Gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist use in men without a cancer registry diagnosis of prostate cancer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Use of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists has become popular for virtually all stages of prostate cancer. We hypothesized that some men receive these agents after only a limited work-up for their cancer. Such cases may be missed by tumor registries, leading to underestimates of the total extent of GnRH agonist use.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We used linked Surveillance, Epidemiology and End-Results (SEER)-Medicare data from 1993 through 2001 to identify GnRH agonist use in men with either a diagnosis of prostate cancer registered in SEER, or with a diagnosis of prostate cancer based only on Medicare claims (from the 5% control sample of Medicare beneficiaries residing in SEER areas without a registered diagnosis of cancer). The proportion of incident GnRH agonist users without a registry diagnosis of prostate cancer was calculated. Factors associated with lack of a registry diagnosis were examined in multivariable analyses.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of incident GnRH agonist users, 8.9% had no diagnosis of prostate cancer registered in SEER. In a multivariable logistic regression model, lack of a registry diagnosis of prostate cancer in GnRH agonist users was significantly more likely with increasing comorbidity, whereas it was less likely in men who had undergone either inpatient admission or procedures such as radical prostatectomy, prostate biopsy, or transurethral resection of the prostate.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Reliance solely on tumor registry data may underestimate the rate of GnRH agonist use in men with prostate cancer.</p

Cause of Death in Older Men After the Diagnosis of Prostate Cancer

To compare survival and cause of death in men aged 65 and older diagnosed with prostate cancer and with survival and cause of death in a noncancer control population. DESIGN : Retrospective cohort from a population-based tumor registry linked to Medicare claims data. SETTING : Eleven regions of the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) Tumor Registry. PARTICIPANTS : Men aged 65 to 84 (N=208,601) diagnosed with prostate cancer from 1988 through 2002 formed the basis for different analytical cohorts. MEASUREMENTS : Survival as a function of stage and tumor grade (low, Gleason grade<7; moderate, grade=7; and high, grade=8–10) was compared with survival in men without any cancer using Cox proportional hazards regression. Cause of death according to stage and tumor grade were compared using chi-square statistics. RESULTS : Men with early-stage prostate cancer and with low- to moderate-grade tumors (59.1% of the entire sample) experienced a survival not substantially worse than men without prostate cancer. In those men, cardiovascular disease and other cancers were the leading causes of death. CONCLUSION : The excellent survival of older men with early-stage, low- to moderate-grade prostate cancer, along with the patterns of causes of death, implies that this population would be well served by an ongoing focus on screening and prevention of cardiovascular disease and other cancers.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66098/1/j.1532-5415.2008.02091.x.pd

Reply

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/137766/1/hep29248.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/137766/2/hep29248_am.pd

Survival and cost‐effectiveness of sorafenib therapy in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma: An analysis of the SEER–Medicare database

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135309/1/hep28881-sup-0001-suppinfo.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135309/2/hep28881_am.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135309/3/hep28881.pd

Stereo Imaging Miniature Endoscope with Single Imaging Chip and Conjugated Multi-Bandpass Filters

A dual objective endoscope for insertion into a cavity of a body for providing a stereoscopic image of a region of interest inside of the body including an imaging device at the distal end for obtaining optical images of the region of interest (ROI), and processing the optical images for forming video signals for wired and/or wireless transmission and display of 3D images on a rendering device. The imaging device includes a focal plane detector array (FPA) for obtaining the optical images of the ROI, and processing circuits behind the FPA. The processing circuits convert the optical images into the video signals. The imaging device includes right and left pupil for receiving a right and left images through a right and left conjugated multi-band pass filters. Illuminators illuminate the ROI through a multi-band pass filter having three right and three left pass bands that are matched to the right and left conjugated multi-band pass filters. A full color image is collected after three or six sequential illuminations with the red, green and blue lights

The temporal and long‐term impact of donor body mass index on recipient outcomes after kidney transplantation – a retrospective study

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/153284/1/tri13505_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/153284/2/tri13505.pd

Survivin Loss in Thymocytes Triggers p53-mediated Growth Arrest and p53-independent Cell Death

Because survivin-null embryos die at an early embryonic stage, the role of survivin in thymocyte development is unknown. We have investigated the role by deleting the survivin gene only in the T lineage and show here that loss of survivin blocks the transition from CD4− CD8− double negative (DN) thymocytes to CD4+ CD8+ double positive cells. Although the pre–T cell receptor signaling pathway is intact in survivin-deficient thymocytes, the cells cannot respond to its signals. In response to proliferative stimuli, cycling survivin-deficient DN cells exhibit cell cycle arrest, a spindle formation defect, and increased cell death. Strikingly, loss of survivin activates the tumor suppressor p53. However, the developmental defects caused by survivin deficiency cannot be rescued by p53 inactivation or introduction of Bcl-2. These lines of evidence indicate that developing thymocytes depend on the cytoprotective function of survivin and that this function is tightly coupled to cell proliferation but independent of p53 and Bcl-2. Thus, survivin plays a critical role in early thymocyte development

The implications of baseline bone‐health assessment at initiation of androgen‐deprivation therapy for prostate cancer

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/142891/1/bju14075.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/142891/2/bju14075_am.pd