The impact of remote work using mobile information and communication technologies on physical health: a systematic review.

Remote e-working with information and communication technology (ICT) has long been on the rise, with its implementation accelerated by mandatory working from home regulations during the COVID-19 pandemic. This systematic literature review summarises the influencing factors of ICT-based remote e-working (device types, duration of use, user interfaces, etc.) on the physical health (musculoskeletal system and eyes) of knowledge workers. A search in four electronic databases and a manual search in four German journals resulted in 21 articles being included in this review. A bias analysis was conducted for all articles. Unfavourable postures, inappropriate working devices and certain environmental factors may cause a range of physical complaints, even after comparably short periods of time. Mostly, these complaints are greater compared to those experienced when working on a fully equipped stationary computer. Therefore, remote e-working requires careful planning, awareness, and the willingness to embrace working situations that counteract these problems.

Different factors associated with remote e-working may influence physical health. This systematic literature review found that unfavourable postures, inappropriate working devices and certain environmental factors may cause physical complaints, even after short periods of time. Mostly, these complaints are greater compared to those experienced when working on a stationary computer.

Healthy working in inclusive companies - a study protocol of the GAIN project.

BACKGROUND: The research project GAIN (working healthy in inclusion companies) deals with the topics of health and work in inclusive companies. Due to a great need for research on (occupational) health (e.g. physical and mental health status) and workplace design in companies employing people with disabilities, this project pursues the primary goal of generating information for the development and implementation of health-preserving measures within the framework of occupational health and safety, and risk assessment, for employees with and without impairments in inclusive companies. METHODS: Within the framework of the project, the employees of three inclusive companies will be examined with the help of an interdisciplinary and triangulative approach. Using quantitative and qualitative methods, specific physical workloads and hazards will be investigated by means of baseline screening methods and measurement techniques, specifically among employees with physical disabilities and impairments. In the statistical analysis, descriptive methods will be used to record the current state, while inferential statistical methods will be used to evaluate health maintenance measures. Inferential statistics for continuous data with confidence intervals based on the statistical parametric mapping (SPM) method will also be performed. The significance level will be set at 5%. Qualitative methods will be used to analyse structures and working conditions within the companies, with particular attention to the specific construction of the relationship between work, health and disability. CONCLUSIONS: The structures in inclusion companies must be specifically designed to support and promote the understanding of work and health in relation to the idea of one's own body, its positioning in space and its performance. These characteristics are to be identified in the course of the project and bundled into best-practice recommendations. Furthermore, it is the aim of the research project to derive recommendations for action at its conclusion and to present further advice for the promotion of health in inclusive companies.

Radiotherapy for Locally Advanced Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma-A Critical Review of Randomised Trials.

Pancreatic cancer is rising as one of the leading causes of cancer-related death worldwide. Patients often present with advanced disease, limiting curative treatment options and therefore making management of the disease difficult. Systemic chemotherapy has been an established part of the standard treatment in patients with both locally advanced and metastatic pancreatic cancer. In contrast, the use of radiotherapy has no clear defined role in the treatment of these patients. With the evolving imaging and radiation techniques, radiation could become a plausible intervention. In this review, we give an overview over the available data regarding radiotherapy, chemoradiation, and stereotactic body radiation therapy. We performed a systematic search of Embase and the PubMed database, focusing on studies involving locally advanced pancreatic cancer (or non-resectable pancreatic cancer) and radiotherapy without any limitation for the time of publication. We included randomised controlled trials involving patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer, including radiotherapy, chemoradiation, or stereotactic body radiation therapy. The included articles represented mainly small patient groups and had a high heterogeneity regarding radiation delivery and modality. This review presents conflicting results concerning the addition of radiation and modality in the treatment regimen. Further research is needed to improve outcomes and define the role of radiation therapy in pancreatic cancer.

A randomized phase II study of full dose gemcitabine versus reduced dose gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel in vulnerable patients with non-resectable pancreatic cancer (DPCG-01).

