| 1. |
|
|
| 2. |
|
|
| 3. |
- Allen, Naomi E, et al.
(author)
-
Endogenous sex hormones and endometrial cancer risk in women in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC).
- 2008
-
In: Endocrine-Related Cancer. - 1351-0088 .- 1479-6821. ; 15:2, s. 485-497
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Epidemiological data show that reproductive and hormonal factors are involved in the etiology of endometrial cancer, but there is little data on the association with endogenous sex hormone levels. We analyzed the association between prediagnostic serum concentrations of sex steroids and endometrial cancer risk in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition using a nested case-control design of 247 incident endometrial cancer cases and 481 controls, matched on center, menopausal status, age, variables relating to blood collection, and, for premenopausal women, phase of menstrual cycle. Using conditional regression analysis, endometrial cancer risk among postmenopausal women was positively associated with increasing levels of total testosterone, free testosterone, estrone, total estradiol, and free estradiol. The odds ratios (ORs) for the highest versus lowest tertile were 2.66 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.50-4.72; P=0.002 for a continuous linear trend) for estrone, 2.07 (95% CI 1.20-3.60; P=0.001) for estradiol, and 1.66 (95% CI 0.98-2.82; P=0.001) for free estradiol. For total and free testosterone, ORs for the highest versus lowest tertile were 1.44 (95% CI 0.88-2.36; P=0.05) and 2.05 (95% CI 1.23-3.42; P=0.005) respectively. Androstenedione and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate were not associated with risk. Sex hormone-binding globulin was significantly inversely associated with risk (OR for the highest versus lowest tertile was 0.57, 95% CI 0.34-0.95; P=0.004). In premenopausal women, serum sex hormone concentrations were not clearly associated with endometrial cancer risk, but numbers were too small to draw firm conclusions. In conclusion, relatively high blood concentrations of estrogens and free testosterone are associated with an increased endometrial cancer risk in postmenopausal women.
|
|
| 4. |
|
|
| 5. |
- Cust, Anne E., et al.
(author)
-
Metabolic syndrome, plasma lipid, lipoprotein and glucose levels, and endometrial cancer risk in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)
- 2007
-
In: Endocrine-Related Cancer. - 1479-6821 .- 1351-0088. ; 14:3, s. 755-767
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- To clarify the role of metabolic factors in endometrial carcinogenesis, we conducted a case-control study nested within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), and examined the relation between prediagnostic plasma lipids, lipoproteins, and glucose, the metabolic syndrome (MetS; a cluster of metabolic factors) and endometrial cancer risk. Among pre- and postmenopausal women, 284 women developed endometrial cancer during follow-up. Using risk set sampling, 546 matched control subjects were selected. From conditional logistic regression models, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels were inversely associated with risk body mass index (BMI)-adjusted relative risk (FR) for top versus bottom quartile 0.61 (95% confidence intervals (CI) 0.38-0.97), P-trend= 0.02). Glucose levels were positively associated with risk (BMI-adjusted RR top versus bottom quartile 1.69 (95% Cl 0.99-2.90), P-trend, = 0.03), which appeared stronger among postmenopausal women (BMI-adjusted RR top versus bottom tertile 2.61 (95% Cl 1.46-4.66), P-trend=0.0006, P-heterogeneity=0.13) and never-users of exogenous hormones (P-heterogeneity=0-005 for oral contraceptive (OC) use and 0.05 for hormone replacement therapy-use). The associations of HDL-C and glucose with risk were no longer statistically significant after further adjustment for obesity-related hormones. Plasma total cholesterol, Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and triglycerides were not significantly related to overall risk. The presence of MetS was associated with risk (RR 2.12 (95% CI 1.51-2.97)), which increased with the number of MetS factors (P-trend=0.02). An increasing number of MetS factors other than waist circumference, however, was marginally significantly associated with risk only in women with waist circumference above the median (P-interaction=0-01). None of the associations differed significantly by fasting status. These findings suggest that metabolic abnormalities and obesity may act synergistically to increase endometrial cancer risk.
|
|
| 6. |
|
|
| 7. |
- Dossus, Laure, et al.
