Interleukin 7 and Patient Selection in Immunotherapy for Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer is a disease of elderly males. An increase in prostate cancer is expected in the coming years due to a growing population of men aged over 60 years of age from 475 million in 2009 to 1.6 billion in the year 2050 worldwide. Moreover, if screening for prostate cancer is taken into account, even more men will be diagnosed with this disease.[1-3] In the early disease stages, prostate cancer is a slow-growing and symptom-free malignancy. Men suffering from prostate cancer are more likely to die of causes unrelated to the condition, such as heart/ circulatory disease, pneumonia, or old age. PIN, prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia, lesions are considered to be a pre-cancereous condition.[4] Once prostate cancer has developed, mostly adenocarcinomas in the peripheral zone of the prostate are observed and different disease stages can be identified. The TNM classification is used to describe the stages of the primary tumor (T), the regional lymph nodes (N), and distant metastases (M). Combining the T, N and M stages for a prostate tumor gives an indication of the extent of the disease (Table 1). At T-stage 1 and 2, the cancer is confined to the prostate. Once the cancer has spread outside the outer layer of the prostate and invades nearby tissues such as bladder and rectum, the cancer is staged at T3 or T4. Metastatic prostate cancer has spread throughout the patient’s body most often to regional or distant lymph nodes (N+) and the bone (M+). At this stage patients often present themselves with the first clinical symptoms which is usually bone pain due to skeletal metastases. As a result of prostate cancer screening, patients are nearly always diagnosed with asymptomatic localized prostate cancer

The additional value of TGFβ1 and IL-7 to predict the course of prostate cancer progression

Background: Given the fact that prostate cancer incidence will increase in the coming years, new prognostic biomarkers are needed with regard to the biological aggressiveness of the prostate cancer diagnosed. Since cytokines have been associated with the biology of cancer and its prognosis, we determined whether transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGFβ1), interleukin-7 (IL-7) receptor and IL-7 levels add additional prognostic information with regard to prostate cancer

Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

Funder: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013347Funder: Flemish Society for Critical Care NursesAbstract: Purpose: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are particularly susceptible to developing pressure injuries. Epidemiologic data is however unavailable. We aimed to provide an international picture of the extent of pressure injuries and factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries in adult ICU patients. Methods: International 1-day point-prevalence study; follow-up for outcome assessment until hospital discharge (maximum 12 weeks). Factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injury and hospital mortality were assessed by generalised linear mixed-effects regression analysis. Results: Data from 13,254 patients in 1117 ICUs (90 countries) revealed 6747 pressure injuries; 3997 (59.2%) were ICU-acquired. Overall prevalence was 26.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.9–27.3). ICU-acquired prevalence was 16.2% (95% CI 15.6–16.8). Sacrum (37%) and heels (19.5%) were most affected. Factors independently associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries were older age, male sex, being underweight, emergency surgery, higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Braden score 3 days, comorbidities (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunodeficiency), organ support (renal replacement, mechanical ventilation on ICU admission), and being in a low or lower-middle income-economy. Gradually increasing associations with mortality were identified for increasing severity of pressure injury: stage I (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.8), stage II (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.4–1.9), and stage III or worse (OR 2.8; 95% CI 2.3–3.3). Conclusion: Pressure injuries are common in adult ICU patients. ICU-acquired pressure injuries are associated with mainly intrinsic factors and mortality. Optimal care standards, increased awareness, appropriate resource allocation, and further research into optimal prevention are pivotal to tackle this important patient safety threat

Correction to: Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake

Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

Funder: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013347Funder: Flemish Society for Critical Care NursesAbstract: Purpose: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are particularly susceptible to developing pressure injuries. Epidemiologic data is however unavailable. We aimed to provide an international picture of the extent of pressure injuries and factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries in adult ICU patients. Methods: International 1-day point-prevalence study; follow-up for outcome assessment until hospital discharge (maximum 12 weeks). Factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injury and hospital mortality were assessed by generalised linear mixed-effects regression analysis. Results: Data from 13,254 patients in 1117 ICUs (90 countries) revealed 6747 pressure injuries; 3997 (59.2%) were ICU-acquired. Overall prevalence was 26.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.9–27.3). ICU-acquired prevalence was 16.2% (95% CI 15.6–16.8). Sacrum (37%) and heels (19.5%) were most affected. Factors independently associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries were older age, male sex, being underweight, emergency surgery, higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Braden score 3 days, comorbidities (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunodeficiency), organ support (renal replacement, mechanical ventilation on ICU admission), and being in a low or lower-middle income-economy. Gradually increasing associations with mortality were identified for increasing severity of pressure injury: stage I (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.8), stage II (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.4–1.9), and stage III or worse (OR 2.8; 95% CI 2.3–3.3). Conclusion: Pressure injuries are common in adult ICU patients. ICU-acquired pressure injuries are associated with mainly intrinsic factors and mortality. Optimal care standards, increased awareness, appropriate resource allocation, and further research into optimal prevention are pivotal to tackle this important patient safety threat

Alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking and cancer of unknown primary risk:Results from the Netherlands Cohort Study

Cancer of unknown primary (CUP) is a metastasised malignancy with no identifiable primary tumour origin. Despite the frequent occurrence and bleak prognosis of CUP, research into its aetiology is scarce. Our study investigates alcohol consumption, tobacco smoking and CUP risk. We used data from the Netherlands Cohort Study, a cohort that includes 120 852 participants aged 55 to 69 years, who completed a self-administered questionnaire on cancer risk factors at baseline. Cancer follow-up was established through record linkage to the Netherlands Cancer Registry and Dutch Pathology Registry. After 20.3 years of follow-up, 963 CUP cases and 4288 subcohort members were available for case-cohort analyses. Multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) were calculated using proportional hazard models. In general, CUP risk increased with higher levels of alcohol intake (P-trend= .02). The association was more pronounced in participants who drank >= 30 g of ethanol per day (HR: 1.57, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.20-2.05) compared to abstainers. Current smokers were at an increased CUP risk (HR: 1.59, 95% CI: 1.29-1.97) compared to never smokers. We observed that the more the cigarettes or the longer a participant smoked, the higher the CUP risk was (P-trend= .003 andP(trend)= .02, respectively). Interaction on additive scale was found for participants with the highest exposure categories of alcohol consumption and cigarette smoking frequency and CUP risk. Our findings demonstrate that alcohol consumption and cigarette smoking are associated with increased CUP risk. Lifestyle recommendations for cancer prevention regarding not drinking alcohol and avoiding exposure to smoking are therefore also valid for CUP