2018 European Conference on Donor Health and Management

The third European Conference on Donor Health and Management (ECDHM) was held in Copenhagen from 5th to 7th September 2018 and was co‐organised by the ECDHM committees and European Blood Alliance. This is an international conference with a focus on ‘donor health’, including donors of blood, organs and other substances of human origin, and remains the only conference focusing exclusively on donor medicine. This overview presents a selection of research topics in relation to iron, the keynote speeches and plenary talks. The keynote speeches cover the epidemiology of donors and recipients, whole‐blood donor recruitment and retention and the safety of donors and recipients of plasma and plasma products. Talks from the plenary speakers reviewed modern multi‐omic approaches to study red cell quality and the central, perennial question of what motivates a donor to give blood and how can this be encouraged.     

The Undervalued Effects of Polychlorinated Biphenyl Exposure on Breast Cancer

The incidence of breast cancer across the world has been on the rise in recent decades. Because identified risk factors can only explain a relatively small portion of the cases, environmental exposure to organic pollutants is suspected to play a role in breast cancer etiology. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are among the most abundant pollutants, and the impact of their exposure on breast cancer risk has been extensively studied in recent decades. However, the results of most epidemiologic studies do not support an association between PCB exposure and breast cancer risk. We hypothesized that the effects of PCBs on breast cancer might have been undervalued for reasons such as insufficient recognition of the confounding effects of several factors and lack of attention on the innate heterogeneity of PCB mixtures or breast cancer. After reviewing the evidence in the existing literature, we concluded that early life exposure, known risk factors of breast cancer, and impact of exposure to other pollutants are the main sources of confounding effects and have potentially masked the associations between PCBs and breast cancer. Because PCBs are mixtures of congeners with varied properties, and because breast cancers of different subtypes are etiologically distinct diseases, the absence of stratified subgroup analysis on individual PCBs and patients with specific biological subtypes and insufficient attention paid to the results of these subgroup analyses may result in an underestimation of the correlations between PCBs and breast cancer. In future studies, these factors must be taken into consideration when exploring the effect of PCB exposure on breast cancer risk.     

A Phase II Open Label Study of Everolimus in Combination With Endocrine Therapy in Resistant Hormone Receptor-Positive HER2-Negative Advanced Breast Cancer

BackgroundTherapies targeting estrogen receptor signaling are standard for patients with hormone receptor (HR)-positive (HR⁺) metastatic breast cancer (MBC). Dysregulation of the phosphoinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (AKT)/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway is associated with treatment resistance. Addition of the mTOR inhibitor, everolimus, to exemestane doubled progression-free survival (PFS) in HR⁺/HER2⁻ MBC patients whose disease had previously progressed during endocrine therapy. In this phase II study, we used everolimus in addition to the most recent endocrine therapy during which a patient's disease progressed, in an attempt to restore and extend the benefit of the antiestrogen therapy in patients with HR⁺/HER2⁻ MBC.Patients and MethodsPatients with HR⁺ MBC who progressed on antiestrogen therapy received everolimus (10 mg orally daily) in combination with the antiestrogen therapy most recently administered. Treatment was administered in 4-week cycles and continued until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Blood and archival tumor specimens were collected for VeriStrat (Biodesix, Inc) and Foundation One (Foundation Medicine) assays, respectively. Accrual of 42 evaluable patients allowed detection of improvement in median PFS from 2.8 months (expected with hormonal treatment alone) to 5 months (power 80%, α = 5%).ResultsForty-seven patients were enrolled and treated. After a median follow-up of 22.2 months, median PFS was 6.6 months. Secondary efficacy end points included: overall response rate, 6%; clinical benefit rate, 40%; and median overall survival, 21.1 months. No unexpected toxicity was observed. Efficacy could not be correlated with PI3K/AKT/mTOR alterations or VeriStrat (Biodesix, Inc) prognostic signatures.ConclusionAfter progression during antiestrogen therapy, the addition of everolimus, without changing the hormonal therapy, resulted in a median PFS of 6.6 months, suggesting efficacy in patients with HR⁺/HER2⁻ MBC.     

炔雌醇环丙孕酮片用于PCOS不孕治疗中的效果

目的 分析炔雌醇环丙孕酮片(达英-35)、二甲双胍联合克罗米芬序贯用于治疗多囊卵巢综合征不孕的临床效果.方法 选取在医院接受治疗的多囊卵巢综合征不孕患者88例,选取时间为2017年10月—2018年12月,随机将所有患者分为2组,即对照组(44例)、观察组(44例),对照组患者行炔雌醇环丙孕酮片、克罗米芬序贯治疗,观察组患者行达英-35、二甲双胍联合克罗米芬序贯治疗.结果 经过治疗后,观察组患者的妊娠率为86.36%,明显高于对照组患者的妊娠率,数据差异显著,P<0.05;治疗后,两组患者的LH、FSH、T、E2等激素水平与治疗前对比,差异显著,P<0.05;治疗后,观察组患者的LH、FSH、T、E2等激素水平与对照组对比,数据差异较明显,P<0.05.结论 多囊卵巢综合征不孕患者接受炔雌醇环丙孕酮片、二甲双胍联合克罗米芬序贯治疗,可以改善患者的激素水平,提高患者的妊娠几率.     