(author)
-
Obesity, inflammatory markers, and endometrial cancer risk : a prospective case-control study
- 2010
-
In: Endocrine-Related Cancer. - 1351-0088 .- 1479-6821. ; 17:4, s. 1007-1019
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Obesity, a major risk factor for endometrial cancer, is a low-grade inflammatory state characterized by elevated concentrations of cytokines and acute phase reactants. The current study had two aims: first to investigate the associations of C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin 6 (IL6), and IL1 receptor antagonist (IL1Ra) with endometrial cancer risk and second to examine to which extent these markers can influence the association between obesity and endometrial cancer. We conducted a case-control study, nested within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition, which comprised 305 incident cases of endometrial cancer and 574 matched controls. CRP, IL6, and IL1Ra were measured in prospectively collected blood specimens by immunoassays. Data were analyzed using conditional logistic regression. All statistical tests were two-sided, and P values <0.05 were considered statistically significant. We observed a significant increase in risk of endometrial cancer with elevated levels of CRP (odds ratio (OR) for top versus bottom quartile: 1.58, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.03-2.41, P(trend)=0.02), IL6 (OR for top versus bottom quartile: 1.66, 95% CI: 1.08-2.54, P(trend)=0.008), and IL1Ra (OR for top versus bottom quartile: 1.82, 95% CI: 1.22-2.73, P(trend)=0.004). After adjustment for body mass index (BMI), the estimates were strongly reduced and became non-significant. The association between BMI and endometrial cancer was also substantially attenuated (∼10-20%) after adjustment for inflammatory markers, even when the effects of C-peptide or estrone had already been taken into account. We provided epidemiological evidence that chronic inflammation might mediate the association between obesity and endometrial cancer and that endometrial carcinogenesis could be promoted by an inflammatory milieu.
|
|
| 8. |
- Dossus, Laure, et al.
(author)
-
Reproductive risk factors and endometrial cancer : the European prospective investigation into cancer and nutrition
- 2010
-
In: International Journal of Cancer. - : Wiley. - 0020-7136 .- 1097-0215. ; 127:2, s. 442-451
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Endometrial cancer risk has been associated with reproductive factors (age at menarche, age at menopause, parity, age at first and last birth, time since last birth and use of oral contraceptives (OCs)]. However, these factors are closely interrelated and whether they act independently still requires clarification. We conducted a study to examine the association of menstrual and reproductive variables with the risk of endometrial cancer among the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). Among the 302,618 women eligible for the study, 1,017 incident endometrial cancer cases were identified. A reduction in endometrial cancer risk was observed in women with late menarche, early menopause, past OC use, high parity and a shorter time since last full-term pregnancy (FTP). No association was observed for duration of breast feeding after adjustment for number of FTP or for abortion (spontaneous or induced). After mutual adjustment, late age at menarche, early age at menopause and duration of OC use showed similar risk reductions of 7-8% per year of menstrual life, whereas the decreased risk associated with cumulative duration of FTPs was stronger (22% per year). In conclusion, our findings confirmed a reduction in risk of endometrial cancer with factors associated with a lower cumulative exposure to estrogen and/or higher exposure to progesterone, such as increasing number of FTPs and shorter menstrual lifespan and, therefore, support an important role of hormonal mechanisms in endometrial carcinogenesis.
|
|
| 9. |
- Dossus, Laure, et al.
(author)
-
Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, soluble TNF receptors and endometrial cancer risk : the EPIC study
- 2011
-
In: International Journal of Cancer. - Geneve : International union against cancer. - 0020-7136 .- 1097-0215. ; 129:8, s. 2032-2037
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Chronic inflammation has been hypothesized to play a role in endometrial cancer development. Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), one of the major pro-inflammatory cytokines, has also been implicated in endometrial physiology. We conducted a case-control study nested within the European prospective investigation into cancer and nutrition (EPIC) to examine the association of TNF-α and its two soluble receptors (sTNFR1 and sTNFR2) with endometrial cancer risk. Two-hundred-seventy cases and 518 matched controls were analyzed using conditional logistic regression. All statistical tests were two-sided. We observed an increased risk of endometrial cancer among women in the highest versus lowest quartile of TNF-α (odds ratio [OR]: 1.73, 95% CI: 1.09-2.73, Ptrend = 0.01), sTNFR1 (OR: 1.68, 95% CI: 0.99-2.86, Ptrend = 0.07) and sTNFR2 (OR: 1.53, 95%CI: 0.92-2.55, Ptrend = 0.03) after adjustment for body-mass-index, parity, age at menopause and previous postmenopausal hormone therapy use. Further adjustments for estrogens and C-peptide had minor effect on risk estimates. Our data show that elevated prediagnostic concentrations of TNF-α and its soluble receptors are related to a higher risk of endometrial cancer, particularly strong in women diagnosed within 2 years of blood donation. This is the first study of its kind and therefore deserves replication in further prospective studies.
|
|
| 10. |
- Fedirko, Veronika, et al.
