BMP2/BMP4 colorectal cancer susceptibility loci in northern and southern European populations.

Genome-wide association studies have successfully identified 20 colorectal cancer susceptibility loci. Amongst these, four of the signals are defined by tagging single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on regions 14q22.2 (rs4444235 and rs1957636) and 20p12.3 (rs961253 and rs4813802). These markers are located close to two of the genes involved in bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling (BMP4 and BMP2, respectively). By investigating these four SNPs in an initial cohort of Spanish origin, we found substantial evidence that minor allele frequencies (MAFs) may be different in northern and southern European populations. Therefore, we genotyped three additional southern European cohorts comprising a total of 2028 cases and 4273 controls. The meta-analysis results show that only one of the association signals (rs961253) is effectively replicated in the southern European populations, despite adequate power to detect all four. The other three SNPs (rs4444235, rs1957636 and rs4813802) presented discordant results in MAFs and linkage disequilibrium patterns between northern and southern European cohorts. We hypothesize that this lack of replication could be the result of differential tagging of the functional variant in both sets of populations. Were this true, it would have complex consequences in both our ability to understand the nature of the real causative variants, as well as for further study designs.

A colorectal cancer genome-wide association study in a Spanish cohort identifies two variants associated with colorectal cancer risk at 1p33 and 8p12.

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a disease of complex aetiology, with much of the expected inherited risk being due to several common low risk variants. Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) have identified 20 CRC risk variants. Nevertheless, these have only been able to explain part of the missing heritability. Moreover, these signals have only been inspected in populations of Northern European origin. RESULTS: Thus, we followed the same approach in a Spanish cohort of 881 cases and 667 controls. Sixty-four variants at 24 loci were found to be associated with CRC at p-values <10-5. We therefore evaluated the 24 loci in another Spanish replication cohort (1481 cases and 1850 controls). Two of these SNPs, rs12080929 at 1p33 (Preplication=0.042; Ppooled=5.523x10-03; OR (CI95%)=0.866(0.782-0.959)) and rs11987193 at 8p12 (Preplication=0.039; Ppooled=6.985x10-5; OR (CI95%)=0.786(0.705-0.878)) were replicated in the second Phase, although they did not reach genome-wide statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS: We have performed the first CRC GWAS in a Southern European population and by these means we were able to identify two new susceptibility variants at 1p33 and 8p12 loci. These two SNPs are located near the SLC5A9 and DUSP4 loci, respectively, which could be good functional candidates for the association signals. We therefore believe that these two markers constitute good candidates for CRC susceptibility loci and should be further evaluated in other larger datasets. Moreover, we highlight that were these two SNPs true susceptibility variants, they would constitute a decrease in the CRC missing heritability fraction.

[Minimising hospital costs in the treatment of bile duct calculi: a comparison study]. / Estudio de minimización de costes hospitalarios en el tratamiento de la coledocolitiasis.

INTRODUCTION: The treatment of bile duct calculi associated with cholelithiasis is controversial. The hospital costs could be a decisive factor in choosing between the different therapeutic options. OBJECTIVES: To compare the effectiveness and costs of two options in the treatment of common bile duct calculi: 1) One-stage: Laparoscopic cholecystectomy and bile duct exploration, and 2) Two-stage: sequential endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography and laparoscopic cholecystectomy. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A retrospective, observational study was performed on 49 consecutive patients with bile duct calculi and gallbladder in situ, treated consecutively and simultaneously over a two year period. The post-operate complication, hospital stay, number of procedures per patient, conversion to laparotomy, efficacy of removing the calculi, and hospital costs. RESULTS: There were no differences as regards the patient clinical features or morbidity. The mean post-surgical hospital stay for the One-stage group was less than that in the Two-stage group. Three patients of the Two-stage group required conversion to laparotomy. The median costs per patient were less for the One-stage strategy, representing an overall saving of 37,173€ during the period studied. CONCLUSIONS: No significant differences were found between the two treatment options as regards efficacy or post-surgical morbidity and mortality, but there were differences in hospital stay and costs. The management of patients with gallstones in one-stage surgery represents a saving of 3 days hospital stay and 1,008€ per patient.