BACKGROUND: According to current evidence, the best treatment for fit patients with non-resectable pancreatic cancer (PC) is combination chemotherapy, whereas frail patients are recommended gemcitabine (Gem) monotherapy. Randomized controlled trials in colorectal cancer and a post-hoc analysis of gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel (GemNab) in PC suggest, however, that reduced dose of combination chemotherapy may be feasible and more efficient compared to monotherapy in frail patients. The aim of this study is to investigate whether reduced dose GemNab is superior to full dose Gem in patients with resectable PC, who are not candidates for full dose combination chemotherapy in first line. METHODS: The Danish Pancreas Cancer Group (DPCG)-01 trial is a national multicenter prospective randomized phase II trial. A total of 100 patients in ECOG performance status 0-2 with non-resectable PC, not candidate for full dose combination chemotherapy in first line, but eligible for full dose Gem, will be included. Patients are randomized 1:1 to either full dose Gem or GemNab in 80% of recommended dose. The primary endpoint is progression-free survival. Secondary endpoints are overall survival, overall response rate, quality of life, toxicity and rate of hospitalizations during treatment. The correlation between blood inflammatory markers, including YKL-40 and IL-6, circulating tumor DNA, and tissue biomarkers of resistance to chemotherapy and outcome will be explored. Finally, the study will include measures of frailty (G8, modified G8, and chair-stand-test) to assess whether scoring would enable a personalized allocation to different treatments or indicates a possibility for interventions. DISCUSSION: Single-drug treatment with Gem has for frail patients with non-resectable PC been the main treatment option for more than thirty years, but the impact on outcome is modest. If improved results and sustained tolerability with reduced dose combination chemotherapy can be shown, this could change the future practice for this increasing group of patients. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05841420. Secondary Identifying No: N-20210068. EudraCT No: 2021-005067-52. PROTOCOL VERSION: 1.5, 16-MAY-2023.

Intrafraction tumor motion monitoring and dose reconstruction for liver pencil beam scanning proton therapy.

Background: Pencil beam scanning (PBS) proton therapy can provide highly conformal target dose distributions and healthy tissue sparing. However, proton therapy of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is prone to dosimetrical uncertainties induced by respiratory motion. This study aims to develop intra-treatment tumor motion monitoring during respiratory gated proton therapy and combine it with motion-including dose reconstruction to estimate the delivered tumor doses for individual HCC treatment fractions. Methods: Three HCC-patients were planned to receive 58 GyRBE (n=2) or 67.5 GyRBE (n=1) of exhale respiratory gated PBS proton therapy in 15 fractions. The treatment planning was based on the exhale phase of a 4-dimensional CT scan. Daily setup was based on cone-beam CT (CBCT) imaging of three implanted fiducial markers. An external marker block (RPM) on the patient's abdomen was used for exhale gating in free breathing. This study was based on 5 fractions (patient 1), 1 fraction (patient 2) and 6 fractions (patient 3) where a post-treatment control CBCT was available. After treatment, segmented 2D marker positions in the post-treatment CBCT projections provided the estimated 3D motion trajectory during the CBCT by a probability-based method. An external-internal correlation model (ECM) that estimated the tumor motion from the RPM motion was built from the synchronized RPM signal and marker motion in the CBCT. The ECM was then used to estimate intra-treatment tumor motion. Finally, the motion-including CTV dose was estimated using a dose reconstruction method that emulates tumor motion in beam's eye view as lateral spot shifts and in-depth motion as changes in the proton beam energy. The CTV homogeneity index (HI) The CTV homogeneity index (HI) was calculated as D 2 %  -  D 98 % D 50 %   × 100 % . Results: The tumor position during spot delivery had a root-mean-square error of 1.3 mm in left-right, 2.8 mm in cranio-caudal and 1.7 mm in anterior-posterior directions compared to the planned position. On average, the CTV HI was larger than planned by 3.7%-points (range: 1.0-6.6%-points) for individual fractions and by 0.7%-points (range: 0.3-1.1%-points) for the average dose of 5 or 6 fractions. Conclusions: A method to estimate internal tumor motion and reconstruct the motion-including fraction dose for PBS proton therapy of HCC was developed and demonstrated successfully clinically.

