| 1. |
- Wikman, Anna, et al.
(författare)
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Presence of symptom clusters in surgically treated patients with esophageal cancer
- 2014
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Ingår i: Cancer. - Stockholm : Karolinska Institutet, Dept of Molecular Medicine and Surgery. - 1097-0142 .- 0008-543X.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: It is not known whether symptoms cluster together after esophageal cancer surgery or whether such symptom clusters are associated with survival in patients with esophageal cancer who are treated surgically. METHODS: Data from a prospective Swedish nationwide cohort study of surgically treated patients with esophageal cancer recruited between 2001 and 2005 were used. General and esophageal cancer-specific symptoms were assessed using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer QLQ-C30 quality of life questionnaire and the QLQ-OES18 module at 6 months after surgery. Associations between symptom clusters and survival were analyzed using Cox proportional hazards models, providing hazards ratios with 95% confidence intervals, adjusted for other known prognostic factors. RESULTS: Among 402 patients reporting symptoms 6 months after surgery, 3 symptom clusters were identified. The first symptom cluster (“fatigue/pain”) was characterized by symptoms of pain, fatigue, insomnia, and dyspnea and was present in 30% of patients. The second symptom cluster (“reflux/cough”) was characterized by symptoms of dry mouth, problems with taste, coughing, and reflux and was present in 27% of patients. The third symptom cluster (“eating difficulties”) was characterized by appetite loss, dysphagia, eating difficulties, and nausea/vomiting and was present in 28% of patients. The presence of the reflux/cough and eating difficulties symptom clusters was associated with a statistically significantly increased risk of mortality (adjusted hazards ratio, 1.43 [95% confidence interval, 1.08-1.89] and adjusted HR, 1.41 [95% confidence interval, 1.06-1.87], respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Symptoms experienced by surgically treated patients with esophageal cancer appear to cluster together, and the presence of these symptom clusters appears to have strong prognostic value.
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| 2. |
- Eriksson, Barbro, et al.
(författare)
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Medical treatment and long-term survival in a prospective study of 84 patients with endocrine pancreatic tumors
- 1990
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Ingår i: Cancer. - 0008-543X .- 1097-0142. ; 65:9, s. 1883-1890
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A prospective study was performed on 84 patients with neuroendocrine pancreatic tumors. Fifty-nine (70%) had malignant tumors and received causal medical treatment. Streptozotocin in combination with 5-fluorouracil or doxorubicin was used as first-line treatment and produced overall objective responses in 20 of 44 (45%) patients with a median duration of response of 27.5 months. Thirty-two patients who failed on chemotherapy subsequently received interferon treatment and 20 (63%) responded objectively with a median duration of 20.5 months. Octreotide, third-line treatment in 14 patients, produced objective responses in four patients (28%) (median duration of response, 16 months). The median survival from diagnosis in malignant cases was 6.7 years. Even if none of the current medical therapies are curative for patients with malignant endocrine pancreatic tumors, a prolonged survival would be observed during the last decade. Since the age at diagnosis has not been dramatically reduced despite improvements in diagnostic methods, the prolonged survival might be attributed to causal medical treatment.
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| 3. |
- Hillerdal, Gunnar, et al.
(författare)
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Hyaluronan in pleural effusions and in serum
- 1991
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Ingår i: Cancer. - 0008-543X .- 1097-0142. ; 67:9, s. 2410-2414
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- It has been suggested that a high level of hyaluronan (hyaluronic acid, HYA) in pleural fluid is an indicator of malignant mesothelioma. In 78 consecutive patients with pleural effusion of various causes the HYA concentration was measured in pleural fluid samples and in serum. Nine patients had malignant pleural mesothelioma, and in three of them the HYA level in pleural fluid was 100 mg/l or more. In 42 patients with effusions due to metastatic malignancy, the mean HYA in the pleural fluid was 75 mg/l, and in five the HYA level was above 100 mg/l. Cardiac insufficiency caused the effusion in 11 patients, of whom two had a level above 100 mg/l in pleural fluid. Four patients had a serologically confirmed viral infection and had HYA levels in pleural fluid of 8, 157, 335, and 554 mg/l, respectively. One patient had postinfectious effusion with an HYA level in pleural exudate of 748 mg/l, the highest in this investigation. Two patients had benign asbestos pleural effusions, and both had high pleural HYA levels (256 and 490 mg/l, respectively). The serum HYA values were much lower than in the pleural fluid, namely from 15 to 480 micrograms/l; the levels were independent of the levels in the pleural fluid. Thus, a high level of HYA in pleural fluid is not specific for mesothelioma but can occur in other malignant or benign diseases, and a low level does not exclude mesothelioma.
