Geographical tourism research and education at the Jagiellonian University School of Tourism in Poland (1936-1939)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jackowski, Antoni; Sołjan, Izabela; Bilska-Wodecka, Elżbieta; Liro, Justyna

2016-11-01

The beginning of the twentieth century was a time of intensive development of geographical research on tourism, as well as the establishment of tourism research centers in many European countries. The Jagiellonian University School of Tourism played an important role in the development of tourism geography and education, spatial and regional planning, and personnel training for tourism developing in the 1930s in Poland. Tourism education in the school was characterized by a modern curriculum and forms of teaching, including fieldwork, focusing on developing practical skills, and linking research topics with the teaching process. The school conducted extensive research, publishing and documentary activities. The achievements of the Jagiellonian University School of Tourism helped raise awareness in society of the importance of tourism in the socio-economic development of regions and cities. This article presents the history of the Jagiellonian University School of Tourism and highlights its role in the development of tourism research and education in Europe. The school is mentioned among the pioneering centers of tourism, i.e., Robert Glucksmann's Tourism Research Institute at the Berlin School of Commerce, Walter Hunziker's and Kurt Krapf's tourism seminar in St. Gallen, and Raoul Blanchard's Institute of Alpine Geography in Grenoble.

[Advanced Prostate Cancer Consensus Conference 2017 : Discussion of the recommendations for diagnosis and treatment of metastatic prostate cancer by a German panel of experts].

PubMed

Schostak, M; König, F; Bögemann, M; Goebell, P; Hammerer, P; Machtens, S; Schwentner, C; Thomas, C; von Amsberg, G; von Rundstedt, F-C; Heidenreich, A

2018-05-28

In March 2017 the 'Advanced Prostate Cancer Consensus Conference' (APCCC) took place in St. Gallen (Switzerland). The APCCC-panelists are internationally well known experts. With the actual data in mind they discussed treatment options for patients with advanced prostate cancer in order to update the international APCCC-recommendations from the previous meeting in 2015. Recently these consensus recommendations have been published in "European Urology".A group of German experts discussed this year APCCC-votes during the meeting and the recommendations that were concluded from the votes from the German perspective. Reasons for an additional German discussion are country-specific variations that may have influenced the APCCC-votes und recommendations. Due to the concept of the APCCC-meeting the wording of the questions could not always be as necessary.One focus of this year consensus discussion was the treatment of metastatic castration-naive prostate cancer (mCNPC). There are new data which may also influence the therapeutic situation of patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). Further points of discussion were the impact of new imaging procedures in the clinical setting as well as the treatment of oligometastatic prostate cancer.

Ethnoveterinary herbal remedies used by farmers in four north-eastern Swiss cantons (St. Gallen, Thurgau, Appenzell Innerrhoden and Appenzell Ausserrhoden)

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Very few ethnoveterinary surveys have been conducted in central Europe. However, traditional knowledge on the use of medicinal plants might be an option for future concepts in treatment of livestock diseases. Therefore the aim of this study was to document and analyse the traditional knowledge and use of homemade herbal remedies for livestock by farmers in four Swiss cantons. Methods Research was conducted in 2012. Fifty farmers on 38 farms were interviewed with the aid of semistructured interviews. Detailed information about the plants used and their mode of preparation were documented as well as dosage, route of administration, category of use, origin of knowledge, frequency of use, and satisfaction with the treatment. Results In total, 490 homemade remedies were collected. Out of these, 315 homemade remedies contained only one plant species (homemade single species herbal remedies, HSHR), which are presented in this paper. Seventy six species from 44 botanical families were mentioned. The most HSHR were quoted for the families of Asteraceae, Polygonaceae and Urticaceae. The plant species with the highest number of HSHRs were Matricaria recutita L., Calendula officinalis L., Rumex obtusifolius L. and Urtica dioica L. For each HSHR, one to eight different applications were enumerated. A total of 428 applications were documented, the majority of which were used to treat cattle. The main applications were in treatment of skin afflictions and sores, followed by gastrointestinal disorders and metabolic dysfunctions. Topical administration was most frequently used, followed by oral administration. In nearly half of the cases the knowledge on preparing and using herbal remedies was from forefathers and relatives. More than one third of the applications were used more than ten times during the last five years, and in about sixty percent of the cases, the last application was during the last year preceding the interviews. Conclusions Traditional knowledge of farmers about the use of medicinal plants to treat livestock exists in north-eastern Switzerland. Homemade herbal remedies based on this knowledge are being used. The interviewed farmers were satisfied with the outcome of the applications. PMID:24685062

Ethnoveterinary herbal remedies used by farmers in four north-eastern Swiss cantons (St. Gallen, Thurgau, Appenzell Innerrhoden and Appenzell Ausserrhoden).