(author)
-
Alcohol drinking and endometrial cancer risk in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study
- 2013
-
In: Annals of Epidemiology. - : Elsevier BV. - 1047-2797 .- 1873-2585. ; 23:2, s. 93-98
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Purpose: Alcohol intake may adversely affect the concentrations of endogenous sex hormones, and thus increase the risk of endometrial cancer. However, epidemiologic studies have provided conflicting results. Therefore, we investigated the association between alcohol intake and endometrial cancer risk a large, multicenter, prospective study. Methods: From 1992 through 2010, 301,051 women in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort were followed for incident endometrial cancer (n = 1382). Baseline alcohol consumption was assessed by country-specific, validated dietary questionnaires. Information on past alcohol consumption was collected by lifestyle questionnaires. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated from Cox proportional hazard models. Results: The multivariable HRs (and 95% CIs) compared with light drinkers (0.1-6 g/d) were 1.03(0.88-1.20) for 0 g of alcohol per day at baseline, 1.01 (0.86-1.17) for 6.1-12 g/d, 1.03 (0.87-1.22) for 12.1-24 g/d, 1.07(0.87-1.38) for 241-36 g/d, and 0.85(0.61-1.18) for more than 36 g/d (p(trend) = 0.77). No association was observed among former drinkers (OR, 1.28; 95% CI, 0.98-1.68 compared with light drinkers). Null associations were also found between alcohol consumption at age 20 years, lifetime pattern of alcohol drinking, and baseline alcohol intake from specific alcoholic beverages and endometrial cancer risk. Conclusions: Our findings suggest no association between alcohol intake and endometrial cancer risk.
|
|
| 11. |
- Fernlund, Eva, et al.
(author)
-
Novel Mutation in the KCNJ2 Gene Is Associated with a Malignant Arrhythmic Phenotype of Andersen-Tawil Syndrome.
- 2013
-
In: Annals of Noninvasive Electrocardiology. - : Wiley. - 1082-720X. ; 18:5, s. 471-478
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Andersen-Tawil syndrome (ATS) is a rare inherited multisystem disorder associated with mutations in KCNJ2 and low prevalence of life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias. Our aim was to describe the clinical course of ATS in a family, in which the proband survived aborted cardiac arrest (ACA) and genetic screening revealed a previously unknown mutation (c.271_282del12[p.Ala91_Leu94del]) in the KCNJ2 gene.
|
|
| 12. |
- Fortner, Renee T., et al.
(author)
-
Endometrial cancer risk prediction including serum-based biomarkers : results from the EPIC cohort
- 2017
-
In: International Journal of Cancer. - : Wiley. - 0020-7136 .- 1097-0215. ; 140:6, s. 1317-1323
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Endometrial cancer risk prediction models including lifestyle, anthropometric and reproductive factors have limited discrimina-tion. Adding biomarker data to these models may improve predictive capacity; to our knowledge, this has not been investigat-ed for endometrial cancer. Using a nested case-control study within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort, we investigated the improvement in discrimination gained by adding serum biomarker concentrations to risk estimates derived from an existing risk prediction model based on epidemiologic factors. Serum concentrations of sex steroid hormones, metabolic markers, growth factors, adipokines and cytokines were evaluated in a step-wise backward selec-tion process; biomarkers were retained at p < 0.157 indicating improvement in the Akaike information criterion (AIC). Improvement in discrimination was assessed using the C-statistic for all biomarkers alone, and change in C-statistic from addition of biomarkers to preexisting absolute risk estimates. We used internal validation with bootstrapping (1000-fold) to adjust for over-fitting. Adiponectin, estrone, interleukin-1 receptor antagonist, tumor necrosis factor-alpha and triglycerides were select-ed into the model. After accounting for over-fitting, discrimination was improved by 2.0 percentage points when all evaluated biomarkers were included and 1.7 percentage points in the model including the selected biomarkers. Models including eti-ologic markers on independent pathways and genetic markers may further improve discrimination.
|
|
| 13. |
- Fortner, Renée T., et al.
