A case-control study of cancers of the gastric cardia in Italy.

In a case-control study of gastric cancer (GC) in high-risk and low-risk areas in Italy, 923 GCs were reviewed by one pathologist and classified according to anatomic site. There were 68 (7.4%) cancers occurring in the gastric cardia. Compared to other GCs, cardia cancer tended to occur more often in males (sex ratio 2.8 vs 1.7) and as intestinal or unclassified histologic types. Nutritional factors for cardia tumours resembled those of other GCs, showing inverse associations with the consumption of raw vegetables, citrus and other fresh fruit, and ascorbic acid, and positive associations with the intake of traditional soups and meat, protein and cholesterol, and preference for salty foods. Cigarette smoking and wine consumption were unrelated to cardia cancer risk, and there was only a weak association with total alcohol intake. Cardia tumours showed a greater familial occurrence of GC than did other sites, with a 7-fold increase in risk for those reporting two first-degree relatives with GC. The authors discuss these findings in view of the rising incidence of adenocarcinomas of the cardia and lower oesophagus that has been reported in some western countries

Qualification of tumour mutational burden by targeted next-generation sequencing as a biomarker in hepatocellular carcinoma

Background & Aims: Tumour mutational burden (TMB) predicts improved response and survival to immunotherapy. In this pilot study, we optimized targeted next-generation sequencing (tNGS) to estimate TMB in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods: We sequenced 48 non-paired samples (21 fresh-frozen [FF] and 27 paraffin-embedded [FFPE]), among which 11 FFPE samples were pretreated with uracil-DNA glycosylase (UDG). Thirty samples satisfied post-sequencing quality control. High/low TMB was defined by median number of mutations/Mb (Mut/Mb), across different minimum allele frequency (MAF) thresholds ( 650.05, 650.1 and 650.2). Results: Eligible patients (n\ua0=\ua029) were cirrhotic (84%) with TNM stage I-II HCC (75%). FFPE samples had higher TMB (median 958.39 vs 2.51 Mut/Mb, P\ua0\ua0T transitions at CpG sites (median 60.3% vs 9.1%, P\ua0=.002) compared to FF. UDG-treated samples had lower TMB (median 4019.92 vs 353 Mut/Mb, P\ua0=.041) and deamination counts (median 6393.5 vs 328.5, P\ua0=.041) vs untreated FFPE. At 0.2 MAF threshold with UDG treatment, median TMB was 5.48 (range 1.68-16.07) and did not correlate with salient pathologic features of HCC, including survival. Conclusion: While tNGS on fresh HCC samples appears to be the optimal source of tumour DNA, the low median TMB values observed may limit the role of TMB as a predictor of response to immunotherapy in HCC

effect of rearing system on the muscle fibre characteristics of chicken breeds with different growth speed

The study was conducted to evaluate the influence of the rearing system on the muscle fibre characteristics of two meat chicken breeds such as the Ross and the Livorno characterized by extremely fast and extremely slow growth speed respectively. No differences between the breeds were found in the conventional rearing system except for muscle fibre area. On the other hand, in the free range rearing system, differences in muscle fibre composition were evidenced between the breeds especially in the Ileotibialis lateralis muscle with the Livorno having a greater percentage of αR fibres (57,71 vs 36,65). A higher percentage of αR fibres (57,71 vs 46,90) was found in the Ileotibialis lateralis of the free range reared Livorno chickens compared to the conventionally reared ones

Reproducibility of histologic classification of gastric cancer

A panel review of histologic specimens was carried out as part of a multi-centre case-control study of gastric cancer (GC) and diet. Comparisons of diagnoses of 100 GCs by six pathologists revealed agreement in histologic classification for about 70-80% of the cancers. Concordance was somewhat higher when using the Lauren rather than the Ming or World Health Organization classification systems. Histologic types from reading biopsy tissue agreed with those derived from surgical specimens for 65-75% of the 100 tumours. Intra-observer agreement in histologic classification, assessed by repeat readings up to 3 years apart by one pathologist, was 95%. The findings indicate that, although overall concordance was good, it is important to standardise diagnoses in multi-centre epidemiologic studies of GC by histologic type

The effect of hot days on occupational heat stress in the manufacturing industry: implications for workers' well-being and productivity

Climate change is expected to exacerbate heat stress at the workplace in temperate regions, such as Slovenia. It is therefore of paramount importance to study present and future summer heat conditions and analyze the impact of heat on workers. A set of climate indices based on summer mean (Tmean) and maximum (Tmax) air temperatures, such as the number of hot days (HD: Tmax above 30 °C), and Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) were used to account for heat conditions in Slovenia at six locations in the period 1981–2010. Observed trends (1961–2011) of Tmean and Tmax in July were positive, being larger in the eastern part of the country. Climate change projections showed an increase up to 4.5 °C for mean temperature and 35 days for HD by the end of the twenty-first century under the high emission scenario. The increase in WBGT was smaller, although sufficiently high to increase the frequency of days with a high risk of heat stress up to an average of a third of the summer days. A case study performed at a Slovenian automobile parts manufacturing plant revealed non-optimal working conditions during summer 2016 (WBGT mainly between 20 and 25 °C). A survey conducted on 400 workers revealed that 96% perceived the temperature conditions as unsuitable, and 56% experienced headaches and fatigue. Given these conditions and climate change projections, the escalating problem of heat is worrisome. The European Commission initiated a program of research within the Horizon 2020 program to develop a heat warning system for European workers and employers, which will incorporate case-specific solutions to mitigate heat stress.The work was supported by the European Union Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Action (Project number 668786: HEATSHIELD)