Ontologías en disputa: Diálogos entre la antropología y la arqueología para la problematización de paisajes regionals

Objetivo/contexto: Hacia finales del siglo XX, el dualismo ontológico con el que antropólogos y arqueólogos nos hemos formado teórica y metodológicamente ha sido cuestionado y puesto en debate. En este contexto, nuestro objetivo es exponer críticamente los trabajos que se están realizando y que contribuyen a problematizar los paisajes enredados de existencias, materialidades, saberes, sentidos o prejuicios pasados y presentes, y con ello a restablecer el diálogo entre la antropología social y la arqueología. Metodología: Exponemos el estado actual de la apertura ontológica en clave latinoamericana. Problematizamos la noción de paisaje como concepto que permite diálogos teórico-metodológicos entre la antropología y la arqueología, así como con otras disciplinas. También presentamos ejes de comunicación y diálogo entre los artículos que forman parte del presente dossier para finalizar con los desafíos por delante en cuanto a traspasar fronteras disciplinarias, temporales y espaciales. Conclusiones: En contextos de históricas relaciones de poder, de profundas crisis socio-ambientales, los principales desafíos de la apertura ontológica serían: 1) generar referentes teóricos permeables a diversas disciplinas y saberes; 2) consolidar metodologías que integren lo etnográfico con lo arqueológico; 3) alentar diálogos constructivos hacia y con otras disciplinas y saberes, y 4) propiciar la comprensión del entramado político actual y la generación de políticas públicas que permitan diversas formas de relacionamiento con el entorno. Originalidad: El restablecimiento de diálogos entre la arqueología y la antropología social desde las aperturas ontológicas tiene el potencial de discutir cómo en determinados contextos se concretan y/o disputan paisajes y modos hegemónicos de habitar en el mundo, así como se problematizan los usos políticos del pasado y las políticas de uso del espacio y el ambiente.Objective/context: Towards the end of the 20th century, the ontological dualism with which anthropologists and archaeologists have trained us theoretically and methodologically has been questioned and debated. In this context, our objective is to critically expose the works that are being carried out and that contribute to problematizing the landscapes entangled with past and present existences, materialities, knowledge, senses or prejudices, and, with it, to re-establish the dialogue between social anthropology and archaeology. Methodology: We expose the current state of the ontological opening in Latin American code. We problematize the notion of landscape as a concept that allows theoretical-methodological dialogues between anthropology and archaeology, as well as with other disciplines. We also present axes of communication and dialogue between the articles that are part of this dossier, to end with the challenges ahead in terms of crossing disciplinary, temporal and spatial borders. Conclusions: In contexts of historical power relations, of deep socio-environmental crises, the main challenges for an ontological opening would be: 1) to generate theoretical referents permeable to various disciplines and fields of knowledge; 2) to consolidate methodologies that integrate the ethnographic with the archaeological; 3) to encourage constructive dialogues towards and with other disciplines and fields of knowledge; and 4) to propitiate the understanding of the current political framework and the generation of public policies that allow for diverse forms of relation with the environment. Originality: The re-establishment of dialogues between archaeology and social anthropology from ontological openings has the potential to discuss how, in certain contexts, landscapes and hegemonic ways of living are concretized and/or disputed, as well as the political uses of the past and the policies of use of space and the environment.Objetivo/contexto: No final do século XX, o dualismo ontológico com o qual antropólogos e arqueólogos se formaram teórica e metodologicamente vem sendo questionado e colocado em debate. Nesse contexto, nosso objetivo é expor criticamente os trabalhos que estão sendo realizados e que contribuem para problematizar as paisagens permeadas de existências, materialidades, saberes, sentidos ou preconceitos passados e presentes, e, com isso, reestabelecer o diálogo entre a antropologia social e a arqueologia. Metodologia: Expomos o estado atual da abertura ontológica no âmbito latino-americano. Problematizamos a noção de paisagem como conceito que permite diálogos teórico-metodológicos entre a antropologia e a arqueologia, assim como outras disciplinas. Também apresentamos eixos de comunicação e diálogo entre os artigos que fazem parte do presente dossiê para finalizar com os desafios que temos adiante sobre ultrapassar fronteiras disciplinares, temporais e espaciais. Conclusões: Em contextos de históricas relações de poder, de profundas crises socioambientais, os principais desafios para uma abertura ontológica seriam: 1) gerar referentes teóricos permeáveis a diversas disciplinas e saberes; 2) consolidar metodologias que integrem o etnográfico com o arqueológico; 3) promover diálogos construtivos com outras disciplinas e saberes; e 4) propiciar a compreensão da estrutura política atual e a geração de políticas públicas que permitam as diversas formas de relacionamentos com o ambiente. Originalidade: O reestabelecimento de diálogos entre a arqueologia e a antropologia social a partir das aberturas ontológicas tem o potencial de discutir como, em determinados contextos, se concretizam e/ou disputam paisagens e modos hegemônicos de habitar, bem como se problematizam os usos políticos do passado e as políticas de uso do espaço e do ambiente.Fil: Saldi, Leticia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales; ArgentinaFil: Mafferra, Luis Eduardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales; ArgentinaFil: Barrientos Salinas, J. Alejandro. Universidad Mayor de San Andrés; Bolivi