(author)
-
Ovarian cancer early detection by circulating CA125 in the context of anti-CA125 autoantibody levels : Results from the EPIC cohort
- 2018
-
In: International Journal of Cancer. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0020-7136 .- 1097-0215. ; 142:7, s. 1355-1360
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- CA125 is the best ovarian cancer early detection marker to date; however, sensitivity is limited and complementary markers are required to improve discrimination between ovarian cancer cases and non-cases. Anti-CA125 autoantibodies are observed in circulation. Our objective was to evaluate whether these antibodies (1) can serve as early detection markers, providing evidence of an immune response to a developing tumor, and (2) modify the discriminatory capacity of CA125 by either masking CA125 levels (resulting in lower discrimination) or acting synergistically to improve discrimination between cases and non-cases. We investigated these objectives using a nested case-control study within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition cohort (EPIC) including 250 cases diagnosed within 4 years of blood collection and up to four matched controls. Circulating CA125 antigen and antibody levels were quantified using an electrochemiluminescence assay. Adjusted areas under the curve (aAUCs) by 2-year lag-time intervals were calculated using conditional logistic regression calibrated toward the absolute risk estimates from a pre-existing epidemiological risk model as an offset-variable. Anti-CA125 levels alone did not discriminate cases from controls. For cases diagnosed <2 years after blood collection, discrimination by CA125 antigen was suggestively higher with higher anti-CA125 levels (aAUC, highest antibody tertile: 0.84 [0.76-0.92]; lowest tertile: 0.76 [0.67-0.86]; p(het)=0.06). We provide the first evidence of potentially synergistic discrimination effects of CA125 and anti-CA125 antibodies in ovarian early detection. If these findings are replicated, evaluating CA125 in the context of its antibody may improve ovarian cancer early detection. What's new? Although CA125, a mucin produced in epithelial cells, is a known marker for ovarian cancer, complementary biomarkers are necessary for reliable early cancer detection. Here, the authors examined autoantibodies against CA125 as potential pre-diagnosis markers. Although anti-CA125 levels did not discriminate between ovarian cases and controls, discrimination of CA125 differed by levels of its antibody, with the highest discrimination among women with the highest antibody levels. The authors propose that CA125 and anti-CA125 may act synergistically for ovarian cancer early detection.
|
|
| 14. |
- Fortner, Renee T., et al.
(author)
-
Reproductive and hormone-related risk factors for epithelial ovarian cancer by histologic pathways, invasiveness and histologic subtypes: Results from the EPIC cohort
- 2015
-
In: International Journal of Cancer. - : Wiley. - 0020-7136 .- 1097-0215. ; 137:5, s. 1196-1208
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Whether risk factors for epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) differ by subtype (i.e., dualistic pathway of carcinogenesis, histologic subtype) is not well understood; however, data to date suggest risk factor differences. We examined associations between reproductive and hormone-related risk factors for EOC by subtype in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort. Among 334,126 women with data on reproductive and hormone-related risk factors (follow-up: 1992-2010), 1,245 incident cases of EOC with known histology and invasiveness were identified. Data on tumor histology, grade, and invasiveness, were available from cancer registries and pathology record review. We observed significant heterogeneity by the dualistic model (i.e., type I [low grade serous or endometrioid, mucinous, clear cell, malignant Brenner] vs. type II [high grade serous or endometrioid]) for full-term pregnancy (p(het)=0.02). Full-term pregnancy was more strongly inversely associated with type I than type II tumors (ever vs. never: type I: relative risk (RR) 0.47 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.33-0.69]; type II, RR: 0.81 [0.61-1.06]). We observed no significant differences in risk in analyses by major histologic subtypes of invasive EOC (serous, mucinous, endometrioid, clear cell). None of the investigated factors were associated with borderline tumors. Established protective factors, including duration of oral contraceptive use and full term pregnancy, were consistently inversely associated with risk across histologic subtypes (e.g., ever full-term pregnancy: serous, RR: 0.73 [0.58-0.92]; mucinous, RR: 0.53 [0.30-0.95]; endometrioid, RR: 0.65 [0.40-1.06]; clear cell, RR: 0.34 [0.18-0.64]; p(het)=0.16). These results suggest limited heterogeneity between reproductive and hormone-related risk factors and EOC subtypes. What's new? Reproductive and hormone-related risk factors for epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) have been extensively investigated. However, EOC is increasingly recognized as a heterogeneous disease and risk factor differences across EOC subtypes, as defined by the recently proposed dualistic pathway of ovarian carcinogenesis and histological characteristics, are not well understood. Here, the authors present a detailed prospective investigation on reproductive and hormone-related risk factors for borderline tumors and epithelial ovarian cancer by main histological subtypes and, for the first time, by the types defined by the dualistic pathway. The results suggest limited heterogeneity between reproductive and hormone-related risk factors and EOC subtypes.
|
|
| 15. |
- Hartell, Eva, 1973-, et al.
