Unmet Supportive Care Needs of Survival Patients with Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma.

This study examined unmet supportive care needs for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients by cancer stage and treatment phase, as well as the factors associated with these unmet needs. At a cancer center in central Taiwan, information on consultations and services patients received at the resource center was described in the service chart. We extracted data available for NPC patients to evaluate their unmet supportive care needs (health information, patient care, treatment, nutritional, psychosocial, and economic) and their association with sex, age, cancer stage, and treatment phase. The 145 NPC patients were 68.3% male, 60.0% less than 50 years old, and 83.5% diagnosed at stages III and IV. The most prevalent unmet need was nutritional (40.7%), followed by psychosocial and patient care, with economic unmet needs the least (4.8%). Women were more likely than men to have patient care unmet needs (32.6% vs. 15.2%). Nutritional unmet need was higher in older patients than in younger ones (83.3% vs. 35.6%), with an adjusted odds ratio (aOR) of 9.39 (95% confidence interval (CI) = 2.17-40.70). Psychosocial unmet needs were higher in younger patients than old patients (34.5% vs. 0%) and in patients interviewed during follow-up period than those at newly diagnosed (55.2% vs. 23.1%). In conclusion, the most commonly reported concern was nutritional unmet needs for NPC patients. Their unmet needs may vary by demographic and disease factors, including patient sex and age, cancer stage, and treatment phase.

The Contribution of Matrix Metalloproteinase-8 Promoter Polymorphism to Oral Cancer Susceptibility.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Metalloproteinases (MMPs) are a family of multifunctional proteins reported to be overexpressed in several types of cancers. However, the contribution of MMP8 genotype to oral cancer has not been elucidated. In this study, we focused on the contribution of polymorphisms in the promoter region of MMP-8 (C-799T) and two non-synonymous polymorphisms (Val436Ala and Lys460Thr) to Taiwanese oral cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this case-control study, MMP-8 genotype, was examined among 788 patients with oral cancer and 956 gender- and age-matched healthy controls regarding its potential to determine oral cancer risk. RESULTS: The distributions of MMP-8 C-799T, Val436Ala and Lys460Thr genotypes were not different between the oral cancer and non-cancer control groups. We also analyzed the allelic frequency distributions and no significant difference was found. As for gene-environment interaction analysis, there was an increased risk for smokers, alcohol drinkers or betel quid chewers with variant MMP-8 C-799T or Val436Ala genotypes. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that the polymorphisms at MMP-8 C-799T or Val436Ala may not play a major role in mediating personal risk of oral cancer; however, the detailed mechanisms require further investigation.

The Contribution of MMP-7 Promoter Polymorphisms in Renal Cell Carcinoma.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Mounting evidence has suggested that polymorphisms in the promoters of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) genes are associated with the risk of many types of cancer, but no study has ever explored these polymorphisms as biomarkers for renal cell cancer (RCC). Recently, it was suggested that serum MMP-7 levels have both diagnostic and prognostic potential for RCC. In this study, we focused on the contribution of two functional polymorphisms in the promoter region of MMP-7 (A-181G and C-153T) to RCC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: These two polymorphisms were genotyped in 92 patients with RCC and 580 controls by PRC-RFLP analysis. RESULTS: The results showed that there is no significant association of the RCC risk with the MMP-7 A-181G genotype, even after adjusted for the possible confounding factors. The MMP-7 C-153T polymorphism was not identified among the subjects investigated. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that the two MMP-7 polymorphisms A-181G and C-153T do not play a major role in determining personal susceptibility to RCC in Taiwan.

Evaluation of the blood volume effect on the diagnosis of bacteremia in automated blood culture systems.

BACKGROUND: Blood culture volume is the most important variable in detecting bacteremia and fungemia. However, the majority of hospitals in Taiwan do not meet the criteria for an ideal blood culture volume (8-10 mL per bottle, two bottles per set) during collection. METHODS: The object of this study is to initiate an educational program for healthcare workers to increase blood volume collection and to evaluate the relationship between blood volumes and bacteremia recovery rate for detecting bacteremia and fungemia effectively by using the BD BACTEC 9240 blood culture system. RESULTS: After education, the blood sample volume ≥5 mL group increased from 2.93% to 71.24%. For a total of 4,844 bottles, the relative improvement in recovery rate for detection has increased by 17.81% between the <5 mL group and the ≥5 mL group. The recovery rates for the low-volume (<3 mL), mid-volume (3-7 mL), high-volume (8-10 mL) and extreme high-volume (>10 mL) groups are 13.31%, 15.02%, 17.68%, and 14.96%, respectively. CONCLUSION: With good blood collection practice, our study found that blood volume obtained was in direct proportion to recovery rate for the detection of bacteremia and fungemia.

Association of caveolin-1 genotypes with nasopharyngeal carcinoma susceptibility in Taiwan.

BACKGROUND: Caveolin-1 (Cav-1), which has been proposed as a candidate tumor suppressor, plays a regulatory role in several signaling pathways. High expression of Cav-1 in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) may enhance tumor cell migration and correlate with poor prognosis of the patients, while the genetic alterations of Cav-1 during nasopharyngeal carcinogenesis are still largely unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between NPC susceptibility and Cav-1 genotypes. PATIENTS AND METHODS: One hundred and seventy six patients with NPC and 176 age- and gender-matched healthy controls recruited in Taiwan were genotyped and analyzed by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism. RESULTS: There were significant differences between the NPC and control groups in the distributions of the genotypic (p=0.0019) and allelic frequencies (p=2.5 10(-4)) in the Cav-1 T29107A (rs7804372) polymorphism. CONCLUSION: In this first report of Cav-1 involvement in NPC the A allele of Cav-1 T29107A is found to be protective against the development of NPC and may be a novel useful genomic marker for early screening and prediction of NPC.