Susceptibility genetic variants associated with colorectal cancer risk correlate with cancer phenotype.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Ten common low-penetrant genetic variants have been consistently associated with colorectal cancer (CRC) risk; little is known about the correlation between these variants and CRC phenotype. Characterization of such a correlation would improve CRC management and prevention programs. We assessed the association between these genetic variants and CRC phenotype in patients and modeled pairwise combinations to detect epistasis. METHODS: The validation population corresponded to a prospective, multicenter, population-based cohort (EPICOLON I) of 1096 patients with newly diagnosed CRC. The replication set was an independent, prospective, multicenter Spanish cohort (EPICOLON II) of 895 patients with newly diagnosed CRC. For individual single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) association analyses, a multivariate method using logistic regression was applied in EPICOLON I and subsequently prospectively validated in EPICOLON II. Interactions between SNPs were assessed using the likelihood ratio test. RESULTS: Validated results confirmed that the C allele on 8q23.3 (rs16892766) was significantly associated with advanced-stage tumors (odds ratio [OR], 1.48; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.15-1.90; P value = 4.9 x 10(-3)). The G allele on 8q24.21 (rs6983267) was more common in patients with a familial history of CRC (OR, 2.02; 95% CI, 1.35-3.03; P value = 3.9 x 10(-4)). The combination of rs6983267 on 8q24.21 and rs9929218 on 16q22.2 was associated with a history of colorectal adenoma (carriers of GG and AA, respectively; OR, 2.28; 95% CI, 1.32-3.93; P = 5.0 x 10(-4)). CONCLUSIONS: CRC susceptibility variants at 8q23.3, 8q24.21, and 16q22.2 appear to be associated with cancer phenotype. These findings might be used to develop screening and surveillance strategies.

Case-control study for colorectal cancer genetic susceptibility in EPICOLON: previously identified variants and mucins.

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second leading cause of cancer death in developed countries. Familial aggregation in CRC is also important outside syndromic forms and, in this case, a polygenic model with several common low-penetrance alleles contributing to CRC genetic predisposition could be hypothesized. Mucins and GALNTs (N-acetylgalactosaminyltransferase) are interesting candidates for CRC genetic susceptibility and have not been previously evaluated. We present results for ten genetic variants linked to CRC risk in previous studies (previously identified category) and 18 selected variants from the mucin gene family in a case-control association study from the Spanish EPICOLON consortium. METHODS: CRC cases and matched controls were from EPICOLON, a prospective, multicenter, nationwide Spanish initiative, comprised of two independent stages. Stage 1 corresponded to 515 CRC cases and 515 controls, whereas stage 2 consisted of 901 CRC cases and 909 controls. Also, an independent cohort of 549 CRC cases and 599 controls outside EPICOLON was available for additional replication. Genotyping was performed for ten previously identified SNPs in ADH1C, APC, CCDN1, IL6, IL8, IRS1, MTHFR, PPARG, VDR and ARL11, and 18 selected variants in the mucin gene family. RESULTS: None of the 28 SNPs analyzed in our study was found to be associated with CRC risk. Although four SNPs were significant with a P-value < 0.05 in EPICOLON stage 1 [rs698 in ADH1C (OR = 1.63, 95% CI = 1.06-2.50, P-value = 0.02, recessive), rs1800795 in IL6 (OR = 1.62, 95% CI = 1.10-2.37, P-value = 0.01, recessive), rs3803185 in ARL11 (OR = 1.58, 95% CI = 1.17-2.15, P-value = 0.007, codominant), and rs2102302 in GALNTL2 (OR = 1.20, 95% CI = 1.00-1.44, P-value = 0.04, log-additive 0, 1, 2 alleles], only rs3803185 achieved statistical significance in EPICOLON stage 2 (OR = 1.34, 95% CI = 1.06-1.69, P-value = 0.01, recessive). In the joint analysis for both stages, results were only significant for rs3803185 (OR = 1.12, 95% CI = 1.00-1.25, P-value = 0.04, log-additive 0, 1, 2 alleles) and borderline significant for rs698 and rs2102302. The rs3803185 variant was not significantly associated with CRC risk in an external cohort (MCC-Spain), but it still showed some borderline significance in the pooled analysis of both cohorts (OR = 1.08, 95% CI = 0.98-1.18, P-value = 0.09, log-additive 0, 1, 2 alleles). CONCLUSIONS: ARL11, ADH1C, GALNTL2 and IL6 genetic variants may have an effect on CRC risk. Further validation and meta-analyses should be undertaken in larger CRC studies.

