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- Boman, Krister, et al.
(författare)
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Disease-related distress in parents of children with cancer at various stages after the time of diagnosis.
- 2003
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Ingår i: Acta Oncologica. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0284-186X .- 1651-226X. ; 42:2, s. 137-46
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study evaluates and describes disease-related distress in parents, with particular focus on the association between the time elapsed since the child's cancer diagnosis and a number of indicators of distress. In a cross-sectional design, 264 mothers and fathers of children with various malignancies completed a multidimensional questionnaire focusing on 11 illness-specific and general indicators of distress. Parents were assessed from 4 weeks to 14 years after the child's diagnosis, and age of children at onset of illness ranged from newly born to 21 years (mean approximately 6 years). The levels of distress related to loss of control, self-esteem, anxiety, depression, sleep disturbances, and psychological and physical distress were lower among parents for whom a longer period of time had elapsed from the time of diagnosis. However, the time elapsed could not explain all of the variation in these stress reactions, or any of the variation in uncertainty, disease-related fear and loneliness. The child's age at diagnosis and treatment situation at assessment were surpassed by time elapsed since diagnosis as predictors of variance in parental distress. The pattern observed indicates the presence of disease-related distress even years after the completion of medical treatment. The findings point to the need for research to identify parents at particular risk of suffering long-term harmful consequences from the prolonged stress of parenting a child with cancer. The necessity of longitudinal studies to evaluate the proportion of acute stress in relation to chronic or cumulative parental stress is emphasized.
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Hytönen, Ann-Marie, et al.
(författare)
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Haplotypes of the interleukin-4 receptor alpha chain gene associate with susceptibility to and severity of atopic asthma
- 2004
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Ingår i: Clin Exp Allergy. ; 34:10
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Summary Background Development of asthma is likely to depend on a complex interaction between environmental and genetic factors. Several groups have suggested the gene of the IL-4 receptor alpha chain (IL4R) as a candidate gene for the development of asthma, although association with single polymorphisms has shown contradicting results. Objective We chose to analyse IL4R gene haplotypes and assess their possible relevance in susceptibility to asthma and to certain clinical phenotypes. Methods IL4R gene haplotypes were analysed, based on the three markers C-3223T, Q551R and I50V, using the expectation-maximization algorithm, in 170 atopic asthma patients and 350 controls, all adult Swedish Caucasians. Results Our data showed significantly higher levels of soluble IL-4R (sIL-4R) in asthma patients compared with controls (P<0.0001). Furthermore, we showed a significant association between the IL4R haplotype containing the alleles T-3223, V50 and R551 (TVR) of the IL4R gene, and susceptibility to atopic asthma, with a frequency of 6.5% in the patients compared with 1% in the controls (P<0.0005). A subgroup of patients with heterozygous or homozygous state for the T-3223, V50 and R551 alleles, also had lower levels of sIL-4R in their circulation compared with patients with homozygous state in the C-3223, I50 and Q551 alleles (P<0.05) and showed less severe asthma according to lung function test (P<0.05). Analysis of single markers showed the T-3223 IL4R allele to associate with lower serum levels of sIL-4 receptor (P<0.0001) and patients carrying the T allele also had more symptoms of active asthma (wheezing, P<0.01; coughing, P<0.05 and breathing difficulties, P<0.01). Conclusion Our data suggest that asthmatic patients with low levels of sIL-4 receptor may represent a genetically distinct subgroup of atopic asthma. TVR haplotype analyses confirm the importance of IL4R as a candidate gene for susceptibility to asthma. This finding may have implications for the understanding of the pathogenesis of asthma and possibly for the development of more specific therapies.
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| 4. |
- Marky, Ildiko, 1940, et al.
(författare)
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Intensive chemotherapy without radiotherapy gives more than 85% event-free survival for non-Hodgkin lymphoma without central nervous involvement: a 6-year population-based study from the nordic society of pediatric hematology and oncology.
- 2004
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Ingår i: Journal of pediatric hematology/oncology : official journal of the American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology. - : Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health). - 1077-4114. ; 26:9, s. 555-60
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: The prognosis in childhood non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) has improved dramatically during recent decades. The authors report the results from a 6-year population-based study of clinical characteristics and treatment results of NHL from the five Nordic countries. METHODS: All children younger than 15 years of age at diagnosis with NHL diagnosed from 1995 to 2000 were stratified and treated according to immunophenotypic classification and stage of disease. RESULTS: A total of 230 patients were diagnosed with primary NHL, which gives an annual incidence of 0.9/100.000 children, with a median age of 8 years. Seven percent of the children were below 3 years of age at diagnosis. The male/female ratio was 2.3 and was unrelated to age. Patients with pre-B and T-cell NHL constituted 33%, B-cell NHL 53%, and anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) 14%. According to Murphy's classification, 14% had stage 1, 17% stage 2, 50% stage 3, and 19% stage 4 disease, 12 of whom (28%) had central nervous involvement (CNS) at diagnosis. By January 1, 2003, four children had died during induction, three children died in remission (2, 6, and 26 months from diagnosis), and 24 children experienced a relapse. At 5 years, the probability of event-free survival (p-EFS) was 86+/-2% for all children. The 5-year p-EFS values for stages 1 through 4 were 94%, 97%, 83%, and 79%, respectively. The 5-year p-EFS values were 91% for B-cell, 87% for pre-B, 81% for ALCL, and 79% for T-cell NHL. The 12 patients with CNS involvement at diagnosis had a significantly poorer outcome than stage 4 patients with CNS involvement (p-EFS = 50% vs. 90%, P < 0.01). The 218 patients without CNS disease at diagnosis had a 5-year p-EFS of 88%. CONCLUSIONS: With modern intensive chemotherapy, more than 85% of NHL patients will achieve long-lasting first remission. In the future, preventing death during induction and remission and improving therapy for patients with CNS disease would have a major impact on the overall p-EFS.
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