Use of artificial nutrition near the end of life: Results from a French national population-based study of hospitalized cancer patients

International audienceBackgroundThe use of artificial nutrition, defined as a medical treatment that allows a non‐oral mechanical feeding, for cancer patients with limited life expectancy is deemed nonbeneficial. High‐quality evidence about the use of artificial nutrition near the end of life is lacking. This study aimed (a) to quantify the use of artificial nutrition near the end‐of‐life, and (b) to identify the factors associated with the use of artificial nutrition.MethodsThis was a retrospective cohort study of decedents based on data from the French national hospital database. The study population included adult cancer patients who died in hospitals in France between 2013 and 2016 and defined to be in a palliative condition. Use of artificial nutrition during the last 7 days before death was the primary endpoint.ResultsA total of 398 822 patients were included. The median duration of the last hospital stay was 10 (interquartile range, 4‐21) days. The artificial nutrition was used for 11 723 (2.9%) during the last 7 days before death. Being a man, younger, having digestive cancers, metastasis, comorbidities, malnutrition, absence of dementia, and palliative care use were the main factors associated to the use of artificial nutrition.ConclusionThis study indicates that the use of artificial nutrition near the end of life is in keeping with current clinical guidelines. The identification of factors associated with the use of artificial nutrition, such as cancer localization, presence of comorbidities or specific symptoms, may help to better manage its use

Lessons from end-of-life care among schizophrenia patients with cancer: a population- based cohort study from the French national hospital database Running title: End-of-life care among patients with schizophrenia and cancer

International audienceBackgroundPatients with schizophrenia represent a vulnerable, underserved, and undertreated population who have been neglected in health disparities work. Understanding of end-of-life care in patients with schizophrenia and cancer is poor. We aimed to establish whether end-of-life care delivered to patients with schizophrenia and cancer differed from that delivered to patients with cancer who do not have diagnosed mental illness.MethodsWe did a population-based cohort study of all patients older than 15 years who had a diagnosis of advanced cancer and who died in hospital in France between Jan 1, 2013, and Dec 31, 2016. We divided this population into cases (ie, patients with schizophrenia) and controls (ie, patients without a diagnosis of mental illness) and compared access to palliative care and indicators of high-intensity end-of-life care between groups. In addition to unmatched analyses, we also did matched analyses (matched in terms of age at death, sex, and site of primary cancer) between patients with schizophrenia and matched controls (1:4). Multivariable generalised linear models were done with adjustment for social deprivation, year of death, time from cancer diagnosis to death, metastases, comorbidity, and hospital type (ie, specialist cancer centre vs non-specialist centre).FindingsThe main analysis included 2481 patients with schizophrenia and 222 477 controls. The matched analyses included 2477 patients with schizophrenia and 9896 controls. Patients with schizophrenia were more likely to receive palliative care in the last 31 days of life (adjusted odds ratio 1·61 [95% CI 1·45–1·80]; p<0·0001) and less likely to receive high-intensity end-of-life care—such as chemotherapy and surgery—than were matched controls without a diagnosis of mental illness. Patients with schizophrenia were also more likely to die younger, had a shorter duration between cancer diagnosis and death, and were more likely to have thoracic cancers and comorbidities than were controls.InterpretationOur findings suggest the existence of disparities in health and health care between patients with schizophrenia and patients without a diagnosis of mental illness. These findings underscore the need for better understanding of health inequalities so that effective interventions can be developed for this vulnerable population

New perspectives on an old fishing practice: Scale, context and impacts of bottom trawling

This report seeks to provide new perspectives on this historical controversy by presenting the most up-todate synthesis of available data and evidence on bottom trawling's extent, impacts, and solutions in order to inform constructive policy-making. Specifically, it uses novel data analysis from Sea Around Us to map the global extent of bottom trawling; a synthesis of peer-reviewed literature to elucidate environmental, social, and climate impacts; and insights from more than 40 global experts on what a constructive future might look like that manages or severely. limits the worst impacts of this practice, while also ensuring a just and equitable society and a healthy food system

