| 1. |
- Irestorm, Elin, et al.
(författare)
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Auditory hypersensitivity and attention in survivors of paediatric brain tumours
- 2020
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objective: Both auditory and visual hypersensitivity are clinical features of mental fatigue after acquired brain damage or in neurological disorders. Both types of hypersensitivity are also associated with attention deficits, especially in neurodevelopmental syndromes. The aim of this study was to examine auditory and visual hypersensitivity, and associations to attention, in a group of children and adolescents treated for paediatric brain tumours (PBTs).Participants and Methods: Included in the study were 34 survivors of PBTs, 8–18 years of age (M: 13.6, SD: 3.0). Eighteen participants were female and 16 were male. Mean time since diagnosis was 4.2 years (SD: 2.2). Auditory and visual hypersensitivity were assessed using two items from the questionnaire Mental Fatigue Scale (MFS), scored on a 7-point Likert scale from 0 – 3. Scores above 1 indicate hypersensitivity. Attention was assessed using Conners Continuous Performance Test 3 (detectability, commissions, variability), and T-scores above 60 were considered impaired. Spearman correlations were conducted between the performance-based and self-report measures.Results: Results from the MFS revealed that 53% of the survivors experienced auditory and 18% visual hypersensitivity as a sequela. Regarding attention, elevated scores were more common for detectability (18%) and variability (21%) than commissions (8%). Visual hypersensitivity was not significantly associated with any of the attention measures, whereas auditory hypersensitivity was significantly associated with detectability (r=.42, p=0.013) and variability (r=.57, p<0.001).Conclusions: These results suggest that auditory hypersensitivity is common after treatment for PBT, and that it is associated with decreased attention. This relationship should be taken into consideration when assessing survivors of PBTs.
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| 2. |
- Irestorm, Elin, et al.
(författare)
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Cognitive fatigue in relation to depressive symptoms after treatment for childhood cancer
- 2020
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Ingår i: BMC Psychology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2050-7283. ; 8:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Cognitive fatigue after childhood cancer is frequently overlooked despite guidelines recommending follow-up, and might be mistaken for depression due to overlapping symptoms. Our objectives were: 1) to examine ratings of fatigue in survivors of paediatric brain tumours (BT) and acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) compared to healthy controls, 2) to examine the relationship between symptoms of depression and cognitive fatigue, and 3) to evaluate parent-child concordance in ratings of cognitive fatigue. Methods: Survivors of BT (n = 30), survivors of ALL (n = 30), and healthy controls (n = 60) aged 8-18 years completed the Pediatric Quality of Life Multidimensional Fatigue Scale and the Beck Youth Inventories. Associations between cognitive fatigue, diagnosis and depression were assessed with general linear modelling. Group differences were analysed using the Kruskal-Wallis test. Parent-child concordance was investigated with internal consistency reliability. Results: Cognitive fatigue was prevalent in 70% of survivors of BT survivors and in 30% of survivors of ALL. Diagnosis was the main predictor of cognitive fatigue (p <.001, ηp2 = 0.178), followed by depression (p =.010, ηp2 = 0.080). Survivors of BT reported significantly more fatigue than healthy controls on all fatigue subscales. While they also expressed more symptoms of depression, we found no evidence for an interaction effect. Parent-child concordance was moderate to good among survivors, but poor for controls. Conclusions: Survivors of BT and ALL suffer from cognitive fatigue, with survivors of BT expressing more problems. Cognitive fatigue and depression should be assessed in survivors of childhood cancer using both self-rated and proxy-rated measures, and appropriate interventions offered. © 2020 The Author(s).
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
- Broberg, Olof, et al.