PubMed

Disler, Monika; Ivemeyer, Silvia; Hamburger, Matthias; Vogl, Christian R; Tesic, Anja; Klarer, Franziska; Meier, Beat; Walkenhorst, Michael

2014-03-31

Very few ethnoveterinary surveys have been conducted in central Europe. However, traditional knowledge on the use of medicinal plants might be an option for future concepts in treatment of livestock diseases. Therefore the aim of this study was to document and analyse the traditional knowledge and use of homemade herbal remedies for livestock by farmers in four Swiss cantons. Research was conducted in 2012. Fifty farmers on 38 farms were interviewed with the aid of semistructured interviews. Detailed information about the plants used and their mode of preparation were documented as well as dosage, route of administration, category of use, origin of knowledge, frequency of use, and satisfaction with the treatment. In total, 490 homemade remedies were collected. Out of these, 315 homemade remedies contained only one plant species (homemade single species herbal remedies, HSHR), which are presented in this paper. Seventy six species from 44 botanical families were mentioned. The most HSHR were quoted for the families of Asteraceae, Polygonaceae and Urticaceae. The plant species with the highest number of HSHRs were Matricaria recutita L., Calendula officinalis L., Rumex obtusifolius L. and Urtica dioica L. For each HSHR, one to eight different applications were enumerated. A total of 428 applications were documented, the majority of which were used to treat cattle. The main applications were in treatment of skin afflictions and sores, followed by gastrointestinal disorders and metabolic dysfunctions. Topical administration was most frequently used, followed by oral administration. In nearly half of the cases the knowledge on preparing and using herbal remedies was from forefathers and relatives. More than one third of the applications were used more than ten times during the last five years, and in about sixty percent of the cases, the last application was during the last year preceding the interviews. Traditional knowledge of farmers about the use of medicinal plants to treat livestock exists in north-eastern Switzerland. Homemade herbal remedies based on this knowledge are being used. The interviewed farmers were satisfied with the outcome of the applications.

Vegetation and climate development on the Atlantic Coastal Plain during the late Mid-Miocene Climatic Optimum (IODP Expedition 313)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prader, Sabine; Kotthoff, Ulrich; McCarthy, Francine; Greenwood, David

2015-04-01

which was reminiscent of Oligocene and early Miocene ecosystems analyzed in previous studies (e.g. Kotthoff et al. 2014). The ecosystem was characterized by oak-hickory forests which probably dominated in the lowlands, while frequent occurrence of conifer pollen (Pinus, Picea, Abies, Sciadopitys, and Tsuga canadensis) indicate that conifer forests prevailed in higher altitudes during the MMCO. We assume that the Miocene uplift of the Appalachian Mountains (e.g. Gallen et al., 2013) led to the proliferation of mountainous taxa and thus to an increase of related pollen taxa in the palynological record. References: Gallen, S. F., Wegmann, K. W., Bohnenstieh, D. W. R.: Miocene rejuvenation of topographic relief in the southern Appalachians, GSA Today, 23, 4-10, 2013. Kotthoff, U., McCarthy, F.M.G., Greenwood, D.R., Müller-Navarra, K., Prader, S., Hesselbo, S.P., (2014): Vegetation and climate development on the Atlantic Coastal Plain from 33 to 13 million years ago (IODP expedition 313). Climate of the Past 10, 1523-1539.

Node-Negative Breast Cancer: Which Patients Should Be Treated?

PubMed Central

Schmidt, Marcus

2008-01-01

Summary Adjuvant systemic therapy has led to markedly improved outcome in early-stage breast cancer. However, the absolute gains from chemotherapy might be modest in node-negative patients. Adjuvant chemotherapy is the only option for triple-negative breast cancer patients and should be used with trastuzumab in HER2-positive patients. Considering the large group of patients with some degree of endocrine responsiveness, adding chemotherapy according to risk is an option. At present, we guide our therapeutic decisions using clinicopathologic risk classifications like the St. Gallen risk category or Adjuvant! online. A downside of these risk estimations is a low specificity and consequently the risk for overtreatment of a considerable number of patients. To spare patients unnecessary toxicities we need more reliable prognostic factors or tumor markers. From the plethora of tumor markers, only urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA)/plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (PAI-1) and certain multiparameter gene expression assays are recommended by the American Society of Clinical Oncology. These tumor markers are presently investigated in clinical trials in node-negative breast cancer (NNBC-3, MINDACT, TAILORx). These studies will hopefully allow us to quantify the risk of progression in the individual patient and to tailor treatment accordingly. This should lead to a more personalized treatment recommendation. PMID:21076603

The Modelling of Knowledge-Intensive Processes Using Semantics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feldkamp, Daniela; Hinkelmann, Knut; Thönssen, Barbara

