Second malignant neoplasms after treatment of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma—a retrospective multinational study of 189 children and adolescents
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Leukemia. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0887-6924 .- 1476-5551. ; 35, s. 534-549
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Data on the spectrum of second malignant neoplasms (SMNs) after primary childhood non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) are scarce. One-hundred-and-eighty-nine NHL patients diagnosed in a 30 years period of 1980–2010 developing an SMN were retrieved from 19 members of the European Intergroup for Childhood NHL and/or the international Berlin-Frankfurt-Münster Study Group. Five subgroups of SMNs were identified: (1) myeloid neoplasms (n = 43; 23%), (2) lymphoid neoplasms (n = 51; 27%), (3) carcinomas (n = 48; 25%), (4) central nervous system (CNS) tumors (n = 19; 10%), and (5) “other” SMNs (n = 28; 15%). In 37 patients (20%) preexisting disorders were reported with 90% having any kind of cancer predisposition syndrome (CPS). For the 189 primary NHL patients, 5-year overall survival (OS) after diagnosis of an SMN was 56 ± 4%, being worst for patients with preexisting disorders at 28 ± 8%. Five-year OS rates were 38 ± 8%, 59 ± 7%, 79 ± 8%, 34 ± 12%, and 62 ± 11%, respectively, for patients with myeloid and lymphoid neoplasms, carcinomas, CNS tumors, and “other” SMNs (p < 0.0001). Patients with SMNs after childhood NHL having a reported CPS, mostly mismatch repair disorders, carried a very poor prognosis. Moreover, although outcome was favorable in some subtypes of SMNs after childhood NHL (carcinomas, lymphoid neoplasms), other SMNs such as myeloid neoplasms and CNS tumors had a dismal prognosis. © 2020, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.
|
|
| 4. |
- Bailey, Richard, et al.
(författare)
-
Host Niches and Defensive Extended Phenotypes Structure Parasitoid Wasp Communities
- 2009
-
Ingår i: PLoS biology. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1544-9173 .- 1545-7885. ; 7:8, s. e1000179-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Oak galls are spectacular extended phenotypes of gallwasp genes in host oak tissues and have evolved complex morphologies that serve, in part, to exclude parasitoid natural enemies. Parasitoids and their insect herbivore hosts have coevolved to produce diverse communities comprising about a third of all animal species. The factors structuring these communities, however, remain poorly understood. An emerging theme in community ecology is the need to consider the effects of host traits, shaped by both natural selection and phylogenetic history, on associated communities of natural enemies. Here we examine the impact of host traits and phylogenetic relatedness on 48 ecologically closed and species-rich communities of parasitoids attacking gall-inducing wasps on oaks. Gallwasps induce the development of spectacular and structurally complex galls whose species- and generation-specific morphologies are the extended phenotypes of gallwasp genes. All the associated natural enemies attack their concealed hosts through gall tissues, and several structural gall traits have been shown to enhance defence against parasitoid attack. Here we explore the significance of these and other host traits in predicting variation in parasitoid community structure across gallwasp species. In particular, we test the "Enemy Hypothesis,'' which predicts that galls with similar morphology will exclude similar sets of parasitoids and therefore have similar parasitoid communities. Having controlled for phylogenetic patterning in host traits and communities, we found significant correlations between parasitoid community structure and several gall structural traits (toughness, hairiness, stickiness), supporting the Enemy Hypothesis. Parasitoid community structure was also consistently predicted by components of the hosts' spatiotemporal niche, particularly host oak taxonomy and gall location (e.g., leaf versus bud versus seed). The combined explanatory power of structural and spatiotemporal traits on community structure can be high, reaching 62% in one analysis. The observed patterns derive mainly from partial niche specialisation of highly generalist parasitoids with broad host ranges (>20 hosts), rather than strict separation of enemies with narrower host ranges, and so may contribute to maintenance of the richness of generalist parasitoids in gallwasp communities. Though evolutionary escape from parasitoids might most effectively be achieved via changes in host oak taxon, extreme conservatism in this trait for gallwasps suggests that selection is more likely to have acted on gall morphology and location. Any escape from parasitoids associated with evolutionary shifts in these traits has probably only been transient, however, due to subsequent recruitment of parasitoid species already attacking other host galls with similar trait combinations.
|
|
| 5. |
|
|
| 6. |
- Franic, Iva, et al.
(författare)
-
Climate, host and geography shape insect and fungal communities of trees
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Scientific Reports. - : Nature Publishing Group. - 2045-2322. ; 13:1
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Non-native pests, climate change, and their interactions are likely to alter relationships between trees and tree-associated organisms with consequences for forest health. To understand and predict such changes, factors structuring tree-associated communities need to be determined. Here, we analysed the data consisting of records of insects and fungi collected from dormant twigs from 155 tree species at 51 botanical gardens or arboreta in 32 countries. Generalized dissimilarity models revealed similar relative importance of studied climatic, host-related and geographic factors on differences in tree-associated communities. Mean annual temperature, phylogenetic distance between hosts and geographic distance between locations were the major drivers of dissimilarities. The increasing importance of high temperatures on differences in studied communities indicate that climate change could affect tree-associated organisms directly and indirectly through host range shifts. Insect and fungal communities were more similar between closely related vs. distant hosts suggesting that host range shifts may facilitate the emergence of new pests. Moreover, dissimilarities among tree-associated communities increased with geographic distance indicating that human-mediated transport may serve as a pathway of the introductions of new pests. The results of this study highlight the need to limit the establishment of tree pests and increase the resilience of forest ecosystems to changes in climate.
|
|
| 7. |
- Franic, Iva, et al.