(författare)
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Characterization of Cardiac, Vascular, and Metabolic Changes in Young Childhood Cancer Survivors
- 2021
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Pediatrics. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 2296-2360. ; 9
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Childhood cancer survivors (CCS) are at an increased risk for cardiovascular diseases (CVD). It was the primary aim of this study to determine different measures of cardiac, carotid, lipid, and apolipoprotein status in young adult CCS and in healthy controls. Methods: Cardiac and common carotid artery (CCA) structure and function were measured by ultrasonography. Lipids and apolipoproteins were measured in the blood. Peripheral arterial endothelial vasomotor function was assessed by measuring digital reactive hyperemia index (PAT-RHI) using the Endo-PAT 2000. Results: Fifty-three CCS (20-30 years, 35 men) and 53 sex-matched controls were studied. The CCS cohort was divided by the median dose of anthracyclines into a low anthracycline dose (LAD) group (50-197 mg/m2, n = 26) and a high anthracycline dose (HAD) group (200-486 mg/m2, n = 27). Carotid distensibility index (DI) and endothelial function determined by PAT-RHI were both lower in the CCS groups compared with controls (p < 0.05 and p = 0.02). There was no difference in carotid intima media thickness. Atherogenic apolipoprotein-B (Apo-B) and the ratio between Apo-B and Apoliprotein-A1 (Apo-A1) were higher in the HAD group compared with controls (p < 0.01). Apo-B/Apo-A1-ratio was over reference limit in 29.6% of the HAD group, in 15.4% of LAD group, and in 7.5% of controls (p = 0.03). Measured lipid markers (low density lipoprotein and total cholesterol and triglycerides) were higher in both CCS groups compared with controls (p < 0.05). Systolic and diastolic function were measurably decreased in the HAD group, as evidenced by lower EF (p < 0.001) and lower é-wave (p < 0.005) compared with controls. CCA DI correlated with Apo-B/Apo-A1-ratio and Apo-A1. Follow-up time after treatment correlated with decreased left ventricular ejection fraction (p = 0.001). Conclusion: Young asymptomatic CCS exhibit cardiac, vascular, lipid, and apolipoprotein changes that could account for increased risk for CVD later in life. These findings emphasize the importance of cardiometabolic monitoring even in young CCS.
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| 5. |
- Broberg, Olof, et al.
(författare)
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Childhood Cancer Survivors Have Impaired Strain-Derived Myocardial Contractile Reserve by Dobutamine Stress Echocardiography
- 2023
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Ingår i: Journal of Clinical Medicine. - 2077-0383. ; 12:8, s. 1-14
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Abnormal left ventricular contractile reserve (LVCR) is associated with adverse cardiac outcomes in different patient cohorts and might be useful in the detection of cardiomyopathy in childhood cancer survivors (CCS) after cardiotoxic treatment. The aim of this study was to evaluate LVCR by dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE) combined with measures of myocardial strain in CCS previously treated with anthracyclines (AC). Fifty-three CCS (age 25.34 ± 2.44 years, 35 male) and 53 healthy controls (age 24.40 ± 2.40 years, 32 male) were included. Subjects were examined with echocardiography at rest, at low-dose (5 micrograms/kg/min), and at high-dose (40 micrograms/kg/min) dobutamine infusion. Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and global longitudinal strain (GLS), strain rate (GSR), and early diastolic strain rate (GEDSR) at different DSE phases were used as measures of LVCR. The mean follow-up time among CCS was 15.8 ± 5.8 years. GLS, GSR, and LVEF were lower at rest in CCS compared to controls (p ≤ 0.03). LVEF was within the normal range in CCS. ΔGLS, ΔGSR, and ΔGEDSR but not ΔLVEF were lower in CCS compared to controls after both low- (p ≤ 0.048) and high-dose dobutamine infusion (p ≤ 0.023). We conclude that strain measures during low-dose DSE detect impaired myocardial contractile reserve in young CCS treated with AC at 15-year follow-up. Thus, DSE may help identify asymptomatic CCS at risk for heart failure and allows for tailored follow-up accordingly.
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| 6. |
- Broberg, Olof, et al.
