Use of ER/PR/HER2 subtypes in conjunction with the 2007 St Gallen Consensus Statement for early breast cancer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The 2007 St Gallen international expert consensus statement describes three risk categories and provides recommendations for treatment of early breast cancer. The set of recommendations on how to best treat primary breast cancer is recognized and used by clinicians worldwide. We now examine the variability of five-year survival of the 2007 St Gallen Risk Classifications utilizing the ER/PR/HER2 subtypes.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Using the population-based California Cancer Registry, 114,786 incident cases of Stages 1-3 invasive breast cancer diagnosed between 2000 and 2006 were identified. Cases were assigned to Low, Intermediate, or High Risk categories. Five-year-relative survival was computed for the three St Gallen risk categories and for the ER/PR/HER2 subtypes for further differentiation.</p> <p>Results and Discussion</p> <p>There were 9,124 (13%) cases classified as Low Risk, 44,234 (65%) cases as Intermediate Risk, and 14,340 (21%) as High Risk. Within the Intermediate Risk group, 33,735 (76%) were node-negative (Intermediate Risk 2) and 10,499 (24%) were node-positive (Intermediate Risk 3). For the High Risk group, 6,149 (43%) had 1 to 3 positive axillary lymph nodes (High Risk 4) and 8,191 (57%) had four or more positive lymph nodes (High Risk 5).</p> <p>Using five-year relative survival as the principal criterion, we found the following: a) There was very little difference between the Low Risk and Intermediate Risk categories; b) Use of the ER/PR/HER2 subtypes within the Intermediate and High Risk categories separated each into a group with better five-year survival (ER-positive) and a group with worse survival (ER-negative), irrespective of HER2-status; c) The heterogeneity of the High Risk category was most evident when one examined the ER/PR/HER2 subtypes with four or more positive axillary lymph nodes; (d) HER2-positivity did not always translate to worse survival, as noted when one compared the triple positive subtype (ER+/PR+/HER2+) to the triple negative subtype (ER-/PR-/HER2-); and (e) ER-negativity appeared to be a stronger predictor of poor survival than HER2-positivity.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The use of ER/PR/HER2 subtype highlights the marked heterogeneity of the Intermediate and High Risk categories of the 2007 St Gallen statements. The use of ER/PR/HER2 subtypes and correlation with molecular classification of breast cancer is recommended.</p

Diversity among Bi-ethnic students and differences in educational outcomes and social functioning

The number of bi-ethnic children is increasing. The focus of this study is on bi-ethnic students in the Netherlands with one parent with an ethnic majority background and one parent with an ethnic minority background. Most studies that have investigated educational outcomes and social functioning in school for bi-ethnic students have not focused on the diversity within this group. In this study, we described the demographic, social and cultural diversity among bi-ethnic students and examined whether, in particular, ethnic background and gender of the migrant parent were related to the educational outcomes and social functioning of bi-ethnic students. Data on a total of 653 sixth grade bi-ethnic students (age 11–12) in primary education of the national Dutch cohort study (COOL5−18) were used in this study. To analyse the relationship between the ethnic background and gender of the migrant parent and the educational outcomes and social functioning among bi-ethnic students, multivariate multilevel analyses were performed. The research findings indicate that bi-ethnic students differ demographically, socially and culturally in a manner dependent on ethnic background and gender of the migrant parent. We also found that the ethnic background and the gender of the migrant parent were related to cognitive outcomes, social-emotional functioning and citizenship competences. When trying to understand and support bi-ethnic students, we must consider the diversity among them

Inferring additional knowledge from QTC(N) relations

It is widely held that people tend to use qualitative rather than quantitative phrases when raising or answering questions about moving objects. Queries about whether an object is moving towards or away from another object or whether objects are getting closer to each other or further away from each other, require qualitative responses. This characteristic should be reflected in a calculus to be used to describe and reason about continuously moving objects. In this paper, we present a qualitative trajectory calculus of relations between two disjoint moving objects, whose movement is constrained by a network. The proposed calculus (QTC N) is formally introduced and illustrated. Particular attention is placed on how to infer additional knowledge from QTC N relations by means of composition tables and the transformation of QTC N relations into relations defined by the Relative Trajectory Calculus on Networks (RTC N)

Fatores de risco de anemia em lactentes matriculados em creches públicas ou filantrópicas de São Paulo Risk factors for anemia in infants enrolled in public or philanthropic day-care centers in São Paulo city, Brazil

OBJETIVO: Identificar e quantificar os fatores de risco de anemia em lactentes matriculados em creches públicas ou filantrópicas no município de São Paulo e discutir o impacto das ações da creche no controle desta carência nutricional específica. MÉTODO: Estudo seccional compreendendo 212 lactentes de duas creches públicas e três filantrópicas. Foram realizadas entrevistas com as mães, coleta de sangue por punção digital e antropometria. Considerou-se como anemia, hemoglobina inferior a 11g/dL. Foi ajustado um modelo de regressão logística para fatores de risco entre grupos de lactentes com e sem anemia. RESULTADOS: A prevalência de anemia foi de 51,9%. O modelo logístico final foi composto por 4 variáveis: presença de 1 ou mais irmãos menores que 5 anos (Odds Ratio=2,57; p=0,005); estar freqüentando creche de administração exclusivamente pública (Odds Ratio=2,12; p=0,020); uso de aleitamento materno exclusivo inferior a 2 meses (Odds Ratio=1,88; p=0,044), e idade inferior a 15 meses (Odds Ratio=2,32; p=0,006). CONCLUSÃO:Concluiu-se que a alta prevalência de anemia evidencia a ineficiência das creches estudadas para controlar e prevenir esta carência nutricional; portanto, cabe ao planejador de saúde considerar os riscos de anemia identificados e quantificados quando da elaboração de programas de controle e prevenção.<br>OBJECTIVE: To identify and quantify the risk factors for anemia in infants enrolled in public or philanthropic day care centers in São Paulo city and discuss the impact of the actions of day care centers in controlling this specific nutritional deficiency. METHODS: Cross-sectional study comprising 212 infants of two public and three philanthropic day care centers. Interviews with the mothers, collection of blood by digital puncture and anthropometry were performed. Anemia was characterized by hemoglobin levels below 11g/dL. A logistic regression model for risk factors between groups of infants with and without anemia was adjusted. RESULTS: The prevalence of anemia was 51.9%. The final logistic model comprised 4 variables: presence of one or more siblings under 5 years of age (Odds Ratio=2.57; p=0.005), attending day care centers that are managed exclusively by the government (Odds Ratio=2.12; p=0.020), less than 2 months of exclusive breastfeeding (Odds Ratio=1.88; p=0.044), age under 15 months (Odds Ratio=2.32; p=0.006). CONCLUSION: The high prevalence of anemia evidences the inefficiency of the studied day care centers in controlling and preventing this nutritional deficiency; therefore, it is up to the health planner to consider the identified and quantified risks for anemia when elaborating control and prevention programs