| 1. |
- Idahl, Annika, 1965-
(författare)
-
Chlamydia trachomatis as a risk factor for infertility in women and men, and ovarian tumor development
- 2009
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Background: Chlamydia trachomatis in women is a risk factor for tubal factor infertility and extra uterine pregnancies, but the impact of a C. trachomatis infection on male fertility is unclear. It is also hypothesized that persistent infection with C. trachomatis, or other microorganisms, might initiate/promote ovarian tumor development. The aims of the thesis were to study whether C. trachomatis serum antibodies in women and men had an impact on infertility diagnoses, semen characteristics, pregnancy rates and pregnancy outcomes; furthermore, to explore associations of C. trachomatis, and Mycoplasma genitalium, plasma antibodies with epithelial ovarian cancer and borderline ovarian tumors, as well as the presence of C. trachomatis bacteria, and other microorganisms, in ovarian tissues. Materials and methods: Papers I and II: 244/226 infertile couples were tested for serum C. trachomatis IgG, IgA, IgM and chlamydial Heat Shock Protein 60 (cHSP60) IgG antibodies. C. trachomatis IgG positive couples were also tested for C. trachomatis DNA in a urine sample. The follow-up period was 14-54 months. 244 spontaneously pregnant women were also tested for serum C. trachomatis IgG antibodies. Papers III and IV: Plasma samples from 291 women with epithelial ovarian cancer, borderline ovarian tumors and benign conditions, and plasma samples from 271 healthy controls, were analyzed for C. trachomatis IgG, IgA and cHSP60-1 IgG and M. genitalium IgG antibodies. Ovarian tissues from 186 women with benign ovaries, borderline ovarian tumors and epithelial ovarian cancer, as well as tissues from the contra lateral ovary in 126 women, were analyzed for the presence of C. trachomatis, M. genitalium, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, HPV and the polyoma viruses BKV and JCV with nucleic acid amplification tests. Results: Papers I and II: The prevalence of C. trachomatis IgG antibodies was higher among infertile than fertile women, and there were 9 couples with ongoing C. trachomatis infections. In men, C. trachomatis IgG and IgA antibodies were associated with a reduced likelihood to achieve pregnancy for the couple, as well as lower sperm concentration, reduced sperm motility and vitality, increased teratozoospermia index and the occurrence of leukocytes. C. trachomatis IgG and cHSP60 IgG antibodies in infertile women were associated with tubal factor infertility, but not with reduced pregnancy rates or outcomes. Paper III: cHSP60-1 IgG antibodies were associated with ovarian cancer belonging to the postulated type II pathogenetic pathway when plasma samples obtained more than one year prior to diagnosis were analyzed. M. genitalium IgG antibodies were associated with borderline ovarian tumors; however a statistical type 1 error cannot be excluded. Paper IV: None of the microorganisms studied were found in the ovarian tissue samples. Conclusions: C. trachomatis IgG and IgA antibodies in the man substantially decreases the chances of the infertile couple to achieve pregnancy, and are associated with subtle negative changes in semen characteristics. C. trachomatis IgG and cHSP60 IgG antibodies in the woman are risk factors for tubal factor infertility. Prospective plasma cHSP60-1 IgG antibodies are associated with type II ovarian carcinomas, but C. trachomatis bacteria, or the other microorganisms studied, could not be detected in benign, borderline or malignant ovarian tissues.
|
|
| 2. |
- Jonsson, Sarah, 1982-
(författare)
-
Pelvic inflammatory disease and epithelial ovarian tumors
- 2023
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Background: Epithelial ovarian cancer and borderline ovarian tumors consist of several histotypes in which high-grade serous carcinoma is the most common. The majority of epithelial ovarian tumors are considered to originate in the fimbriated end of the fallopian tubes. What initiates these tumors is far from completely understood. Pelvic inflammatory disease has been proposed as a modifiable risk factor for epithelial ovarian tumors. A major cause of pelvic inflammatory disease is Chlamydia trachomatis which has been shown to have cancer-causing potential. The overall purpose of this thesis was to study associations of pelvic inflammatory disease and C. trachomatis with risk of epithelial ovarian tumors.Methods: In a cross-sectional study (Paper I) we collected ovarian tissue and corresponding blood samples from 69 women undergoing surgery due to suspected ovarian pathology. C. trachomatis specific protein (immunohistochemistry) and C. trachomatis DNA (qPCR) in ovarian tissue were analyzed (Paper I). In a nested case-control study (Paper II) prospective blood samples from 92 women diagnosed with high-grade serous ovarian cancer were matched to four controls each for age and date of plasma sampling. C. trachomatis specific plasma antibodies were analyzed by commercial Enzyme-Linked ImmunoSorbent Assay (ELISA) and Micro-ImmunoFluorescence (MIF) (Paper I and Paper II). We performed a nationwide register-based case-control study where we included 15 072 women diagnosed with epithelial ovarian cancer (Paper III), 4782 women diagnosed with borderline ovarian tumors (Paper IV), and ten controls each matched for age and residential district. Using national Swedish registers, we retrieved data on historyof pelvic inflammatory disease and the potential confounding factors parity, educational level, previous gynecological surgery, and hormonal therapy.Results: We found C. trachomatis DNA in ovarian tissue of eight women with ovarian carcinoma, but not in ovarian tissue from women with borderline ovarian tumors or benign disease (Paper I). The prevalence of the C. trachomatis specific protein did not differ in benign and malignant tissue (Paper I). Prevalence of C. trachomatis specific plasma antibodies was similar in cases and controls at diagnosis (Paper I) and prospectively (Paper II). A history of clinically verified pelvic inflammatory disease was associated with an increased risk of epithelial ovarian cancer overall (Paper III) and borderline ovarian tumors overall (Paper IV). Histotype-specific analyses showed an increased risk of serous carcinoma (Paper III), high-grade serous carcinoma (Paper III), clear cell carcinoma (Paper III), and serous borderline ovarian tumors (Paper IV) but not significantly with other histotypes. A dose-response relationship was seen between an increased number of pelvic inflammatory disease episodes and epithelial ovarian cancer (Paper III), as well as borderline ovarian tumors (Paper IV).Conclusions: This thesis contributes to an improved understanding of the association between pelvic inflammatory disease and epithelial ovarian tumors. The results regarding C. trachomatis are inconclusive and suggests that the association of pelvic inflammatory disease with epithelial ovarian tumors acts through mechanisms other than Chlamydia alone.