Influence of a nucleotide oligomerization domain 1 (NOD1) polymorphism and NOD2 mutant alleles on Crohn's disease phenotype.

AIM: To examine genetic variation of nucleotide oligomerization domain 1 (NOD1) and NOD2, their respective influences on Crohn's disease phenotype and gene-gene interactions. METHODS: (ND(1)+32656*) NOD1 polymorphism and SNP8, SNP12 and SNP13 of NOD2 were analyzed in 97 patients and 50 controls. NOD2 variants were determined by reaction restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. NOD1 genotyping and NOD2 variant confirmation were performed by specific amplification and sequencing. RESULTS: The distribution of NOD1 polymorphism in patients was different from controls (P = 0.045) and not altered by existence of NOD2 mutations. In this cohort, 30.92% patients and 6% controls carried at least one NOD2 variant (P < 0.001) with R702W being the most frequent variant. Presence of at least one NOD2 mutation was inversely associated with colon involvement (9.09% with colon vs 36.4% with ileal or ileocolonic involvement, P = 0.04) and indicative of risk of penetrating disease (52.63% with penetrating vs 25.64% with non-penetrating or stricturing behavior, P = 0.02). L1007finsC and double NOD2 mutation conferred the highest risk for severity of disease (26.3% with penetrating disease vs 3.8% with non-penetrating or stricturing behavior presented L1007finsC, P = 0.01 and 21.0% with penetrating disease vs 2.5% with non-penentrating or stricturing behavior carried double NOD2 mutation, P = 0.007). Exclusion of patients with NOD2 mutations from phenotype/NOD1-genotype analysis revealed higher prevalence of *1*1 genotype in groups of younger age at onset and colonic location. CONCLUSION: This study suggests population differences in the inheritance of risk NOD1 polymorphism and NOD2 mutations. Although no interaction between NOD1-NOD2 was noticed, a relationship between disease location and Nod-like receptor molecules was established.

Estudio de minimización de costes hospitalarios en el tratamiento de la coledocolitiasis / Minimising hospital costs in the treatment of bile duct calculi: A comparison study

Introducción El tratamiento de la coledocolitiasis asociada a colelitiasis es controvertido. Los costes hospitalarios podrían ser un factor decisivo para elegir entre las distintas opciones terapéuticas. Objetivos Comparar la eficacia y los costes de 2 alternativas en el tratamiento de la coledocolitiasis: 1) Un-tiempo: colecistectomía y exploración de la vía biliar por laparoscopia y 2) Dos-tiempos: colangiopancreatografía retrógrada endoscópica y colecistectomía laparoscópica secuencial. Material y métodos Estudio observacional, retrospectivo de 49 pacientes con coledocolitiasis y vesícula in situ, tratados de forma consecutiva y simultánea durante 2 años, mediante una de las 2 estrategias. Se compararon las complicaciones postoperatorias, estancia, número de procedimientos por paciente, conversión a laparotomía, eficacia en la extracción de cálculos y costes hospitalarios. Resultados No hubo diferencias en cuanto a características clínicas y morbilidad de los pacientes. La estancia postoperatoria media para el grupo Un-tiempo fue menor que para el grupo Dos-tiempos. Tres pacientes del grupo Dos-tiempos requirieron conversión a laparotomía. La mediana de costes por paciente fue menor para la estrategia en Un-tiempo, representando un ahorro global de 37.173€ durante el período estudiado. Conclusiones Entre las 2 opciones terapéuticas, no se han encontrado diferencias significativas en cuanto a la eficacia, ni la morbimortalidad postoperatorias, pero sí desde el punto de vista de la estancia y los costes hospitalarios. El manejo de los pacientes con coledocolitiasis en un solo tiempo representó un ahorro de 3 días de estancia y 1.008€ por paciente (AU)