In the "i2010 eGovernment Action Plan" it is stated that: "Member States have committed themselves to inclusive eGovernment objectives to ensure that by 2010 all citizens [...] become major beneficiaries of eGovernment, and European public administrations deliver public information and services that are more easily accessible and increasingly trusted by the public, through innovative use of ICT, increasing awareness of the benefits of eGovernment and improved skills and support for all users" (Commission of the European Communities 2006). For example, in the latest study on e-Government in Switzerland conducted by the University of St. Gallen, it was stated for the first time that measures for e-Government quality improvement are change (42% of the Swiss cantons, 19% of the Swiss municipalities) and benchmarking (business) activities/processes (41% of the Swiss cantons, 50% of the Swiss municipalities). But in the same study, design and IT-supported processes are considered a huge challenge (Schedler et al. 2007a, b). Thus, what Becker et al. already described still holds true: Although the benefit of having formal models of business processes is well known in public administrations, too few processes have been modelled and lesser still have been automated (Becker et al. 2003).

Meeting highlights--International Consensus Panel on the treatment of primary breast cancer.

PubMed

Taguchi, Tetsuo

2002-03-01

The 7th International Conference on Adjuvant Therapy of Primary Breast Cancer, with several thousand delegates from 70 countries, was held in February 2001 in St. Gallen, Switzerland. Its consensus recommendations were summarized in the Sept. 15 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology (Vol. 19, No. 18, 2001: pp 3817-3827). The panel conference developed guidelines advising that all patients with endocrine-responsive tumors receive anti-hormonal therapy, including those at minimal risk of recurrence (defined as a 10% risk at 10 years). The panel further lowered the threshold defining endocrine-responsive disease to tumors containing as few as 1% of cells that stain positive for steroid hormone receptors. Treatment of primary breast cancer should depend on the hormonal status of tumors. The last set of guidelines, issued in 1998, supported a more limited use of endocrine-based therapy, but recent research has convinced the oncology community otherwise. Postmenopausal women have the greatest prevalence of hormone-positive tumors, and more than one-third of breast cancers in women of child-bearing age are estrogen dependent. The panel also highlighted several other important advances, including: the importance of factoring patient preferences into treatment decisions; the value of sentinel lymph node biopsy in avoiding extensive surgery; and incorporation of new agents and improved outcome in the treatment of breast cancer.

[Axillary management in breast cancer: The French practice versus recommendations in the post-2011 era].

PubMed

Clavier, A; Cornou, C; Capmas, P; Bats, A-S; Bensaid, C; Nos, C; Lécuru, F; Ngô, C

2016-05-01

Today, according to St-Gallen and ASCO clinical guidelines, axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) should be avoided in patients who meet the ACOSOG Z011 criteria. In French guidelines, ALND is still recommended in case of macrometastasis in sentinel lymph node (SLN) and in case of micrometastasis without systemic treatment. We performed a survey of the French practices in the management of the axilla. A questionnaire was sent to 454 breast surgeons between June 2014 and January 2015. Questionnaire included items about: indications of SLN biopsy, frequency of ALND in case of metastatic SLN and modality of radiotherapy in case of metastatic SLN without ALND. A total of 169 surgeons (37%) answer the questionnaire. Twenty-one percent of surgeons avoid ALND in case of macrometastasis. Thirty-two percent do not perform extemporaneous examination of SLN. Only 8.4% of practionners performed a SLN biopsy after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Fourteen percent performed a SLN biopsy in case of multicentric tumors, while it is not recommended. In case of positive SLN without ALND completion, radiotherapy does not change in 34% while irradiation fields are expanded in 44%. Significant unconformities are observed towards national recommendations. The divergence between French and international guidelines leads to heterogeneous surgical practices. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

High prevalence of luminal B breast cancer intrinsic subtype in Colombian women

PubMed Central

Serrano-Gomez, Silvia Juliana; Sanabria-Salas, Maria Carolina; Hernández-Suarez, Gustavo; García, Oscar; Silva, Camilo; Romero, Alejandro; Mejía, Juan Carlos; Miele, Lucio; Fejerman, Laura; Zabaleta, Jovanny

2016-01-01

Breast cancer is the most frequent malignancy in women worldwide. Distinct intrinsic subtypes of breast cancer have different prognoses, and their relative prevalence varies significantly among ethnic groups. Little is known about the prevalence of breast cancer intrinsic subtypes and their association with clinicopathological data and genetic ancestry in Latin Americans. Immunohistochemistry surrogates from the 2013 St. Gallen International Expert Consensus were used to classify breast cancers in 301 patients from Colombia into intrinsic subtypes. We analyzed the distribution of subtypes by clinicopathological variables. Genetic ancestry was estimated from a panel of 80 ancestry informative markers. Luminal B breast cancer subtype was the most prevalent in our population (37.2%) followed by luminal A (26.3%), non-basal triple negative (NBTN) (11.6%), basal like (9%), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) enriched (8.6%) and unknown (7.3%). We found statistical significant differences in distribution between Colombian region (P = 0.007), age at diagnosis (P = 0.0139), grade (P < 0.001) and recurrence (P < 0.001) according to intrinsic subtype. Patients diagnosed with HER2-enriched, basal-like and NBTN breast cancer had the highest African ancestry. Future studies analyzing the molecular profiles of breast cancer in Colombian women will help us understand the molecular basis of this subtype distribution and compare the molecular characteristics of the different intrinsic subtypes in Colombian patients. PMID:27207651

