Ensemble-based classification using microRNA expression identifies a breast cancer patient subgroup with an ultralow long-term risk of metastases.

BACKGROUND: Current clinical markers overestimate the recurrence risk in many lymph node negative (LNN) breast cancer (BC) patients such that a majority of these low-risk patients unnecessarily receive systemic treatments. We tested if differential microRNA expression in primary tumors allows reliable identification of indolent LNN BC patients to provide an improved classification tool for overtreatment reduction in this patient group. METHODS: We collected freshly frozen primary tumors of 80 LNN BC patients with recurrence and 80 recurrence-free patients (mean follow-up: 20.9 years). The study comprises solely systemically untreated patients to exclude that administered treatments confound the metastasis status. Samples were pairwise matched for clinical-pathological characteristics to minimize dependence of current markers. Patients were classified into risk-subgroups according to the differential microRNA expression of their tumors via classification model building with cross-validation using seven classification methods and a voting scheme. The methodology was validated using available data of two independent cohorts (n = 123, n = 339). RESULTS: Of the 80 indolent patients (who would all likely receive systemic treatments today) our ultralow-risk classifier correctly identified 37 while keeping a sensitivity of 100% in the recurrence group. Multivariable logistic regression analysis confirmed independence of voting results from current clinical markers. Application of the method in two validation cohorts confirmed successful classification of ultralow-risk BC patients with significantly prolonged recurrence-free survival. CONCLUSION: Profiles of differential microRNAs expression can identify LNN BC patients who could spare systemic treatments demanded by currently applied classifications. However, further validation studies are required for clinical implementation of the applied methodology.

Long-Term Selenium-Yeast Supplementation Does Not Affect Bone Turnover Markers: A Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial.

Higher selenium status has been associated with lower bone turnover markers (BTM) in epidemiological studies. However, the long-term impact of selenium supplementation on BTMs has not been studied. We investigated the effects of selenium supplementation on BTMs including osteocalcin (OC), procollagen type I N-terminal propeptide (PINP), collagen type I cross-linked C-telopeptide (CTX), and bone alkaline phosphatase (BALP) in the short (6 months) and long term (5 years). A total of 481 Danish men and women (60-74 years) were randomized to receive placebo-yeast versus 100, 200, or 300 µg selenium as selenium-enriched yeast daily for 5 years. Plasma selenium concentration was measured using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, and BTMs were measured in nonfasted samples at baseline, 6 months, and 5 years. Data were analyzed by ANCOVA to investigate the shape of the dose-response relationships. Covariates included age, body mass index, baseline selenium status, baseline BTM, smoking, alcohol, supplement use, and medication. Plasma selenium concentration (mean 86.5 µg/d at baseline) increased significantly with increasing selenium supplementation to 152.6, 209.1, and 253.7 µg/L after 6 months and remained elevated at 5 years (158.4, 222.4, and 275.9 µg/L for 100, 200, and 300 µg supplemental selenium/d, respectively (p < 0.001)). There was no change in plasma selenium concentration in the placebo-treated group. There was no significant effect of selenium supplementation on OC (6 months p = 0.37; 5 years p = 0.63), PINP (6 months p = 0.37; 5 years p = 0.79), CTX (6 months p = 0.91; 5 years p = 0.58) or BALP (6 months p = 0.17; 5 years p = 0.53). The relatively replete baseline selenium status in the study participants may explain this lack of effect. Testing in more deficient populations may provide further insights into the impact of selenium supplementation on bone health. © 2022 The Authors. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR).