Retrospective evaluation of whole exome and genome mutation calls in 746 cancer samples

Funder: NCI U24CA211006Abstract: The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) curated consensus somatic mutation calls using whole exome sequencing (WES) and whole genome sequencing (WGS), respectively. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium, which aggregated whole genome sequencing data from 2,658 cancers across 38 tumour types, we compare WES and WGS side-by-side from 746 TCGA samples, finding that ~80% of mutations overlap in covered exonic regions. We estimate that low variant allele fraction (VAF < 15%) and clonal heterogeneity contribute up to 68% of private WGS mutations and 71% of private WES mutations. We observe that ~30% of private WGS mutations trace to mutations identified by a single variant caller in WES consensus efforts. WGS captures both ~50% more variation in exonic regions and un-observed mutations in loci with variable GC-content. Together, our analysis highlights technological divergences between two reproducible somatic variant detection efforts

Prevalence of Patients Affected by Fibromyalgia in a Cohort of Women Underwent Mammography Screening

: Fibromyalgia is a widespread condition which is currently underdiagnosed; therefore we conceived this study in order to assess whether a diagnostic suspicion may be assumed during widespread screening procedures, so that patients for which a reasonable diagnostic suspicion exist may be redirected towards rheumatologic evaluation. We analyzed a sample of 1060 patients, all of whom were female and undergoing standard breast cancer screening procedures, and proceeded to evaluate the level of pain they endured during mammographic exam. We also acquired a range of other information which we related to the level of pain endured; we suggested a rheumatologic examination for those patients who endured the highest level of pain and then we evaluated how many patients in this subgroup were actually diagnosed with fibromyalgia. Out of the 1060 patients who participated to our study, 139 presented level 4 pain intensity; One patient did not go for rheumatologic examination; the remaining 138 underwent rheumatologic evaluation, and 50 (36%, 28-44, 95% CI) were diagnosed with fibromyalgia. Our study shows that assessing the level of pain endured by patients during standard widespread screening procedures may be an effective asset in deciding whether or not to suggest specialist rheumatologic evaluation for fibromyalgia

Metformin Use Is Associated With Longer Progression-Free Survival of Patients With Diabetes and Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors Receiving Everolimus and/or Somatostatin Analogues

Background & Aims: Metformin seems to have anticancer effects. However, it is not clear whether use of glycemia and metformin affect outcomes of patients with advanced pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (pNETs). We investigated the association between glycemia and progression-free survival (PFS) of patients with pNETs treated with everolimus and/or somatostatin analogues, as well as the association between metformin use and PFS time. Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of 445 patients with advanced pNET treated at 24 medical centers in Italy from 1999 through 2015. Data on levels of glycemia were collected at time of diagnosis of pNET, before treatment initiation, and during treatment with everolimus (with or without somatostatin analogues), octreotide, or lanreotide. Diabetes was defined as prior or current use of glycemia control medication and/or fasting plasma glucose level ≥ 126 mg/dL, hemoglobin A1c ≥ 6.5% (48 mmol/L), or a random sample of plasma glucose ≥ 200 mg/dL (11.1 mmol/L), with reported classic symptoms of hyperglycemia or hyperglycemic crisis. Patients were assigned to groups based on diagnosis of diabetes before or during antitumor therapy. PFS was compared between patients with vs without diabetes. Among patients with diabetes, the association between metformin use and PFS was assessed. We performed sensitivity and landmark analyses to exclude patients who developed diabetes while receiving cancer treatment and to exclude a potential immortal time bias related to metformin intake. Results: PFS was significantly longer in patients with diabetes (median, 32.0 months) than without diabetes (median, 15.1 months) (hazard ratio for patients with vs without diabetes, 0.63; 95% confidence interval, 0.50–0.80; P =.0002). PFS of patients treated with metformin was significantly longer (median PFS, 44.2 months) than for patients without diabetes (hazard ratio for survival of patients with diabetes receiving metformin vs without diabetes, 0.45; 95% confidence interval, 0.32–0.62; P <.00001) and longer than for patients with diabetes receiving other treatments (median PFS, 20.8 months; hazard ratio, 0.49; 95% confidence interval, 0.34–0.69; P <.0001). In multivariable analysis, adjusted for other factors associated with outcomes, metformin was associated with longer PFS but level of glycemia was not. Metformin was associated with increased PFS of patients receiving somatostatin analogues and in those receiving everolimus, with or without somatostatin analogues. Sensitivity and landmark analyses produced similar results. Conclusions: In a retrospective study of patients with pNETs, we found a significant association between metformin use and longer PFS