|
|
| 3. |
- Schock, Helena, 1984-
(författare)
-
Hormone concentrations during pregnancy and maternal risk of epithelial ovarian cancer
- 2015
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Background: The aim of this thesis was to study the relationship of pre-diagnostic circulating concentrations of sex steroid hormones (androgens, estradiol, 17-hydroxyprogesterone, and progesterone), growth factors (insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), placental growth hormone (GH)), sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG), and anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) with risk of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) overall, and by tumor invasiveness and histology. A longitudinal study was used to assess patterns of hormonal changes during a single pregnancy, and in two consecutive pregnancies.Materials & Methods: A case-control study was nested within the Finnish Maternity Cohort and the Northern Sweden Maternity Cohort. A total of 1 052 EOC cases were identified through linkages with the cancer registries in both countries. For each case, 2-3 controls were selected. Cases and controls were matched on cohort, age and date at blood draw, as well as for parity at blood draw and at diagnosis (n=2 695). Odds ratios (OR) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals [CI] were estimated using conditional logistic regression. The longitudinal study was based on 71 pregnant Finnish women, who donated blood samples in each trimester of pregnancy.Results: Higher androgen concentrations were associated with an increased risk of overall EOC (e.g., testosterone ORT3 vs. T1: 1.56 [1.30-1.87], ptrend<0.0001), while the risk of endometrioid tumors increased with higher estradiol concentrations (ORT3 vs. T1: 2.76 [1.04-7.33], ptrend=0.03). Higher IGF-I was associated with a non-significant decrease in risk for invasive (ORT3 vs. T1: 0.79 [0.62-1.02], ptrend=0.07) and endometrioid tumors (ORT3 vs. T1: 0.55 [0.28-1.07], ptrend=0.07). The inverse association between IGF-I levels and risk of invasive EOC was stronger in analyses limited to women aged <55 years at diagnosis (ORT3 vs. T1: 0.74 [0.57-0.96], ptrend=0.03). No associations were observed between pre-diagnostic progesterone, SHBG, placental GH, and AMH with EOC risk overall, or by tumor invasiveness and histology.The longitudinal study showed that hormone concentrations were more strongly correlated between consecutive trimesters of a pregnancy than between the 1st and 3rd trimesters. Further, 3rd trimester hormone concentrations can be estimated from 1st or 2nd trimester measurements.Conclusion: Higher pre-diagnostic androgens, estradiol, and IGF-I are associated with EOC risk, and associations differ by tumor invasiveness and histology.
|
|
| 4. |
- Sköld, Camilla, 1981-
(författare)
-
Impact of pregnancies on ovarian cancer : Risk, prognosis and tumor biology
- 2021
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Ovarian cancer is the most lethal gynecological malignancy. The etiology is complex and not fully understood, partly since ovarian cancer is not one distinct disease, but rather several histologically and clinically different subtypes. The two main groups are epithelial (90%) and non-epithelial (10%) cancers, further divided into five epithelial and two main non-epithelial subtypes. Women who have given birth have a lower risk of developing epithelial ovarian cancer, and the risk is further reduced with each additional childbirth. However, the association between several pregnancy-related factors, such as pregnancy length, maternal age at birth, offspring size, and subsequent risk of ovarian cancer has been unclear. In addition, the impact of pregnancy-related risk factors on non-epithelial ovarian cancer is unknown. Further, the underlying mechanism behind the protection of childbirth has not been revealed and the prognostic impact of pregnancies is not established.In my first two studies, I evaluated associations between pregnancy-related factors and risk of epithelial ovarian cancer and its different subtypes [Study I] and non-epithelial ovarian cancer [Study II]. These case-control studies were based on linked data from the population-based medical birth registers and cancer registers in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. In Study I, preterm birth was associated with an increased risk of epithelial ovarian cancer among parous women, whereas increased number of births and pregnancies at older age were associated with decreased risk. In Study II, increasing age at last birth was associated with lower risk of sex cord-stroma cell tumors (SCSTs), as was shorter time since last birth.In Study III, the prognostic impact of parity on both epithelial and non-epithelial ovarian cancer by subtype was investigated by linkage of data from the Swedish medical birth register, the cancer register and the cause of death register. Parity was associated with reduced cancer-specific mortality in ovarian germ cell tumors. We found no prognostic impact of parity in patients with SCSTs or epithelial ovarian cancer.In Study IV, we investigated whether hormones and proteins involved in pregnancy and tumor development differed according to the woman’s parity status in patients with high-grade serous ovarian cancer. Parous women more often had progesterone receptor (PR) positive tumors, in comparison with nulliparous women, and increased number of children was associated with PR positive tumors.In summary, a woman’s reproductive history will not only impact on the risk of developing ovarian cancer, but also have a long-lasting influence on the tumor biology.
|
|