A cross-sectional examination of sociodemographic factors associated with meeting physical activity recommendations in overweight and obese US adults

ObjectiveObesity has reached epidemic proportions in the US. Physical activity is an important component of obesity reduction, but little is known about contemporary exercise levels among overweight/obese American adults. In this study, we compared current physical activity levels in overweight and obese US adults to those of normal weight individuals as well as ascertained which sociodemographic factors influence the meeting of physical activity recommendations in these three groups.MethodsWe used national data from 2015 and 2017 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System surveys (n = 726,075). Bivariate analyses were conducted to determine unadjusted physical activity levels in normal weight, overweight, and obese adults. We fit multinomial logistic models to identify associations between sociodemographic factors and meeting physical activity recommendations in our study population.ResultsAround 45% of overweight and 57% of obese adults failed to meet physical activity guidelines compared to 41% of normal weight adults. Age, sex, and race were significantly associated with physical activity levels for both overweight and obese adults. In overweight and obese individuals, associations between sociodemographic factors and physical activity were more similar between the two comparisons of insufficiently active (IA) versus active (A)/highly active (HA) and A versus HA but quite different to those in the inactive (IN) versus IA/A/HA comparison.ConclusionsFuture physical activity interventions should be aimed at increasing the number of overweight and obese US adults who meet physical activity guidelines as well as targeted towards specific sociodemographic groups within the overweight/obese population with low exercise levels.     

The continuing conundrum in oligometastatic breast carcinoma: A real-world data

The optimal management in Oligometastatic (OM) breast carcinoma is not defined.ObjectivesTo identify the prognostic factors influencing OM and the effect of Locoregional treatment (LRT) on survival in OM.MethodologyPatients with ≤5 metastases and each with ≤ 5 cm size were defined as OM. Data of OM were extracted from the Institute Registry between 2012 and 2018. The impact of prognostic factors on survival was analysed by univariate and multivariate Cox regression. The Kaplan Meier survival curves were used to plot PFS and OS.ResultsThere were 170 patients with OM. The median follow-up was 61 months. Median OS was 43.3 months. The median OS was 74 months in OMD vs 22.7 months in Oligorecurrent disease (ORD) with 5year OS rate of 55.3% vs 16.5% respectively. In the multivariate analyses of OMD both Ki67 ≤ 50% and hormone therapy (HT) showed significant favourable survival outcome. While premenopausal status and HT showed significant survival benefits in ORD. The worse survival outcome in ORD could be because of their aggressive biology and deficit in LRT compared to literature review. The prognostic factors were swayed by the uneven distribution of HR status, grade and Ki67.ConclusionThe survival of OM was influenced by OMD, Ki67 ≤ 50%, premenopausal status and HT. The lesser survival rates of OM in the long term suggest the need for curative LRT to metastatic sites and primary tumor. The potential role of HT and targeted therapy with or without LRT need to be assessed in future randomised trials.     

Detecting Optic Atrophy in Multiple Sclerosis Patients Using New Colorimetric Analysis Software: From Idea to Application

Neuro-ophthalmologists typically observe a temporal pallor of the optic disc in patients with multiple sclerosis. Here, we describe the emergence of an idea to quantify these optic disc color changes in multiple sclerosis patients. We recruited 12 multiple sclerosis patients with previous optic neuritis attack and obtained photographs of their optic discs. The Laguna ONhE, a new colorimetric software using hemoglobin as the reference pigment in the papilla, was used for the analysis. The papilla of these multiple sclerosis patients showed greater pallor, especially in the temporal sector. The software detected the pallor and assigned hemoglobin percentages below normal reference values. Measurements of optic disc hemoglobin levels obtained with the Laguna ONhE software program had good ability to detect optic atrophy and, consequently, axonal loss in multiple sclerosis patients. This new technology is easy to implement in routine clinical practice.     

235家临床实验室红细胞沉降率参考区间和医学决定水平的现况调查

目的调查全国235家实验室红细胞沉降率(ESR)参考区间和医学决定水平的现状。方法利用基于Web方式的室间质量评价软件系统,收集参加2014年ESR参考区间调查室间质量评价计划的实验室与参考区间和医学决定水平有关的结果。使用SPSS 13.0软件对所有参加的实验室结果进行分析,按照仪器对各实验室进行分组进行参考区间和医学决定水平的统计描述。结果参加调查ESR参考区间的实验室数量为235家,其中96家上报了医学决定水平。参考区间来源中,比例最高的为《全国临床检验操作规程》(80.85%),接下来依次为教科书(8.51%)、仪器试剂厂家说明书(6.38%)、实验室自己确定(2.98%)和其他。医学决定水平的来源中,最多的也是《全国临床检验操作规程》(75.00%),其次为仪器试剂厂家说明书(15.63%)。仅有45.11%和46.88%的参与实验室在使用参考区间和医学决定水平前对其进行了验证。分别有168家和72家实验室按照性别对ESR参考区间和医学决定水平进行了区分。男、女和未分组的参考区间上限和医学决定水平在不同仪器组无明显差异(P0.05)。结论我国ESR参考区间和医学决定水平的现况不尽如人意,目前急需一致的国家标准来指导实验室制订适当的ESR参考区间和医学决定水平。