Growth hormone deficiency in adult survivors of childhood brain tumors treated with radiation.

Objective: Growth hormone deficiency (GHD) is the most common endocrine late effect in irradiated survivors of childhood brain tumors. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of GHD in adults treated with proton or photon irradiation for a brain tumor in childhood and to detect undiagnosed GHD. Design: This study is a cross-sectional study. Methods: We investigated GHD in 5-year survivors from two health regions in Denmark treated for childhood brain tumors with cranial or craniospinal irradiation in the period 1997-2015. Medical charts were reviewed for endocrinological and other health data. Survivors without a growth hormone (GH) test at final height were invited to a GH stimulation test. Results: Totally 41 (22 females) survivors with a median age of 21.7 years (range: 15.1-33.8 years) at follow-up and 14.8 years (range: 5.1-23.4 years) since diagnosis were included; 11 were treated with proton and 30 with photon irradiation; 18 of 21 survivors were previously found to have GHD; 16 of 20 survivors with no GH test at final height were tested, 8 (50 %) had GHD. In total, 26 of 41 patients (63%) had GHD. Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) is associated poorly with the insulin tolerance test (ITT). Conclusion: This study identified a high prevalence of undiagnosed GHD in survivors with no GH test at final height. The results stress the importance of screening for GHD at final height in survivors of childhood brain tumors with prior exposure to cranial irradiation, irrespective of radiation modality and IGF-1. Significance statement: This cross-sectional study reports a prevalence of 63% of GHD in irradiated childhood brain tumor survivors. Furthermore, the study identified a considerable number of long-term survivors without a GH test at final height, of whom, 50% subsequently were shown to have undiagnosed GHD. Additionally, this study confirmed that a normal serum IGF-1 measurement cannot exclude the diagnosis of GHD in irradiated survivors. This illustrates the need for improvements in the diagnostic approach to GHD after reaching final height in childhood brain tumor survivors at risk of GHD. In summary, our study stresses the need for GHD testing in all adult survivors treated with cranial irradiation for a brain tumor in childhood irrespective of radiation modality.

Disparity in use of modern combination chemotherapy associated with facility type influences survival of 2655 patients with advanced pancreatic cancer.

AIM: Academic and high volume hospitals have better outcome for pancreatic cancer (PC) surgery, but there are no reports on oncological treatment. We aimed to determine the influence of facility types on overall survival (OS) after treatment with chemotherapy for inoperable PC. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 2,657 patients were treated in Denmark from 2012 to 2018 and registered in the Danish Pancreatic Cancer Database. Facilities were classified as either secondary oncological units or comprehensive, tertiary referral cancer centers. RESULTS: The average yearly number of patients seen at the four tertiary facilities was 71, and 31 at the four secondary facilities. Patients at secondary facilities were older, more frequently had severe comorbidity and lived in non-urban municipalities. As compared to combination chemotherapy, monotherapy with gemcitabine was used more often (59%) in secondary facilities than in tertiary (34%). The unadjusted median OS was 7.7 months at tertiary and 6.1 months at secondary facilities. The adjusted hazard ratio (HR) of 1.16 (confidence interval 1.07-1.27) demonstrated an excess risk of death for patients treated at secondary facilities, which disappeared when taking type of chemotherapy used into account. Hence, more use of combination chemotherapy was associated with the observed improved OS of patients treated at tertiary facilities. Declining HR's per year of first treatment indicated improved outcomes with time, however the difference among facility types remained significant. DISCUSSION: Equal access to modern combination chemotherapy at all facilities on a national level is essential to ensure equality in treatment results.

