| 1. |
- Ahlén Bergman, Emma, et al.
(author)
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Increased CD4+ T cell lineage commitment determined by CpG methylation correlates with better prognosis in urinary bladder cancer patients
- 2018
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In: Clinical Epigenetics. - : BMC. - 1868-7083 .- 1868-7075. ; 10
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Urinary bladder cancer is a common malignancy worldwide. Environmental factors and chronic inflammation are correlated with the disease risk. Diagnosis is performed by transurethral resection of the bladder, and patients with muscle invasive disease preferably proceed to radical cystectomy, with or without neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The anti-tumour immune responses, known to be initiated in the tumour and draining lymph nodes, may play a major role in future treatment strategies. Thus, increasing the knowledge of tumour-associated immunological processes is important. Activated CD4+ T cells differentiate into four main separate lineages: Th1, Th2, Th17 and Treg, and they are recognized by their effector molecules IFN-γ, IL-13, IL-17A, and the transcription factor Foxp3, respectively. We have previously demonstrated signature CpG sites predictive for lineage commitment of these four major CD4+ T cell lineages. Here, we investigate the lineage commitment specifically in tumour, lymph nodes and blood and relate them to the disease stage and response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy.RESULTS: Blood, tumour and regional lymph nodes were obtained from patients at time of transurethral resection of the bladder and at radical cystectomy. Tumour-infiltrating CD4+ lymphocytes were significantly hypomethylated in all four investigated lineage loci compared to CD4+ lymphocytes in lymph nodes and blood (lymph nodes vs tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes: IFNG -4229 bp p < 0.0001, IL13 -11 bp p < 0.05, IL17A -122 bp p < 0.01 and FOXP3 -77 bp p > 0.05). Examination of individual lymph nodes displayed different methylation signatures, suggesting possible correlation with future survival. More advanced post-cystectomy tumour stages correlated significantly with increased methylation at the IFNG -4229 bp locus. Patients with complete response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy displayed significant hypomethylation in CD4+ T cells for all four investigated loci, most prominently in IFNG p < 0.0001. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy seemed to result in a relocation of Th1-committed CD4+ T cells from blood, presumably to the tumour, indicated by shifts in the methylation patterns, whereas no such shifts were seen for lineages corresponding to IL13, IL17A and FOXP3.CONCLUSION: Increased lineage commitment in CD4+ T cells, as determined by demethylation in predictive CpG sites, is associated with lower post-cystectomy tumour stage, complete response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy and overall better outcome, suggesting epigenetic profiling of CD4+ T cell lineages as a useful readout for clinical staging.
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| 2. |
- Alvaeus, Julia, et al.
(author)
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Fewer tumour draining sentinel nodes in patients with progressing muscle invasive bladder cancer, after neoadjuvant chemotherapy and radical cystectomy
- 2020
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In: World journal of urology. - : Springer. - 0724-4983 .- 1433-8726. ; 38, s. 2207-2213
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- PURPOSE: To examine the relationship between the number of tumour draining sentinel nodes (SNs) and pathoanatomical outcomes, in muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC), in patients undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) and radical cystectomy (RC).MATERIALS AND METHODS: In an ongoing prospective multicenter study, we included 230 patients with suspected urothelial MIBC from ten Swedish urological centers. All underwent TURb and clinical staging. From the cohort, 116 patients with urothelial MIBC; cT2-cT4aN0M0, underwent radical cystectomy (RC) and lymphadenectomy with SN-detection (SNd). 83 patients received cisplatin-based NAC and 33 were NAC-naïve. The number and locations of detected SNs and non-SNs were recorded for each patient. The NAC treated patients were categorized by pathoanatomical outcomes post-RC into three groups: complete responders (CR), stable disease (SD) and progressive disease (PD). Selected covariates with possible impact on SN-yield were tested in uni -and multivariate analyses for NAC-treated patients only.RESULTS: In NAC treated patients, the mean number of SNs was significantly higher in CR patients (3.3) and SD patients (3.6) compared with PD patients (1.4) (p = 0.034). In a linear multivariate regression model, the number of harvested nodes was the only independent variable that affected the number of SNs (p = 0.0004).CONCLUSIONS: The number of tumor-draining SNs in NAC-treated patients was significantly lower in patients with progressive disease.
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| 3. |
- Hartana, C. A., et al.