(author)
-
Informerat samtycke i flerspråkig skolmiljö
- 2021
-
In: Lärarnas forskningskonferens 2021. ; , s. 45-
-
Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Bedömning av transversella färdigheter i STEM (ATSSTEM) är ett innovativt utveckling- och forskningsprojekt med en experimentell design, som syftar till att förbättra digitala bedömningsformer av elevers kunskaper och ämnesövergripande färdigheter inom STEM [matematik, naturvetenskap och teknik]. Detta Erasmus+ projekt bedrivs i grundskolor och gymnasieskolor runt om i Europa och pågår mellan 2019–2022. Haninge kommun och Institutionen för lärande vid Kungliga Tekniska högskolan deltar i ATSSTEM-partnernätverket tillsammans med 11 andra utbildningsinstitutioner som befinner sig på olika nivåer av utbildningssystemet i åtta europeiska länder. Ämnesövergripande undervisningsupplägg med fokus på Agenda 2030 utvecklas och prövas tillsammans med lärare från skolor runt om i Europa. Från Sverige deltar sju grundskolor i Haninge kommun. Frågeställningar - Hur kommunicerar vi informerat samtycke i en flerspråkig miljö? - Hur kan vi kommunicera med vårdnadshavare på andra språk än svenska om potentiella fördelarna och risker med praktiknära skolforskning för deras barn? - Hur kan vi engagera vårdnadshavare med olika språkbakgrund för att få dem att känna sig del av forskningen och förklara vårdnadshavarnas och elevernas rättigheter och de garantier de kan förvänta sig? - Vilka logistik- och kostnadskrav ställer detta på forskargrupper? - Hur resurssätter vi lärare och forskare att kommunicera med vårdnadshavare i flerspråkiga miljöer med avseende på informerat samtycke? Resultat och diskussion I syfte att säkerställa att vårdnadshavare och elever på pilotskolorna kunde tillgodogöra sig innehållet i samtyckesformuläret beslutade projektgruppen att översätta dokumentet till några av de mest förekommande språken i Haninge engelska, arabiska, polska, ryska och turkiska. Vi vill till detta seminarium bjuda in publiken till en dialog där vi diskuterar och delar erfarenheter i den etiskt utmanande frågan om hur man kommunicerar informerat samtycke i en flerspråkig skolmiljö.
|
|
| 16. |
- Hartell, Eva, 1973-, et al.
(author)
-
Seeking informed consent in a multilingual school environment : ATSSTEM - project
- 2021
-
In: PATT38 Book of Abstracts. - Turku, Finland. ; , s. 29-30
-
Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Assessment of Transversal Skills in STEM (ATSSTEM) is an innovative policy experimentation project, which aims to enhance digital assessment of students’ transversal skills in STEM. This Erasmus+ project is situated in primary and secondary schools in and run between 2019– 2022. The Department of Education in Haninge municipality and the Department of Learning at KTH Royal Institute of Technology partake in the ATSSTEM partner network together with 11 other educational institutions, operating on different levels of the educational system across 8 European countries. Integrated STEM learning activities focusing Agenda 2030 is developed and piloted together with teachers in 7 primary and secondary schools in Haninge municipality in Sweden. Following regular ethical requirements for educational research projects; the research team seeks informed consent from the students’ guardians as the students involved are underaged. The pilot schools in municipality of Haninge are fortunate to have students from all over the world, and a number of families have recently immigrated to Sweden. STEM education has a strong policy focus at European and national levels on widening opportunities for under-represented groups. With the purpose to emphasis informed, we therefore decided to translate the informed consent form to a number of languages [e.g. Arabic, Spanish and Polish] spoken at home in our pilot schools. We would like to invite audience to discuss and share experience in the ethically challenging matter of communicating informed consent in a multilingual school environment with the following suggested prompts.How can we communicate with parents in other languages (and with different cultural expectations) about the potential benefits of research to their children?How can we engage parents from different backgrounds to make them feel part of research and explain the rights of parents and students and the safeguards they can expect?What logistic and costs requirements does this place on research teams? How do we resource teachers and researchers to communicate with parents in multi-lingual environments?
|
|
| 17. |
|
|
| 18. |
- Israelsson, Pernilla, et al.
