Prevention of cervical cancer in the Netherlands : Studies on cytology and HPV infections

Meijer, C.J.L.M. [Promotor]Snijders, P.J.F. [Promotor]Rozendaal, L. [Copromotor]Kemenade, F.J. van [Copromotor

The need for a supply of high quality organic vegetable seeds

Production of high quality organic vegetable seeds encounters several challenges. Research is performed to support seed companies in producing vigorous and healthy organic vegetable seeds. Examples are provided with respect to research on seed vigour, determining critical control points to avoid disease transmission to the seeds, seed treatments with natu-ral compounds, new seed sorting techniques and enhancement of the natural plant defence. It is noticed that the restrictions in EU regulation 2092/91 on organic production are at present blocking the use of promising natural and sustainable components for seed treatments

Incidence and survival rate of women with cervical cancer in the Greater Amsterdam area

To evaluate the effect of population-based cervical cancer screening on the occurrence of cervical cancer in The Netherlands, we investigated the incidence and survival of cervical cancer registered by a cancer registry in the Greater Amsterdam area. The incidence rate of squamous cell carcinoma decreased significantly from 9.2/100,000 women in 1988 to 5.9/100,000 in 2000 (P<0.001). The incidence rate of adenocarcinomas remained stable. After adjustment for age, stage and lymph node involvement, the relative risk of death was 1.6 times higher for patients with adenocarcinomas than for patients with squamous cell carcinoma (95% CI 1.2-2.1). The decreased survival was related to histological type, as the effect remained significant after correction for confounding factors. Over time, the prognosis of women with squamous cell carcinoma improved significantly. No significant change was observed for women diagnosed with adenocarcinoma. These results suggest that the screening programme in The Netherlands as executed in the Greater Amsterdam area is associated with a decreased incidence and increased survival of patients with squamous cell carcinoma, but fails to detect (pre)malignant lesions of adenocarcinoma. Since more than 92% of adenocarcinomas and its precursors contain high-risk HPV, adding HPV testing to cytologic screening might improve the present screening programme in detecting adenocarcinoma and its precursor lesions

The Prosocial Cyberball Game: Compensating for social exclusion and its associations with empathic concern and bullying in adolescents

In this study we examined prosocial compensating behavior towards socially excluded ingroup and outgroup members by using a ‘Prosocial Cyberball Game’ in 9–17 year old Dutch adolescents (N = 133). Results showed that adolescents compensated for the social exclusion of an unknown peer in a virtual ball tossing game, by tossing the ball more often to that player in compensation conditions compared to the fair play condition. The proportion of tosses towards the excluded player did not significantly differ as a function of the group status of that player. Although compensating behavior towards ingroup versus outgroup members did not differ, the underlying motivation for this behavior may vary. More empathic concern was associated with more prosocial tosses towards an ingroup member, while more self-reported bullying behavior was associated with less compensating behavior in the outgroup condition. These findings may have practical implications for programs intending to change bystander behavior in bullying situations

The contribution of HPV18 to cervical cancer is underestimated using high-grade CIN as a measure of screening efficiency

In one geographical area, 14 high-risk human papillomavirus types in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN2/3; n=139) and cervical squamous cell carcinoma (SCC; n=84) were analysed. HPV18 was more prevalent in SCC than CIN2/3 (OR 9.8; 95% confidence interval: 2.5–39). Other high-risk types prevalences corresponded in CIN2/3 and SCC. Evaluations using CIN2/3 as a measure of efficiency underestimate the contribution of HPV18 to SCC

Mutations of the EPHB6 Receptor Tyrosine Kinase Induce a Pro-Metastatic Phenotype in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Alterations of Eph receptor tyrosine kinases are frequent events in human cancers. Genetic variations of EPHB6 have been described but the functional outcome of these alterations is unknown. The current study was conducted to screen for the occurrence and to identify functional consequences of EPHB6 mutations in non-small cell lung cancer. Here, we sequenced the entire coding region of EPHB6 in 80 non-small cell lung cancer patients and 3 tumor cell lines. Three potentially relevant mutations were identified in primary patient samples of NSCLC patients (3.8%). Two point mutations led to instable proteins. An in frame deletion mutation (del915-917) showed enhanced migration and accelerated wound healing in vitro. Furthermore, the del915-917 mutation increased the metastatic capability of NSCLC cells in an in vivo mouse model. Our results suggest that EPHB6 mutations promote metastasis in a subset of patients with non-small cell lung cancer

