The association between education and fear of recurrence among breast cancer patients in follow-up - and the mediating effect of self-efficacy.

BACKGROUND: Major restructuring of surveillance after breast cancer treatment with less follow-up consultations may result in insecurity and fear of recurrence (FCR) among the less resourceful breast cancer patients. We investigate the association between breast cancer patients' education and FCR and if self-efficacy mediates the associations between education and FCR. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A questionnaire survey was conducted from 2017 to 2019, among 1773 breast cancer patients shortly after having their follow-up switched from regular outpatient visits with an oncologist to either nurse-led or patient-initiated follow-up, with a subsequent questionnaire after 12 months. Data on disease and treatment characteristics were extracted from medical records and the Danish Breast Cancer Group Database. Logistic regression analyses were used to examine the association between education and FCR. Separate analyses were conducted for patients ≤ and >5 years since diagnosis and all models were adjusted for age and cohabitation status. To explore potential mediation by self-efficacy, we conducted regression analyses on education and FCR further adjusting for self-efficacy. RESULTS: The participation rate was 57%, and after the exclusion of patients due to missing data, 917 were included in analyses. Patients with long education had significantly less FCR compared to patients with short education (OR (95% CI) 0.71 (0.51;0,99)). When separated by time since diagnosis, there was no association among patients >5 years since diagnosis while the OR was 0.51 (95% CI, 0.30;0.85) for patients ≤5 years since diagnosis. Further adjusting for self-efficacy among patients <5 years since diagnosis resulted in an OR of 0.56 (95% CI, 0.33;0.95) among patients with long compared to short education. CONCLUSION: Up to 5 years after diagnosis, breast cancer patients with long education are less likely to experience FCR than patients with short education. Self-efficacy mediated only a very small part of this association, indicating that other factors play a role in socioeconomic differences in FCR among breast cancer patients.

MyHealth: specialist nurse-led follow-up in breast cancer. A randomized controlled trial - development and feasibility.

Background: Traditionally, women treated for breast cancer (BC) have been followed up through regular oncologist-led visits in outpatient clinics, focusing on detection of recurrences, new primary BC, symptom management, and psychological support. However, this follow-up routine is expensive and its effectiveness has been questioned. Consequently, alternative follow-up programs have been tested. The Guided Self-Determination method (GSD), which facilitates partnership between health-care provider and patient, has been shown to improve self-management in patients with chronic conditions, including cancer. Patient-reported outcomes (PRO) is another increasingly used tool to improve patient-provider communication, symptom monitoring and control. In combination, GSD and PRO may have the potential to meet the objectives of BC follow-up. To test this, we developed the MyHealth study, a randomized controlled trial comparing a nurse-led follow-up program based on GSD, collection of PRO, and patient navigation with routine oncologist-led follow-up. Here we describe how we developed the intervention and are currently testing the feasibility of the MyHealth protocol in terms of recruitment, adherence to the intervention, collection of PRO, and patient navigation. Material and methods: We have invited the first 25 consecutively enrolled patients to test the MyHealth intervention. This consists of (1) 3-5 initial GSD appointments with a nurse, (2) collection of PRO, and (3) symptom management and patient navigation. The randomized trial was launched in January 2017 and is still recruiting. Results of the feasibility study: Of 32 patients invited, 25 accepted participation. At 18-month follow-up, two patients have withdrawn, 143 PRO questionnaires have been completed (mean 5.7/patient) resulting in 59 nurse contacts (mean 2.4 per patient) and 14 project physician contacts (mean 0.6 per patient). Conclusion: A high recruitment rate and response rate to PRO indicate that follow-up led by specialist nurses, based on collection of PRO is feasible and acceptable for patients treated for early stage BC.

Nurse-Led Individualized Follow-Up Versus Regular Physician-Led Visits After Early Breast Cancer (MyHealth): A Phase III Randomized, Controlled Trial.