[Neurological aspects described in The treasure of medicines for all illnesses by Gregorio López].

PubMed

Carod-Artal, F J; Vázquez-Cabrera, C B

Latin American medicine in the 16th century produced the first collections of herbs with native plants from the New World. Treatises on popular therapies appeared, which included gallenic remedies as well as incorporating autochthonous plants. We review the main neurological diseases and their treatments described in The Treasure of Medicines for All Illnesses by Gregorio Lopez (1542-1596). Some critics claim that his work was an enumeration of empirical prescriptions, sometimes with a magico-religious influence, which was extended in successive reprints. Yet, this manuscript is probably the first treatise on therapeutics written by a European in the New World to describe the native remedies employed in the treatment of diseases. In the section entitled Remedies in alphabetical order the following neurological ailments and appropriate remedies to treat them are described: abscess, apoplexy, brain, chilling, cramp, gota coral or epilepsy, headache, melancholy, memory, migraine, nerves, palsy, paralysis, sciatica, stupor and vertigo. The list of diseases is very complete and includes syndromes ranging from fevers, colics and bruises to phthisis, scabs or burns. The copy of the manuscript in the Vatican contains a final section on Indian medicines, which includes a list of medicinal plants used at that time, with the names given in Nahuatl language. Headaches, epilepsy and conditions affecting the peripheral nerves were the neurological pathologies that were described at greatest length in The Treasure of Medicines for All Illnesses, and for which a greater number of natural prescriptions were compiled.

High prevalence of luminal B breast cancer intrinsic subtype in Colombian women.

PubMed

Serrano-Gomez, Silvia Juliana; Sanabria-Salas, Maria Carolina; Hernández-Suarez, Gustavo; García, Oscar; Silva, Camilo; Romero, Alejandro; Mejía, Juan Carlos; Miele, Lucio; Fejerman, Laura; Zabaleta, Jovanny

2016-07-01

Breast cancer is the most frequent malignancy in women worldwide. Distinct intrinsic subtypes of breast cancer have different prognoses, and their relative prevalence varies significantly among ethnic groups. Little is known about the prevalence of breast cancer intrinsic subtypes and their association with clinicopathological data and genetic ancestry in Latin Americans. Immunohistochemistry surrogates from the 2013 St. Gallen International Expert Consensus were used to classify breast cancers in 301 patients from Colombia into intrinsic subtypes. We analyzed the distribution of subtypes by clinicopathological variables. Genetic ancestry was estimated from a panel of 80 ancestry informative markers. Luminal B breast cancer subtype was the most prevalent in our population (37.2%) followed by luminal A (26.3%), non-basal triple negative (NBTN) (11.6%), basal like (9%), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) enriched (8.6%) and unknown (7.3%). We found statistical significant differences in distribution between Colombian region (P = 0.007), age at diagnosis (P = 0.0139), grade (P < 0.001) and recurrence (P < 0.001) according to intrinsic subtype. Patients diagnosed with HER2-enriched, basal-like and NBTN breast cancer had the highest African ancestry. Future studies analyzing the molecular profiles of breast cancer in Colombian women will help us understand the molecular basis of this subtype distribution and compare the molecular characteristics of the different intrinsic subtypes in Colombian patients. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Survival benefit of zoledronic Acid in postmenopausal breast cancer patients receiving aromatase inhibitors.

