Underassessment of weight and weight management in patients with diabetes: One more reason in support of weight management advice

AimsThe purpose of this study was to determine whether underassessment of weight affects weight management behaviors of overweight and obese individuals with diabetes and to determine whether weight management advice from health care professionals modifies the effect of underassessment of weight.MethodsData (n = 979) from the 2006 and 2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were analyzed. Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with underassessment of weight, weight management behaviors, and receipt of weight management advice from health care professionals.ResultsUnderassessment of weight was common (26%). Men, overweight persons, Blacks and Hispanics were more likely to underassess their weight. Those who underassessed their weight were 53% less likely to report weight management behaviors, odds ratio 0.47 (95% CI = 0.31–0.73). Weight management advice increased weight management behaviors among individuals who underassessed their weight, 3.49 (95% CI = 1.70–7.18).ConclusionsUnderassessment of weight can negatively affect weight management behaviors of overweight and obese individuals with diabetes. Weight management advice from health care professionals is important, and can modify the effect of underassessment of weight on weight management behaviors in this high risk group.     

What is the real prognostic value of close margins in oral oncology?

Aim: The surgical margin is usually considered an important prognostic factor in oral oncology. However, the real value of a close surgical margin and its relationship with survival is still unclear. Thus, the present report sought to identify the relationship between close surgical margins and overall 3-year survival, whilst also analyzing the association between such margins and recurrence.Materials and Methods: The medical records of 200 patients affected by oral squamous cell carcinoma were retrospectively reviewed. The patients were divided into three groups: positive margin (0-2 mm), close margin (2-5 mm), and negative margin (>5 mm). The relationship between surgical margins and overall survival and recurrence rate was analyzed.Results: Surgical margins and reoperation were found to have no significant association with overall survival (P > 0.05). Overall survival was 63% in our sample. Specifically, this was 50%, 64.7% and 66.2% in patients with positive, close and free margins, respectively. Perineural invasion, pN, and locoregional or cervical recurrences were the factors most directly related to overall survival.Discussion: The results of this study indicate that surgical margins are not directly related to overall survival and other factors might significantly influence patient outcomes. Advanced T stage, node involvement, perineural invasion, and ECS are strongly linked with patient survival (P < 0.05). These findings should be carefully evaluated in patients with close surgical margins. Our results indicate that an aggressive adjuvant treatment of patients with close surgical margins could help in obtaining a similar pattern of overall survival with patients with negative margins.     

The racial disparity of nasopharyngeal carcinoma based on the database analysis

ObjectiveTo investigate whether the racial/ethnical disparity of nasopharyngeal carcinoma exists among the four major ethical groups in the United States named Asians, Caucasians, African Americans and Hispanics between the years of 1973 to 2013 using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Result (SEER) database.MethodsThe National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database from 1973 to 2013 was utilized in this study to calculate survival trends for the four main ethical groups in the United States. The cases of nasopharyngeal carcinoma were extracted based on the SEER code cs0204schema. Death due to the diagnosed nasopharyngeal cancer was considered to be the event of interest, and death due to other causes was treated as the censoring events. Kaplan–Meier model was adopted to estimate survival outcomes; the Cox proportional hazards model was employed to do the hazard ratios (HR) estimation.ResultsA total of 8068 eligible patients of nasopharyngeal carcinoma were identified. The cohort was composed of 40.69% Caucasians, 11.34% African Americans, 40.16% Asians and 7.81% Hispanics. According to the multivariate Cox regression analysis, Asians had a better survival prognosis against Caucasians (HR: 0.74, 95% CI: 0.65–0.84, P < 0.001). African Americans showed marginal worse survival prognosis compared with Caucasians (HR: 1.26, 95% CI: 1.07–1.49, P < 0.005). There was no significant difference between Hispanics and Caucasians (HR: 1.13, 95% CI: 0.92–1.39, P = 0.261).ConclusionAsians showed a disease specific survival advantage over Caucasians, African Americans and Hispanics, which was independent of sex, age at diagnosis, grade, TNM staging and treatment strategy.     

Population genetic data of 20 insertion-null allele markers in the Andalusian population

International Journal of Legal Medicine - Genetic data from 21 autosomal insertion-null (INNULs) markers found in the InnoTyper® 21 Human DNA Analysis (InnoGenomics®) was evaluated in 190...