Introduction The treatment of bile duct calculi associated with cholelithiasis is controversial. The hospital costs could be a decisive factor in choosing between the different therapeutic options. Objectives To compare the effectiveness and costs of two options in the treatment of common bile duct calculi: 1) One-stage: Laparoscopic cholecystectomy and bile duct exploration, and 2) Two-stage: sequential endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography and laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Material and methods A retrospective, observational study was performed on 49 consecutive patients with bile duct calculi and gallbladder in situ, treated consecutively and simultaneously over a two year period. The post-operate complication, hospital stay, number of procedures per patient, conversion to laparotomy, efficacy of removing the calculi, and hospital costs. Results There were no differences as regards the patient clinical features or morbidity. The mean post-surgical hospital stay for the One-stage group was less than that in the Two-stage group. Three patients of the Two-stage group required conversion to laparotomy. The median costs per patient were less for the One-stage strategy, representing an overall saving of 37,173€ during the period studied. Conclusions No significant differences were found between the two treatment options as regards efficacy or post-surgical morbidity and mortality, but there were differences in hospital stay and costs. The management of patients with gallstones in one-stage surgery represents a saving of 3 days hospital stay and 1,008€ per patient (AU)

Características y calidad de vida de los cuidadores informales de enfermos de sida / Characteristics and quality of life of informal caregivers of patients with AIDS

Objetivo. Conocer las características y la calidad de vida de los cuidadores informales de los enfermos de sida. Método. Estudio observacional, descriptivo y transversal, realizado en las unidades de referencia de atención a enfermos de sida de 3 hospitales públicos de Barcelona. Se observó a 221 cuidadores informales de estos enfermos, seleccionados de manera no probabilística consecutiva. Se estudiaron las características de las personas enfermas de sida y de sus cuidadores informales. Para identificar los cuidados que prestaba el cuidador y las repercusiones que esta labor tenía sobre su calidad de vida se ha utilizado el cuestionario ICUB97®, basado en el modelo de Virginia Henderson. Resultados. Los enfermos de sida tenían una media de edad de 37 años (desviación estándar = 9) y 153 eran varones (69%). El contagio había sido por vía parenteral en 108 casos (49%) y por vía sexual en 98 (44%). Sus cuidadores tenían una media de edad de 50 años (desviación estándar = 15) y 173 eran mujeres (78%). El 41% (n = 128) había dejado de trabajar o había adaptado su trabajo para cuidar al enfermo. Las necesidades alteradas más frecuentes fueron las de descanso y sueño (170 [77%] estaban más cansados) y la de recreación (156 [71%] tenían menos tiempo libre). Conclusiones. La mayoría de los cuidadores informales de enfermos de sida son mujeres de mediana edad que prestan un elevado número de cuidados y cuya calidad de vida se ve alterada a consecuencia de esta labor. Las necesidades que presentan más alteradas son la de descanso y sueño y la de recreación

Identificación de dos familias con cáncer de colon hereditario no polipósico (CCHNP) y criterios de Amsterdam. Relevancia del árbol genealógico y las medidas de seguimiento / Identification of two families with hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer and Amsterdam criteria. Relevance of family history and follow-up

El diagnóstico clínico del cáncer de colon hereditario no polipósico (CCHNIP) se basa en el cumplimiento de los criterios de Amsterdam 1 o los criterios de Amsterdam modificados 2, que incluye la presencia de neoplasias extracolónicas del síndrome de Lynch II. Muchas familias presentan patrones de agregación fuertes, sospechosos de un carácter hereditario y cuyo seguimiento puede conducir a que se beneficien de un protocolo de diagnóstico precoz. Se presenta una familia inicialmente con criterios de sospecha de CCHNP que se convirtió en una familia Amsterdam 1 (familia 1) y una familia con criterios de Amsterdam 2 (familia 2) que presenta un miembro afectado a una edad muy joven. Ambas recibieron consejo genético y las recomendaciones de seguimiento. La realización de una colonoscopia total de control a un miembro asintomático de la familia 1 permitió llegar al diagnóstico de un cáncer de colon en estadio inicial y a un tratamiento quirúrgico amplio ante el elevado riesgo de una segunda neoplasia metacrónica. El caso de la familia 2 demuestra que las recomendaciones de consejo genético deben ser las mismas cuando se cumplen los criterios de Amsterdam 2. Ambas familias ilustran la importancia de realizar un cuidadoso árbol genealógico cuando se sospechen criterios de agregación familiar. (AU)