Exceptions to the rule of informed consent for research with an intervention

Background In specific situations it may be necessary to make an exception to the general rule of informed consent for scientific research with an intervention. Earlier reviews only described subsets of arguments for exceptions to waive consent. Methods Here, we provide a more extensive literature review of possible exceptions to the rule of informed consent and the accompanying arguments based on literature from 1997 onwards, using both Pubmed and PsycINFO in our search strategy. Results We identified three main categories of arguments for the acceptability of a consent waiver: data validity and quality, major practical problems, and distress or confusion of participants. Approval by a medical ethical review board always needs to be obtained. Further, we provide examples of specific conditions under which consent waiving might be allowed, such as additional privacy protection measures. Conclusions The reasons legitimized by the authors of the papers in this overview can be used by researchers to form their own opinion about requesting an exception to the rule of informed consent for their own study. Importantly, rules and guidelines applicable in their country, institute and research field should be followed. Moreover, researchers should also take the conditions under which they feel an exception is legitimized under consideration. After discussions with relevant stakeholders, a formal request should be sent to an IRB

The method of detection of ductal carcinoma in situ has no therapeutic implications: results of a population-based cohort study

Multivariable-adjusted Cox regression analysis of ipsilateral and contralateral invasive breast cancer in women aged 49–75 years at DCIS diagnosis (DCIS diagnostic period 1989–2004). Age was the primary time scale, time since DCIS diagnosis (0–5, 5–10, and ≥10 years) the secondary time scale, and DCIS treatment a time-varying covariable (DOCX 22 kb

The impact of menstruation persistence or recovery after chemotherapy on survival in young patients with hormone receptor negative breast cancer

Introduction: Hormone replacement therapy can diminish hormone depletion-related complaints in postmenopausal women, but is contraindicated for postmenopausal breast cancer (BC) patients. Recovery of menstruation after chemotherapy-induced amenorrhea in young hormone receptor-negative BC patients however, is accepted. To determine the safety of this strategy, we investigated the effect of recovery of menstruation on disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) in young hormone receptor-negative BC patients treated with (neo)adjuvant chemotherapy. Methods: We selected 636 patients from a single-center cohort with early stage hormone receptornegative BC and under the age of 50 years when treated with chemotherapy. Sufficient data on course of menstruation in medical records was retrospectively found for 397 patients, of whom 299 patients (75%) had a recovery of menstruation after chemotherapy. We used Cox proportional hazards models to estimate hazard ratios (HR) for the effect of recovery of menstruation on DFS and OS. Results: Patients with recovery of menstruation after chemotherapy less frequ

Data management and data analysis techniques in pharmacoepidemiological studies using a pre-planned multi-database approach : a systematic literature review

PurposeTo identify pharmacoepidemiological multi-database studies and to describe data management and data analysis techniques used for combining data. MethodsSystematic literature searches were conducted in PubMed and Embase complemented by a manual literature search. We included pharmacoepidemiological multi-database studies published from 2007 onwards that combined data for a pre-planned common analysis or quantitative synthesis. Information was retrieved about study characteristics, methods used for individual-level analyses and meta-analyses, data management and motivations for performing the study. ResultsWe found 3083 articles by the systematic searches and an additional 176 by the manual search. After full-text screening of 75 articles, 22 were selected for final inclusion. The number of databases used per study ranged from 2 to 17 (median=4.0). Most studies used a cohort design (82%) instead of a case-control design (18%). Logistic regression was most often used for individual-level analyses (41%), followed by Cox regression (23%) and Poisson regression (14%). As meta-analysis method, a majority of the studies combined individual patient data (73%). Six studies performed an aggregate meta-analysis (27%), while a semi-aggregate approach was applied in three studies (14%). Information on central programming or heterogeneity assessment was missing in approximately half of the publications. Most studies were motivated by improving power (86%). ConclusionsPharmacoepidemiological multi-database studies are a well-powered strategy to address safety issues and have increased in popularity. To be able to correctly interpret the results of these studies, it is important to systematically report on database management and analysis techniques, including central programming and heterogeneity testing. (c) 2015 The Authors. Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.Peer reviewe

The benefit of adding polygenic risk scores, lifestyle factors, and breast density to family history and genetic status for breast cancer risk and surveillance classification of unaffected women from germline CHEK2 c.1100delC families

