Mediterranean dietary pattern is associated with lower incidence of premenopausal breast cancer in the Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra (SUN) Project.

OBJECTIVE: Due to the growing interest in the role of dietary patterns (DPs) on chronic diseases, we assessed the association between a posteriori identified DPs in the Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra (SUN) Project - a prospective cohort study in a Mediterranean country - and breast cancer (BC) risk. DESIGN: DPs were ascertained through a principal component analysis based on 31 predefined food groups. BC cases were initially identified through self-report or, if deceased, from death certificates or by notification by the next kin. Women reporting BC were asked to provide a copy of their medical report and diagnoses for confirmation purposes. We fitted Cox regression models to assess the association between adherence to the identified DPs and BC risk. SETTING: Spanish university graduates. PARTICIPANTS: We included 10 713 young and middle-aged - mainly premenopausal - women. RESULTS: After a median follow-up of 10·3 years, we identified 100 confirmed and 168 probable incident BC cases. We described two major DPs: 'Western dietary pattern' (WDP) and 'Mediterranean dietary pattern' (MDP). A higher adherence to a WDP was associated with an increased risk of overall BC (multivariable-adjusted HR for confirmed BC Q4 v. Q1 1·70; 95 % CI 0·93, 3·12; P for trend = 0·045). Contrarily, adherence to a MDP was inversely associated with premenopausal BC (multivariable-adjusted HR Q4 v. Q1 0·33; 95 % CI 0·12, 0·91). No significant associations were observed for postmenopausal BC. CONCLUSIONS: Whereas a higher adherence to the WDP may increase the risk of BC, a higher adherence to the MDP may decrease the risk of premenopausal BC.

Dietary inflammatory index and incidence of breast cancer in the SUN project.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Breast cancer (BC) is the most commonly diagnosed cancer, and diet is suspected to play a role in its development. Dietary factors may mediate this process through modulation of inflammation, though findings from previous studies have not been consistent. We aimed to longitudinally assess the association between the dietary inflammatory index (DII®), a frequently used method to assess the inflammatory potential of the diet, and incident BC. METHODS: We included 10,713 middle-aged, Spanish female university graduates from the SUN cohort. DII® scores were derived from a validated 136-item food-frequency questionnaire, and it was based on scientific evidence on the relationship between diet and inflammatory biomarkers. Diagnosis of BC was reported by the participant or, if deceased, by the next of kin or identified from death certificates. Self-reports of BC were confirmed by revision of medical reports by an experienced oncologist. Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the association between quartiles of DII® and incident BC. RESULTS: After 10.3 years of median follow-up, we identified 100 confirmed and 168 probable incident BC cases. The multivariable-adjusted HR for participants in the 4th quartile to the 1st quartile was 1.44 (95% CI 0.76-2.72; p-trend: 0.339) when confirmed cases were analyzed, and 1.20 (95% CI 0.72-1.99; p-trend: 0.757) for the probable cases. We neither observed statistically significant differences in regard to menopausal status. CONCLUSIONS: The apparent increase in risk between DII® scores and BC in our cohort was not statistically significant, which could be partly explained by the small number of observed cases.

[F-18-FDG positron emission tomography in the diagnosis of ovarian recurrence. Comparison with CT scan and CA 125]. / Tomografía por emisión de positrones con F-18-FDG en el diagnóstico de recurrencia del cáncer de ovario. Comparación con TAC y CA 125.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical utility of FDG-PET for detecting recurrent disease in patients with ovarian cancer. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Twenty-one FDG-PET studies performed in 19 patients who had previously undergone surgery and chemotherapy for ovarian cancer were reviewed retrospectively. In a maximum interval of one week regarding the FDG-PET study, computed tomography (CT) was performed and CA-125 levels were measured. In 16 cases the relapse suspicion was due to elevation of the tumor marker CA125 and in 5 cases it was due to CT. PET images were obtained at 45 min after the intravenous injection of 370 MBq of FDG. The results of the visual interpretation were compared with the CA125 levels and the images of the CT, and related to the definitive diagnosis. Recurrence was confirmed in 19/21 cases, by means of pathological findings (11 cases) and clinical follow-up for a median of 11 months in the others. RESULTS: Recurrence was confirmed in 16 cases with increased CA-125 and the tumor marker was true-negative in 2 disease free cases, but there were 3 false-negative results (sensitivity of 84 % and accuracy of 86 %). CT correctly identified 9 cases with recurrence, but it was false-negative in 10 cases and false-positive in 2 disease free patients (sensitivity of 47 % and accuracy of 43 %). FDG-PET correctly detected the 19 cases with recurrence but it was false-positive in 2 cases with a sensitivity of 100 % and accuracy of 90 %. In 3 patients with CA125 false-negative and 10 patients with false-negative CT, FDG-PET was positive and recurrence was confirmed. CONCLUSION: These preliminary results suggest that in the follow-up of patients with ovarian cancer FDG-PET could detect recurrence with higher accuracy than CT, and even with higher sensitivity than the tumor marker CA125, being useful at the same time to locate the recurrence when the tumor marker is positive.

[Advanced germinal tumors of the testicle: clinical experience with cisplatin, bleomycin and vinblastine (PVB) or etoposide (BEP)]. / Tumores germinales avanzados de testículo: experiencia clínica con cisplatino, bleomicina y vinblastina (PVB) o etoposido (BEP).

Thirty previously untreated patients with advanced germ cell testicular tumours received PVB or BEP. Four patients with bulky disease underwent debulking surgery before initiating chemotherapy and two between cycles of treatment. Twenty-seven (90%) complete responses, two (6.7%) partial responses and one (3.3%) no changes were observed. Both partial remissions were rendered disease-free with surgical removal of residual disease. Four patients presented tumour progression with PVB or BEP, three of whom developed a non-germ cell malignancy within the germ cell tumour. One toxic death and three patients with radiological evidence of reversible interstitial pneumonitis attributed to bleomycin were observed. With a median follow-up time of 38.5 months, range 2.5 to 130 months, 83.3% of the patients are alive and free of disease. Actuarial overall survival is 85.6%. This study confirms once again the high percentage of curability of this disease.