An original study assessing biomarker success rate in breast cancer recurrence biomarker research.

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is the second most common cause of cancer mortality worldwide. Biomarker discovery has led to advances in understanding molecular phenotyping and thus has a great potential for precision management of this diverse disease. Despite increased interest in the biomarker field, only a small number of breast cancer biomarkers are known to be clinically useful. Therefore, it is very important to characterise the success rate of biomarkers in this field and study potential reasons for the deficit. We therefore aim to achieve quantitative characterisation of the biomarker translation gap by tracking the progress of prognostic biomarkers associated with breast cancer recurrence. METHODS: An electronic systematic search was conducted in Medline and Embase databases using keywords and mesh headings associated with breast cancer recurrence biomarkers (1940-2023). Abstracts were screened, and primary clinical studies involving breast cancer recurrence biomarkers were selected. Upon identification of relevant literature, we extracted the biomarker name, date of publication and journal name. All analyses were performed using IBM SPSS Statistics and GraphPad prism (La Jolla, California, USA). RESULTS: A total of 19,195 articles were identified, from which 4597 articles reported breast cancer biomarkers associated with recurrence. Upon data extraction, 2437 individual biomarkers were identified. Out of these, 23 are currently recommended for clinical use, which corresponds to only 0.94% of all discovered biomarkers. CONCLUSIONS: This study characterised for the first time the translational gap in the field of recurrence-related breast cancer biomarkers, indicating that only 0.94% of identified biomarkers were recommended for clinical use. This denotes an evident barrier in the biomarker research field and emphasises the need for a clearer route from biomarker discovery through to implementation.

Development of a reliable surgical quality assurance tool for gastrectomy in oncological trials.

BACKGROUND: Despite its recognized importance, there is currently no reliable tool for surgical quality assurance (SQA) of gastrectomy in surgical oncology. The aim of this study was to develop an SQA tool for gastrectomy and to apply this tool within the ADDICT Trial in order to assess the extent and completeness of lymphadenectomy. METHODS: The operative steps for D1+ and D2 gastrectomy have been previously described in the literature and ADDICT trial manual. Two researchers also performed fieldwork in the UK and Japan to document key operative steps through photographs and semi-structured interviews with expert surgeons. This provided the steps that were used as the framework for the SQA tool. Sixty-two photographic cases from the ADDICT Trial were rated by three independent surgeons. Generalizability (G) theory determined inter-rater reliability. D-studies examined the effect of varying the number of assessors and photographic series they rated. Chi-square assessed intra-rater reliability, comparing how the individual assessor's responses corresponded to their global rating for extent of lymphadenectomy. RESULTS: The tool comprised 20 items, including 19 anatomical landmarks and a global rating score. Overall reliability had G-coefficient of 0.557. Internal consistency was measured with a Cronbach's alpha score of 0.869 and Chi-square confirmed intra-rater reliability for each assessor as < 0.05. CONCLUSIONS: A photographic surgical quality assurance tool is presented for gastrectomy. Using this tool, the assessor can reliably determine not only the quality but also the extent of the lymphadenectomy performed based on remaining anatomy rather than the excised specimen.

Nuevas observaciones de la infección de roedores por el virus Junin dentro y fuera de la zona endemica de la Fiebre Hemorragica Argentina. / [New findings on Junin virus infection in rodents inside and outside the endemic area of hemorrhagic fever in Argentina]