Treatment plan comparison of proton vs photon radiotherapy for lower-grade gliomas.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Patients with lower-grade gliomas are long-term survivors after radiotherapy and may benefit from the reduced dose to normal tissue achievable with proton therapy. Here, we aimed to quantify differences in dose to the uninvolved brain and contralateral hippocampus and compare the risk of radiation-induced secondary cancer for photon and proton plans for lower-grade glioma patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-three patients were included in this in-silico planning comparative study and had photon and proton plans calculated (50.4 Gy(RBE = 1.1), 28 Fx) applying similar dose constraints to the target and organs at risk. Automatically calculated photon plans were generated with a 3 mm margin from clinical target volume (CTV) to planning target volume. Manual proton plans were generated using robust optimisation on the CTV. Dose metrics of organs at risk were compared using population mean dose-volume histograms and Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Secondary cancer risk per 10,000 persons per year (PPY) was estimated using dose-volume data and a risk model for secondary cancer induction. RESULTS: CTV coverage (V95%>98%) was similar for the two treatment modalities. Mean dose (Dmean) to the uninvolved brain was significantly reduced from 21.5 Gy (median, IQR 17.1-24.4 Gy) with photons compared to 10.3 Gy(RBE) (8.1-13.9 Gy(RBE)) with protons. Dmean to the contralateral hippocampus was significantly reduced from 6.5 Gy (5.4-11.7 Gy) with photons to 1.5 Gy(RBE) (0.4-6.8 Gy(RBE)) with protons. The estimated secondary cancer risk was reduced from 6.7 PPY (median, range 3.3-10.4 PPY) with photons to 3.0 PPY (1.3-7.5 PPY) with protons. CONCLUSION: A significant reduction in mean dose to uninvolved brain and contralateral hippocampus was found with proton planning. The estimated secondary cancer risk was reduced with proton therapy.

A national study on the inter-observer variability in the delineation of organs at risk in the brain.

BACKGROUND: The Danish Neuro Oncology Group (DNOG) has established national consensus guidelines for the delineation of organs at risk (OAR) structures based on published literature. This study was conducted to finalise these guidelines and evaluate the inter-observer variability of the delineated OAR structures by expert observers. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The DNOG delineation guidelines were formed by participants from all Danish centres that treat brain tumours with radiotherapy. In a two-day workshop, guidelines were discussed and finalised based on a pilot study. Following this, the ten participants contoured the following OARs on T1-weighted gadolinium enhanced MRI from 13 patients with brain tumours: optic tracts, optic nerves, chiasm, spinal cord, brainstem, pituitary gland and hippocampus. The metrics used for comparison were the Dice similarity coefficient (Dice), mean surface distance (MSD) and others. RESULTS: A total of 968 contours were delineated across the 13 patients. On average eight (range six to nine) individual contour sets were made per patient. Good agreement was found across all structures with a median MSD below 1 mm for most structures, with the chiasm performing the best with a median MSD of 0.45 mm. The Dice was as expected highly volume dependent, the brainstem (the largest structure) had the highest Dice value with a median of 0.89 whereas smaller volumes such as the chiasm had a Dice of 0.71. CONCLUSION: Except for the caudal definition of the spinal cord, the variances observed in the contours of OARs in the brain were generally low and consistent. Surface mapping revealed sub-regions of higher variance for some organs. The data set is being prepared as a validation data set for auto-segmentation algorithms for use within the Danish Comprehensive Cancer Centre - Radiotherapy and potential collaborators.

Uniform versus non-uniform dose prescription for proton stereotactic body radiotherapy of liver tumors investigated by extensive motion-including treatment simulations.