Systemic or Vaginal Hormone Therapy After Early Breast Cancer: A Danish Observational Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: Women treated for breast cancer (BC) often suffer genitourinary syndrome of menopause. These symptoms may be alleviated by vaginal estrogen therapy (VET) or menopausal hormone therapy (MHT). However, there are concerns of risks of recurrence of BC and death following treatment. METHODS: Our study included longitudinal data from a national cohort of postmenopausal women, diagnosed 1997-2004 with early-stage invasive estrogen receptor-positive nonmetastatic BC, who received no treatment or 5 years of adjuvant endocrine therapy. We ascertained prescription data on hormone therapy, VET or MHT, from a national prescription registry. We evaluated mortality and risk of recurrence associated with use of VET and MHT vs non-use using multivariable models adjusted for potential confounders. RESULTS: Among 8461 women who had not received VET or MHT before BC diagnosis, 1957 and 133 used VET and MHT, respectively, after diagnosis. Median follow-up was 9.8 years for recurrence and 15.2 years for mortality. The adjusted relative risk of recurrence was 1.08 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.89 to 1.32) for VET (1.39 [95% CI = 1.04 to 1.85 in the subgroup receiving adjuvant aromatase inhibitors]) and 1.05 (95% CI = 0.62 to 1.78) for MHT. The adjusted hazard ratios for overall mortality were 0.78 (95% CI = 0.71 to 0.87) and 0.94 (95% CI = 0.70 to 1.26) for VET and MHT, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: In postmenopausal women treated for early-stage estrogen receptor-positive BC, neither VET nor MHT was associated with increased risk of recurrence or mortality. A subgroup analysis revealed an increased risk of recurrence, but not mortality, in patients receiving VET with adjuvant aromatase inhibitors.

Communication Skills Training: A Means to Promote Time-Efficient Patient-Centered Communication in Clinical Practice.

PURPOSE: We hypothesized that health care providers would behave in a more patient-centered manner after the implementation of communication skills training, without causing the consultation to last longer. METHODS: This study was part of the large-scale implementation of a communication skills training program called "Clear-Cut Communication With Patients" at Lillebaelt Hospital in Denmark. Audio recordings from real-life consultations were collected in a pre-post design, with health care providers' participation in communication skills training as the intervention. The training was based on the Calgary-Cambridge Guide, and audio recordings were rated using the Observation Scheme-12. RESULTS: Health care providers improved their communication behavior in favor of being more patient-centered. Results were tested using a mixed-effect model and showed significant differences between pre- and postintervention assessments, with a coefficient of 1.3 (95% Cl: 0.35-2.3; P=0.01) for the overall score. The consultations did not last longer after the training. CONCLUSIONS: Health care providers improved their communication in patient consultations after the implementation of a large-scale patient-centered communication skills training program based on the Calgary-Cambridge Guide. This did not affect the length of the consultations.

Comparison of the Metastasis Predictive Potential of mRNA and Long Non-Coding RNA Profiling in Systemically Untreated Breast Cancer.

Several gene expression signatures based on mRNAs and a few based on long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been developed to provide prognostic information beyond clinical evaluation in breast cancer (BC). However, the comparison of such signatures for predicting recurrence is very scarce. Therefore, we compared the prognostic utility of mRNAs and lncRNAs in low-risk BC patients using two different classification strategies. Frozen primary tumor samples from 160 lymph node negative and systemically untreated BC patients were included; 80 developed recurrence-i.e., regional or distant metastasis while 80 remained recurrence-free (mean follow-up of 20.9 years). Patients were pairwise matched for clinicopathological characteristics. Classification based on differential mRNA or lncRNA expression using seven individual machine learning methods and a voting scheme classified patients into risk-subgroups. Classification by the seven methods with a fixed sensitivity of ≥90% resulted in specificities ranging from 16-40% for mRNA and 38-58% for lncRNA, and after voting, specificities of 38% and 60% respectively. Classifier performance based on an alternative classification approach of balanced accuracy optimization also provided higher specificities for lncRNA than mRNA at comparable sensitivities. Thus, our results suggested that classification followed by voting improved prognostic power using lncRNAs compared to mRNAs regardless of classification strategy.

Immediate evaluation of global longitudinal strain at initiation of trastuzumab treatment in breast cancer patients.