Hypoxia inducible factor 1α gene (HIF-1α) splice variants: potential prognostic biomarkers in breast cancer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) is a master transcriptional regulator of genes regulating oxygen homeostasis. The HIF-1 protein is composed of two HIF-1α and HIF-1β/aryl hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator (ARNT) subunits. The prognostic relevance of HIF-1α protein overexpression has been shown in breast cancer. The impact of HIF-1α alternative splice variant expression on breast cancer prognosis in terms of metastasis risk is not well known.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Using real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR assays, we measured mRNA concentrations of total <it>HIF-1α </it>and 4 variants in breast tissue specimens in a series of 29 normal tissues or benign lesions (normal/benign) and 53 primary carcinomas. In breast cancers <it>HIF-1α </it>splice variant levels were compared to clinicopathological parameters including tumour microvessel density and metastasis-free survival.</p> <p>Results</p> <p><it>HIF-1α </it>isoforms containing a three base pairs TAG insertion between exon 1 and exon 2 (designated <it>HIF-1α</it>^<it>TAG</it>) and <it>HIF-1α</it>^{<it>736 </it>}mRNAs were found expressed at higher levels in oestrogen receptor (OR)-negative carcinomas compared to normal/benign tissues (<it>P </it>= 0.009 and <it>P </it>= 0.004 respectively). In breast carcinoma specimens, lymph node status was significantly associated with <it>HIF-1α</it>^{<it>TAG </it>}mRNA levels (<it>P </it>= 0.037). Significant statistical association was found between tumour grade and <it>HIF-1α</it>^{<it>TAG </it>}(<it>P </it>= 0.048), and total <it>HIF-1α </it>(<it>P </it>= 0.048) mRNA levels. <it>HIF-1α</it>^{<it>TAG </it>}mRNA levels were also inversely correlated with both oestrogen and progesterone receptor status (<it>P </it>= 0.005 and <it>P </it>= 0.033 respectively). Univariate analysis showed that high <it>HIF-1α</it>^{<it>TAG </it>}mRNA levels correlated with shortened metastasis free survival (<it>P </it>= 0.01).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results show for the first time that mRNA expression of a <it>HIF-1α</it>^{<it>TAG </it>}splice variant reflects a stage of breast cancer progression and is associated with a worse prognosis.</p> <p>See commentary: <url>http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7015/8/45</url></p

Evaluation de l'abus et du détournement des médicaments psychoactifs en addictovigilance : analyse de bases de données hétérogènes