(author)
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Tissue-resident memory T cells are epigenetically cytotoxic with signs of exhaustion in human urinary bladder cancer
- 2018
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In: Clinical and Experimental Immunology. - : WILEY. - 0009-9104 .- 1365-2249. ; 194:1, s. 39-53
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Tissue-resident memory T (T-RM) cells are CD8(+) T lymphocytes that reside in the tissues, including tumours. This T cell subset possesses a magnitude of cytotoxicity, but its epigenetic regulation has not been studied. Here, we investigate the impact of perforin DNA methylation in T-RM cells and correlate it with their functional potential. Fifty-three urothelial urinary bladder cancer (UBC) patients were recruited prospectively. The DNA methylation status of the perforin gene (PRF1) locus in T-RM cells was investigated by pyrosequencing. Flow cytometry with ViSNE analysis and in-vitro stimulation were used to evaluate T-RM cell phenotypes. We discovered that tumour T-RM cells have low DNA methylation in the PRF1 locus (329% methylation), which corresponds to increased numbers of perforin-expressing T-RM cells. Surprisingly, programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) expression is high in tumour T-RM cells, suggesting exhaustion. Following interleukin-15 and T cell receptor stimulation, perforin and T-bet expressions are enhanced, indicating that T-RM cells from tumours are not terminally exhausted. Moreover, a high number of T-RM cells infiltrating the tumours corresponds to lower tumour stage in patients. In conclusion, T-RM cells from UBC tumours are epigenetically cytotoxic with signs of exhaustion. This finding identifies T-RM cells as potential new targets for cancer immunotherapy.
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
- Hiltbrunner, Stefanie, et al.
(author)
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Urinary Exosomes from Bladder Cancer Patients Show a Residual Cancer Phenotype despite Complete Pathological Downstaging
- 2020
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In: Scientific Reports. - : Nature Publishing Group. - 2045-2322. ; 10:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Invasive urinary bladder cancer shows high recurrence rates after cystectomy even with apparent complete downstaging at cystectomy. Exosomes are nano-sized vesicles important in cell-cell communication, which have been hypothesized to contribute to cancer dissemination and recurrence. The aim of this study was to investigate if pro-carcinogenic exosomes could be detected in urine from histologically downstaged bladder cancer patients. 13 Patients were included in this study. Paired ureter and urine samples from nine patients underwent mass spectrometry, while samples from the remaining patients were used for exosome characterization. At cystectomy, exosomes were isolated from bladder and ureter urine, whereafter quantitative proteome profiling was performed. Urinary exosomes clustered based on whether they came from the bladder, with tumour contact, or the ureters, without tumour contact, even though all came from completely downstaged patients. Proteins overexpressed in exosomes derived from bladder urine contained several oncogenes and were mainly associated with tumour metabolism pathways. Although patients were histologically tumour-free at cystectomy, the bladder urine contained exosomes with a carcinogenic metabolic profile. This suggests a continuous release of exosomes from the bladder, which may promote recurrence at distant sites through metabolic rewiring, even after apparent complete downstaging. These exosomes, coming from either undetected cancer cells or partly transformed cells, are likely to increase the risk of metastasis and encourages cystectomy even in completely downstaged patients.
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| 6. |
- Holmström, Benny, et al.
(author)
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Antibiotikabehandling vid kronisk prostatit saknar i princip evidens
- 2006
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In: Läkartidningen. - 0023-7205 .- 1652-7518. ; :48, s. 3822-3828
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- SammanfattatProstatit förekommer hos 50 procent av alla män någon gång i livet.I stort sett saknas evidens för antibiotikabehandling vid alla typer av prostatit undantaget akut prostatit (kategori I).Behovet av randomiserade, kontrollerade prövningar är stort.Forskning kring prostatit av kategori II–IV är angelägen.