PubMed

Ahn, Sung Gwe; Kim, Sung Hyun; Lee, Hak Min; Lee, Seung Ah; Jeong, Joon

2014-12-01

A growing body of evidence indicates that zoledronic acid (ZA) can improve the clinical outcome in patients with breast cancer and low estrogen levels. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the survival benefit of ZA administration in postmenopausal Korean women with breast cancer who were also receiving aromatase inhibitors. Between January 2004 and December 2010, 235 postmenopausal breast cancer patients undergoing aromatase inhibitor therapy were investigated. All patients were postmenopausal, as confirmed by laboratory tests. Of these patients, 77 received adjuvant upfront ZA for at least 1 year in addition to conventional adjuvant treatment. The remaining 158 patients never received ZA and were treated according to the St. Gallen guidelines. The baseline characteristics for ZA treatment were not different between the two groups. The median follow-up time was 62 months, and the patients who received ZA in addition to aromatase inhibitors showed a better recurrence-free survival compared to those who received aromatase inhibitors alone (p=0.035). On multivariate analysis, the patients who received ZA showed a better recurrence-free survival independent of the tumor size, nodal status, progesterone receptor, and histological grade. For this model, Harrell c index was 0.743. The hazard ratio of ZA use for recurrence-free survival was 0.12 (95% confidence interval, 0.01-0.99). Our findings suggest that upfront use of ZA as part of adjuvant treatment can offer a survival benefit to postmenopausal breast cancer patients receiving aromatase inhibitor treatment.

Statistical aspects and risks of human-caused earthquakes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klose, C. D.

2013-12-01

The seismological community invests ample human capital and financial resources to research and predict risks associated with earthquakes. Industries such as the insurance and re-insurance sector are equally interested in using probabilistic risk models developed by the scientific community to transfer risks. These models are used to predict expected losses due to naturally occurring earthquakes. But what about the risks associated with human-caused earthquakes? Such risk models are largely absent from both industry and academic discourse. In countries around the world, informed citizens are becoming increasingly aware and concerned that this economic bias is not sustainable for long-term economic growth, environmental and human security. Ultimately, citizens look to their government officials to hold industry accountable. In the Netherlands, for example, the hydrocarbon industry is held accountable for causing earthquakes near Groningen. In Switzerland, geothermal power plants were shut down or suspended because they caused earthquakes in canton Basel and St. Gallen. The public and the private non-extractive industry needs access to information about earthquake risks in connection with sub/urban geoengineeing activities, including natural gas production through fracking, geothermal energy production, carbon sequestration, mining and water irrigation. This presentation illuminates statistical aspects of human-caused earthquakes with respect to different geologic environments. Statistical findings are based on the first catalog of human-caused earthquakes (in Klose 2013). Findings are discussed which include the odds to die during a medium-size earthquake that is set off by geomechanical pollution. Any kind of geoengineering activity causes this type of pollution and increases the likelihood of triggering nearby faults to rupture.

Pick- and waveform-based techniques for real-time detection of induced seismicity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grigoli, Francesco; Scarabello, Luca; Böse, Maren; Weber, Bernd; Wiemer, Stefan; Clinton, John F.

2018-05-01

The monitoring of induced seismicity is a common operation in many industrial activities, such as conventional and non-conventional hydrocarbon production or mining and geothermal energy exploitation, to cite a few. During such operations, we generally collect very large and strongly noise-contaminated data sets that require robust and automated analysis procedures. Induced seismicity data sets are often characterized by sequences of multiple events with short interevent times or overlapping events; in these cases, pick-based location methods may struggle to correctly assign picks to phases and events, and errors can lead to missed detections and/or reduced location resolution and incorrect magnitudes, which can have significant consequences if real-time seismicity information are used for risk assessment frameworks. To overcome these issues, different waveform-based methods for the detection and location of microseismicity have been proposed. The main advantages of waveform-based methods is that they appear to perform better and can simultaneously detect and locate seismic events providing high-quality locations in a single step, while the main disadvantage is that they are computationally expensive. Although these methods have been applied to different induced seismicity data sets, an extensive comparison with sophisticated pick-based detection methods is still missing. In this work, we introduce our improved waveform-based detector and we compare its performance with two pick-based detectors implemented within the SeiscomP3 software suite. We test the performance of these three approaches with both synthetic and real data sets related to the induced seismicity sequence at the deep geothermal project in the vicinity of the city of St. Gallen, Switzerland.

Pulsations in the late-type Be star HD 50 209 detected by CoRoT

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Diago, P. D.; Gutiérrez-Soto, J.; Auvergne, M.; Fabregat, J.; Hubert, A.-M.; Floquet, M.; Frémat, Y.; Garrido, R.; Andrade, L.; de Batz, B.; Emilio, M.; Espinosa Lara, F.; Huat, A.-L.; Janot-Pacheco, E.; Leroy, B.; Martayan, C.; Neiner, C.; Semaan, T.; Suso, J.; Catala, C.; Poretti, E.; Rainer, M.; Uytterhoeven, K.; Michel, E.; Samadi, R.