BACKGROUND: Global longitudinal strain (GLS) is recommended to detect subclinical changes preceding reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) in trastuzumab related cardiotoxicity. Since the possibility to detect signs of acute myocardial deterioration at treatment initiation is not clarified, the objective of this study was to assess changes in GLS and biomarkers within the first 2 weeks of trastuzumab treatment. METHODS: In a prospective cohort study, 45 patients with non-metastatic breast cancer (age 54, LVEF 62.8%, GLS -19.9%, 40% hypertension) scheduled for trastuzumab treatment were included. Echocardiography and measurement of troponin and NT-proBrain-Natriuretic-Peptide were conducted before initiation of trastuzumab, at days 3, 7, and 14 and after 3, 6, and 9 months. RESULTS: A significant deterioration in LVEF from 62.8% (SD±3.6) to 58.4% (SD±4.1) (p < 0.0001), GLS from -19.9 (SD±2.1) to -18.1 (SD±2.5) (p = 0.004), s' (p < 0.0001), e' septal (p = 0.008), and s' RV (p < 0.0001) occurred at 9 months and was preceded by significant changes in these parameters within the first 14 days. After 14 days, 12 patients (27%) had a ≥10% deterioration in GLS, which was associated with significantly lower LVEF at 55.2% (SD±4.1) at 9 months compared to patients with < 10% early deterioration in GLS (LVEF = 59.5% (SD±3.5) (p = 0.001)). No difference in plasma concentrations of biomarkers was observed between the two groups. CONCLUSION: In this study deteriorations in key echocardiographic parameters within normal limits were detected during the first 2 weeks of trastuzumab treatment, and an early ≥10% deterioration in GLS was associated with a lower LVEF at 9 months.

Final Efficacy Results of Neratinib in HER2-positive Hormone Receptor-positive Early-stage Breast Cancer From the Phase III ExteNET Trial.

BACKGROUND: The ExteNET trial demonstrated improved invasive disease-free survival (iDFS) with neratinib, an irreversible pan-HER tyrosine kinase inhibitor, versus placebo in patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-positive (HER2+)/hormone receptor-positive (HR+) early-stage breast cancer (eBC). PATIENTS AND METHODS: ExteNET was a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, phase III trial of 2840 patients with HER2+ eBC after neoadjuvant/adjuvant trastuzumab-based therapy. Patients were stratified by HR status and randomly assigned 1-year oral neratinib 240 mg/day or placebo. The primary endpoint was iDFS. Descriptive analyses were performed in patients with HR+ eBC who initiated treatment ≤ 1 year (HR+/≤ 1-year) and > 1 year (HR+/> 1-year) post-trastuzumab. RESULTS: HR+/≤ 1-year and HR+/> 1-year populations comprised 1334 (neratinib, n = 670; placebo, n = 664) and 297 (neratinib, n = 146; placebo, n = 151) patients, respectively. Absolute iDFS benefits at 5 years were 5.1% in HR+/≤ 1-year (hazard ratio, 0.58; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.41-0.82) and 1.3% in HR+/>1-year (hazard ratio, 0.74; 95% CI, 0.29-1.84). In HR+/≤ 1-year, neratinib was associated with a numerical improvement in overall survival (OS) at 8 years (absolute benefit, 2.1%; hazard ratio, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.55-1.13). Of 354 patients in the HR+/≤ 1-year group who received neoadjuvant therapy, 295 had residual disease, and results showed absolute benefits of 7.4% at 5-year iDFS (hazard ratio, 0.60; 95% CI, 0.33-1.07) and 9.1% at 8-year OS (hazard ratio, 0.47; 95% CI, 0.23-0.92). There were fewer central nervous system events with neratinib. Adverse events were similar to those previously reported. CONCLUSION: Neratinib significantly improved iDFS in the HER2+/HR+/≤ 1-year population, and a similar trend was observed in patients with residual disease following neoadjuvant treatment. Numerical improvements in central nervous system events and OS were consistent with iDFS benefits and suggest long-term benefit for neratinib in this population.

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy for primary operable breast cancer.

INTRODUCTION: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) has been found useful in downstaging tumours in women with primary operable breast cancer without increasing mortality. As a result of several studies supporting this, the Danish Breast Cancer Cooperative Group implemented new guidelines for the treatment of primary operable T2 N0/N1 M0 ductal carcinomas in late 2016, treating patients with six cycles of NACT. This study aimed to conduct a quality assessment of the efficacy of the NACT regime based on real-time data from a single Danish hospital. METHODS: A retrospective observational study was conducted at Odense University Hospital, Denmark, from the introduction of the NACT regime to December 2018. Patients were identified using the surgical department's registry. Through medical chart review, predefined outcomes were collected on tumour characteristics, surgical outcomes, treatment response and type of NACT treatment. Descriptive statistics and Fisher's exact test were used on relevant data. RESULTS: Among the 64 patients, 67% completed a recommended NACT regime. A 55% majority underwent lumpectomy and 64% were spared axillary dissection. Complete pathological response was found in 28% of patients. After treatment, 38% of the pre-NACT N1 patients were downstaged to N0. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicated that the NACT regime was a favourable treatment strategy for these patients. Two-thirds of patients were able to undergo a recommended NACT regime. The majority of patients were both spared axillary dissection and mastectomy. FUNDING: none. TRIAL REGISTRATION: not relevant.