In conjunction with field trials for a vaccine against Argentine Hemorrhagic Fever (AHF), small mammals were trapped during a 28-month period (1 November 1987 to 13 March 1990) in 3 epidemiologically defined areas of the central Argentine pampas: northern and central Buenos Aires provinces were included in the AHF [quot ]historic[quot ] area, where the disease was common 15-20 years ago, but case rates are currently low; southern Santa Fe province is the current high-incidence area for AHF; the nonendemic area was represented by two localities 60-90 km beyond the northernmost extension of human disease. Animals were live-trapped for 3 days per month in permanent [quot ]mark-recapture[quot ] grids in each of the 3 areas. Samples of blood, sera, and oral swabs were taken from these animals before they were marked and released at the site of capture. In addition, [quot ]removal[quot ] traplines provided animals from 16 localities in these 3 areas which were sacrificed to obtain samples of organs in addition to the aforementioned samples. Samples were tested for the presence of Junin virus (JV) antigen by enzyme immunoassay (ELISA). In this assay, a pool of 13 mouse anti-JV glycoprotein and nucleocapsid monoclonal antibodies adsorbed to the surface of microtiter plates was used to capture JV antigen in sample suspensions. A polyclonal rabbit anti-JV antiserum was added as a detector antibody, and an anti-rabbit antibody conjugated to horseradish peroxidase applied with substrate to complete the sandwich.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Nuevas observaciones de la infección de roedores por el virus Junin dentro y fuera de la zona endemica de la Fiebre Hemorragica Argentina. / [New findings on Junin virus infection in rodents inside and outside the endemic area of hemorrhagic fever in Argentina]

In conjunction with field trials for a vaccine against Argentine Hemorrhagic Fever (AHF), small mammals were trapped during a 28-month period (1 November 1987 to 13 March 1990) in 3 epidemiologically defined areas of the central Argentine pampas: northern and central Buenos Aires provinces were included in the AHF [quot ]historic[quot ] area, where the disease was common 15-20 years ago, but case rates are currently low; southern Santa Fe province is the current high-incidence area for AHF; the nonendemic area was represented by two localities 60-90 km beyond the northernmost extension of human disease. Animals were live-trapped for 3 days per month in permanent [quot ]mark-recapture[quot ] grids in each of the 3 areas. Samples of blood, sera, and oral swabs were taken from these animals before they were marked and released at the site of capture. In addition, [quot ]removal[quot ] traplines provided animals from 16 localities in these 3 areas which were sacrificed to obtain samples of organs in addition to the aforementioned samples. Samples were tested for the presence of Junin virus (JV) antigen by enzyme immunoassay (ELISA). In this assay, a pool of 13 mouse anti-JV glycoprotein and nucleocapsid monoclonal antibodies adsorbed to the surface of microtiter plates was used to capture JV antigen in sample suspensions. A polyclonal rabbit anti-JV antiserum was added as a detector antibody, and an anti-rabbit antibody conjugated to horseradish peroxidase applied with substrate to complete the sandwich.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Nuevas observaciones de la infección de roedores por el virus Junin dentro y fuera de la zona endemica de la Fiebre Hemorragica Argentina / [New findings on Junin virus infection in rodents inside and outside the endemic area of hemorrhagic fever in Argentina]

In conjunction with field trials for a vaccine against Argentine Hemorrhagic Fever (AHF), small mammals were trapped during a 28-month period (1 November 1987 to 13 March 1990) in 3 epidemiologically defined areas of the central Argentine pampas: northern and central Buenos Aires provinces were included in the AHF [quot ]historic[quot ] area, where the disease was common 15-20 years ago, but case rates are currently low; southern Santa Fe province is the current high-incidence area for AHF; the nonendemic area was represented by two localities 60-90 km beyond the northernmost extension of human disease. Animals were live-trapped for 3 days per month in permanent [quot ]mark-recapture[quot ] grids in each of the 3 areas. Samples of blood, sera, and oral swabs were taken from these animals before they were marked and released at the site of capture. In addition, [quot ]removal[quot ] traplines provided animals from 16 localities in these 3 areas which were sacrificed to obtain samples of organs in addition to the aforementioned samples. Samples were tested for the presence of Junin virus (JV) antigen by enzyme immunoassay (ELISA). In this assay, a pool of 13 mouse anti-JV glycoprotein and nucleocapsid monoclonal antibodies adsorbed to the surface of microtiter plates was used to capture JV antigen in sample suspensions. A polyclonal rabbit anti-JV antiserum was added as a detector antibody, and an anti-rabbit antibody conjugated to horseradish peroxidase applied with substrate to complete the sandwich.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)