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| 4. |
- Mårtensson, Gunnar, et al.
(författare)
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The sensitivity of hyaluronan analysis of pleural fluid from patients with malignant mesothelioma and a comparison of different methods
- 1994
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Ingår i: Cancer. - 0008-543X .- 1097-0142. ; 73:5, s. 1406-1410
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Hyaluronan may be used as a marker for malignant mesothelioma, thus indicating its mesodermal origin. METHODS: The sensitivity as a diagnostic test of three different methods for hyaluronan analyses of pleural fluid was examined in patients with biopsy-verified malignant pleural mesothelioma. RESULTS: A quantitative high-performance liquid-chromatography (HPLC) method was performed on fluids from 43 patients. Using a cutoff level of 100 mg/l, higher levels were noted in 30 (70%) patients, with a median value of 220 mg/l (mean, 560 mg/l; range, 20-6600 mg/l). An identical median value (220 mg/l) was obtained with a radioassay method when simultaneously performed on paired samples from 21 patients (correlation coefficient, 0.91). A qualitative precipitation test using 0.5% cetylpyridinium chloride combined with a quantitative viscosimetric method was significantly less sensitive (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Hyaluronan analyses is beneficial in distinguishing malignant mesothelioma if methods such as the evaluated HPLC or radioassay with a sensitivity of 70% toward mesothelioma are used and other known causes of elevated content are considered.
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| 5. |
- Ribom, Dan, et al.
(författare)
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Positron emission tomography 11C-methionine and survival in patients with low-grade gliomas
- 2001
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Ingår i: Cancer. - 0008-543X .- 1097-0142. ; 92:6, s. 1541-1549
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUNDConsiderable numbers of patients with low-grade gliomas experience an early malignant course and may benefit from aggressive treatment. These patients are difficult to identify using established prognostic factors. A retrospective study was performed to determine whether the 11C-methionine uptake in tumor is a survival factor in adult patients with supratentorial gliomas classified as World Health Organization Grade 2.METHODSThe authors identified 89 patients with histologically confirmed low-grade gliomas in whom an 11C-methionine positron emission tomography (PET) scan had been performed as part of the diagnostic tumor investigation from 1983 to 1998. Clinical data were collected, and the PET scans were re-evaluated according to a fixed protocol. The 11C-methionine uptake in the tumor and relevant clinical parameters were entered into univariate and multivariate survival analyses.RESULTSAt the end of the study, 49 patients (55.1%) had died. The median overall survival was 5.7 years. Low methionine uptake was significantly favorable in the multivariate survival analysis (P = 0.04) along with oligodendroglioma (P = 0.003). In the histologic subgroups, 11C-methionine uptake was an important survival factor among patients with astrocytomas (P = 0.05) and oligodendrogliomas (P = 0.03). Tumor resection was a favorable prognostic factor in patients with high methionine uptake (P = 0.01) but not in patients with low uptake.CONCLUSIONSBaseline 11C-methionine PET is a prognostic indicator in patients with low-grade gliomas. The results imply that PET is a valuable tool in the clinical management of these patients and may assist in the selection of patients for therapy.
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| 6. |
- Eriksson, B. K., et al.
(författare)
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Liver embolizations of patients with malignant neuroendocrine gastrointestinal tumors
- 1998
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Ingår i: Cancer. - 0008-543X .- 1097-0142. ; 83:11, s. 2293-2301
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND Patients with neuroendocrine gastrointestinal tumors usually present with inoperable metastatic disease and severe hormonal symptoms. Specific chemotherapy, interferon-alpha (IFN), and somatostatin analogs are established therapies for these patients, but all of them eventually fail. Hepatic arterial embolization can provide reduction of both hormonal symptoms and tumor burden in these patients. METHODS Between 1981 and 1995, a total of 55 liver embolizations with gel foam powder were performed on 41 patients with histopathologically verified neuroendocrine tumors; 29 had carcinoid tumors and 12 had endocrine pancreatic tumors (EPTs). All patients had received medical treatment, including chemotherapy (n = 18), IFN (n = 31), and octreotide (n = 19), and were experiencing treatment failure when liver embolization was performed at a median of 37 months after diagnosis of liver metastases. Medical treatment was continued after embolization. RESULTS An overall objective response was noted in 15 of 29 patients with carcinoid tumors (52%). The median duration of effect was 12 months in patients with midgut carcinoid tumors. An overall objective response was observed in 6 of 12 patients with EPTs (50%), with a median duration of effect of 10 months. Adverse events were observed, and, in agreement with earlier reports, the rate of serious complications was 10%. Survival analyses showed a median survival of 80 months and a 5-year survival rate of 60% from the performance of embolization on patients with midgut carcinoid tumors, whereas for patients with EPTs the median survival from embolization was only 20 months. CONCLUSIONS Liver embolizations performed relatively late in the clinical course in our series appeared to be as effective as "early" embolizations in other series of patients with carcinoid tumors. The results for those with EPTs were poorer, and earlier embolizations may result in better outcomes for these patients. Considering the morbidity associated with the procedure, it is imperative to select patients according to extent of liver involvement, severity of carcinoid heart disease, and somatostatin receptor status.