Codebook for rating clinical communication skills based on the Calgary-Cambridge Guide.

BACKGROUND: The aim of the study was to confirm the validity and reliability of the Observation Scheme-12, a measurement tool for rating clinical communication skills. METHODS: The study is a sub-study of an intervention study using audio recordings to assess the outcome of communication skills training. This paper describes the methods used to validate the assessment tool Observation Scheme-12 by operationalizing the crude 5-point scale into specific elements described in a codebook. Reliability was tested by calculating the intraclass correlation coefficients for interrater and intrarater reliability. RESULTS: The validation of the Observation Scheme-12 produced a rating tool with 12 items. Each item has 0 to 5 described micro-skills. For each item, the codebook described the criteria for delivering a rating from 0 to 4 depending on how successful the different micro-skills (or number of used jargon words) was accomplished. Testing reliability for the overall score intraclass correlation coefficients was 0.74 for interrater reliability and 0.86 for intrarater reliability. An intraclass correlation coefficient greater than 0.5 was observed for 10 of 12 items. CONCLUSION: The development of a codebook as a supplement to the assessment tool Observation Scheme-12 enables an objective rating of audiotaped clinical communication with acceptable reliability. The Observation Scheme-12 can be used to assess communication skills based on the Calgary-Cambridge Guide.

Leukocyte nadir as a predictive factor for efficacy of adjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer. Results from the prospective trial SBG 2000-1.

Background: Retrospective studies have suggested that chemotherapy-induced leukopenia is associated with improved recurrence-free or overall survival. The SBG 2000-1 trial was designed to verify the favorable prognosis associated with chemotherapy-induced leukopenia in early breast cancer. Patients not experiencing chemotherapy-induced leukopenia were randomized into standard dosed or individually escalated chemotherapy doses based on the grade of leukopenia after a first standard dose.Patients and methods: 1452 women in Sweden and Denmark with operable node-positive or high-risk node-negative breast cancer aged 18-60 years were recruited to participate in this trial. Participants received a first FEC cycle at standard doses (600/60/600 mg/m2). Patients (n = 1052) with nadir leukopenia grade 0-2 after the first cycle were randomized between either 6 standard FEC or 6 tailored FEC courses with doses of epirubicin and cyclophosphamide escalated during courses 2 and 3 and thereafter aimed at achieving grade 3 leukopenia. Patients with nadir leukopenia grade 3-4 after the first course continued treatment with standard FEC. Results of the randomized comparison has been published previously. The present study focuses on chemotherapy-induced leukopenia as a covariable with outcome in randomized and non-randomized patients. The prognostic value of leukopenia after course 3, was studied in a Cox model adjusted for cumulative doses of epirubicin and cyclophosphamide. The association of chemotherapy-induced leukopenia with prognosis was a preplanned secondary endpoint for this trial.Results: The eight-year distant disease-free survival was 73%, 77%, 78% and 83% for patients with leucocyte nadir grade 0, 1, 2 and 3-4, respectively. Higher degree of leukopenia was highly significantly associated to improved distant disease-free survival (HR 0.84, 95% CI 0.74-0.96, p = .008) and overall survival (HR 0.87 (0.76-0.99, p = .032).Conclusion: This prospective study confirms that chemotherapy-induced leukopenia is a covariable with outcome in primary breast cancer, even after adjustment for chemotherapy doses.

Translation and cultural adaptation of the Communication Assessment Tool (CAT), developing a Danish and Norwegian version.

