Endogenous endophthalmitis secondary to septic arthritis caused by group A Streptococcus infection: A case report and literature review

Streptococcus pyogenes is a rare pathogen that causes endogenous endophthalmitis (EE). A healthy 58-year-old woman was diagnosed with EE secondary to septic arthritis caused by S. pyogenes. She underwent enucleation after hospitalization for 14 days with appropriate antibiotic cover. A literature search for outcomes of this condition revealed reports on only 10 eyes among 8 cases identified: 8 eyes (80%) developed poor visual outcome and 5 eyes (50%) underwent enucleation. There were no cases with immunocompromise. Our case report and literature review suggest the importance of awareness of the occurrence of S. pyogenes infection in immunocompetent hosts, and thus early diagnosis and aggressive treatment may be required to improve visual outcome.     

Patterns in metabolite profile are associated with risk of more aggressive prostate cancer: A prospective study of 3,057 matched case–control sets from EPIC

Metabolomics may reveal novel insights into the etiology of prostate cancer, for which few risk factors are established. We investigated the association between patterns in baseline plasma metabolite profile and subsequent prostate cancer risk, using data from 3,057 matched case–control sets from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). We measured 119 metabolite concentrations in plasma samples, collected on average 9.4 years before diagnosis, by mass spectrometry (AbsoluteIDQ p180 Kit, Biocrates Life Sciences AG). Metabolite patterns were identified using treelet transform, a statistical method for identification of groups of correlated metabolites. Associations of metabolite patterns with prostate cancer risk (OR_1SD) were estimated by conditional logistic regression. Supplementary analyses were conducted for metabolite patterns derived using principal component analysis and for individual metabolites. Men with metabolite profiles characterized by higher concentrations of either phosphatidylcholines or hydroxysphingomyelins (OR_1SD = 0.77, 95% confidence interval 0.66–0.89), acylcarnitines C18:1 and C18:2, glutamate, ornithine and taurine (OR_1SD = 0.72, 0.57–0.90), or lysophosphatidylcholines (OR_1SD = 0.81, 0.69–0.95) had lower risk of advanced stage prostate cancer at diagnosis, with no evidence of heterogeneity by follow-up time. Similar associations were observed for the two former patterns with aggressive disease risk (the more aggressive subset of advanced stage), while the latter pattern was inversely related to risk of prostate cancer death (OR_1SD = 0.77, 0.61–0.96). No associations were observed for prostate cancer overall or less aggressive tumor subtypes. In conclusion, metabolite patterns may be related to lower risk of more aggressive prostate tumors and prostate cancer death, and might be relevant to etiology of advanced stage prostate cancer.     

应用放射组学和剂量学特征预测食管癌放射治疗后的两年生存情况

  目的  使用放射组学与剂量学特征参数，建立机器学习预测模型，预测食管癌患者放射治疗后两年的生存情况。  方法  回顾性分析2013年1月至2017年12月在天津医科大学肿瘤医院接受放射治疗的食管癌患者共579例。从食管癌患者的放射治疗计划中提取GTV的放射组学和剂量学的特征，使用最大相关最小冗余与人工方法对特征参数进行筛选，分别选取14项放射组学和14项剂量学特征，并将特征变量进行标准化归一至[0, 1]范围。建立支持向量机、逻辑回归和随机森林等机器学习模型，先使用14项放射组学特征，再使用28项放射组学和剂量学混合特征参数进行训练和测试，来预测食管癌放射治疗患者的两年生存情况。  结果  仅使用放射组学特征预测放射治疗后两年生存情况时，支持向量机、逻辑回归和随机森林模型的准确率分别为84.98%、85.92%和84.51%。使用放射组学和剂量学的混合特征参数进行预测时，支持向量机、逻辑回归和随机森林模型的准确率分别为86.32%、83.02%和90.01%。在放射组学特征参数基础上，增加剂量学特征，支持向量机和随机森林模型的预测准确性得到有效提高。  结论  针对支持向量机和随机森林模型，使用放射组学和放射治疗剂量学特征参数放射治疗，可有效提高对食管癌患者放射治疗后两年生存情况预测评估的准确性。      

Psychosocial mechanisms of a behavioral treatment for urinary incontinence of prostate cancer survivors

Abstract

Purpose: We examined underlying psychosocial processes of a behavioral treatment for urinary incontinence (UI) of prostate cancer survivors.

Design: Secondary analysis of data collected from a clinical trial.

Sample: Two hundred forty-four prostate cancer survivors who participated in a clinical trial of behavioral intervention to UI as intervention or control subjects.