Compared to x-ray-based stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) of liver cancer, proton SBRT may reduce the normal liver tissue dose. For an optimal trade-off between target and liver dose, a non-uniform dose prescription is often applied in x-ray SBRT, but lacks investigation for proton SBRT. Also, proton SBRT is prone to breathing-induced motion-uncertainties causing target mishit or dose alterations by interplay with the proton delivery. This study investigated non-uniform and uniform dose prescription in proton-based liver SBRT, including effects of rigid target motion observed during planning-4DCT and treatment. The study was based on 42 x-ray SBRT fractions delivered to 14 patients under electromagnetic motion-monitoring. For each patient, a non-uniform and uniform proton plan were made. The uniform plan was renormalized to be iso-toxic with the non-uniform plan using a NTCP model for radiation-induced liver disease. The motion data were used in treatment simulations to estimate the delivered target dose with rigid motion. Treatment simulations were performed with and without a repainting scheme designed to mitigate interplay effects. Including rigid motion, the achieved CTV mean dose after three fractions delivered without repainting was on average (±SD) 24.8 ± 8.4% higher and the D98%was 16.2 ± 11.3% higher for non-uniform plans than for uniform plans. The interplay-induced increase in D2%relative to the static plans was reduced from 3.2 ± 4.1% without repainting to -0.5 ± 1.7% with repainting for non-uniform plans and from 1.5 ± 2.0% to 0.1 ± 1.3% for uniform plans. Considerable differences were observed between estimated CTV doses based on 4DCT motion and intra-treatment motion. In conclusion, non-uniform dose prescription in proton SBRT may provide considerably higher tumor doses than uniform prescription for the same complication risk. Due to motion variability, target doses estimated from 4DCT motion may not accurately reflect the delivered dose. Future studies including modelling of deformations and associated range uncertainties are warranted to confirm the findings.

Patterns of Palliative Chemotherapy and Survival in Patients With Pancreatic Cancer Focusing on Age: A Nationwide Real-World Danish Registry Study.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to identify patterns of palliative chemotherapy (CTh) and the associated overall survival (OS) in patients with pancreatic cancer, with specific focus on age. METHODS: Between May 1, 2011, and April 30, 2016, 4260 patients were registered in the Danish Pancreatic Cancer Database. The 1715 patients receiving palliative CTh were retrieved. Age was grouped into less than 70, 70 to less than 75, and 75 years or more. RESULTS: Of the 1715 patients receiving first-line CTh, 586 (34%) underwent second-line CTh and 151 (9%) third-line CTh. First-line gemcitabine resulted in a significant worse survival compared with combination CTh, hazard ratio 1.51. For combination CTh, OS differed between the age groups, P < 0.01. The median OS in the less than 70 years (n = 547), 70 to less than 75 years (n = 163), and 75 years or more (n = 67) groups were 9.3, 9.6, and 7.2 months, respectively. No differences in survival were observed among patients receiving first-line gemcitabine (P = 0.35). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings are useful in treatment-related decision making in patients with pancreatic cancer. A significant survival benefit was observed for all patients after first-line combination CTh. The effect of combination CTh was most prominent among patients aged less than 75 years. By age, no differences in survival were observed in those receiving gemcitabine.

Study protocol of the LARK (TROG 17.03) clinical trial: a phase II trial investigating the dosimetric impact of Liver Ablative Radiotherapy using Kilovoltage intrafraction monitoring.

BACKGROUND: Stereotactic Ablative Body Radiotherapy (SABR) is a non-invasive treatment which allows delivery of an ablative radiation dose with high accuracy and precision. SABR is an established treatment for both primary and secondary liver malignancies, and technological advances have improved its efficacy and safety. Respiratory motion management to reduce tumour motion and image guidance to achieve targeting accuracy are crucial elements of liver SABR. This phase II multi-institutional TROG 17.03 study, Liver Ablative Radiotherapy using Kilovoltage intrafraction monitoring (LARK), aims to investigate and assess the dosimetric impact of the KIM real-time image guidance technology. KIM utilises standard linear accelerator equipment and therefore has the potential to be a widely available real-time image guidance technology for liver SABR. METHODS: Forty-six patients with either hepatocellular carcinoma or oligometastatic disease to the liver suitable for and treated with SABR using Kilovoltage Intrafraction Monitoring (KIM) guidance will be included in the study. The dosimetric impact will be assessed by quantifying accumulated patient dose distribution with or without the KIM intervention. The patient treatment outcomes of local control, toxicity and quality of life will be measured. DISCUSSION: Liver SABR is a highly effective treatment, but precise dose delivery is challenging due to organ motion. Currently, there is a lack of widely available options for performing real-time tumour localisation to assist with accurate delivery of liver SABR. This study will provide an assessment of the impact of KIM as a potential solution for real-time image guidance in liver SABR. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This trial was registered on December 7th 2016 on ClinicalTrials.gov under the trial-ID NCT02984566 .

