Global surveillance of cancer survival 1995-2009: analysis of individual data for 25,676,887 patients from 279 population-based registries in 67 countries (CONCORD-2)

BACKGROUND: Worldwide data for cancer survival are scarce. We aimed to initiate worldwide surveillance of cancer survival by central analysis of population-based registry data, as a metric of the effectiveness of health systems, and to inform global policy on cancer control. METHODS: Individual tumour records were submitted by 279 population-based cancer registries in 67 countries for 25·7 million adults (age 15-99 years) and 75,000 children (age 0-14 years) diagnosed with cancer during 1995-2009 and followed up to Dec 31, 2009, or later. We looked at cancers of the stomach, colon, rectum, liver, lung, breast (women), cervix, ovary, and prostate in adults, and adult and childhood leukaemia. Standardised quality control procedures were applied; errors were corrected by the registry concerned. We estimated 5-year net survival, adjusted for background mortality in every country or region by age (single year), sex, and calendar year, and by race or ethnic origin in some countries. Estimates were age-standardised with the International Cancer Survival Standard weights. FINDINGS: 5-year survival from colon, rectal, and breast cancers has increased steadily in most developed countries. For patients diagnosed during 2005-09, survival for colon and rectal cancer reached 60% or more in 22 countries around the world; for breast cancer, 5-year survival rose to 85% or higher in 17 countries worldwide. Liver and lung cancer remain lethal in all nations: for both cancers, 5-year survival is below 20% everywhere in Europe, in the range 15-19% in North America, and as low as 7-9% in Mongolia and Thailand. Striking rises in 5-year survival from prostate cancer have occurred in many countries: survival rose by 10-20% between 1995-99 and 2005-09 in 22 countries in South America, Asia, and Europe, but survival still varies widely around the world, from less than 60% in Bulgaria and Thailand to 95% or more in Brazil, Puerto Rico, and the USA. For cervical cancer, national estimates of 5-year survival range from less than 50% to more than 70%; regional variations are much wider, and improvements between 1995-99 and 2005-09 have generally been slight. For women diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2005-09, 5-year survival was 40% or higher only in Ecuador, the USA, and 17 countries in Asia and Europe. 5-year survival for stomach cancer in 2005-09 was high (54-58%) in Japan and South Korea, compared with less than 40% in other countries. By contrast, 5-year survival from adult leukaemia in Japan and South Korea (18-23%) is lower than in most other countries. 5-year survival from childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia is less than 60% in several countries, but as high as 90% in Canada and four European countries, which suggests major deficiencies in the management of a largely curable disease. INTERPRETATION: International comparison of survival trends reveals very wide differences that are likely to be attributable to differences in access to early diagnosis and optimum treatment. Continuous worldwide surveillance of cancer survival should become an indispensable source of information for cancer patients and researchers and a stimulus for politicians to improve health policy and health-care systems

Temperature-related changes in airborne allergenic pollen abundance and seasonality across the northern hemisphere: a retrospective data analysis

Background: Ongoing climate change might, through rising temperatures, alter allergenic pollen biology across the northern hemisphere. We aimed to analyse trends in pollen seasonality and pollen load and to establish whether there are specific climate-related links to any observed changes.Methods: For this retrospective data analysis, we did an extensive search for global datasets with 20 years or more of airborne pollen data that consistently recorded pollen season indices (eg, duration and intensity). 17 locations across three continents with long-term (approximately 26 years on average) quantitative records of seasonal concentrations of multiple pollen (aeroallergen) taxa met the selection criteria. These datasets were analysed in the context of recent annual changes in maximum temperature (Tmax) and minimum temperature (Tmin) associated with anthropogenic climate change. Seasonal regressions (slopes) of variation in pollen load and pollen season duration over time were compared to Tmax, cumulative degree day Tmax, Tmin, cumulative degree day Tmin, and frost-free days among all 17 locations to ascertain significant correlations.Findings: 12 (71%) of the 17 locations showed significant increases in seasonal cumulative pollen or annual pollen load. Similarly, 11 (65%) of the 17 locations showed a significant increase in pollen season duration over time, increasing, on average, 0·9 days per year. Across the northern hemisphere locations analysed, annual cumulative increases in Tmax over time were significantly associated with percentage increases in seasonal pollen load (r=0·52, p=0·034) as were annual cumulative increases in Tmin (r=0·61, p=0·010). Similar results were observed for pollen season duration, but only for cumulative degree days (higher than the freezing point [0°C or 32°F]) for Tmax (r=0·53, p=0·030) and Tmin (r=0·48, p=0·05). Additionally, temporal increases in frost-free days per year were significantly correlated with increases in both pollen load (r=0·62, p=0·008) and pollen season duration (r=0·68, p=0·003) when averaged for all 17 locations.Interpretation: Our findings reveal that the ongoing increase in temperature extremes (Tmin and Tmax) might already be contributing to extended seasonal duration and increased pollen load for multiple aeroallergenic pollen taxa in diverse locations across the northern hemisphere. This study, done across multiple continents, highlights an important link between ongoing global warming and public health—one that could be exacerbated as temperatures continue to increase.</p

