Heterogeneity of glycaemic phenotypes in type 1 diabetes.

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Our study aims to uncover glycaemic phenotype heterogeneity in type 1 diabetes. METHODS: In the Study of the French-speaking Society of Type 1 Diabetes (SFDT1), we characterised glycaemic heterogeneity thanks to a set of complementary metrics: HbA1c, time in range (TIR), time below range (TBR), CV, Gold score and glycaemia risk index (GRI). Applying the Discriminative Dimensionality Reduction with Trees (DDRTree) algorithm, we created a phenotypic tree, i.e. a 2D visual mapping. We also carried out a clustering analysis for comparison. RESULTS: We included 618 participants with type 1 diabetes (52.9% men, mean age 40.6 years [SD 14.1]). Our phenotypic tree identified seven glycaemic phenotypes. The 2D phenotypic tree comprised a main branch in the proximal region and glycaemic phenotypes in the distal areas. Dimension 1, the horizontal dimension, was positively associated with GRI (coefficient [95% CI]) (0.54 [0.52, 0.57]), HbA1c (0.39 [0.35, 0.42]), CV (0.24 [0.19, 0.28]) and TBR (0.11 [0.06, 0.15]), and negatively with TIR (-0.52 [-0.54, -0.49]). The vertical dimension was positively associated with TBR (0.41 [0.38, 0.44]), CV (0.40 [0.37, 0.43]), TIR (0.16 [0.12, 0.20]), Gold score (0.10 [0.06, 0.15]) and GRI (0.06 [0.02, 0.11]), and negatively with HbA1c (-0.21 [-0.25, -0.17]). Notably, socioeconomic factors, cardiovascular risk indicators, retinopathy and treatment strategy were significant determinants of glycaemic phenotype diversity. The phenotypic tree enabled more granularity than traditional clustering in revealing clinically relevant subgroups of people with type 1 diabetes. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: Our study advances the current understanding of the complex glycaemic profile in people with type 1 diabetes and suggests that strategies based on isolated glycaemic metrics might not capture the complexity of the glycaemic phenotypes in real life. Relying on these phenotypes could improve patient stratification in type 1 diabetes care and personalise disease management.

Contraception in breast cancer survivors from the FEERIC case-control study (performed on behalf of the Seintinelles research network).

OBJECTIVE: To compare the prevalence of contraception in breast cancer (BC) patients at risk of unintentional pregnancy (i.e. not currently pregnant or trying to get pregnant) and matched controls. STUDY DESIGN: The FEERIC study (Fertility, Pregnancy, Contraception after BC in France) is a prospective, multicenter case-control study, including localized BC patients aged 18-43 years, matched for age and parity to cancer-free volunteer controls in a 1:2 ratio. Data were collected through online questionnaires completed on the Seintinelles research platform. RESULTS: In a population of 1278 women at risk of unintentional pregnancy, the prevalence of contraception at study inclusion did not differ significantly between cases (340/431, 78.9%) and controls (666/847, 78.6%, p = 0.97). Contrarily, the contraceptive methods used were significantly different, with a higher proportion of copper IUD use in BC survivors (59.5% versus 25.0% in controls p < 0.001). For patients at risk of unintentional pregnancy, receiving information about chemotherapy-induced ovary damage at BC diagnosis (OR = 2.47 95%CI [ 1.39-4.37] and anti-HER2 treatment (OR = 2.46, 95% CI [ 1.14-6.16]) were significantly associated with the use of a contraception in multivariate analysis. CONCLUSION: In this large French study, BC survivors had a prevalence of contraception use similar to that for matched controls, though almost one in five women at risk of unintentional pregnancy did not use contraception. Dedicated consultations at cancer care centers could further improve access to information and contraception counseling.

Pregnancy, fertility concerns and fertility preservation procedures in a national study of French breast cancer survivors.

RESEARCH QUESTION: What are the real-life oncofertility practices in young women diagnosed with breast cancer? DESIGN: The FEERIC (FErtility, prEgnancy, contRaceptIon after breast Cancer in France) study is a web-based cohort study launched with the French collaborative research platform Seintinelles. The current work is based on the enrolment self-administered questionnaire of 517 patients with prior breast cancer diagnosis, free from relapse and aged 18 to 43 years at inclusion (from 12 March 2018 to 27 June 2019). RESULTS: Median age at breast cancer diagnosis was 33.6 years and 424 patients (82.0%) received chemotherapy. Overall, 236 (45.6%) patients were offered specialized oncofertility counselling, 181 patients underwent at least one fertility preservation procedure (FPP); 125 (24.2%) underwent one or more FPP with material preservation (oocytes n = 108, 20.9%; embryos n = 31, 6.0%; ovarian cryopreservation n = 6, 1.2%) and 78 patients received gonadotrophin-releasing hormone agonists (15.1%). With a median follow-up of 26.9 months after the end of treatments, 133 pregnancies had occurred in 85 patients (16.4%), including 20 unplanned pregnancies (15.0%). Most of the pregnancies were natural conceptions (n = 113, 87.6%), while 16 (12.4%) required medical interventions. For the planned pregnancies, median time to the occurrence of an ongoing pregnancy was 3 months. Patients who had an unplanned pregnancy reported lower rates of information on the consequences of the treatments on fertility (P = 0.036) at diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: Most of the patients were not offered proper specialized oncofertility counselling at the time of breast cancer diagnosis. Naturally conceived pregnancies after breast cancer were much more frequent than pregnancies resulting from the use of cryopreserved gametes. Adequate contraceptive counselling seems as important as information about fertility and might prevent unplanned pregnancies.

[Citizens who volunteer as participants for cancer research-results of the Seintinelles Barometer 2018]. / Ces citoyen(nes) qui se portent volontaires pour participer aux recherches dans le champ du cancer ­ résultats du Baromètre Seintinelles 2018.

INTRODUCTION: Health researchers often face difficulties related to participants' recruitment for their research. However, a new strategy emerges: offering patients-but also citizens who are not ill-the possibility to volunteer as participants to hasten research processes. The French platform "Seintinelles" aims to fulfill this goal and bring together citizens who volunteered to participate to cancer related research. The "Seintinelles Barometer" aims to describe these volunteers' profile. METHODS: The Seintinelles Barometer data were collected through a web-based auto-questionnaire proposed to the "Seintinelles" members from June 2017 to November 2018. RESULTS: The sample presents a high level of overrepresentation of women. Participants are characterized by a high level of education. About a third of the participants had suffered from cancer. Two profile of volunteers emerged: the « patients ¼ and the « supportive citizens ¼. DISCUSSION: The Seintinelles Barometer participants manifest a strong wish to be involved in cancer related research. Therefore, this platform seems to be a promising tool for the development of community-based research in the field of cancer.