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| 7. |
- Andersson, Therese M. -L., et al.
(författare)
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Cancer during pregnancy and the postpartum period : A population-based study
- 2015
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Ingår i: Cancer. - : Wiley. - 0008-543X .- 1097-0142. ; 121:12, s. 2072-2077
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUNDThe purpose of this study was to assess patterns of cancer occurrence during pregnancy and the postpartum period. METHODSThis was a register-based study using data from the Swedish Multi-Generation Register and the National Cancer Register from 1963 to 2007. Pregnancy-associated cancer (PAC) was defined as a malignancy detected during pregnancy or within 2 years of delivery and was assessed in 7 time windows: pregnancy, trimesters 1-3, 0-6 months, 7-12 months, and second year postpartum. Population incidence rates by 5-year age groups and periods were used to estimate the expected number of PACs for each site. The observed versus the expected (O/E) number of cases was estimated with 95% confidence intervals (CI). RESULTSThe 3 most common malignancies during pregnancy were melanoma (n=232), breast (n=139) and cervical cancer (n=139). With a slightly different rank order, these cancers are also the most common in women of childbearing age. The number of observed cases during pregnancy was lower than expected for all cancers, with a combined O/E ratio for all sites of 0.46 (95% CI, 0.43-0.49). The O/E ratio was close to 1 during all postpartum intervals, including 0-6 months (0.93; 95% CI, 0.88-0.98), 7-12 months (0.96; 95% CI, 0.91-1.01), and during the second year after delivery (0.95; 95% CI, 0.92-0.99). CONCLUSIONSThe rate of cancer during pregnancy was lower than expected for all sites, a finding that could not be explained entirely by delayed diagnosis. A rebound in the number of observed cases after delivery was restricted to melanoma, nervous system malignancies, and breast and thyroid cancer. Cancer 2015;121:2072-2077. (c) 2015 American Cancer Society. Fewer cancers than expected are found during pregnancy, a finding that cannot be explained entirely by delayed diagnosis.
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| 9. |
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| 10. |
- Boman, Krister K., et al.
(författare)
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Long-term outcomes of childhood cancer survivors in Sweden : a population-based study of education, employment, and income
- 2010
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Ingår i: Cancer. - : Wiley. - 0008-543X .- 1097-0142. ; 116:5, s. 1385-1391
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Studies of different national populations were indispensable for estimating the impact of illness-related disability on social outcomes in adult childhood cancer survivors. The effects of childhood cancer on educational attainment, employment, and income in adulthood in a Swedish setting were studied. METHODS: The study population was a national cohort of 1.46 million Swedish residents, including 1716 survivors of childhood cancer diagnosed before their 16th birthday, followed up in 2002 in registries at >25 years of age. Main outcomes were educational attainment, employment, and net income. Markers of persistent disability were considered, and outcomes were analyzed with multivariate linear and logistic regression models adjusted for age, sex, and socioeconomic indicators of the childhood households. RESULTS: Non-central nervous system (CNS) cancer survivors had similar education, employment, and income as the general population in adjusted models, whereas survivors of CNS tumors more often had no more than basic (< or =9 years) education (relative risk [RR], 1.80 [95% confidence interval (95% CI), 1.45-2.23]), less often attained education beyond secondary school (RR, 0.69 [95% CI, 0.58-0.81]), and less often were employed (RR, 0.85 [95% CI, 0.77-0.94]). Predicted net income from work was lower in CNS tumor survivors (P <.001) than in the general population, even after the exclusion of individuals who received economic disability compensation. CONCLUSIONS : CNS tumor survivors had poorer social outcomes compared with the general population, whereas outcomes for survivors of other childhood cancers were similar to the general population. Established late effects highlighted the importance of improved, safer pediatric CNS tumor treatment protocols and surveillance that identified individual needs for preventive and remedial measures.
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