2009-10-01

Context: The presence of pulsations in late-type Be stars is still a matter of controversy. It constitutes an important issue to establish the relationship between non-radial pulsations and the mass-loss mechanism in Be stars. Aims: To contribute to this discussion, we analyse the photometric time series of the B8IVe star HD 50 209 observed by the CoRoT mission in the seismology field. Methods: We use standard Fourier techniques and linear and non-linear least squares fitting methods to analyse the CoRoT light curve. In addition, we applied detailed modelling of high-resolution spectra to obtain the fundamental physical parameters of the star. Results: We have found four frequencies which correspond to gravity modes with azimuthal order m=0,-1,-2,-3 with the same pulsational frequency in the co-rotating frame. We also found a rotational period with a frequency of 0.679 cd-1 (7.754 μHz). Conclusions: HD 50 209 is a pulsating Be star as expected from its position in the HR diagram, close to the SPB instability strip. Based on observations made with the CoRoT satellite, with FEROS at the 2.2 m telescope of the La Silla Observatory under the ESO Large Programme LP178.D-0361 and with Narval at the Télescope Bernard Lyot of the Pic du Midi Observatory. Current address: Valencian International University (VIU), José Pradas Gallen s/n, 12006 Castellón, Spain. Current address: Laboratoire AIM, CEA/DSM-CNRS-Université Paris Diderot; CEA, IRFU, SAp, centre de Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France.

Adjuvant chemotherapy in elderly patients with primary breast cancer: are women ≥65 undertreated?

PubMed

Wallwiener, C W; Hartkopf, A D; Grabe, E; Wallwiener, M; Taran, F-A; Fehm, T; Brucker, S Y; Krämer, B

2016-08-01

To establish whether women over 65 years of age with newly diagnosed with breast cancer (BC) receive adjuvant chemotherapy less frequently than younger postmenopausal women and whether comorbidity influences this potential undertreatment. In a single-site, retrospective, comparative study, postmenopausal early stage BC patients treated between 01/2001 and 12/2005 at a major German university hospital were analyzed in two age Groups A and B (≥65 vs. <65 years) for initiation and completion of guideline-recommended adjuvant chemotherapy. Risk stratification was based on the 2005 St. Gallen Consensus Conference criteria. Comorbidity was parametrized using the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI). Analysis included 634 patients, 380 in Group A and 254 in Group B. Mean age (range) was 73 (65-94) and 61 (55-64) years, respectively. The proportion of patients from Group A given ≥3 cycles of chemotherapy was significantly decreased as compared to Group B. 52 % of patients with CCI <3 but only 20 % with CCI ≥3 were recommended to undergo chemotherapy (p < 0.001). Median follow-up [95 % confidence interval (CI)] was 85 (82-88) months. DFS was significantly shorter in patients aged ≥65 years as compared to younger postmenopausal patients (HR, 0.598; 95 % CI, 0.358-0.963; p = 0.048). Despite being high-risk patients, older women with early stage BC were often not given guideline-recommended chemotherapy. Higher recurrence rates compared with younger postmenopausal women suggest that older patients are undertreated. Treatment needs to be adapted to general health and tumor biology rather than age. More trials in elderly BC patients are needed.

Fluorouracil, doxorubicin, and cyclophosphamide (FAC) versus FAC followed by weekly paclitaxel as adjuvant therapy for high-risk, node-negative breast cancer: results from the GEICAM/2003-02 study.

PubMed

Martín, Miguel; Ruiz, Amparo; Ruiz Borrego, Manuel; Barnadas, Agustí; González, Sonia; Calvo, Lourdes; Margelí Vila, Mireia; Antón, Antonio; Rodríguez-Lescure, Alvaro; Seguí-Palmer, Miguel Angel; Muñoz-Mateu, Montserrat; Dorca Ribugent, Joan; López-Vega, José Manuel; Jara, Carlos; Espinosa, Enrique; Mendiola Fernández, César; Andrés, Raquel; Ribelles, Nuria; Plazaola, Arrate; Sánchez-Rovira, Pedro; Salvador Bofill, Javier; Crespo, Carmen; Carabantes, Francisco J; Servitja, Sonia; Chacón, José Ignacio; Rodríguez, César A; Hernando, Blanca; Álvarez, Isabel; Carrasco, Eva; Lluch, Ana

2013-07-10

Adding taxanes to anthracycline-based adjuvant therapy improves survival outcomes of patients with node-positive breast cancer (BC). Currently, however, most patients with BC are node negative at diagnosis. The only pure node-negative study (Spanish Breast Cancer Research Group 9805) reported so far showed a docetaxel benefit but significant toxicity. Here we tested the efficacy and safety of weekly paclitaxel (wP) in node-negative patients, which is yet to be established. Patients with BC having T1-T3/N0 tumors and at least one high-risk factor for recurrence (according to St. Gallen 1998 criteria) were eligible. After primary surgery, 1,925 patients were randomly assigned to receive fluorouracil, doxorubicin, and cyclophosphamide (FAC) × 6 or FAC × 4 followed by wP × 8 (FAC-wP). The primary end point was disease-free survival (DFS) after a median follow-up of 5 years. Secondary end points included toxicity and overall survival. After a median follow-up of 63.3 months, 93% and 90.3% of patients receiving FAC-wP or FAC regimens, respectively, remained disease free (hazard ratio [HR], 0.73; 95% CI, 0.54 to 0.99; log-rank P = .04). Thirty-one patients receiving FAC-wP versus 40 patients receiving FAC died (one and seven from cardiovascular diseases, respectively; HR, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.49 to 1.26; log-rank P = .31). The most relevant grade 3 and 4 adverse events in the FAC-wP versus the FAC arm were febrile neutropenia (2.7% v 3.6%), fatigue (7.9% v 3.4%), and sensory neuropathy (5.5% v 0%). For patients with high-risk node-negative BC, the adjuvant FAC-wP regimen was associated with a small but significant improvement in DFS compared with FAC therapy, in addition to manageable toxicity, especially regarding long-term cardiac effects.