PURPOSE: Follow-up after breast cancer with regular visits has failed to detect recurrences, be cost-effective, and address patient needs. METHODS: MyHealth is a phase III randomized controlled trial (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02949167). Patients, who recently completed primary treatment for stage I-II breast cancer, were randomly assigned in variable block sizes and stratified by age and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 status to intervention or control follow-up. The nurse-led intervention comprised three to five individual self-management sessions, regular reporting of symptoms, and navigation to health care services. The control follow-up comprised regular outpatient visits with the physician. The primary outcome was breast cancer-specific quality of life (QoL) measured by the Trial Outcome Index-Physical/Functional/Breast summary score of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast 2 years after random assignment. Secondary outcomes were fear of recurrence, anxiety, depression, and health care utilization. Analyses were intention-to-treat and P values were two-sided with 95% confidence level set at 0.005 because of multiple comparisons. RESULTS: Among 1,101 eligible patients, 875 were invited and 503 were randomly assigned to control (n = 252) or intervention (n = 251) follow-up. At 2 years, patients in the intervention group reported a significantly and clinically relevant higher QoL (mean, 75.69 [standard deviation [SD], 12.27]) than patients in the control group (71.26 [SD, 14.08]), with a mean difference of 5.05 (95% CI, 3.30 to 6.79; P < .001). The intervention group reported significantly less fear of recurrence, anxiety, and depression; they had fewer physician consultations but more nurse contacts and an unchanged diagnostic imaging pattern. The effect on all outcomes was stable through a 3-year follow-up. CONCLUSION: The MyHealth study suggested a new strategy for follow-up after early breast cancer as it provided significant improvements in QoL.

Biological variations in plasma VEGF and VEGFR-1 may compromise their biomarker value in colorectal cancer.

INTRODUCTION: Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) plays a prominent role in tumor angiogenesis and plasma VEGF concentration may carry prognostic information in colorectal cancer. The VEGF receptor 1 (VEGFR-1) is a regulatory receptor which is shredded into plasma of patients with colorectal cancer. For both molecules, large biological variation and lack of standardization of assay procedures are major challenges. METHODS: We investigated pre-analytical, analytical, as well as short term and long term biological variation of plasma VEGF and VEGFR-1 in volunteers. In addition, we evaluated plasma VEGF and VEGFR-1 as markers of colorectal disease in a case-control study on four groups of 77 individuals undergoing bowel endoscopy. Groups were categorized as 'no findings', 'non-malignant findings', 'adenoma', or 'colorectal cancer'. RESULTS: In the studies on variation, temperature and delay before centrifugation significantly influenced plasma VEGF and, to a minor extent, plasma VEGFR-1 concentrations. In addition, we found large biological variations with CV up to 69.2% for VEGF and CV up to 35.9% for VEGFR-1. For both molecules the intra-subject variation exceeded the inter-subject variation. In the case control study neither plasma VEGF nor VEGFR-1 was able to differentiate between the four groups of individuals although plasma VEGFR-1 was significantly lower in patients with 'no findings'. CONCLUSION: There was no difference in plasma VEGF or VEGFR-1 between patients with no findings, benign disease, pre-malignant findings, and malignant findings after endoscopy. The poor discrimination between patients may be explained by the large inter- and intra-subject variations found for both molecules in volunteers.

Diurnal, weekly, and long-time variation in serum concentrations of YKL-40 in healthy subjects.

Serum YKL-40 is a potential biomarker of prognosis in cancer patients, but assessment of serum YKL-40 requires knowledge of its normal variation. In this study, we evaluated diurnal, weekly, and long-term variation in serum YKL-40 in healthy subjects using a commercial ELISA. The intra-assay coefficient of variation was

Preoperative concentrations of suPAR and MBL proteins are associated with the development of pneumonia after elective surgery for colorectal cancer.