(author)
-
Assessment of cytokine mRNA expression profiles in tumor microenvironment and peripheral blood mononuclear cells of patients with high-grade serous carcinoma of the ovary
- 2017
-
In: Journal of Cancer Science & Therapy. - : OMICS Publishing Group. - 1948-5956. ; 9:5, s. 422-429
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objective: Tumor establishment, metastatic spreading and poor survival in ovarian cancer is strongly associated with progressive derangement of the patient’s immune system. Accumulating evidence suggests that immune impairment is influenced by the production and presence of cytokines in the tumor microenvironment. Methods: Cytokine mRNA profiles in tumor tissue and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were analyzed in patients with high grade serous carcinoma (HGSC) of the ovary and compared it to patients with benign ovarian conditions and controls with normal ovaries. Cytokine assessment was done by real-time quantitative RT-PCR and specific primers and probes for 12 cytokines-IFN-γ, IL-1β, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-15, TNF-α, TNF-β/LTA, TGF-β1, and GM-CSF chosen to distinguish between cytotoxic Th1, humoral Th2, regulatory Th3/Tr1 and inflammatory responses. Results: The cytokine mRNA response in the HGSC patients was significantly up regulated compared to patients with benign ovarian conditions and normal ovary controls confirming the immunogenicity of HGSC and implying immune recognition and reaction locally in the tumor microenvironment and systemically in the peripheral blood.There was an up-regulation of inflammatory and inhibitory cytokine mRNA promoting tumor progression, T-regulatory cell priming and T-regulatory cell-mediated immune suppression. In contrast, there was an inability to mount the crucially important IFN gamma response needed for upregulation of the cytotoxic anti-tumor response in the local microenvironment. In addition, systemic IL-4- mediated Th2 response prevailed in the peripheral blood deviating the systemic defense towards humoral immunity. Conclusions: Taken together, these results suggest local and systemic cytokine cooperation promoting tumor survival, progression and immune escape. Our study confirms and extends previous investigations and contributes to the evaluation of potential cytokine candidates for diagnostic cytokine mRNA profiles and for future therapeutic interventions based on cytokine inhibition.
|
|
| 19. |
- Israelsson, Pernilla, et al.
(author)
-
Assessment of cytokine mRNA expression profiles in tumor microenvironment and peripheral blood mononuclear cells of patients with high-grade serous carcinoma of the ovary
- 2019
-
In: International Journal of Gynecological Cancer. - : BMJ Publishing Group Ltd. - 1048-891X .- 1525-1438. ; 29, s. A138-A138
-
Journal article (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Introduction/Background Tumor establishment, metastatic spreading and poor survival in ovarian cancer is strongly associated with progressive derangement of the patient‘s immune system. Accumulating evidence suggests that immune impairment is influenced by the production and presence of cytokines in the tumor microenvironment.Methodology Cytokine mRNA profiles in tumor tissue and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were analyzed in patients with high grade serous carcinoma (HGSC) of the ovary and compared it to patients with benign ovarian conditions and controls with normal ovaries. Cytokine assessment was done by real-time quantitative RT-PCR and specific primers and probes for 12 cytokines-IFN-γ, IL-1β, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-15, TNF-α, TNF-β/LTA, TGF-β1, and GM-CSF chosen to distinguish between cytotoxic Th1, humoral Th2, regulatory Th3/Tr1 and inflammatory responses.Results The cytokine mRNA response in the HGSC patients was significantly up regulated compared to patients with benign ovarian conditions and normal ovary controls confirming the immunogenicity of HGSC and implying immune recognition and reaction locally in the tumor microenvironment and systemically in the peripheral blood.There was an up-regulation of inflammatory and inhibitory cytokine mRNA promoting tumor progression, T-regulatory cell priming and T-regulatory cell-mediated immune suppression. In contrast, there was an inability to mount the crucially important IFN gamma response needed for upregulation of the cytotoxic anti-tumor response in the local microenvironment. In addition, systemic IL-4- mediated Th2 response prevailed in the peripheral blood deviating the systemic defense towards humoral immunity.Conclusion Taken together, these results suggest local and systemic cytokine cooperation promoting tumor survival, progression and immune escape. Our study confirms and extends previous investigations and contributes to the evaluation of potential cytokine candidates for diagnostic cytokine mRNA profiles and for future therapeutic interventions based on cytokine inhibition.
|
|
| 20. |
- Israelsson, Pernilla, et al.
(author)
-
Cytokine mRNA and protein expression by cell cultures of epithelial ovarian cancer : Methodological considerations on the choice of analytical method for cytokine analyses
- 2020
-
In: American Journal of Reproductive Immunology. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 1046-7408 .- 1600-0897. ; 84:1
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Problem: To get a comprehensive picture of cytokine expression in health and disease is difficult, cytokines are transiently and locally expressed, and protein analyses are burdened by biological modifications, technical issues, and sensitivity to handling of samples. Thus, alternative methods, based on molecular techniques for cytokine mRNA analyses, are often used. We compared cytokine mRNA and protein expression to evaluate whether cytokine mRNA profiles can be used instead of protein analyses.Method of study: In kinetic experiments, cytokine mRNA and protein expression of IL-1 beta, IL-6, IL-8, TNF-alpha, and TNF-beta/LTA were studied using real-time RT-qPCR and Luminex(R) microarrays in the ovarian cancer cell lines OVCAR-3, SKOV-3 and the T-cell line Jurkat, after activation of transcription by thermal stress. In addition, we analyzed IL-6 and IL-8 mRNA and protein in a small number of ovarian cancer patients.Results: Ovarian cancer cells can express cytokines on both mRNA and protein level, with 1-4 hours' time delay between the mRNA and protein peak and a negative Spearman correlation. The mRNA and protein expression in patient samples was poorly correlated, reflecting previous studies.Conclusion: Cytokine mRNA and protein expression levels show diverging results, depending on the material analyzed and the method used. Considering the high sensitivity and reproducibility of real-time RT-qPCR, we suggest that cytokine mRNA profiles could be used as a proxy for protein expression for some specific purposes, such as comparisons between different patient groups, and in defining mechanistic pathways involved in the pathogenesis of cancer and other pathological conditions.
|
|
| 21. |
- Kaaks, Rudolf, et al.