(författare)
-
Worldwide diversity of endophytic fungi and insects associated with dormant tree twigs
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Scientific Data. - : Nature Publishing Group. - 2052-4463. ; 9:1
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- International trade in plants and climate change are two of the main factors causing damaging tree pests (i.e. fungi and insects) to spread into new areas. To mitigate these risks, a large-scale assessment of tree-associated fungi and insects is needed. We present records of endophytic fungi and insects in twigs of 17 angiosperm and gymnosperm genera, from 51 locations in 32 countries worldwide. Endophytic fungi were characterized by high-throughput sequencing of 352 samples from 145 tree species in 28 countries. Insects were reared from 227 samples of 109 tree species in 18 countries and sorted into taxonomic orders and feeding guilds. Herbivorous insects were grouped into morphospecies and were identified using molecular and morphological approaches. This dataset reveals the diversity of tree-associated taxa, as it contains 12,721 fungal Amplicon Sequence Variants and 208 herbivorous insect morphospecies, sampled across broad geographic and climatic gradients and for many tree species. This dataset will facilitate applied and fundamental studies on the distribution of fungal endophytes and insects in trees.
|
|
| 8. |
- Tenow, Olle, et al.
(författare)
-
Geometrid outbreak waves travel across Europe
- 2013
-
Ingår i: Journal of Animal Ecology. - : Wiley. - 0021-8790 .- 1365-2656. ; 82:1, s. 84-95
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We show that the population ecology of the 9- to 10-year cyclic, broadleaf-defoliating winter moth (Operophtera brumata) and other early-season geometrids cannot be fully understood on a local scale unless population behaviour is known on a European scale. Qualitative and quantitative data on O. brumata outbreaks were obtained from published sources and previously unpublished material provided by authors of this article. Data cover six decades from the 1950s to the first decade of twenty-first century and most European countries, giving new information fundamental for the understanding of the population ecology of O. brumata. Analyses on epicentral, regional and continental scales show that in each decade, a wave of O. brumata outbreaks travelled across Europe. On average, the waves moved unidirectionally ESE-WNW, that is, toward the Scandes and the Atlantic. When one wave reached the Atlantic coast after 9-10 years, the next one started in East Europe to travel the same c. 3000 km distance. The average wave speed and wavelength was 330 km year-1 and 3135 km, respectively, the high speed being incongruous with sedentary geometrid populations. A mapping of the wave of the 1990s revealed that this wave travelled in a straight E-W direction. It therefore passed the Scandes diagonally first in the north on its way westward. Within the frame of the Scandes, this caused the illusion that the wave moved N-S. In analogy, outbreaks described previously as moving S-N or occurring contemporaneously along the Scandes were probably the result of continental-scale waves meeting the Scandes obliquely from the south or in parallel. In the steppe zone of eastern-most and south-east Europe, outbreaks of the winter moth did not participate in the waves. Here, broadleaved stands are small and widely separated. This makes the zone hostile to short-distance dispersal between O. brumata subpopulations and prevents synchronization within meta-populations. We hypothesize that hostile boundary models, involving reciprocal host-herbivore-enemy reactions at the transition between the steppe and the broadleaved forest zones, offer the best explanation to the origin of outbreak waves. These results have theoretical and practical implications and indicate that multidisciplinary, continentally coordinated studies are essential for an understanding of the spatio-temporal behaviour of cyclic animal populations.
|
|
| 9. |
|
|
| 10. |
- von Heideman, A, et al.
(författare)
-
Evaluation of drug interactions in the established FEC regimen in primary cultures of tumour cells from patients
- 2000
-
Ingår i: Annals of Oncology. - 0923-7534 .- 1569-8041. ; 11:10, s. 1301-1307
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Chemotherapy using multi-drug regimens is considered more active than single-agent therapy. This may be due to synergistic interactions or, simply, a higher probability of administering an active agent. We investigated in vitro the type of drug interactions in a recognized regimen in relationship to tumour type and drug sensitivity. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The possibility of synergistic and additive interactions between individual cytotoxic drugs was investigated for the component drugs of the established FEC regimen, i.e., 5-fluorouracil, epirubicin and cyclophosphamide, in 243 patient tumour samples representing various drug sensitivity using the non-clonogenic fluorometric microculture cytotoxicity assay. RESULTS: Using a cell survival of < or = 50% as a limit for drug activity and sample sensitivity, the overall response rates to the most active single drug (Dmax) and the combination were 56% and 64%, respectively, with a distribution among diagnoses similar to that in the clinic. For 86% of the samples there was concordance with respect to judgement of activity using either Dmax or the combination. For samples being sensitive to at least one single drug, 95% were also sensitive to the combination whereas for samples with insignificant Dmax effect, only 2% were sensitive to the combination. In samples with modest Dmax effects, i.e., cell survival in the range > 50%- < or = 80%, 45% responded to the combination. The effect of the combination was generally well predicted from the Dmax effect. CONCLUSIONS: The superior antitumour effect of drug combinations compared with single drugs may be due to the higher chance of selecting an active agent. However, for intermediately sensitive tumours, additional interaction effects of a combination may be of clinical significance.
|
|
