ECG scoring for the evaluation of therapy-naïve cancer patients to predict cardiotoxicity

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate a new electrocardiographic (ECG) score reflecting domains of electrical and structural alterations in therapy-naïve cancer patients to assess their risk of cardiotoxicity. METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of 134 therapy-naïve consecutive cancer patients in our two university hospitals concerning four ECG score parameters: Contiguous Q-waves, markers of left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy, QRS duration and JTc prolongation. Cardiotoxicity was assessed after a short-term follow-up (up to 12 months). RESULTS: Of all the patients (n = 25), 19% reached 0 points, 50% (n = 67) reached 1 point, 25% (n = 33) reached 2 points, 5% (n = 7) reached 3 points and 0.7% reached 4 or 5 points (n = 1 respectively). The incidence of cardiotoxicity (n = 28 [21%]) increased with the ECG score, with 0 points at 0%, 1 point 7.5%, 2 points 55%, 3 points 71% and ≥3 points 50%. In the ROC (Receiver operating curves) analysis, the best cut-off for predicting cardiotoxicity was an ECG score of ≥2 points (sensitivity 82%, specificity 82%, AUC 0.84, 95% CI 0.77-0.92, p < 0.0001) which was then defined as a high-risk score. High-risk patients did not differ concerning their age, LV ejection fraction, classical cardiovascular risk factors or cardiac biomarkers compared to those with a low-risk ECG score. CONCLUSION: ECG scoring prior to the start of anti-cancer therapies may help to identify therapy-naïve cancer patients at a higher risk for the development of cardiotoxicity. SIMPLE SUMMARY: Due to improved survival upon effective anti-cancer therapies, the management of treatment-related side-effects is of increasing interest and importance. Cardiovascular side-effects of chemo-, targeted- and/or immunotherapies are common and can be harmful. To date, the identification of patients who could experience those cardiovascular side-effects prior to the anti-cancer therapy start is difficult. We show that the use of a simple electrocardiographic (ECG) score can help to predict the occurrence of cardiovascular toxicity of anti-cancer therapies

Assessment of coronary artery disease during hospitalization for cancer treatment

BACKGROUND: With improvement of cancer-specific survival, comorbidities and treatment-related side effects, particularly cardiovascular toxicities, need close attention. The aim of the present study was to evaluate clinical characteristics and outcomes of cancer patients requiring coronary angiography during inpatient care. METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of patients hospitalized between 02/2011 and 02/2018 in our two university hospital cancer centers. From a cohort of 60,676 cancer patients, we identified 153 patients (65.7 ± 11.6 years, 73.2% male), who underwent coronary angiography and were eligible for analysis. These were compared to a control group of 153 non-cancer patients pair-matched with respect to age, sex, and indication for catheterization. RESULTS: Cancer patients presented in 66% with an acute coronary syndrome (ACS). The most prevalent cancer entities were lymphoma (19%) and lung cancer (18.3%). The rate of primary percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) was significantly lower in the cancer cohort (40.5% vs. 53.6%, p = 0.029), although manifestation of coronary artery disease (CAD) and PCI results were comparable (SYNergy between PCI with TAXus and cardiac surgery (SYNTAX)-score, delta pre- and post-PCI - 9.8 vs. - 8.0, p = 0.2). Mortality was remarkably high in cancer patients (1-year mortality 46% vs. 8% in non-cancer patients, p < 0.001), particularly with troponin-positive ACS (5-year mortality 71%). CONCLUSION: Strategies to effectively control cardiovascular risks in cancer patients are needed. Additionally, suspected CAD in cancer patients should not prevent prompt diagnostic clarification and optimal revascularization as PCI results in cancer patients are comparable to non-cancer patients and occurrence of troponin-positive ACS leads to a significantly increased risk of mortality

Competitive Reporter Monitored Amplification (CMA) - Quantification of Molecular Targets by Real Time Monitoring of Competitive Reporter Hybridization