Ancestry as a potential modifier of gene expression in breast tumors from Colombian women

PubMed Central

Serrano-Gómez, Silvia J.; Sanabria-Salas, María Carolina; Garay, Jone; Baddoo, Melody C.; Hernández-Suarez, Gustavo; Mejía, Juan Carlos; García, Oscar; Miele, Lucio

2017-01-01

Background Hispanic/Latino populations are a genetically admixed and heterogeneous group, with variable fractions of European, Indigenous American and African ancestries. The molecular profile of breast cancer has been widely described in non-Hispanic Whites but equivalent knowledge is lacking in Hispanic/Latinas. We have previously reported that the most prevalent breast cancer intrinsic subtype in Colombian women was Luminal B as defined by St. Gallen 2013 criteria. In this study we explored ancestry-associated differences in molecular profiles of Luminal B tumors among these highly admixed women. Methods We performed whole-transcriptome RNA-seq analysis in 42 Luminal tumors (21 Luminal A and 21 Luminal B) from Colombian women. Genetic ancestry was estimated from a panel of 80 ancestry-informative markers (AIM). We categorized patients according to Luminal subtype and to the proportion of European and Indigenous American ancestry and performed differential expression analysis comparing Luminal B against Luminal A tumors according to the assigned ancestry groups. Results We found 5 genes potentially modulated by genetic ancestry: ERBB2 (log2FC = 2.367, padj<0.01), GRB7 (log2FC = 2.327, padj<0.01), GSDMB (log2FC = 1.723, padj<0.01, MIEN1 (log2FC = 2.195, padj<0.01 and ONECUT2 (log2FC = 2.204, padj<0.01). In the replication set we found a statistical significant association between ERBB2 expression with Indigenous American ancestry (p = 0.02, B = 3.11). This association was not biased by the distribution of HER2+ tumors among the groups analyzed. Conclusions Our results suggest that genetic ancestry in Hispanic/Latina women might modify ERBB2 gene expression in Luminal tumors. Further analyses are needed to confirm these findings and explore their prognostic value. PMID:28832682

An inter-observer Ki67 reproducibility study applying two different assessment methods: on behalf of the Danish Scientific Committee of Pathology, Danish breast cancer cooperative group (DBCG).

PubMed

Laenkholm, Anne-Vibeke; Grabau, Dorthe; Møller Talman, Maj-Lis; Balslev, Eva; Bak Jylling, Anne Marie; Tabor, Tomasz Piotr; Johansen, Morten; Brügmann, Anja; Lelkaitis, Giedrius; Di Caterino, Tina; Mygind, Henrik; Poulsen, Thomas; Mertz, Henrik; Søndergaard, Gorm; Bruun Rasmussen, Birgitte

2018-01-01

In 2011, the St. Gallen Consensus Conference introduced the use of pathology to define the intrinsic breast cancer subtypes by application of immunohistochemical (IHC) surrogate markers ER, PR, HER2 and Ki67 with a specified Ki67 cutoff (>14%) for luminal B-like definition. Reports concerning impaired reproducibility of Ki67 estimation and threshold inconsistency led to the initiation of this quality assurance study (2013-2015). The aim of the study was to investigate inter-observer variation for Ki67 estimation in malignant breast tumors by two different quantification methods (assessment method and count method) including measure of agreement between methods. Fourteen experienced breast pathologists from 12 pathology departments evaluated 118 slides from a consecutive series of malignant breast tumors. The staining interpretation was performed according to both the Danish and Swedish guidelines. Reproducibility was quantified by intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) and Lights Kappa with dichotomization of observations at the larger than (>) 20% threshold. The agreement between observations by the two quantification methods was evaluated by Bland-Altman plot. For the fourteen raters the median ranged from 20% to 40% by the assessment method and from 22.5% to 36.5% by the count method. Light's Kappa was 0.664 for observation by the assessment method and 0.649 by the count method. The ICC was 0.82 (95% CI: 0.77-0.86) by the assessment method vs. 0.84 (95% CI: 0.80-0.87) by the count method. Although the study in general showed a moderate to good inter-observer agreement according to both ICC and Lights Kappa, still major discrepancies were identified in especially the mid-range of observations. Consequently, for now Ki67 estimation is not implemented in the DBCG treatment algorithm.

