| 1. |
- Fransson, Per, et al.
(författare)
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Reliability and responsiveness of a prostate cancer questionnaire for radiotherapy-induced side effects
- 2001
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Ingår i: Supportive Care in Cancer. - : Springer. - 0941-4355 .- 1433-7339. ; 9:3, s. 187-198
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Few self-assessment cancer-specific questionnaires / modules have yet been developed for radiotherapy-induced side effects. The aim of the present study was to test the reliability and responsiveness of a prostate cancer (PC)specific questionnaire. Thirty-one patients with PC graded their urinary and intestinal symptoms and their sexual function on the questionnaire. A doctor and a nurse performed a structured interview and graded the patient's symptoms with the same questions. The procedure was performed at both the start and the end of the treatment. A high concordance regarding symptom detection was seen between the patient, nurse and the doctor. The inter-rater test shows intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) values above 0.60 in all scales. The internal reliability exceeded the lower limit (Cronbach alpha > 0.70) for all scales. The test-retest gave acceptable reliability for all scales (ICC greater than or equal to 0.60). All scales indicated increased problems during radiotherapy. The questionnaire was proven to be valid for the evaluations of urinary and intestinal problems and for sexual function in PC patients.
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Mogren, Ingrid, et al.
(författare)
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Reproductive factors have low impact on the risk of different primary brain tumours in offspring
- 2003
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Ingår i: Neuroepidemiology. - : S. Karger. - 0251-5350 .- 1423-0208. ; 22:4, s. 249-254
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objectives: The aim of our study was to investigate whether reproductive factors influence the risk of primary brain tumours (PBT) in offspring. Methods: Data on all deliveries in two Swedish counties from 1955 to 1990 were extracted from two birth registries. The follow-up period closed at the end of 1994, with subjects followed up to early middle age. Incidence rates of malignancy for 1958-1994 were obtained from the Swedish Cancer Registry. Standardised incidence ratios (SIR) and relative risks were calculated for astrocytomas, primitive neuroectodermal tumour, ependymoma and meningiomas in offspring. Results: Few associations were detected. High birth weight indicated an increased risk for astrocytomas grade I and II for all primary brain tumours, and the risk was close to significance for astrocytomas grade I-II (SIR = 3.64; CI = 0.98-9.31). For children under 15 years of age the risk for astrocytomas grade I and II was further increased (SIR = 4.44; Cl = 1.19-11.38). Conclusions:A consistent pattern of non-association indicated a low impact of intrauterine environment on the future development of primary brain tumours in offspring up to early middle age.
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| 4. |
- Palmqvist, Richard, et al.
(författare)
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Prediagnostic levels of carcinoembryonic antigen and CA 242 in colorectal cancer : a matched case-control study.
- 2003
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Ingår i: Diseases of the Colon & Rectum. - 0012-3706 .- 1530-0358. ; 46:11, s. 1538-44
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- PURPOSE: Carcinoembryonic antigen is the classical tumor marker for colorectal cancer. The main clinical utility is in monitoring patients with colorectal cancer. Like carcinoembryonic antigen, the plasma level of CA 242 is elevated in patients with colorectal cancer. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the plasma levels of carcinoembryonic antigen and/or CA 242 were elevated before clinical diagnosis of colorectal cancer.METHODS: The Northern Sweden Health and Disease Cohort was linked to the Swedish National and Regional Cancer registries, and 124 prospective cases with colorectal cancer were identified. Two referents for each case were randomly selected and matched for gender, age, date of sampling, and fasting time. Plasma from the included patients was analyzed for carcinoembryonic antigen and CA 242 using specific immunoassays.RESULTS: An elevated level of carcinoembryonic antigen before diagnosis was associated with an increased risk of developing manifest colorectal cancer (adjusted odds ratio, 7.9; 95 percent confidence interval, 2.1-29.1; P = 0.002). An elevated level of CA 242 was not significantly related to colorectal cancer risk. Elevated carcinoembryonic antigen levels were only seen in samples collected in the two-year time interval immediately before diagnosis. In this group, 30.4 percent of all plasma samples from cases were carcinoembryonic antigen-positive and 71.4 percent were future Dukes A or B cases. The specificity of the carcinoembryonic antigen test for identifying future colorectal cancer patients was 0.99 with a sensitivity of 0.12. For CA 242 the specificity was 0.92 and the sensitivity was 0.1.CONCLUSIONS: Elevated carcinoembryonic antigen levels strongly indicate occult colorectal cancer. Although the specificity of the carcinoembryonic antigen test in its present form is high, the sensitivity is disappointingly low, prohibiting the use of the carcinoembryonic antigen test for mass screening.