Sex differences in oncogenic mutational processes

Funder: Canadian Network for Research and Innovation in Machining Technology, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC Canadian Network for Research and Innovation in Machining Technology); doi: https://doi.org/10.13039/501100002790Funder: Genome Canada (Génome Canada); doi: https://doi.org/10.13039/100008762Funder: Canada Foundation for Innovation (Fondation canadienne pour l'innovation); doi: https://doi.org/10.13039/501100000196Funder: Terry Fox Research Institute (Institut de Recherche Terry Fox); doi: https://doi.org/10.13039/501100004376Abstract: Sex differences have been observed in multiple facets of cancer epidemiology, treatment and biology, and in most cancers outside the sex organs. Efforts to link these clinical differences to specific molecular features have focused on somatic mutations within the coding regions of the genome. Here we report a pan-cancer analysis of sex differences in whole genomes of 1983 tumours of 28 subtypes as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium. We both confirm the results of exome studies, and also uncover previously undescribed sex differences. These include sex-biases in coding and non-coding cancer drivers, mutation prevalence and strikingly, in mutational signatures related to underlying mutational processes. These results underline the pervasiveness of molecular sex differences and strengthen the call for increased consideration of sex in molecular cancer research

A classification prognostic score to predict OS in stage IV well-differentiated neuroendocrine tumors

No validated prognostic tool is available for predicting overall survival (OS) of patients with well-differentiated neuroendocrine tumors (WDNETs). This study, conducted in three independent cohorts of patients from five different European countries, aimed to develop and validate a classification prognostic score for OS in patients with stage IV WDNETs. We retrospectively collected data on 1387 patients: (i) patients treated at the Istituto Nazionale Tumori (Milan, Italy; n = 515); (ii) European cohort of rare NET patients included in the European RARECAREnet database (n = 457); (iii) Italian multicentric cohort of pancreatic NET (pNETs) patients treated at 24 Italian institutions (n = 415). The score was developed using data from patients included in cohort (i) (training set); external validation was performed by applying the score to the data of the two independent cohorts (ii) and (iii) evaluating both calibration and discriminative ability (Harrell C statistic). We used data on age, primary tumor site, metastasis (synchronous vs metachronous), Ki-67, functional status and primary surgery to build the score, which was developed for classifying patients into three groups with differential 10-year OS: (I) favorable risk group: 10-year OS ≥70%; (II) intermediate risk group: 30% ≤ 10-year OS < 70%; (III) poor risk group: 10-year OS <30%. The Harrell C statistic was 0.661 in the training set, and 0.626 and 0.601 in the RARECAREnet and Italian multicentric validation sets, respectively. In conclusion, based on the analysis of three 'field-practice' cohorts collected in different settings, we defined and validated a prognostic score to classify patients into three groups with different long-term prognoses

Sex differences in oncogenic mutational processes

Sex differences have been observed in multiple facets of cancer epidemiology, treatment and biology, and in most cancers outside the sex organs. Efforts to link these clinical differences to specific molecular features have focused on somatic mutations within the coding regions of the genome. Here we report a pan-cancer analysis of sex differences in whole genomes of 1983 tumours of 28 subtypes as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium. We both confirm the results of exome studies, and also uncover previously undescribed sex differences. These include sex-biases in coding and non-coding cancer drivers, mutation prevalence and strikingly, in mutational signatures related to underlying mutational processes. These results underline the pervasiveness of molecular sex differences and strengthen the call for increased consideration of sex in molecular cancer research.Sex differences have been observed in multiple facets of cancer epidemiology, treatment and biology, and in most cancers outside the sex organs. Efforts to link these clinical differences to specific molecular features have focused on somatic mutations within the coding regions of the genome. Here we report a pan-cancer analysis of sex differences in whole genomes of 1983 tumours of 28 subtypes as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium. We both confirm the results of exome studies, and also uncover previously undescribed sex differences. These include sex-biases in coding and non-coding cancer drivers, mutation prevalence and strikingly, in mutational signatures related to underlying mutational processes. These results underline the pervasiveness of molecular sex differences and strengthen the call for increased consideration of sex in molecular cancer research.Peer reviewe