Barriers to adequate follow-up during adjuvant therapy may be important factors in the worse outcome for Black women after breast cancer treatment

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Black women appear to have worse outcome after diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. It is still unclear if this is because Black race is more often associated with known negative prognostic indicators or if it is an independent prognostic factor. To study this, we analyzed a patient cohort from an urban university medical center where these women made up the majority of the patient population.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We used retrospective analysis of a prospectively collected database of breast cancer patients seen from May 1999 to June 2006. Time to recurrence and survival were analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method, with statistical analysis by chi-square, log rank testing, and the Cox regression model.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>265 female patients were diagnosed with breast cancer during the time period. Fifty patients (19%) had pure DCIS and 215 patients (81%) had invasive disease. Racial and ethnic composition of the entire cohort was as follows: Black (N = 150, 56.6%), Hispanic (N = 83, 31.3%), Caucasian (N = 26, 9.8%), Asian (N = 4, 1.5%), and Arabic (N = 2, 0.8%). For patients with invasive disease, independent predictors of poor disease-free survival included tumor size, node-positivity, incompletion of adjuvant therapy, and Black race. Tumor size, node-positivity, and Black race were independently associated with disease-specific overall survival.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Worse outcome among Black women appears to be independent of the usual predictors of survival. Further investigation is necessary to identify the cause of this survival disparity. Barriers to completion of standard post-operative treatment regimens may be especially important in this regard.</p

Refusal or failure to complete adjuvant therapy regimens was associated with significantly worse rates of disease-free survival (p

001).<p><b>Copyright information:</b></p><p>Taken from "Barriers to adequate follow-up during adjuvant therapy may be important factors in the worse outcome for Black women after breast cancer treatment"</p><p>http://www.wjso.com/content/6/1/26</p><p>World Journal of Surgical Oncology 2008;6():26-26.</p><p>Published online 25 Feb 2008</p><p>PMCID:PMC2277417.</p><p></p

Disease-free survival was significantly worse in Black women compared to those of other races (p

01).<p><b>Copyright information:</b></p><p>Taken from "Barriers to adequate follow-up during adjuvant therapy may be important factors in the worse outcome for Black women after breast cancer treatment"</p><p>http://www.wjso.com/content/6/1/26</p><p>World Journal of Surgical Oncology 2008;6():26-26.</p><p>Published online 25 Feb 2008</p><p>PMCID:PMC2277417.</p><p></p

Aerobiological study of pollen and mold in Seoul, Korea

In a large number of allergic individuals, inhalant allergens are important causative and triggering agents in respiratory allergies. It is essential to survey the pollen and mold around the patient’s environment for the diagnosis and treatment of airborne allergy. Rotorod samplers were installed at well-ventilated places in seven collecting stations in Seoul, the capital of Korea, which has a population of 12 million. Airborne particles carrying allergens were collected daily from each station for 2 years (1 October 1995 to 30 September 1997). After being stained with Calberla’s fuchsin, they were identified, counted and recorded. The weather in Seoul was also recorded. Pollen was found from the middle of February through to the end of December. The peak date for pollen was 12 May (peak mean daily count: 701 grains/m3/day) and for mold it was 23 June (peak mean daily count: 936 spores/m3/day). Alder, birch, pine, oak, maple, elm, juniper, willow, and gingko trees were prevalent during the tree season, lasting from the middle of February to late July. Then sagebrush, ragweed, Japanese hop, and pigweed followed during the weed season, which lasts from the middle of July to the end of December. In skin prick test results, house dust mite was the most common positive allergen in Seoul, followed by cockroach. Among the pollens, mugwort was the most common positive, followed by ragweed mix, alder, birch, and grasses mix. Among the molds, there were high counts of Cladosporium and Alternaria during the year, excluding January. Ascospore of Lepto-spheria was highest during the monsoon season

Humulus japonicus extract ameliorates collagen-induced arthritis in mice through regulation of overall articular inflammation

Humulus japonicus (HJ) is a widely used herbal medicine in Asia with anti-oxidative, anti-microbial, and anti-inflammatory effects. We investigated the potential therapeutic effects of HJ in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) using a mouse model of collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) and a lipopolysaccharide-stimulated murine macrophage cell line (RAW 264.7). The CIA mice were administered 300 mg/kg HJ orally starting 3 days prior to second immunization. The clinical and histopathological findings were assessed in the paw of CIA mice. The levels of autoantibodies and inflammatory markers were determined in the plasma and cell culture supernatant, respectively. The expression at mRNA and protein levels was analyzed by reverse transcription quantitative-PCR and western blot analysis, respectively. HJ significantly decreased the gross arthritic scores and paw swelling in CIA mice. Furthermore, synovial inflammation, cartilage destruction, and bone erosion were markedly reduced by HJ. It also decreased the expression of inflammatory enzymes in both the paw of mice and RAW 264.7 cells. Moreover, the expression of genes related to all macrophages and pro-inflammatory M1 macrophage were significantly decreased, whereas the expression of anti-inflammatory M2 macrophage marker was markedly increased in the paw of HJ-treated CIA mice. In addition, HJ suppressed the levels of plasma anti-type II collagen antibody following the decreased expression of T helper type 1 (Th1) and Th2 cell-associated surface markers and cytokines in the paw. HJ also significantly inhibited the expression of IL-6 both in vitro and in vivo, followed by reduced STAT3 phosphorylation and expression in the paw of CIA mice. Finally, the expression of osteoclast-related genes was decreased in the paw of HJ-treated CIA mice. These findings suggest that HJ can play a role in suppressing the development of CIA by overall regulation of articular inflammation. This study should provide new insights into the use of HJ as a therapeutically effective natural product against RA.Y

Whole genome and global gene expression analyses of the model mushroom Flammulina velutipes reveal a high capacity for lignocellulose degradation.

Flammulina velutipes is a fungus with health and medicinal benefits that has been used for consumption and cultivation in East Asia. F. velutipes is also known to degrade lignocellulose and produce ethanol. The overlapping interests of mushroom production and wood bioconversion make F. velutipes an attractive new model for fungal wood related studies. Here, we present the complete sequence of the F. velutipes genome. This is the first sequenced genome for a commercially produced edible mushroom that also degrades wood. The 35.6-Mb genome contained 12,218 predicted protein-encoding genes and 287 tRNA genes assembled into 11 scaffolds corresponding with the 11 chromosomes of strain KACC42780. The 88.4-kb mitochondrial genome contained 35 genes. Well-developed wood degrading machinery with strong potential for lignin degradation (69 auxiliary activities, formerly FOLymes) and carbohydrate degradation (392 CAZymes), along with 58 alcohol dehydrogenase genes were highly expressed in the mycelium, demonstrating the potential application of this organism to bioethanol production. Thus, the newly uncovered wood degrading capacity and sequential nature of this process in F. velutipes, offer interesting possibilities for more detailed studies on either lignin or (hemi-) cellulose degradation in complex wood substrates. The mutual interest in wood degradation by the mushroom industry and (ligno-)cellulose biomass related industries further increase the significance of F. velutipes as a new model