Methods: The participants had a 3-month behavioral intervention or usual care and were followed up for an additional 3?months. They were assessed at baseline, 3, and 6?months. Latent growth curve models were performed to examine trajectories of each study variable and relationships among the variables.

Findings: Increasing self-efficacy and social support were significantly and independently associated with more reduction of urinary leakage frequency over time.

Implications for psychosocial oncology: Providing problem-solving skills and social support, including peer support, are essential for empowering patients to reduce UI.     

食管癌根治性放疗剂量研究进展

同步放化疗是不可手术局部晚期食管癌的标准治疗模式,国际推荐根治性放疗剂量为50.0~50.4Gy,但中国食管癌与西方国家在病理类型、生物学行为等方面大有不同,行根治性放疗剂量仍倾向于60Gy。增加放疗剂量能否带来生存获益成为临床亟待解决的问题。有研究认为高剂量放疗可提高局控率、改善生存,但也有研究认为提高剂量未能带来生存获益,且可增加不良反应事件发生率。因此,本文就食管癌根治性放疗剂量对预后的影响进行探讨,并通过放化疗后疗效评估对放疗剂量做出适当调整,以期达个体化放疗。     

Polymorphisms in glutathione-S-transferase genes (GST-M1, GST-T1 and GST-P1) and susceptibility to prostate cancer among male smokers of the ATBC cancer prevention study.

Glutathione-S-transferase (GST) genes encode a family of detoxification enzymes that offer protection against endogenous and exogenous sources of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Germline variations in GST genes may alter the catalytic efficiency of GST isoenzymes leading to a potential increase in susceptibility to the genotoxic effects of ROS and electrophilic substances. A nested case-control study design was used to examine the association between the polymorphic GST genes and prostate cancer risk among Finnish male smokers of the ATBC Cancer Prevention Study. A case-case analysis was used to determine the association between these genetic polymorphisms and prostate cancer progression. Germline DNA was obtained from 206 prostate cancer cases and 194 controls frequency matched on age, intervention group and study clinic. Cases and controls were genotyped for three GST genes using MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry or multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Relative to the wild-type genotype, we observed a 36% reduction in prostate cancer risk associated with the GST-M1-null genotype (odds ratio (OR) 0.64, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.43, 0.95). Unlike GST-M1, GST-T1-null (OR 0.74, 95% CI 0.42, 1.33) and GST-P1*B (OR 1.10, 95% CI 0.72, 1.69) were not strongly associated with prostate cancer risk. We did not observe any significant associations between the selected polymorphic GST genes and tumour grade or stage. In conclusion, we did not observe a direct association between polymorphic GST-T1 or GST-P1 and prostate cancer risk. Our observation of a relatively strong inverse association between the GST-M1-null genotype and prostate cancer risk needs to be confirmed in larger association studies.     

How health services research can help clinical trials become more community relevant

U.S. agencies that fund addiction research have recently made major efforts to bridge “the gap between research and treatment”. One strategy developed by the National Institute on Drug Abuse is the “Clinical Trials Network”, which is designed to conduct effectiveness studies in real world, community-based programs rather than research settings. While a step in the right direction, these studies have focused almost exclusively on the effectiveness of standard treatment interventions using limited research methodologies. Health services issues that will determine the long-term acceptance or rejection of these interventions in the community have been largely ignored: the effects of process variables, how public health policy facilitates or hinders implementation, the perspectives and experiences of various stakeholders, and the relationships between addiction treatment and other community-based services. This paper suggests that addiction researchers need to look beyond the question of whether an intervention is “effective” and examine the community context within which those interventions are delivered. Adding this health services view to compliment clinical trials research requires examination of new research questions, broader designs of studies, modifications in the collection of data, and assessment of addiction policy. Recent studies examining recovery from addiction in sober living and Oxford houses are described as examples of community relevant research that could benefit from additional health services research.     

Aneurisma de aorta abdominal infrarrenal en asociación con riñón en herradura: aportación de un caso

We review the association between surgically resolvable aortic disease and horseshoe kidney with a discussion of diagnostic problems and therapeutic options.Male patient 81 years of age with horseshoe kidney and an abdominal aortic aneurysm that was discovered by chance in an abdominal ultrasound during a check-up for his prostate condition.A retroperitoneal approach was used in order to resect the aneurysm and perform an aorto-aortic bypass with no complications occurring. Two years after the diagnosis, the patient is still asymptomatic from a vascular point of view.The co-presence of horseshoe kidney and aortic disease needing surgical correction is infrequent, but it significantly increases the technical complexity of aortic reconstruction. A literature review is included.