Combining tissue and circulating tumor DNA increases the detection rate of a CTNNB1 mutation in hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Studies suggest that mutations in the CTNNB1 gene are predictive of response to immunotherapy, an emerging therapy for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Analysis of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) offers the possibility of serial non-invasive mutational profiling of tumors. Combining tumor tissue and ctDNA analysis may increase the detection rate of mutations. This study aimed to evaluate the frequency of the CTNNB1 p.T41A mutation in ctDNA and tumor samples from HCC patients and to evaluate the concordance rates between plasma and tissue. We further evaluated changes in ctDNA after various HCC treatment modalities and the impact of the CTNNB1 p.T41A mutation on the clinical course of HCC. METHODS: We used droplet digital PCR to analyze plasma from 95 patients and the corresponding tumor samples from 37 patients during 3 years follow up. RESULTS: In tumor tissue samples, the mutation rate was 8.1% (3/37). In ctDNA from HCC patients, the CTNNB1 mutation rate was 9.5% (9/95) in the pre-treatment samples. Adding results from plasma analysis to the subgroup of patients with available tissue samples, the mutation detection rate increased to 13.5% (5/37). There was no difference in overall survival according to CTNNB1 mutational status. Serial testing of ctDNA suggested a possible clonal evolution of HCC or arising multicentric tumors with separate genetic profiles in individual patients. CONCLUSION: Combining analysis of ctDNA and tumor tissue increased the detection rate of CTNNB1 mutation in HCC patients. A liquid biopsy approach may be useful in a tailored therapy of HCC.

Survival and morbidity following stereotactic radiotherapy of hepatocellular carcinoma: a ten-year, single institution experience.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy (SABR) is an emerging treatment option in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients ineligible for other local ablative therapies. This study reports on the safety and efficacy of SABR in a Danish cohort of HCC patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between January 2009 and December 2018, 28 patients with HCCs were treated with SABR at our institution. The primary endpoint of this retrospective study was local control; secondary endpoints were progression-free survival, overall survival and toxicity. RESULTS: In 28 patients, 32 tumors (median size 3.7 cm, range 1.4-6.8 cm) were treated. The median follow-up time was 16 months. Most patients (68%) received previous liver-directed treatments. A dose of 48 Gy in three or six fractions were given to 43% of the patients. Grad 1 or 2 toxicity was reported in 13 patients (46%), whereas 4 patients (14%) needed hospitalization (grade 3). One-year local control and overall survivals were 90% and 71%, respectively. One-year progression-free survival was 32%, and 65% of patients with disease progression received further HCC therapy. In univariate analysis, none of the examined factors predicted recurrence or overall survival. CONCLUSION: SABR provides high local control to inoperable HCC. SABR can be delivered safely even after previous liver-directed therapies and subsequent therapies are feasible after treatment with SABR. Despite excellent local control, disease progression outside of the irradiated site remains prominent. Further studies are warranted to examine combined therapy approaches to maximize disease control.

Assessment of work-related hand and elbow workloads using measurement-based TLV for HAL.