(författare)
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Circulating leptin is associated with adverse vascular changes in young adult survivors of childhood cancer
- 2024
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Ingår i: Cardiology in the Young. - 1047-9511 .- 1467-1107.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- INTRODUCTION: Proteomics may help discover novel biomarkers and underlying mechanisms for cardiovascular disease. This could be useful for childhood cancer survivors as they show an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. The aim of this study was to investigate circulating cardiovascular proteins in young adult survivors of childhood cancer and their relationship to previously reported subclinical cardiovascular disease.METHODS: Ninety-two cardiovascular proteins were measured in 57 childhood cancer survivors and in 52 controls. For proteins that were significantly different between childhood cancer survivors and controls, we performed correlations between protein levels and measures of peripheral arterial stiffness (carotid distensibility and stiffness index, and augmentation index) and endothelial dysfunction (reactive hyperemia index).RESULTS: Leptin was significantly higher in childhood cancer survivors compared to controls (normalized protein expression units: childhood cancer survivors 6.4 (1.5) versus 5.1 (1.7), p < 0.0000001) after taking multiple tests into account. Kidney injury molecule-1, MER proto-oncogene tyrosine kinase, selectin P ligand, decorin, alpha-1-microglobulin/bikunin precursor protein, and pentraxin 3 showed a trend towards group differences (p < 0.05). Among childhood cancer survivors, leptin was associated with anthracycline treatment after adjustment for age, sex, and body mass index (p < 0.0001). Higher leptin correlated with lower carotid distensibility after adjustment for age, sex, body mass index, and treatments with radiotherapy and anthracyclines (p = 0.005).CONCLUSION: This proteomics approach identified that leptin is higher in young asymptomatic adult survivors of childhood cancer than in healthy controls and is associated with adverse vascular changes. This could indicate a role for leptin in driving the cardiovascular disease burden in this population.
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| 7. |
- de Ståhl, Teresita Diaz, et al.
(författare)
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The Swedish childhood tumor biobank : systematic collection and molecular characterization of all pediatric CNS and other solid tumors in Sweden
- 2023
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Ingår i: Journal of Translational Medicine. - : BioMed Central (BMC). - 1479-5876 .- 1479-5876. ; 21
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Swedish Childhood Tumor Biobank (BTB) is a nonprofit national infrastructure for collecting tissue samples and genomic data from pediatric patients diagnosed with central nervous system (CNS) and other solid tumors. The BTB is built on a multidisciplinary network established to provide the scientific community with standardized biospecimens and genomic data, thereby improving knowledge of the biology, treatment and outcome of childhood tumors. As of 2022, over 1100 fresh-frozen tumor samples are available for researchers. We present the workflow of the BTB from sample collection and processing to the generation of genomic data and services offered. To determine the research and clinical utility of the data, we performed bioinformatics analyses on next-generation sequencing (NGS) data obtained from a subset of 82 brain tumors and patient blood-derived DNA combined with methylation profiling to enhance the diagnostic accuracy and identified germline and somatic alterations with potential biological or clinical significance. The BTB procedures for collection, processing, sequencing, and bioinformatics deliver high-quality data. We observed that the findings could impact patient management by confirming or clarifying the diagnosis in 79 of the 82 tumors and detecting known or likely driver mutations in 68 of 79 patients. In addition to revealing known mutations in a broad spectrum of genes implicated in pediatric cancer, we discovered numerous alterations that may represent novel driver events and specific tumor entities. In summary, these examples reveal the power of NGS to identify a wide number of actionable gene alterations. Making the power of NGS available in healthcare is a challenging task requiring the integration of the work of clinical specialists and cancer biologists; this approach requires a dedicated infrastructure, as exemplified here by the BTB.
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| 8. |
- Deland, Lily, et al.
(författare)
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Discovery of a rare GKAP1-NTRK2 fusion in a pediatric low-grade glioma, leading to targeted treatment with TRK-inhibitor larotrectinib
- 2021
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Ingår i: Cancer Biology & Therapy. - : Taylor & Francis. - 1538-4047 .- 1555-8576. ; 22:3, s. 184-195
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Here we report a case of an 11-year-old girl with an inoperable tumor in the optic chiasm/hypothalamus, who experienced several tumor progressions despite three lines of chemotherapy treatment. Routine clinical examination classified the tumor as a BRAF-negative pilocytic astrocytoma. Copy-number variation profiling of fresh frozen tumor material identified two duplications in 9q21.32–33 leading to breakpoints within the GKAP1 and NTRK2 genes. RT-PCR Sanger sequencing revealed a GKAP1-NTRK2 exon 10–16 in-frame fusion, generating a putative fusion protein of 658 amino acids with a retained tyrosine kinase (TK) domain. Functional analysis by transient transfection of HEK293 cells showed the GKAP1-NTRK2 fusion protein to be activated through phosphorylation of the TK domain (Tyr705). Subsequently, downstream mediators of the MAPK- and PI3K-signaling pathways were upregulated in GKAP1-NTRK2 cells compared to NTRK2 wild-type; phosphorylated (p)ERK (3.6-fold), pAKT (1.8- fold), and pS6 ribosomal protein (1.4-fold). Following these findings, the patient was enrolled in a clinical trial and treated with the specific TRK-inhibitor larotrectinib, resulting in the arrest of tumor growth. The patient’s condition is currently stable and the quality of life has improved significantly. Our findings highlight the value of comprehensive clinical molecular screening of BRAF-negative pediatric low-grade gliomas, to reveal rare fusions serving as targets for precision therapy.