BACKGROUND: The urokinase-type plasminogen activation (uPA) system and the mannan-binding lectin (MBL) complement activation pathway are involved in regulation of immune responses. The blood concentrations of these molecules in the individual patient thus could be related to the risk of postoperative infectious complications. The aim of this retrospective study was to determine the association between the soluble uPA receptor (suPAR) and MBL concentrations and the development of postoperative bacterial infectious complications. METHODS: Blood samples were drawn preoperatively from 544 patients scheduled to undergo primary resection for colorectal cancer. Plasma suPAR was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and serum MBL by time-resolved immunofluorescent assay. The following infectious events were recorded during the first month after surgery: surgical site or perineal infection or both, intra-abdominal abscess, anastomotic leakage, pneumonia, and blood stream infection. Data on perioperative blood transfusions in addition to clinical baseline characteristics were included as well. RESULTS: The numbers of surgical site infections, intra-abdominal abscesses, anastomotic leakages, pneumonias, and blood stream infections were 51, 20, 32, 78, and 19, respectively. Univariate analysis showed that elevated concentrations of suPAR (p = 0.01; odds ratio [OR] 2.2; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.2, 3.9), low concentrations of MBL (p = 0.047; OR 0.9; 95% CI 0.8, 1.0), and perioperative blood transfusion (p = 0.006; OR 1.5; 95% CI 1.1, 2.0) were associated with the development of pneumonia. Significant associations with other bacterial infections could not be demonstrated. Multivariate analysis including disease stage, sex, and age showed that suPAR, MBL, and perioperative blood transfusion were significantly and independently associated with postoperative pneumonia. CONCLUSION: Concentrations of suPAR and MBL, in addition to perioperative blood transfusion, were significantly associated with the development of postoperative pneumonia. No other statistically significant relationships could be demonstrated. Thus, further research should be directed to clarifying the biological role of these two molecules in the development of postoperative pneumonia.

Concentrations of VEGF and VEGFR1 in paired tumor arteries and veins in patients with rectal cancer.

Increased plasma concentrations of vascular endothelial growth factor (sVEGF) are associated with poor prognosis of colorectal cancer patients. The aim was to investigate the contribution of the tumor to plasma concentrations of VEGF and VEGF receptor 1 (VEGFR1). Preoperative blood samples from a peripheral vein and intraoperative blood samples from a tumor artery, a tumor vein, and from a peripheral vein were drawn from 28 patients undergoing elective surgical resection of primary rectal cancer. Plasma concentrations of VEGF and VEGFR1 were determined by ELISA. Counts of white blood cells and platelets were performed in all samples. No significant difference between plasma VEGF levels in the obtained blood samples was found (0.35 < P < 0.86). Plasma sVEGFR1 concentrations were significantly increased in tumor veins compared with tumor arteries. In addition, a significant reduction in plasma sVEGFR1 concentrations from preoperative to intraoperative samples was observed. There was a significant efflux of neutrophils to the tumor, but none of the observed changes in plasma VEGF or VEGFR1 levels correlated to changes in counts of white blood cells or platelets (sVEGF: 0.33 < P < 0.73 and sVEGFR1: 0.32 < P < 0.98). No changes in sVEGF plasma concentrations from tumor arteries to tumor veins were demonstrated, whereas there was a significant increase in sVEGFR1 from tumor arteries to tumor veins. Changes in sVEGF or sVEGFR1 from tumor arteries to tumor veins were not associated with changes in counts of white blood cells or platelets.

Pre-analytical and biological variability in circulating interleukin 6 in healthy subjects and patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Interleukin (IL)-6, a key player in the inflammatory response, may be a useful biomarker in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The aim was to determine analytical variability, a reference interval in healthy subjects, and long- and short-term variation in serum and plasma IL-6 in healthy subjects and RA patients. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay from R&D was used for determination of serum and plasma IL-6. The IL-6 concentration did not depend on the type of anticoagulant used or the 3-h time delay between sampling and processing or repeated freeze-thaw cycles. The median plasma and serum IL-6 in 318 healthy subjects were 1.3 pg ml(-1) (range 0.33-26) and 1.4 pg ml(-1) (range 0.25-23), respectively. The median coefficient of variation in plasma IL-6 in 27 healthy subjects during 1 month, and repeated after 6 and 12 months were 27%, 31% and 26%, respectively. No significant long-term changes were observed in serum IL-6 over a 3-year period (14%, p = 0.33). Exercise (cycling) increased serum IL-6 in healthy subjects but not in RA patients. In conclusion, circulating IL-6 is stable regarding sample handling and shows little variation over time. Changes in IL-6 concentrations > 60% (2 times the biological variation) are likely to reflect changes in disease activity and not only pre-analytical or normal biological variability.