Direct-measurement-based methods for assessing workloads of the hand or elbow in the field are rare. Aim of the study was to develop such a method based on the Threshold Limit Value for Hand Activity Level (TLV for HAL). Hence, HAL was quantified using kinematic data (mean power frequencies, angular velocities and micro-pauses) and combined with electromyographic data (root-mean-square values) in order to generate a measurement-based TLV for HAL (mTLV for HAL). The multi-sensor system CUELA including inertial sensors, potentiometers and a 4-channel surface electromyography module was used. For wrist and elbow regions, associations between mTLV for HAL and disorders/complaints (quantified by odds ratios (OR [95%-confidence interval])) were tested exploratively within a cross-sectional field study with 500 participants. Higher workloads were frequently significantly associated with arthrosis of distal joints (9.23 [3.29-25.87]), wrist complaints (2.89 [1.63-5.11]) or elbow complaints (1.99 [1.08-3.67]). The new method could extend previous application possibilities.

TERT promoter mutated circulating tumor DNA as a biomarker for prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Plasma circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) with tumor-specific mutations is an attractive biomarker. The telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) C228T promoter mutation is the most prevalent tumor-associated mutation in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We evaluated the presence and prognostic value of the TERT C228T mutation in plasma and tissue in a Danish HCC cohort. METHODS: We analyzed ctDNA from 95 HCC patients and 45 liver cirrhotic patients without HCC for the TERT mutation using droplet digital polymerase chain reaction. We also analyzed DNA from the corresponding primary tumor tissues in 34 HCC patients. RESULTS: The plasma TERT C228T mutation was detected in 42/95 HCC patients (44%) but in none of the non-HCC patients. The TERT mutation was detected in 23/34 tumor samples (68%). The TERT mutation was associated with increased mortality when detected in plasma (adjusted HR 2.16 (1.20-3.88), p = .010) but not in tumor tissue (adjusted HR 1.11 (0.35-3.56), p = .860). There was a positive correlation between the presence of the TERT mutation in plasma and an advanced TNM stage (p < .0001) and vascular invasion (p = .005). Analysis of the TERT mutation in plasma and tumor DNA from the same patient was concordant in 21/34 samples (62%; kappa value 0.31, p = .014). Non-concordance was associated with an early TNM stage. CONCLUSION: The plasma TERT mutation was detected in 44% of HCC patients and in none of non-HCC cirrhotic patients; and was associated with increased mortality. We propose the TERT C228T mutation in ctDNA as a promising HCC biomarker for prognosis.

Compromised repair of radiation-induced DNA double-strand breaks in Fanconi anemia fibroblasts in G2.

Fanconi anemia (FA) is a rare chromosomal instability syndrome with various clinical features and high cancer incidence. Despite being a DNA repair disorder syndrome and a frequently observed clinical hypersensitivity of FA patients towards ionizing radiation, the experimental evidence regarding the efficiency of radiation-induced DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair in FA is very controversial. Here, we performed a thorough analysis of the repair of radiation-induced DSBs in G1 and G2 in FA fibroblasts of complementation groups A, C, D1 (BRCA2), D2, E, F, G and P (SLX4) in comparison to normal human lung and skin fibroblasts. γH2AX, 53BP1, or RPA foci quantification after X-irradiation was combined with cell cycle markers. Cytogenetic analyses were performed on first metaphases after irradiation in G1 and by premature chromosome condensation after exposure in G2. Furthermore, the role of canonical-NHEJ and alternative-NHEJ for the fidelity of the repair of radiation-induced DSBs was examined. In FA fibroblasts, DSB repair was normal in G1 but compromised and more error-prone in the slow repair component of G2 as suggested by higher yields of radiation-induced γH2AX and 53BP1 foci as well as chromatid exchanges. However, RPA foci quantification in G2 indicated proficiency for homology-directed repair of DSBs in FA except for FA D1 (BRCA2). In lung fibroblasts, DSB repair in G1 was conducted with normal kinetics but elevated chromosome exchanges compared to skin fibroblasts. The overall repair of radiation-induced DSBs and the formation of chromosome exchanges in normal and FA fibroblasts in G1 and G2 were governed by canonical-NHEJ with no contribution of alternative-NHEJ. Together, we show impaired repair of radiation-induced DSBs in various FA complementation groups in the slow repair component of G2 that might promote the formation of potentially oncogenic aberrations and clinical radiation hypersensitivity.