To determine the changes in surveillance category by adding a polygenic risk score based on 311 breast cancer (BC)-associated variants (PRS311), questionnaire-based risk factors and breast density on personalized BC risk in unaffected women from Dutch CHEK2 c.1100delC families. In total, 117 unaffected women (58 heterozygotes and 59 non-carriers) from CHEK2 families were included. Blood-derived DNA samples were genotyped with the GSAMDv3-array to determine PRS311. Lifetime BC risk was calculated in CanRisk, which uses data from the Breast and Ovarian Analysis of Disease Incidence and Carrier Estimation Algorithm (BOADICEA). Women, were categorized into three surveillance groups. The surveillance advice was reclassified in 37.9 % of heterozygotes and 32.2 % of non-carriers after adding PRS311. Including questionnaire-based risk factors resulted in an additional change in 20.0 % of heterozygotes and 13.2 % of non-carriers; and a subanalysis showed that adding breast density on top shifted another 17.9 % of heterozygotes and 33.3 % of non-carriers. Overall, the majority of heterozygotes were reclassified to a less intensive surveillance, while non-carriers would require intensified surveillance. The addition of PRS311, questionnaire-based risk factors and breast density to family history resulted in a more personalized BC surveillance advice in CHEK2-families, which may lead to more efficient use of surveillance.</p

The association of diabetes mellitus and insulin treatment with expression of insulin-related proteins in breast tumors

BACKGROUND: The insulin receptor (INSR) and the insulin growth factor 1 receptor (IGF1R) play important roles in the etiology of both diabetes mellitus and breast cancer. We aimed to evaluate the expression of hormone and insulin-related proteins within or related to the PI3K and MAPK pathway in breast tumors of women with or without diabetes mellitus, treated with or without insulin (analogues). METHODS: Immunohistochemistry was performed on tumor tissue of 312 women with invasive breast cancer, with or without pre-existing diabetes mellitus, diagnosed in 2000-2010, who were randomly selected from a Danish breast cancer cohort. Women with diabetes were 2:1 frequency matched by year of birth and age at breast cancer diagnosis to those without diabetes. Tumor Microarrays were successfully stained for p-ER, EGFR, p-ERK1/2, p-mTOR, and IGF1R, and scored by a breast pathologist. Associations of expression of these proteins with diabetes, insulin treatment (human insulin and insulin analogues) and other diabetes medication were evaluated by multivariable logistic regression adjusting for menopause and BMI; effect modification by menopausal status, BMI, and ER status was assessed using interactions terms. RESULTS: We found no significant differences in expression of any of the proteins in breast tumors of women with (n = 211) and without diabetes (n = 101). Among women with diabetes, insulin use (n = 53) was significantly associated with higher tumor protein expression of IGF1R (OR = 2.36; 95%CI:1.02-5.52; p = 0.04) and p-mTOR (OR = 2.35; 95%CI:1.13-4.88; p = 0.02), especially among women treated with insulin analogues. Menopause seemed to modified the association between insulin and IGF1R expression (p = 0.07); the difference in IGF1R expression was only observed in tumors of premenopausal women (OR = 5.10; 95%CI:1.36-19.14; p = 0.02). We found no associations between other types of diabetes medication, such as metformin, and protein expression of the five proteins evaluated. CONCLUSIONS: In our study, breast tumors of women with pre-existing diabetes did not show an altered expression of selected PI3K/MAPK pathway-related proteins. We observed an association between insulin treatment and increased p-mTOR and IGF1R expression of breast tumors, especially in premenopausal women. This observation, if confirmed, might be clinically relevant since the use of IGF1R and mTOR inhibitors are currently investigated in clinical trials

Clinicians' use of breast cancer risk assessment tools according to their perceived importance of breast cancer risk factors: an international survey.

The BOADICEA breast cancer (BC) risk assessment model and its associated Web Application v3 (BWA) tool are being extended to incorporate additional genetic and non-genetic BC risk factors. From an online survey through the BOADICEA website and UK, Dutch, French and Swedish national genetic societies, we explored the relationships between the usage frequencies of the BWA and six other common BC risk assessment tools and respondents' perceived importance of BC risk factors. Respondents (N = 443) varied in age, country and clinical seniority but comprised mainly genetics health professionals (82%) and BWA users (93%). Oncology professionals perceived reproductive, hormonal (exogenous) and lifestyle BC risk factors as more important in BC risk assessment compared to genetics professionals (p values < 0.05 to 0.0001). BWA was used more frequently by respondents who gave high weight to breast tumour pathology and low weight to personal BC history as BC risk factors. BWA use was positively related to the weight given to hormonal BC risk factors. The importance attributed to lifestyle and BMI BC risk factors was not associated with the use of BWA or any of the other tools. Next version of the BWA encompassing additional BC risk factors will facilitate more comprehensive BC risk assessment in genetics and oncology practice