Clinico-Pathological Features, Outcomes and Impacts of COVID-19 Pandemic on Patients with Early-Onset Colorectal Cancer: A Single-Institution Experience

[Background]: The rising incidence of colorectal cancer (CRC) among young patients is alarming. We aim to characterize the clinico-pathological features and outcomes of patients with early-onset CRC (EOCRC), as well as the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic.[Methods]: We included all patients with pathologically confirmed diagnoses of CRC at Hospital Universitario La Paz from October 2016 to December 2021. The EOCRC cut-off age was 50 years old.[Results]: A total of 1475 patients diagnosed with CRC were included, eighty (5.4%) of whom had EOCRC. Significant differences were found between EOCRC and later-onset patients regarding T, N stage and metastatic presentation at diagnosis; perineural invasion; tumor budding; high-grade tumors; and signet ring cell histology, with all issues having higher prevalence in the early-onset group. More EOCRC patients had the RAS/ BRAF wild type. Chemotherapy was administered more frequently to patients with EOCRC. In the metastatic setting, the EOCRC group presented a significantly longer median OS. Regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, more patients with COVID-19 were diagnosed with metastatic disease (61%) in the year after the lockdown (14 March 2020) than in the pre-pandemic EOCRC group (29%).[Conclusions]: EOCRC is diagnosed at a more advanced stage and with worse survival features in localized patients. More patients with EOCRC were diagnosed with metastatic disease in the year after the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. The long-term consequences of COVID-19 are yet to be determined.The work in the authors’ laboratory is funded by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) and the Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) (ICI20/00057, CIBERONC/CB16/12/00273, and CIBERONC/CB16/12/00398), as well as the Comunidad de Madrid (S2022/BMD-7212).Peer reviewe

Distribution and behavior of zinc in estuarine environments: an overview on Bahía Blanca estuary (Argentina)

Zinc concentrations and distribution have been fully studied within Bahía Blanca estuary, an area which is strongly influenced by urban and industrial stress. Not only metal dissolved in estuarine water were measured but also measured were sediments and suspended particulate matter (SPM), as well as associated with estuarine organisms. In all cases, internationally standardized protocols were applied to metal measurements, including analytical quality check test through analysis of certified reference materials. Total metal contents from surface sediments and SPM were compared with those from a historical database of the area, as well as with values representing the natural geochemical baseline within the system. Results showed that heavy metal pollution is mainly localized in the areas close to both industrial effluents discharge system and urban sewage outfall discharge. Data from sequential extractions indicate that metals from anthropogenic sources are potentially more mobile than those inherited from geological parent material. The influences of other potential sources of metals (i.e., streams, runoff) were also considered. SPM was clearly identified as the main carrier of the studied heavy metals within the system, and its significance to metals input into sediments and/or biota was verified. Zinc has been accumulated within the different biological species from Bahía Blanca estuary, and their kinetics of accumulation have also been considered. Finally, the combination of the obtained results allowed suggesting the maintenance of a surveillance program to assess the environmental quality of this environment.Fil: Marcovecchio, Jorge Eduardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía; Argentina. Universidad FASTA "Santo Tomas de Aquino"; Argentina. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional; ArgentinaFil: Botté, Sandra Elizabeth. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Biología, Bioquímica y Farmacia; ArgentinaFil: Fernandez Severini, Melisa Daiana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía; Argentin