OBJECTIVE: To translate and cultural adapt the 14-item Communication Assessment Tool (CAT) into Norwegian and Danish, making them as similar as possible. DESIGN: This was a translation and validation study including individual interviews for content and face validity and a patient survey for internal consistency and floor-ceiling effect. SETTING: Outpatient clinic at the Department of Internal Medicine, Lillebaelt Hospital, Denmark and a Norwegian general practice. PARTICIPANTS: Ten patients were included for individual interviews and 440 participants completed the survey. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Translation and validation of the CAT. RESULTS: Despite minor differences in the use of words in the translated versions of CAT, the final versions were very similar. Based on the content and face validation and after agreement with the developers, it was decided to include a 'non-applicable' answering option, not a part of the original version. The use of 'non-applicable' for each item ranged from 0% to 30% in Norway and from 0% to 6.1% in Denmark. The overall CAT score, i.e. items rated excellent, were 55.5% in Norway and 50.3% in Denmark. For each item, the CAT score ranged between 31.3% and 69.8% in Norway and 33.7% and 57.4% in Denmark. CONCLUSION: The translated and validated CAT can be used to measure patients' perspectives on clinicians' communication skills in Denmark and Norway.

Long-Term Risk of Heart Failure in Breast Cancer Patients After Adjuvant Chemotherapy With or Without Trastuzumab.

OBJECTIVES: This study sought to evaluate the long-term risk of developing heart failure (HF) in patients receiving trastuzumab therapy. BACKGROUND: Trastuzumab has improved the prognosis in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer, but it can induce left ventricular dysfunction with reduced ejection fraction or HF during treatment. The long-term risk of HF is less well described. METHODS: In a nationwide Danish retrospective cohort study, 9,901 patients scheduled for adjuvant treatment for early-stage breast cancer were identified in the Danish Breast Cancer Cooperative Group database. Of these, 8,812 patients (25% HER2-positive; 51.7 ± 8.5 years of age) received chemotherapy including anthracycline; and if they were HER2 positive, trastuzumab was added. The primary endpoint was a diagnosis of HF assessed before and after 18 months in a landmark analysis to distinguish short- and long-term risks. RESULTS: Median follow-up was 5.4 years (interquartile range [IQR]: 4.1 to 6.8 years). In the trastuzumab group, 60 patients had HF by 9 years versus 51 in the group who were treated with chemotherapy alone, corresponding to incidence rates per 1,000 patient years of 5.3 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 4.1 to 6.8) versus 1.4 (95% CI: 1.1 to 1.8), respectively. The cumulative incidence of HF was higher in the trastuzumab group at both the short- and long-term (p < 0.01), yielding adjusted hazard ratios of 8.7 (95% CI: 4.6 to 16.5; p < 0.01) for early HF and 1.9 (95% CI: 1.2 to 3.3; p = 0.01) for late HF associated with trastuzumab treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Trastuzumab treatment is associated with a 2-fold increased risk of late HF compared with chemotherapy treatment alone.

Treatment of advanced HR+/HER2- breast cancer with new targeted agents in combination with endocrine therapy: a review of efficacy and tolerability based on available randomized trials on everolimus, ribociclib, palbociclib and abemaciclib.

INTRODUCTION: Recently, new targeted agents have been developed, which can prolong the effect of endocrine treatment (ET) by targeting resistance pathways in HR+/HER2- advanced breast cancer. This review examines available studies of everolimus, an mTOR inhibitor, and the CDK 4/6 inhibitors ribociclib, palbociclib and abemaciclib in terms of efficacy, tolerability and safety. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A systematic literature search was performed in Pubmed. Evaluation of the quality of the identified studies was based on selected elements from the GRADE guidelines. RESULTS: The literature search yielded eight randomized trials that all presented a significant increase in the progression free survival (PFS)/time to progression (TTP) for the targeted agents plus ET vs ET only. The improvement was evident as first-line therapy with an increase in PFS of 10-11 months when adding a CDK4/6 inhibitor to ET, as well as in patients previously treated for metastatic disease, with an increase of 5-6 months. The common adverse events (AEs) of the CDK 4/6 inhibitors were due to myelosuppression. In addition, abemaciclib was associated with liver toxicity and diarrhea, and ribociclib with liver toxicity and QTcF prolongation. The most common grade 3/4 AE of everolimus was stomatitis. The majority (five) of the trials had no serious limitations, and thus the quality of evidence was high. DISCUSSION: The new targeted agents are all associated with an improvement of the PFS with an acceptable tolerability, and they should be offered to women with advanced HR+/HER2- breast cancer both as first-line therapy as well as among patients previously treated in metastatic regimens. However, further data regarding the impact on overall survival are required to evaluate the full benefit for patients. Price and differences in AEs could become substantial arguments for the choice of therapy for the individual patient.

