Population-based analysis of the prevalence of BRAF mutation in patients diagnosed with cutaneous melanoma and its significance as a prognostic factor.

The prevalence of BRAF mutation has been reported in between 38% and 48% of melanoma patients, based on mainly Stage III or metastatic melanoma, however, information based on population-based studies is scarce. We performed a population-based retrospective cohort study to determine the prevalence of the BRAF mutation in patients diagnosed with in situ and infiltrating cutaneous malignant melanoma in the province of Girona between 2009 and 2011. Using the database of the Girona Cancer Registry, we performed BRAF mutation analysis based on paraffin-embedded tissue. This data was then correlated with other known clinical and histological prognostic factors for survival. We found 286 incident cases of cutaneous melanoma in the Girona Cancer Registry database. Excluding missing cases, BRAF-mutated patients constituted 38.9% of "in situ" melanoma cases and 53.8% of invasive melanoma cases. Five-year relative survival was not statistically different between BRAF-mutated patients (93.6%; 95% CI: 87.1-100.5) and non-mutated patients (84.3%, 95% CI: 75.3-94.8). Only stage was significant as a prognostic factor for survival based on multivariate analysis. From our population-based study, we conclude that BRAF mutation is not an independent prognostic factor for melanoma survival.

Stable isotope evidence of human diet in Mediterranean context during the Last Glacial Maximum.

The Final Gravettian in Europe overlapped with the cold and dry climatic event of Heinrich 2 (ca. 27-23.5 kyr cal BP), which caused the contraction of human distribution over refuge regions in the southern peninsulas of Europe. Here, we consider the human subsistence in the northeast Iberian Peninsula, where an extensive range of small to large prey was available. Four human remains from the Serinyà caves were investigated using the stable isotope ratios of carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur of bulk collagen (δ13Ccoll, δ15Ncoll, δ34Scoll) and of phenylalanine and glutamine amino acids (δ15NPhe, δ15NGlu). Direct AMS dating of the human and animal remains from the Final Gravettian levels of Mollet III, Reclau Viver, and Arbreda at Serinyà confirmed their chronological position from 27.5 to 22.6 kyr cal BP and the occurrence of four different human individuals. The δ13Ccoll and δ15Ncoll values showed a large contribution of terrestrial prey to the dietary protein of the individuals. The δ34Scoll values were consistent with a subsistence based on the local continental resources, without detectable contribution of marine resource. The δ15NPhe and δ15NGlu values confirm that freshwater resources were not a substantial component of the diet of the considered individuals. Contrast in the isotopic amounts in bulk collagen could be interpreted as the result of different proportions of terrestrial prey in human diet at Serinyà. Altogether, the isotopic investigation reveals the importance of terrestrial over aquatic resources in the subsistence of the studied Final Gravettian individuals from the Serinyà caves in northeastern Iberia during the Last Glacial Maximum. It would be consistent with a scenario of a productive enough terrestrial ecosystem to sustain hunter-gatherer subsistence in this refuge region.

The genomic history of the Iberian Peninsula over the past 8000 years.

We assembled genome-wide data from 271 ancient Iberians, of whom 176 are from the largely unsampled period after 2000 BCE, thereby providing a high-resolution time transect of the Iberian Peninsula. We document high genetic substructure between northwestern and southeastern hunter-gatherers before the spread of farming. We reveal sporadic contacts between Iberia and North Africa by ~2500 BCE and, by ~2000 BCE, the replacement of 40% of Iberia's ancestry and nearly 100% of its Y-chromosomes by people with Steppe ancestry. We show that, in the Iron Age, Steppe ancestry had spread not only into Indo-European-speaking regions but also into non-Indo-European-speaking ones, and we reveal that present-day Basques are best described as a typical Iron Age population without the admixture events that later affected the rest of Iberia. Additionally, we document how, beginning at least in the Roman period, the ancestry of the peninsula was transformed by gene flow from North Africa and the eastern Mediterranean.

[Non-melanoma skin cancer: incidence time trends analysis in Girona, Spain, 1994-2007]. / Cáncer cutáneo distinto de melanoma: tendencia de la incidencia poblacional en Girona, 1994-2007.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: We aimed to assess the population-based incidence trends of non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC): squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and basal cell carcinoma (BCC). PATIENTS AND METHOD: From January 1994 to December 2007, 9,247 patients diagnosed with NMSC were recruited in the population-based Cancer Registry of Girona. Incidence rates were calculated with age-adjusted according to the Word standard population (WASR) by a direct method and reported as number of new cases per 100,000 person-year. To evaluate incidence trends by age group we used specific rates for these groups (45-64, > 64 years). We excluded patients younger than 45 years. Joinpoint method was used to estimate the average annual percentage change (AAPC) for the whole study period according to histologic and age groups. RESULTS: Age-adjusted incidence was 55.74 per 10(5) person-year; it was higher in males (67.13) than in females (46.9). Age-adjusted incidence for BCC was higher compared with the incidence for SCC (44.56 and 11.18 respectively). Age-adjusted incidence rate for NMSC for both sexes increased from 48.53 (1994-95) to 60.54 (2004-05) with an AAPC of 2.30%, which was higher in females (2.65%) than in males (1.99%). CONCLUSIONS: There has been a significant increase in the incidence of NMSC in our area, particularly evident for SCC, and it is more important in patients older than 64 years and in females.

[Merkel cell cancer of the skin: population-based incidence and survival, 1995-2005]. / Carcinoma de células de Merkel cutáneo: incidencia y supervivencia poblacional, 1995-2005.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: We aimed to assess the population-based incidence and survival of primary Merkel cell carcinoma. MATERIAL AND METHOD: From January 1995 to December 2005, 19 patients diagnosed with primary Merkel cell carcinoma were recruited in the population-based Cancer Registry of Girona. RESULTS: The age-adjusted incidence was 1,3 per 10(6) person-year; higher in males (1,5) than in females (1,1). Cases occurred mostly in people older than 65 years (94,7%), especially involving the head (79%). CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge, this study is the first to define the incidence and survival of Merkel cell carcinoma in Europe. The age-adjusted incidence of primary Merkel cell carcinoma in our area is similar than the age-adjusted incidence of the 2000 US standard population.