47 research outputs found
Prospective analysis of circulating metabolites and endometrial cancer risk
Background: Endometrial cancer is strongly associated with obesity and dysregulation of metabolic factors such as estrogen and insulin signaling are causal risk factors for this malignancy. To identify additional novel metabolic pathways associated with endometrial cancer we performed metabolomic analyses on pre-diagnostic plasma samples from 853 case-control pairs from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). Methods: A total of 129 metabolites (acylcarnitines, amino acids, biogenic amines, glycerophospholipids, hexoses, and sphingolipids) were measured by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Conditional logistic regression estimated the associations of metabolites with endometrial cancer risk. An analysis focusing on clusters of metabolites using the bootstrap lasso method was also employed. Results: After adjustment for body mass index, sphingomyelin [SM] C18:0 was positively (OR1SD: 1.18, 95% CI: 1.05-1.33), and glycine, serine, and free carnitine (C0) were inversely (OR1SD: 0.89, 95% CI: 0.80-0.99; OR1SD: 0.89, 95% CI: 0.79-1.00 and OR1SD: 0.91, 95% CI: 0.81-1.00, respectively) associated with endometrial cancer risk. Serine, C0 and two sphingomyelins were selected by the lasso method in >90% of the bootstrap samples. The ratio of esterified to free carnitine (OR1SD: 1.14, 95% CI: 1.02-1.28) and that of short chain to free acylcarnitines (OR1SD: 1.12, 95% CI: 1.00-1.25) were positively associated with endometrial cancer risk. Further adjustment for C-peptide or other endometrial cancer risk factors only minimally altered the results. Conclusion: These findings suggest that variation in levels of glycine, serine, SM C18:0 and free carnitine may represent specific pathways linked to endometrial cancer development. If causal, these pathways may offer novel targets for endometrial cancer prevention
Teaching the Process of Science: Faculty Perceptions and an Effective Methodology
Most scientific endeavors require science process skills such as data interpretation, problem solving, experimental design, scientific writing, oral communication, collaborative work, and critical analysis of primary literature. These are the fundamental skills upon which the conceptual framework of scientific expertise is built. Unfortunately, most college science departments lack a formalized curriculum for teaching undergraduates science process skills. However, evidence strongly suggests that explicitly teaching undergraduates skills early in their education may enhance their understanding of science content. Our research reveals that faculty overwhelming support teaching undergraduates science process skills but typically do not spend enough time teaching skills due to the perceived need to cover content. To encourage faculty to address this issue, we provide our pedagogical philosophies, methods, and materials for teaching science process skills to freshman pursuing life science majors. We build upon previous work, showing student learning gains in both reading primary literature and scientific writing, and share student perspectives about a course where teaching the process of science, not content, was the focus. We recommend a wider implementation of courses that teach undergraduates science process skills early in their studies with the goals of improving student success and retention in the sciences and enhancing general science literacy
Clinicopathological analysis of recurrence patterns and prognostic factors for survival after hepatectomy for colorectal liver metastasis
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Hepatectomy is recommended as the most effective therapy for liver metastasis from colorectal cancer (CRCLM). It is crucial to elucidate the prognostic clinicopathological factors.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Eighty-three patients undergoing initial hepatectomy for CRCLM were retrospectively analyzed with respect to characteristics of primary colorectal and metastatic hepatic tumors, operation details and prognosis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The overall 5-year survival rate after initial hepatectomy for CRCLM was 57.5%, and the median survival time was 25 months. Univariate analysis clarified that the significant prognostic factors for poor survival were depth of primary colorectal cancer (≥ serosal invasion), hepatic resection margin (< 5 mm), presence of portal vein invasion of CRCLM, and the presence of intra- and extrahepatic recurrence. Multivariate analysis indicated the presence of intra- and extrahepatic recurrence as independent predictive factors for poor prognosis. Risk factors for intrahepatic recurrence were resection margin (< 5 mm) of CRCLM, while no risk factors for extrahepatic recurrence were noted. In the subgroup with synchronous CRCLM, the combination of surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy controlled intrahepatic recurrence and improved the prognosis significantly.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Optimal surgical strategies in conjunction with effective chemotherapeutic regimens need to be established in patients with risk factors for recurrence and poor outcomes as listed above.</p
Dietary intake of acrylamide and endometrial cancer risk in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition cohort
Background: Three prospective studies have evaluated the association
between dietary acrylamide intake and endometrial cancer (EC) risk with
inconsistent results. The objective of this study was to evaluate the
association between acrylamide intake and EC risk: for overall EC, for
type-I EC, and in never smokers and never users of oral contraceptives
(OCs). Smoking is a source of acrylamide, and OC use is a protective
factor for EC risk.
Methods: Cox regression was used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) for the
association between acrylamide intake and EC risk in the European
Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort.
Acrylamide intake was estimated from the EU acrylamide monitoring
database, which was matched with EPIC questionnaire-based food
consumption data. Acrylamide intake was energy adjusted using the
residual method.
Results: No associations were observed between acrylamide intake and
overall EC (n = 1382) or type-I EC risk (n = 627). We observed
increasing relative risks for type-I EC with increasing acrylamide
intake among women who both never smoked and were non-users of OCs
(HRQ5vsQ1: 1.97, 95% CI: 1.08-3.62; likelihood ratio test (LRT)
P-value: 0.01, n = 203).
Conclusions: Dietary intake of acrylamide was not associated with
overall or type-I EC risk; however, positive associations with type I
were observed in women who were both non-users of OCs and never smokers
Insulin-like growth factor I and risk of epithelial invasive ovarian cancer by tumour characteristics: results from the EPIC cohort
Background: Prospective studies on insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I)
and epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) risk are inconclusive. Data suggest
risk associations vary by tumour characteristics.
Methods: We conducted a nested case-control study in the European
Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) to evaluate
IGF-I concentrations and EOC risk by tumour characteristics (n = 565
cases). Multivariable conditional logistic regression models were used
to estimate associations.
Results: We observed no association between IGF-I and EOC overall or by
tumour characteristics.
Conclusions: In the largest prospective study to date was no association
between IGF-I and EOC risk. Pre-diagnostic serum IGF-I concentrations
may not influence EOC risk
An epidemiologic risk prediction model for ovarian cancer in Europe: the EPIC study
Background: Ovarian cancer has a high case-fatality ratio, largely due
to late diagnosis. Epidemiologic risk prediction models could help
identify women at increased risk who may benefit from targeted
prevention measures, such as screening or chemopreventive agents.
Methods: We built an ovarian cancer risk prediction model with
epidemiologic risk factors from 202 206 women in the European
Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study.
Results: Older age at menopause, longer duration of hormone replacement
therapy, and higher body mass index were included as increasing ovarian
cancer risk, whereas unilateral ovariectomy, longer duration of oral
contraceptive use, and higher number of full-term pregnancies were
decreasing risk. The discriminatory power (overall concordance index) of
this model, as examined with five-fold cross-validation, was 0.64 (95%
confidence interval (CI): 0.57, 0.70). The ratio of the expected to
observed number of ovarian cancer cases occurring in the first 5 years
of follow-up was 0.90 (293 out of 324, 95% CI: 0.81-1.01), in general
there was no evidence for miscalibration.
Conclusion: Our ovarian cancer risk model containing only
epidemiological data showed modest discriminatory power for a Western
European population. Future studies should consider adding informative
biomarkers to possibly improve the predictive ability of the model