Effect of selenium supplementation on changes in HbA1c: Results from a multiple-dose, randomized controlled trial.

AIM: To investigate the effect of selenium supplementation at different dose levels on changes in HbA1c after 6 months and 2 years in a population of low selenium status. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The Denmark PRECISE study was a single-centre, randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, multi-arm, parallel clinical trial with four groups. In total, 491 volunteers aged 60 to 74 years were randomly assigned to treatment with 100, 200 or 300 µg selenium/day as selenium-enriched yeast or placebo-yeast. HbA1c measurements were available for 489 participants at baseline, 435 at 6 months, and 369 after 2 years of selenium supplementation. Analyses were performed by intention to treat. RESULTS: The mean (SD) age, plasma-selenium concentration, and blood HbA1c at baseline were 66.1 (4.1) years, 86.5 (16.3) ng/g and 36.6 (7.0) mmol/mol, respectively. During the initial 6-month intervention period, mean HbA1c (95% CI) decreased by 1.5 (-2.8 to -0.2) mmol/mol for 100 µg/d of selenium supplementation and by 0.7 (-2.0 to 0.6) mmol/mol for the 200 and 300 µg/d groups compared with placebo (P = 0.16 for homogeneity of changes across the four groups). After 2 years of selenium supplementation, HbA1c had decreased significantly in all treatment groups, with no difference between active treatment and placebo. CONCLUSIONS: Selenium supplementation in an elderly European population of low selenium status did not significantly affect HbA1c levels after 2 years. Our findings corroborate a possible U-shaped response of selenium supplementation on glucose metabolism.

Prognostic relevance and performance characteristics of serum IGFBP-2 and PAPP-A in women with breast cancer: a long-term Danish cohort study.

Measurement of circulating insulin-like growth factors (IGFs), in particular IGF-binding protein (IGFBP)-2, at the time of diagnosis, is independently prognostic in many cancers, but its clinical performance against other routinely determined prognosticators has not been examined. We measured IGF-I, IGF-II, pro-IGF-II, IGF bioactivity, IGFBP-2, -3, and pregnancy-associated plasma protein A (PAPP-A), an IGFBP regulator, in baseline samples of 301 women with breast cancer treated on four protocols (Odense, Denmark: 1993-1998). We evaluated performance characteristics (expressed as area under the curve, AUC) using Cox regression models to derive hazard ratios (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for 10-year recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS), and compared those against the clinically used Nottingham Prognostic Index (NPI). We measured the same biomarkers in 531 noncancer individuals to assess multidimensional relationships (MDR), and evaluated additional prognostic models using survival artificial neural network (SANN) and survival support vector machines (SSVM), as these enhance capture of MDRs. For RFS, increasing concentrations of circulating IGFBP-2 and PAPP-A were independently prognostic [HRbiomarker doubling : 1.474 (95% CIs: 1.160, 1.875, P = 0.002) and 1.952 (95% CIs: 1.364, 2.792, P < 0.001), respectively]. The AUCRFS for NPI was 0.626 (Cox model), improving to 0.694 (P = 0.012) with the addition of IGFBP-2 plus PAPP-A. Derived AUCRFS using SANN and SSVM did not perform superiorly. Similar patterns were observed for OS. These findings illustrate an important principle in biomarker qualification-measured circulating biomarkers may demonstrate independent prognostication, but this does not necessarily translate into substantial improvement in clinical performance.

Association of miR-548c-5p, miR-7-5p, miR-210-3p, miR-128-3p with recurrence in systemically untreated breast cancer.