Measurements of the ϒ(1S), ϒ(2S), and ϒ(3S) differential cross sections in pp collisions at s=7TeV

Differential cross sections as a function of transverse momentum pTpT are presented for the production of ϒ(nS)ϒ(nS) (n = 1, 2, 3) states decaying into a pair of muons. Data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.9View the MathML sourcefb−1 in pp collisions at View the MathML sources=7TeV were collected with the CMS detector at the LHC. The analysis selects events with dimuon rapidity |y|<1.2|y|<1.2 and dimuon transverse momentum in the range View the MathML source10<pT<100GeV. The measurements show a transition from an exponential to a power-law behavior at View the MathML sourcepT≈20GeV for the three ϒ states. Above that transition, the ϒ(3S)ϒ(3S) spectrum is significantly harder than that of the ϒ(1S)ϒ(1S). The ratios of the ϒ(3S)ϒ(3S) and ϒ(2S)ϒ(2S) differential cross sections to the ϒ(1S)ϒ(1S) cross section show a rise as pTpT increases at low pTpT, then become flatter at higher pTpT

Search for W ' -> tb in proton-proton collisions at root s=8 TeV

Peer reviewe

Constraints on the Higgs boson width from off-shell production and decay to Z-boson pairs

Constraints are presented on the total width of the recently discovered Higgs boson, &#915;H , using its relative on-shell and off-shell production and decay rates to a pair of Z bosons, where one Z boson decays to an electron or muon pair, and the other to an electron, muon, or neutrino pair. The analysis is based on the data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC in 2011 and 2012, corresponding to integrated luminosities of 5.1 fb&#8722;1 at a center-of-mass energy s=7 TeV and 19.7 fb&#8722;1 at s=8 TeV . A simultaneous maximum likelihood fit to the measured kinematic distributions near the resonance peak and above the Z-boson pair production threshold leads to an upper limit on the Higgs boson width of &#915;H<22 MeV at a 95% confidence level, which is 5.4 times the expected value in the standard model at the measured mass of mH=125.6 GeV

Search for new phenomena in monophoton final states in proton-proton collisions at √s=TeV

Results are presented from a search for new physics in final states containing a photon and missing transverse momentum. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 19.6 fb−1 collected in proton–proton collisions at s=8 TeV with the CMS experiment at the LHC. No deviation from the standard model predictions is observed for these final states. New, improved limits are set on dark matter production and on parameters of models with large extra dimensions. In particular, the first limits from the LHC on branon production are found and significantly extend previous limits from LEP and the Tevatron. An upper limit of 14.0 fb on the cross section is set at the 95% confidence level for events with a monophoton final state with photon transverse momentum greater than 145 GeV and missing transverse momentum greater than 140 GeV

Search for heavy neutrinos and W bosons with right-handed couplings in proton - proton collisions at \sqrt = 8TeV

A search for heavy, right-handed neutrinos, N&#8467; ( &#8467;=e,&#956; ), and right-handed WR bosons, which arise in the left-right symmetric extensions of the standard model, has been performed by the CMS experiment. The search was based on a sample of two lepton plus two jet events collected in proton&#8211;proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 fb-1 . For models with strict left-right symmetry, and assuming only one N&#8467; flavor contributes significantly to the WR decay width, the region in the two-dimensional (MWR,MN&#8467;) mass plane excluded at a 95 % confidence level extends to approximately MWR=3.0TeV and covers a large range of neutrino masses below the WR boson mass, depending on the value of MWR . This search significantly extends the (MWR,MN&#8467;) exclusion region beyond previous results. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1140/epjc/s10052-014-3149-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Search for a Higgs boson decaying into γ*γ→ℓℓγ with low dilepton mass in pp collisions at √s=8 TeV

A search is described for a Higgs boson decaying into two photons, one of which has an internal conversion to a muon or an electron pair ( ℓℓγ ). The analysis is performed using proton–proton collision data recorded with the CMS detector at the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 fb −1 . The events selected have an opposite-sign muon or electron pair and a high transverse momentum photon. No excess above background has been found in the three-body invariant mass range 12

Search for stealth supersymmetry in events with jets, either photons or leptons, and low missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at 8 TeV

The results of a search for new physics in final states with jets, either photons or leptons, and low missing transverse momentum are reported. The study is based on a sample of proton-proton collisions collected at a center-of-mass energy s=8 TeV with the CMS detector in 2012. The integrated luminosity of the sample is 19.7 fb-1. Many models of new physics predict the production of events with jets, electroweak gauge bosons, and little or no missing transverse momentum. Examples include stealth models of supersymmetry (SUSY), which predict a hidden sector at the electroweak energy scale in which SUSY is approximately conserved. The data are used to search for stealth SUSY signatures in final states with either two photons or an oppositely charged electron and muon. No excess is observed with respect to the standard model expectation, and the results are used to set limits on squark pair production in the stealth SUSY framework