(author)
-
Tumor-associated autoantibodies as early detection markers for ovarian cancer? : A prospective evaluation
- 2018
-
In: International Journal of Cancer. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 0020-7136 .- 1097-0215. ; 143:3, s. 515-526
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Immuno-proteomic screening has identified several tumor-associated autoantibodies (AAb) that may have diagnostic capacity for invasive epithelial ovarian cancer, with AAbs to P53 proteins and cancer-testis antigens (CTAGs) as prominent examples. However, the early detection potential of these AAbs has been insufficiently explored in prospective studies. We performed ELISA measurements of AAbs to CTAG1A, CTAG2, P53 and NUDT11 proteins, for 194 patients with ovarian cancer and 705 matched controls from the European EPIC cohort, using serum samples collected up to 36 months prior to diagnosis under usual care. CA125 was measured using electrochemo-luminiscence. Diagnostic discrimination statistics were calculated by strata of lead-time between blood collection and diagnosis. With lead times 6 months, ovarian cancer detection sensitivity at 0.98 specificity (SE98) varied from 0.19 [95% CI 0.08-0.40] for CTAG1A, CTAG2 and NUDT1 to 0.23 [0.10-0.44] for P53 (0.33 [0.11-0.68] for high-grade serous tumors). However, at longer lead-times, the ability of these AAb markers to distinguish future ovarian cancer cases from controls declined rapidly; at lead times >1 year, SE98 estimates were close to zero (all invasive cases, range: 0.01-0.11). Compared to CA125 alone, combined logistic regression scores of AAbs and CA125 did not improve detection sensitivity at equal level of specificity. The added value of these selected AAbs as markers for ovarian cancer beyond CA125 for early detection is therefore limited. What's new? Could autoantibodies against tumor antigens provide an early warning system for ovarian cancer? These authors tested how well certain antibodies detected ovarian cancer. They selected four candidate antibodies, to p53, CTAG1A, CTAG2 and NUDT11 proteins, which appear in elevated levels in cancer patients. None of them performed well as a herald of burgeoning cancer. They did not perform any better than the best currently available biomarker, CA125, and as lead times increased past 6 months prediagnosis, the effectiveness diminished. Surprisingly, elevated antibodies appeared in quite a few of the control samples, suggesting they might not be as cancer-specific as expected.
|
|
| 22. |
- Labani-Motlagh, Alireza, et al.
(author)
-
Differential expression of ligands for NKG2D and DNAM-1 receptors by epithelial ovarian cancer-derived exosomes and its influence on NK cell cytotoxicity
- 2016
-
In: Tumor Biology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1010-4283 .- 1423-0380. ; 37:4, s. 5455-5466
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Cancers constitutively produce and secrete into the blood and other biofluids 30-150 nm-sized endosomal vehicles called exosomes. Cancer-derived exosomes exhibit powerful influence on a variety of biological mechanisms to the benefit of the tumors that produce them. We studied the immunosuppressive ability of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) exosomes on two cytotoxic pathways of importance for anticancer immunity-the NKG2D receptor-ligand pathway and the DNAM-1-PVR/nectin-2 pathway. Using exosomes, isolated from EOC tumor explant and EOC cell-line culture supernatants, and ascitic fluid from EOC patients, we studied the expression of NKG2D and DNAM-1 ligands on EOC exosomes and their ability to downregulate the cognate receptors. Our results show that EOC exosomes differentially and constitutively express NKG2D ligands from both MICA/B and ULBP families on their surface, while DNAM-1 ligands are more seldom expressed and not associated with the exosomal membrane surface. Consequently, the NKG2D ligand-bearing EOC exosomes significantly downregulated the NKG2D receptor expression on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) while the DNAM-1 receptor was unaffected. The downregulation of NKG2D receptor expression was coupled to inhibition of NKG2D receptor-ligand-mediated degranulation and cytotoxicity measured in vitro with OVCAR-3 and K562 cells as targets. The EOC exosomes acted as a decoy impairing the NKG2D mediated cytotoxicity while the DNAM-1 receptor-ligand system remained unchanged. Taken together, our results support and explain the mechanism behind the recently reported finding that in EOC, NK-cell recognition and killing of tumor cells was mainly dependent on DNAM-1 signaling while the contribution of the NKG2D receptor-ligand pathway was complementary and uncertain.
|
|
| 23. |
- Lahmann, Petra H., et al.