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
- Rydh, Anders, et al.
(författare)
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MRI of the skeleton in prostate cancer staging.
- 2003
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Urology and Nephrology. - 0036-5599 .- 1651-2065. ; 37:3, s. 222-5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVE: To explore the value of MRI in the detection of bone metastases in newly diagnosed prostate cancer. MATERIAL AND METHODS: MRI examinations of the axial skeleton in 76 patients with newly diagnosed prostate cancer were reviewed, and the relation of these findings to the serum level of prostate specific antigen (PSA) was examined. RESULTS: MRI indicated bone metastases in 26/76 patients (34%) in the entire study group, in 4/24 (17%) with serum PSA <20 ng/ml and in 22/52 (42%) with serum PSA >20 ng/ml. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that MRI is a more sensitive indicator of suspected bone metastases than bone scintigraphy in the low range of serum PSA, but less sensitive in the high range. Further studies of MRI and bone scintigraphy in parallel in patients with serum PSA <20 ng/ml are needed to elucidate their relative value in the staging of patients with prostate cancer.
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Öberg, Åke, 1954-, et al.
(författare)
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Limited value of preoperative serum analyses of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP-2, MMP-9) and tissue inhibitors of matrix metalloproteinases (TIMP-1, TIMP-2) in colorectal cancer
- 2000
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Ingår i: Anticancer Research. - 0250-7005 .- 1791-7530. ; 20:2B, s. 1085-1091
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- PURPOSE: We studied whether preoperative serum levels of free MMP-2, the MMP-2/TIMP-2 complex, and total amounts of MMP-9, TIMP-1 and TIMP-2 correlated to the tumor stage and prognosis in colorectal cancer.METHODS: Samples from 158 patients operated on for colorectal cancer (100 colon, 58 rectum) and samples from 80 healthy blood donors were analyzed using an ELISA technique. One hundred and thirty-three patients were resected for cure, (31, 61, and 41 in Dukes' stages A, B, and C, respectively). At follow-up in January 1998, 44 patients had died from their cancer after a median time 14 months (range 2-55). Fifteen patients died without tumor relapse. Ninety-nine patients were alive after, a median time of 46 months (range 17-68).RESULTS: Wide, overlapping ranges were observed for all factors both in the patients and in the control group. The patients as compared to the control group had significantly higher levels of free MMP-2 and total amounts of MMP-9, TIMP-1 and TIMP-2, whereas the level of the MMP-2/TIMP-2 complex was significantly lower. TIMP-1 was significantly higher in Dukes' D compared to Dukes' A-C cases; the other factors did not correlate to tumor stage. Elevated TIMP-2 levels (median cut-off limit), only, correlated to worse prognosis when analysed in all patients (p < 0.05). None of the factors (median cut-off limit) correlated to survival in Dukes' A-C patients; analyses based on the upper quartile cut-off limit demonstrated that elevated MMP-2 levels correlated to shorter survival time (p < 0.05).CONCLUSION: Serum analyses of free MMP-2 the MMP-2/TIMP-2 complex and total amounts of MMP-9, TIMP-1 and TIMP-2 are of limited value for tumor staging and prognosis in colorectal cancer.
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