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| 7. |
- Holmström, Benny, 1974-
(author)
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Early diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer : observational studies in the National Prostate Cancer Register of Sweden and the Västerbotten Intervention Project
- 2011
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing has caused a steep increase in the incidence of prostate cancer, especially the incidence of localised low risk disease. In order to decrease the overdiagnosis accompanied by PSA testing, analysis of inherited genetic variants have been suggested as potential tools for clinical assessment of disease risk. With the aim of minimizing overtreatment and postpone side-effects of curative treatment for low risk prostate cancer, active surveillance, a treatment strategy with initial surveillance and deferred radical prostatectomy at the time of progression has evolved. The aim of this thesis was to study the validity of PSA (paper I) and inherited genetic variants (paper II) for early diagnosis of prostate cancer, to assess the extent of PSA testing in Sweden (paper III), and to study the safety of deferred radical prostatectomy in localised low to intermediate risk prostate cancer (paper IV). The study designs were i) case-control studies nested within the Västerbotten intervention project (paper I and II), ii) observational study in the Cancer Register of Sweden (paper III), and iii) observational study in the NPCR Follow-up study (paper IV). PSA had a high validity in predicting a prostate cancer diagnosis with an area under the receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve of 0.86 (95% CI, 0.84 to 0.88). A combined test, including PSA, the ratio of free to total PSA, and 33 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in a genetic risk score, increased the area under curve to 0.87 (95% CI, 0.85 to 0.89). The estimated uptake of PSA testing among men aged 55 to 69 years increased from zero to 56% between 1997 and 2007 and there were large variations in the uptake of PSA testing between counties in Sweden. After a median follow-up time of eight years there was no significant difference in presence of any one or more adverse pathology features or prostate cancer specific mortality after primary compared to deferred radical prostatectomy in localised low to intermediate risk prostate cancer. Results from these studies indicate that PSA and the hitherto identified SNPs are not suitable biomarkers in single-test prostate cancer screening. It is possible to estimate the uptake of PSA testing on a population level. Initial surveillance and deferred radical prostatectomy represent a feasible treatment strategy in localised low to intermediate risk prostate cancer.
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| 8. |
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| 9. |
- Holmström, Benny, 1974-, et al.
(author)
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Prostate specific antigen for early detection of prostate cancer : longitudinal study
- 2009
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In: BMJ (Clinical research ed.). - : BMJ. - 1468-5833 .- 0959-8138. ; 339, s. b3537-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- OBJECTIVE: To evaluate if prostate specific antigen test attains validity standards required for screening in view of recent prostate cancer screening trial results.DESIGN: Case-control study nested in longitudinal cohort.SETTING: Västerbotten Intervention Project cohort, Umeå, Sweden.PARTICIPANTS: 540 cases and 1034 controls matched for age and date of blood draw.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Validity of prostate specific antigen for prediction of subsequent prostate cancer diagnosis by record linkage to cancer registry.RESULTS: Blood samples were drawn on average 7.1 (SD 3.7) years before diagnosis. The area under the curve for prostate specific antigen was 0.84 (95% confidence interval 0.82 to 0.86). At prostate specific antigen cut-off values of 3, 4, and 5 ng/ml, sensitivity estimates were 59%, 44%, and 33%, and specificity estimates were 87%, 92%, and 95%. The positive likelihood ratio commonly considered to "rule in disease" is 10; in this study the positive likelihood ratios were 4.5, 5.5, and 6.4 for prostate specific antigen cut-off values of 3, 4, and 5 ng/ml. The negative likelihood ratio commonly considered to "rule out disease" is 0.1; in this study the negative likelihood ratios were 0.47, 0.61, and 0.70 for prostate specific antigen cut-off values of 3, 4, and 5 ng/ml. For a cut-off of 1.0 ng/ml, the negative likelihood ratio was 0.08.CONCLUSIONS: No single cut-off value for prostate specific antigen concentration attained likelihood ratios formally required for a screening test. Prostate specific antigen concentrations below 1.0 ng/ml virtually ruled out a prostate cancer diagnosis during the follow-up. Additional biomarkers for early detection of prostate cancer are needed before population based screening for prostate cancer should be introduced.
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| 10. |
- Holmström, Benny, et al.
(author)
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PSA-testet håller inte för screening: bra – men inte tillräckligt bra : [The PSA test does not hold for screening: good – but not good enough]
- 2009
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In: Läkartidningen. - : Sveriges läkarförbund. - 0023-7205 .- 1652-7518. ; 107:7, s. 436, 438-439
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Prostatacancer är den vanligaste cancersjukdomen och den vanligaste cancerrelaterade dödsorsaken bland män i Sverige. Screening för prostataspecifikt antigen (PSA) minskade dödligheten i prostatacancer med 20 procent i en stor randomiserad studie. En utvärdering av PSA-test med sannolikhetskvot (likelihood ratio) visade att det inte uppfyller kriterierna för ett screeningtest. Män ska ha information om PSA-testets för- och nackdelar innan testet utförs. En broschyr med sådan information finns tillgänglig på .
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