(author)
-
Anthropometric measures and epithelial ovarian cancer risk in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition
- 2010
-
In: International Journal of Cancer. - : Wiley. - 0020-7136 .- 1097-0215. ; 126:10, s. 2404-2415
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We examined the associations of measured anthropometric factors, including general and central adiposity and height, with ovarian cancer risk. We also investigated these associations by menopausal status and for specific histological subtypes. Among 226,798 women in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort, there were 611 incident cases of primary, malignant, epithelial ovarian cancer diagnosed during a mean 8.9 years of follow-up. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (as), adjusted for potential confounders. Compared to women with body mass index (BMI) < 25 kg/m(2), obesity (BMI >= 30 kg/m(2)) was associated with excess ovarian cancer risk for all women combined (HR = 1.33, 95% Cl = 1.05-1.68; p(trend) = 0.02) and postmenopausal women (HR = 1.59, 95% Cl = 1.20-2.10; p(trend) = 0.001), but the association was weaker for premenopausal women (HR = 1.16, 95% Cl = 0.65-2.06; p(trend) = 0.65). Neither height or weight gain, nor BMI-adjusted measures of fat distribution assessed by waist circumference, waist-hip ratio (WHR) or hip circumference were associated with overall risk. WHR was related to increased risk of mucinous tumors (BMI-adjusted HR per 0.05 unit increment = 1.17, 95% Cl = 1.00-1.38). For all women combined, no other significant associations with risk were observed for specific histological subtypes. This large, prospective study provides evidence that obesity is an important modifiable risk factor for epithelial ovarian cancer, particularly among postmenopausal women.
|
|
| 24. |
- Lundin Gurné, Frida, et al.
(author)
-
Striving to be in close proximity to the patient: An interpretive descriptive study of nursing practice from the perspectives of clinically experienced registered nurses
- 2021
-
In: Nursing Inquiry. - : Wiley. - 1320-7881 .- 1440-1800. ; 28:2
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- © 2020 The Authors. Nursing Inquiry published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd This paper explores essential characteristics of current nursing practice from the perspectives of clinically experienced registered nurses in various fields of health care in Sweden. Nursing practice has been the subject of much debate in the past and because of its complexity as well as continuous changes in society it is important to continue the debate. A qualitative study, including 16 group interviews with altogether 74 participants, was conducted. Nursing practice was viewed as a multifaceted field. The participants struggled to define nursing but were able to describe it using concrete examples. The analysis, using interpretive description, identified current practice as essentially consisting of: ‘A practice pervaded by comprehensive responsibility’, ‘A practice that recognises a patient's unique needs’, ‘A practice based on multifaceted knowledge’ and ‘A practice that mediates between traditional values and changing demands’. Current nursing practice can be understood as striving to be in close proximity to the patient, but in tension with pervasive requirements and societal changes. Going forward, it is necessary to continue to reflect on and discuss the nature of nursing practice in an interprofessional context. Studies from primary and home care are also needed to broaden the understanding of nursing practice.
|
|
| 25. |
- Merritt, Melissa A., et al.
(author)
-
Dietary fat intake and risk of epithelial ovarian cancer in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition
- 2014
-
In: Cancer Epidemiology. - : Elsevier BV. - 1877-7821 .- 1877-783X. ; 38:5, s. 528-537
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- There are inconsistent and limited data available to assess the relationship between fat intake and risk of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). We examined the consumption of total fat, fat sources and fat subtypes in relation to risk of EOC and its major histologic subtypes in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition which includes incident invasive (n = 1095) and borderline (n = 96) EOC. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). In multivariate models, we observed no association with consumption of total fat, animal or plant fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, monounsaturated fat, or fatty fish and risk of invasive EOC. There was, however, an increased risk of invasive EOC in the highest category of intake (Quartile 4 vs. Quartile 1) of polyunsaturated fat (HR = 1.22, 95% CI = 1.02-1.48, P-trend = 0.02). We did not observe heterogeneity in the risk associations in comparisons of serous and endometrioid histologic subtypes. This study does not support an etiological role for total fat intake in relation to EOC risk; however, based on observations of a positive association between intake of polyunsaturated fat and invasive EOC risk in the current and previous studies, this fat subtype warrants further investigation to determine its potential role in EOC development.
|
|