Background: State of the art molecular diagnostic tests are based on the sensitive detection and quantification of nucleic acids. However, currently established diagnostic tests are characterized by elaborate and expensive technical solutions hindering the development of simple, affordable and compact point-of-care molecular tests. Methodology and Principal Findings: The described competitive reporter monitored amplification allows the simultaneous amplification and quantification of multiple nucleic acid targets by polymerase chain reaction. Target quantification is accomplished by real-time detection of amplified nucleic acids utilizing a capture probe array and specific reporter probes. The reporter probes are fluorescently labeled oligonucleotides that are complementary to the respective capture probes on the array and to the respective sites of the target nucleic acids in solution. Capture probes and amplified target compete for reporter probes. Increasing amplicon concentration leads to decreased fluorescence signal at the respective capture probe position on the array which is measured after each cycle of amplification. In order to observe reporter probe hybridization in real-time without any additional washing steps, we have developed a mechanical fluorescence background displacement technique. Conclusions and Significance: The system presented in this paper enables simultaneous detection and quantification of multiple targets. Moreover, the presented fluorescence background displacement technique provides a generic solution fo

The Eurasian Modern Pollen Database (EMPD), version 2

The Eurasian (née European) Modern Pollen Database (EMPD) was established in 2013 to provide a public database of high-quality modern pollen surface samples to help support studies of past climate, land cover, and land use using fossil pollen. The EMPD is part of, and complementary to, the European Pollen Database (EPD) which contains data on fossil pollen found in Late Quaternary sedimentary archives throughout the Eurasian region. The EPD is in turn part of the rapidly growing Neotoma database, which is now the primary home for global palaeoecological data. This paper describes version 2 of the EMPD in which the number of samples held in the database has been increased by 60 % from 4826 to 8134. Much of the improvement in data coverage has come from northern Asia, and the database has consequently been renamed the Eurasian Modern Pollen Database to reflect this geographical enlargement. The EMPD can be viewed online using a dedicated map-based viewer at https://empd2.github.io and downloaded in a variety of file formats at https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.909130 (Chevalier et al., 2019)Swiss National Science Foundation | Ref. 200021_16959

The Eurasian Modern Pollen Database (EMPD), version 2

The Eurasian (nee European) Modern Pollen Database (EMPD) was established in 2013 to provide a public database of high-quality modern pollen surface samples to help support studies of past climate, land cover, and land use using fossil pollen. The EMPD is part of, and complementary to, the European Pollen Database (EPD) which contains data on fossil pollen found in Late Quaternary sedimentary archives throughout the Eurasian region. The EPD is in turn part of the rapidly growing Neotoma database, which is now the primary home for global palaeoecological data. This paper describes version 2 of the EMPD in which the number of samples held in the database has been increased by 60% from 4826 to 8134. Much of the improvement in data coverage has come from northern Asia, and the database has consequently been renamed the Eurasian Modern Pollen Database to reflect this geographical enlargement. The EMPD can be viewed online using a dedicated map-based viewer at https://empd2.github.io and downloaded in a variety of file formats at https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.909130 (Chevalier et al., 2019).Peer reviewe

Feilke revisited : 60 Stellenbesuche

Weitere Hrsg.: Thorsten Pohl, Sara Rezat, Torsten Steinhoff, Martin SteinseiferAnlässlich des 60. Geburtstags des Linguisten und Sprachdidaktikers Helmuth Feilke wurden Wegbegleiterinnen und Wegbegleiter gebeten, einzelne Stellen in seinen wissenschaftlichen Schriften erneut zu besuchen. Entstanden sind pointierte Kommentare, kurze wissenschaftliche Abhandlungen und Analysen, Varianten auch des kritischen und kontroversen Nach- und Weiterdenkens und Ansätze zur Neu- oder Re-Kontextualisierung. Je nach wissenschaftlicher Vita der Autorinnen und Autoren kann es sich um Stellen handeln, deren Rezeption zeitlich weit zurückliegt, oder um Passagen, die ganz aktuelle Fragen der eigenen Forschungsarbeit tangieren. Abgesehen davon, dass ein kurzes Format für die Beiträge gewählt und die Autorinnen und Autoren gebeten wurden, die ausgewählte Stelle knapp zu verorten und zu erläutern, war die Bearbeitungsform gänzlich freigestellt. So sind Texte in einer Bandbreite von pointierten Kommentaren, kurzen wissenschaftlichen Abhandlungen und Analysen, Varianten des Nach- und Weiterdenkens, Ansätze zur Neu- oder Re-Kontextualisierung bis hin zu Formen des kritischen Hinterfragens und der kontroversen Auseinandersetzung entstanden