Social judgments, frontal asymmetry, and aggressive behavior in young children: A replication study using EEG

Development Psychopathology in context: famil

Proper weak-coupling approach to the periodic s-d(f) exchange model

The periodic s-d(f) exchange model is characterized by a wide variety of interesting applications, a simple mathematical structure and a limited number of reliable approximations which take care of the quantum nature of the participating spins. We suggest the use of a projection-operator method for getting information perturbationally, which are not accessible via diagrammatic approaches. In this paper we present in particular results beyond perturbation theory, which are obtained such that almost all exactly known limiting cases are incorporated correctly. We discuss a variety of possible methods and evaluate their consequences for one-particle properties. These considerations serve as a guideline for a more effective approach to the model.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures; accepted by Phys. Rev.

High-risk HPV type-specific clearance rates in cervical screening

We assessed clearance rates of 14 high-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) types in hrHPV-positive women with normal cytology and borderline/mild dyskaryosis (BMD) in a population-based cervical screening cohort of 44 102 women. The 6-month hrHPV type-specific clearance rates, that is, clearance of the same type as detected at baseline, in women with normal and BMD smears were 43% (95% confidence interval (CI) 39–47) and 29% (95% CI 24–34), respectively. Corresponding 18-month clearance rates were markedly higher, namely 65% (95% CI 60–69) and 41% (95% CI 36–47), respectively. The lowest clearance rates in women with normal cytology were observed for HPV16, HPV18, HPV31, and HPV33. Significantly reduced 18-month clearance rates at a significance level of 1% were observed for HPV16 (49%, 95% CI 41–59) and HPV31 (50%, 95% CI 39–63) in women with normal cytology, and for HPV16 (19%, 95% CI 12–29) in women with BMD. Among women who did not clear hrHPV, women with HPV16 persistence displayed an increased detection rate of ⩾CIN3 (normal P<0.0001; BMD, P=0.005). The type-specific differences in clearance rates indicate the potential value of hrHPV genotyping in screening programs. Our data support close surveillance (i.e. referral directly, or within 6 months) of women with HPV16 and are inconclusive for surveillance of women with HPV18, HPV31, and HPV33. For the other hrHPV-positive women, it seems advisable to adopt a conservative management with a long waiting period, as hrHPV clearance is markedly higher after 18 months than after 6 months and the risk for ⩾CIN3 is low

Preferential risk of HPV16 for squamous cell carcinoma and of HPV18 for adenocarcinoma of the cervix compared to women with normal cytology in The Netherlands

We present the type-distribution of high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) types in women with normal cytology (n=1467), adenocarcinoma in situ (ACIS) (n=61), adenocarcinoma (n=70), and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) (n=83). Cervical adenocarcinoma and ACIS were significantly more frequently associated with HPV18 (ORMH 15.0; 95% CI 8.6–26.1 and 21.8; 95% CI 11.9–39.8, respectively) than normal cytology. Human papillomavirus16 was only associated with adenocarcinoma and ACIS after exclusion of HPV18-positive cases (ORMH 6.6; 95% CI 2.8–16.0 and 9.4; 95% CI 2.8–31.2, respectively). For SCC, HPV16 prevalence was elevated (ORMH 7.0; 95% CI 3.9–12.4) compared to cases with normal cytology, and HPV18 prevalence was only increased after exclusion of HPV16-positive cases (ORMH 4.3; 95% CI 1.6–11.6). These results suggest that HPV18 is mainly a risk factor for the development of adenocarcinoma whereas HPV16 is associated with both SCC and adenocarcinoma