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| 9. |
- Fisher, Michael J., et al.
(författare)
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Integrated molecular and clinical analysis of low-grade gliomas in children with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1)
- 2021
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Ingår i: Acta Neuropathologica. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0001-6322 .- 1432-0533. ; 141:4, s. 605-617
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Low-grade gliomas (LGGs) are the most common childhood brain tumor in the general population and in individuals with the Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) cancer predisposition syndrome. Surgical biopsy is rarely performed prior to treatment in the setting of NF1, resulting in a paucity of tumor genomic information. To define the molecular landscape of NF1-associated LGGs (NF1-LGG), we integrated clinical data, histological diagnoses, and multi-level genetic/genomic analyses on 70 individuals from 25 centers worldwide. Whereas, most tumors harbored bi-allelic NF1 inactivation as the only genetic abnormality, 11% had additional mutations. Moreover, tumors classified as non-pilocytic astrocytoma based on DNA methylation analysis were significantly more likely to harbor these additional mutations. The most common secondary alteration was FGFR1 mutation, which conferred an additional growth advantage in multiple complementary experimental murine Nf1 models. Taken together, this comprehensive characterization has important implications for the management of children with NF1-LGG, distinct from their sporadic counterparts.
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| 10. |
- Keck, Michaela Kristina, et al.
(författare)
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Amplification of the PLAG-family genes—PLAGL1 and PLAGL2—is a key feature of the novel tumor type CNS embryonal tumor with PLAGL amplification
- 2023
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Ingår i: Acta Neuropathologica. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0001-6322 .- 1432-0533. ; 145:1, s. 49-69
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Pediatric central nervous system (CNS) tumors represent the most common cause of cancer-related death in children aged 0–14 years. They differ from their adult counterparts, showing extensive clinical and molecular heterogeneity as well as a challenging histopathological spectrum that often impairs accurate diagnosis. Here, we use DNA methylation-based CNS tumor classification in combination with copy number, RNA-seq, and ChIP-seq analysis to characterize a newly identified CNS tumor type. In addition, we report histology, patient characteristics, and survival data in this tumor type. We describe a biologically distinct pediatric CNS tumor type (n = 31 cases) that is characterized by focal high-level amplification and resultant overexpression of either PLAGL1 or PLAGL2, and an absence of recurrent genetic alterations characteristic of other pediatric CNS tumor types. Both genes act as transcription factors for a regulatory subset of imprinted genes (IGs), components of the Wnt/β-Catenin pathway, and the potential drug targets RET and CYP2W1, which are also specifically overexpressed in this tumor type. A derived PLAGL-specific gene expression signature indicates dysregulation of imprinting control and differentiation/development. These tumors occurred throughout the neuroaxis including the cerebral hemispheres, cerebellum, and brainstem, and were predominantly composed of primitive embryonal-like cells lacking robust expression of markers of glial or neuronal differentiation (e.g., GFAP, OLIG2, and synaptophysin). Tumors with PLAGL1 amplification were typically diagnosed during adolescence (median age 10.5 years), whereas those with PLAGL2 amplification were diagnosed during early childhood (median age 2 years). The 10-year overall survival was 66% for PLAGL1-amplified tumors, 25% for PLAGL2-amplified tumors, 18% for male patients, and 82% for female patients. In summary, we describe a new type of biologically distinct CNS tumor characterized by PLAGL1/2 amplification that occurs predominantly in infants and toddlers (PLAGL2) or adolescents (PLAGL1) which we consider best classified as a CNS embryonal tumor and which is associated with intermediate survival. The cell of origin and optimal treatment strategies remain to be defined.
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