Current prognostic markers allocate the majority of lymph node (LN) negative and estrogen receptor (ER) positive breast cancer patients into the high-risk group. Accordingly, most patients receive systemic treatments although approximately 40% of these patients may have been cured by surgery and radiotherapy alone. Two studies identified seven prognostic microRNAs in systemically untreated, LN negative and ER positive breast cancer patients which may allow more precise patient classification. However, six of the seven microRNAs were analyzed in both studies but only found to be prognostic in one study. To validate their prognostic potential, we analyzed microRNA expression in an independent cohort (n = 110) using a pair-matched study design minimizing dependence of classical markers. The expression of hsa-miR-548c-5p was significantly associated with abridged disease-free survival (hazard ratio [HR]:1.96, p = 0.027). Contradicting published results, high hsa-miR-516-3p expression was associated with favorable outcome (HR:0.29, p = 0.0068). The association is probably time-dependent indicating later relapse. Additionally, re-analysis of previously published expression data of two matching cohorts (n = 100, n = 255) supports an association of hsa-miR-128-3p with shortened disease-free survival (HR:2.48, p = 0.0033) and an upregulation of miR-7-5p (p = 0.0038; p = 0.039) and miR-210-3p (p = 0.031) in primary tumors of patients who experienced metastases. Further analysis may verify the prognostic potential of these microRNAs.

Effect of long-term selenium supplementation on mortality: Results from a multiple-dose, randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Selenium, an essential trace element, is incorporated into selenoproteins with a wide range of health effects. Selenoproteins may reach repletion at a plasma selenium concentration of ~ 125 µg/L, at which point the concentration of selenoprotein P reaches a plateau; whether sustained concentrations higher than this are beneficial, or indeed detrimental, is unknown. OBJECTIVE: In a population of relatively low selenium status, we aimed to determine the effect on mortality of long-term selenium supplementation at different dose levels. DESIGN: The Denmark PRECISE study was a single-centre, randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, multi-arm, parallel clinical trial with four groups. Participants were 491 male and female volunteers aged 60-74 years, recruited at Odense University Hospital, Denmark. The trial was initially designed as a 6-month pilot study, but supplemental funding allowed for extension of the study and mortality assessment. Participants were randomly assigned to treatment with 100, 200, or 300 µg selenium/d as selenium-enriched-yeast or placebo-yeast for 5 years from randomization in 1998-1999 and were followed up for mortality for a further 10 years (through March 31, 2015). RESULTS: During 6871 person-years of follow-up, 158 deaths occurred. In an intention-to-treat analysis, the hazard ratio (95% confidence interval) for all-cause mortality comparing 300 µg selenium/d to placebo was 1.62 (0.66, 3.96) after 5 years of treatment and 1.59 (1.02, 2.46) over the entire follow-up period. The 100 and 200 µg/d doses showed non-significant decreases in mortality during the intervention period that disappeared after treatment cessation. Although we lacked power for endpoints other than all-cause mortality, the effects on cancer and cardiovascular mortality appeared similar. CONCLUSIONS: A 300 µg/d dose of selenium taken for 5 years in a country with moderately-low selenium status increased all-cause mortality 10 years later. While our study was not initially designed to evaluate mortality and the sample size was limited, our findings indicate that total selenium intake over 300 µg/d and high-dose selenium supplements should be avoided.

Development of the EMAP tool facilitating existential communication between general practitioners and cancer patients.

BACKGROUND: General practice recognizes the existential dimension as an integral part of multidimensional patient care alongside the physical, psychological and social dimensions. However, general practitioners (GPs) report substantial barriers related to communication with patients about existential concerns. OBJECTIVES: To describe the development of the EMAP tool facilitating communication about existential problems and resources between GPs and patients with cancer. METHODS: A mixed-methods design was chosen comprising a literature search, focus group interviews with GPs and patients (n = 55) and a two-round Delphi procedure initiated by an expert meeting with 14 experts from Denmark and Norway. RESULTS: The development procedure resulted in a semi-structured tool containing suggestions for 10 main questions and 13 sub-questions grouped into four themes covering the existential dimension. The tool utilized the acronym and mnemonic EMAP (existential communication in general practice) indicating the intention of the tool: to provide a map of possible existential problems and resources that the GP and the patient can discuss to find points of reorientation in the patient's situation. CONCLUSION: This study resulted in a question tool that can serve as inspiration and help GPs when communicating with cancer patients about existential problems and resources. This tool may qualify GPs' assessment of existential distress, increase the patient's existential well-being and help deepen the GP-patient relationship.