L’objectif de ce travail était d’analyser de manière conjointe différents indicateurs d’abus, de dépendance et de détournement de médicaments psychoactifs en conditions réelles d’utilisation issus de sources de données hétérogènes afin d’en présenter une vision synthétique. Les sources de données utilisées dans ce travail sont issues des outils et programmes des Centres d’Evaluation et d’Information sur la Pharmacodépendance – Addictovigilance (CEIP-A). Elles permettent de mesurer directement l’abus auprès de populations spécifiques de patients dépendants ou sous traitement de substitution par l’enquête OPPIDUM (Observation des Produits Psychotropes Illicites ou Détournés de leur Utilisation Médicamenteuse). Ces outils permettent aussi de mesurer le détournement via la mesure du nombre d’ordonnances falsifiées par l’enquête OSIAP (Ordonnances Suspectes, Indicateur d’Abus Possible) ainsi que la mesure du phénomène de « Doctor Shopping » (chevauchement d’ordonnances) et la mesure du nombre de patients présentant des comportements déviants (issu d’une analyse de classification) à partir de bases de données de remboursement de l’assurance maladie. Cette approche multi-sources a d’abord été appliquée à l’analyse de l’importance du détournement d’usage du clonazépam (Publication n°1). Ce travail a permis de mettre en évidence le détournement émergent du clonazépam et a surtout permis d’illustrer les difficultés à faire émerger cette information de manière cohérente et standardisée au travers des différentes sources de données. Ensuite, l’un des pré-requis d’un système de surveillance de l’abus et du détournement de médicaments étant de permettre d’étudier des tendances évolutives, nous avons proposé la méthode de classification visant à établir des profils de sujets déviants de manière à analyser l’évolution de détournement d’usage de méthyphénidate sur quatre années (Publication n°2). Cette méthode de classification a par la suite, été appliquée de manière conjointe à une méthode de mesure du « Doctor Shopping » pour étudier le détournement d’usage de la Buprenorphine Haut Dosage (BHD) dans la région PACA-Corse (Publication n°3). Cette étude nous a non seulement permis de mettre en évidence un problème important de détournement d’usage de la BHD mais elle nous a permis aussi de montrer la concordance entre ces deux méthodes (mesure du « Doctor Shopping » et méthode de classification) et d’évaluer leurs apports respectifs pour la surveillance de l’abus des médicaments. Ces deux méthodes ont par la suite été analysées de manière conjointe aux données issues des enquêtes OPPPIDUM et OSIAP pour permettre d’étudier et de comparer le détournement d’usage des médicaments de la famille des benzodiazépines (Publication n°4) et des opioïdes (Publication n°5). Cette approche multi-sources permet de limiter les biais inhérents à chaque méthode ou source prise isolément. L’ensemble de nos travaux met en exergue la pertinence d’un tel système pour évaluer l’abus d’un médicament mais aussi pour le comparer à d’autres substances. Néanmoins, le développement d’un tel système appliqué au domaine de la pharmacodépendance est relativement nouveau, et nécessite des améliorations tant dans l’intégration d’autres sources de données, que dans la méthodologie employée pour intégrer et synthétiser l’information ainsi obtenue. Finalement, cette thèse a montré que les CEIP-A avaient le potentiel pour mettre en œuvre un système multi-sources pouvant apporter une réelle contribution à l’étude de la pharmacodépendance en France.The objective of this work was to analyze abuse, dependence and diversion of psychoactive medicines in real settings using jointly different indicators issued from mixed datasources in order to present a synthetic vision. The datasources used in this work are issued from the tools developed by the Centres for Evaluation and Information on Pharmacodependency (CEIP). They allow to measure directly drug abuse with specific populations of dependent patients or under opiate treatment (OPPIDUM (Observation of the Illicit Psychotropic Products or Diverted from their Medicinal Use) survey)). These tools also allow to measure the diversion via the measure of the phenomenon of “doctor shopping” (overlapping of prescriptions) and the measure of the number of patients presenting a deviant behaviour from general health insurance databases; then they measure diversion through falsified prescriptions presented at pharmacies (the OSIAP (Forged prescriptions indicating potential abuse) survey).This multisources approach has been firstly applied to analyse abuse and diversion of clonazepam (1st publication). This study has highlighted the emerging problem of diversion of clonazepam, after flunitrazepam and has also illustrated the difficulty of analysing with consistency the information gathered by these different datasources. A good system for controlling drug diversion and abuse has to allow analysing trends. We have so proposed a classification method aiming at revealing profile of subjects with deviant behaviour to use it on an evolutive manner so as to study diversion of methylphenidate on a four year period (2nd publication). This classification method has then been applied jointly with a method measuring the “doctor shopping” to analyse diversion of High Dosage Buprenorphine (HDB) (3rd publication). This study has revealed an important problem of diversion of HDB, has also demonstrated that the two methods were globally concordant and has allowed to evaluate their advantages for the controlling of the abuse and diversion of prescription drugs. These two last methods have then been analysed jointly with data from the OPPIDUM and OSIAP surveys to allow to study and compare diversion of benzodiazepine drugs (4th publication) and opioids drugs (5th publication). This multisource approach allows to limit biases linked to each method seen individually. Our work points out the relevance of such a multisources system to estimate the abuse of a prescription drug and to compare it with the other substances. Nevertheless, the development of such a system applied to the domain of the drug dependency is relatively new, and requires improvements concerning the integration of the other sources of data and the methodology used to join and synthetize the information obtained. Finally, such a system "multi-sources” has the potential to exist and to make a real contribution to the domain of the drug dependency in France

Effects of ambient air pollutants on ARDS incidence and outcome: a narrative review

Abstract Background Exposure to air pollutants promotes inflammation, cancer, and mortality in chronic diseases. Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a common condition among intensive care unit patients and is associated with a high mortality rate. ARDS is characterized by significant lung inflammation, which can be replicated in animal models by acute exposure to high doses of various air pollutants. Recently, several clinical studies have been conducted in different countries to investigate the role of chronic or acute air pollutant exposure in enhancing both ARDS incidence and severity. Results Chronic exposure studies have mainly been conducted in the US and France. The results of these studies suggest that some air pollutants, notably ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and particulate matter, increase susceptibility to ARDS and associated mortality. Furthermore, their impact may differ according to the cause of ARDS. A cohort study conducted in an urbanized zone in China showed that exposure to very high levels of air pollutants in the few days preceding intensive care unit admission was associated with an increased incidence of ARDS. The effects of acute exposure are more debatable regarding ARDS incidence and severity. Conclusion There is a likely relationship between air pollutant exposure and ARDS incidence and severity. However, further studies are required to determine which pollutants are the most involved and which patients are the most affected. Due to the prevalence of ARDS, air pollutant exposure may have a significant impact and could be a key public health issue