Hepatic regeneration following radiation-induced liver injury is associated with increased hepatobiliary secretion measured by PET in Göttingen minipigs.

Normal liver tissue is highly vulnerable towards irradiation, which remains a challenge in radiotherapy of hepatic tumours. Here, we examined the effects of radiation-induced liver injury on two specific liver functions and hepatocellular regeneration in a minipig model. Five Göttingen minipigs were exposed to whole-liver stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) in one fraction (14 Gy) and examined 4-5 weeks after; five pigs were used as controls. All pigs underwent in vivo positron emission tomography (PET) studies of the liver using the conjugated bile acid tracer [N-methyl-11C]cholylsarcosine ([11C]CSar) and the galactose-analogue tracer [18F]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-galactose ([18F]FDGal). Liver tissue samples were evaluated histopathologically and by immunohistochemical assessment of hepatocellular mitosis, proliferation and apoptosis. Compared with controls, both the rate constant for secretion of [11C]CSar from hepatocytes into intrahepatic bile ducts as well as back into blood were doubled in irradiated pigs, which resulted in reduced residence time of [11C]CSar inside the hepatocytes. Also, the hepatic systemic clearance of [18F]FDGal in irradiated pigs was slightly increased, and hepatocellular regeneration was increased by a threefold. In conclusion, parenchymal injury and increased regeneration after whole-liver irradiation was associated with enhanced hepatobiliary secretion of bile acids. Whole-liver SBRT in minipigs ultimately represents a potential large animal model of radiation-induced liver injury and for testing of normal tissue protection methods.

A Randomized Controlled Trial of Emotion Regulation Therapy for Psychologically Distressed Caregivers of Cancer Patients.

BACKGROUND: Previous cognitive behavioral therapies for informal caregivers (ICs) have produced negligible effects. The purpose of this study was to evaluate, in a randomized controlled trial, the efficacy of Emotion Regulation Therapy adapted for caregivers (ERT-C) on psychological and inflammatory outcomes in psychologically distressed ICs and the cancer patients cared for. METHODS: A total of 81 ICs with elevated psychological distress were randomly assigned to ERT-C or a waitlist condition and assessed pre-, mid-, and post-treatment. In 52 cases, the patient cared for by the IC was included. Patients did not receive ERT-C. Both the ERT-C and waitlist groups were followed 3 and 6 months post-treatment. Data were analyzed with multilevel models, and P values were two-sided. RESULTS: Compared with ICs in the waitlist condition, ICs in the ERT-C condition experienced medium to large statistically significant reductions in psychological distress (Hedge's g = 0.86, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.40 to 1.32, P < .001), worry (g = 0.96, 95% CI = 0.50 to 1.42, P < .001), and caregiver burden (g = 0.53, 95% CI = 0.10 to 1.99, P = .007) post-treatment. No statistically significant effects were found for rumination (g = 0.24, 95% CI = -0.20 to 0.68, P = .220). Results concerning caregiver burden were maintained through 6 months follow-up. Although the effects on psychological distress and worry diminished, their end-point effects remained medium to large. No statistically significant effects on systemic inflammation were detected (C-reactive protein: g = .17, 95% CI = -0.27 to 0.61, P = .570; interleukin-6: g = .35, 95% CI = -0.09 to 0.79, P = .205; tumor necrosis factor-alpha: g = .11, 95% CI = -0.33 to 0.55, P = .686). Patients whose ICs attended ERT-C experienced a large increase in quality of life post-treatment (g = 0.88, 95% CI = 0.18 to 1.58, P = .017). CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge, this is the first randomized controlled trial evaluating the efficacy of ERT-C for ICs. Given the previous disappointing effects of other cognitive behavioral therapies for this population, the present findings are very encouraging. Identifying ICs with elevated psychological distress and providing them with relevant psychotherapy appears an important element of comprehensive cancer care.