Standardized assessment of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in breast cancer: an evaluation of inter-observer agreement between pathologists.

PubMed

Tramm, Trine; Di Caterino, Tina; Jylling, Anne-Marie B; Lelkaitis, Giedrius; Lænkholm, Anne-Vibeke; Ragó, Péter; Tabor, Tomasz P; Talman, Maj-Lis M; Vouza, Emmanouela

2018-01-01

In breast cancer, there is a growing body of evidence that tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) may have clinical utility and may be able to direct clinical decisions for subgroups of patients. Clinical utility is, however, not sufficient for warranting the implementation of a new biomarker in the routine practice, and evaluation of the analytical validity is needed, including testing the reproducibility of decentralized assessment of TILs. The aim of this study was to evaluate the inter-observer agreement of TILs assessment using a standardized method, as proposed by the International TILs Working Group 2014, applied to a cohort of breast cancers reflecting an average breast cancer population. Stromal TILs were assessed using full slide sections from 124 breast cancers with varying histology, malignancy grade and ER- and HER2 status. TILs were estimated by nine dedicated breast pathologists using scanned hematoxylin-eosin stainings. TILs results were categorized using various cutoffs, and the inter-observer agreement was evaluated using the intraclass coefficient (ICC), Kappa statistics as well as individual overall agreements with the median value of TILs. Evaluation of TILs led to an ICC of 0.71 (95% CI: 0.65-0.77) corresponding to an acceptable agreement. Kappa values were in the range of 0.38-0.46 corresponding to a fair to moderate agreement. The individual agreements increased, when using only two categories ('high' vs. 'low' TILs) and a cutoff of 50-60%. The results of the present study are in accordance with previous studies, and shows that the proposed methodology for standardized evaluation of TILs renders an acceptable inter-observer agreement. The findings, however, indicate that assessment of TILs needs further refinement, and is in support of the latest St. Gallen Consensus, that routine reporting of TILs for early breast cancer is not ready for implementation in a clinical setting.

The impact of overweight and obesity on breast cancer: data from Switzerland, so far a country little affected by the current global obesity epidemic.

PubMed

Kann, Simone; Schmid, Seraina Margaretha; Eichholzer, Monika; Huang, Dorothy Jane; Amann, Esther; Güth, Uwe

2014-08-01

This review presents results from the project "The Impact of Overweight/Obesity on Breast Cancer: data from Switzerland". Swiss data is interesting because the general female population is distinctive in two areas when compared to that of most other industrialized countries: Switzerland has comparatively low rates of overweight (22-23%) and obesity (7-8%) and has rather stable rates of overweight and obesity. The entire project comprised three major issues: (I) etiology of breast cancer (BC). There is a consistently shown association between obesity and postmenopausal BC risk in countries with high obesity prevalence rates in the literature. In our Swiss study group, however, we did not find higher rates of overweight and obesity in postmenopausal BC cases than in the general population. A possible explanation for this observation may be a curvilinear dose-response relationship between BMI and postmenopausal BC risk, so that an increased risk may only be observed in populations with a high prevalence of obese/very obese women; (II) tumor characteristics. BMI was significantly associated with tumor size; this applied not only to the cases where the tumor was found by self-detection, but also to lesions detected by radiological breast examinations. In addition, a higher BMI was positively correlated with advanced TNM stage, unfavorable grading and a higher St. Gallen risk score. No associations were observed between BMI and histological subtype, estrogen receptor status, HER2 status and triple negative BC; (III) patient compliance and persistence towards adjuvant BC therapy. Many studies found that the prognosis of overweight/obese BC patients was significantly lower than that of normal weight patients. However, failure of compliance and persistence towards therapy on the part of the patient is not a contributing factor for this observed unfavorable prognosis. In most therapy modes, patients with increasing BMI demonstrated greater motivation and perseverance towards

Update of the BIG 1-98 Trial: where do we stand?

PubMed

Joerger, Markus; Thürlimann, Beat

2009-10-01

There is accumulating data on the clinical benefit of aromatase inhibitors in the adjuvant treatment of early-stage breast cancer in postmenopausal women. The Breast International Group (BIG) 1-98 study is a randomized, phase 3, double-blind trial comparing four adjuvant endocrine treatments of 5 years duration in postmenopausal women with hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer: letrozole or tamoxifen monotherapy, sequential treatment with tamoxifen followed by letrozole, or vice versa. This article summarizes data presented at the 2009 St. Gallen early breast cancer conference: an update on the monotherapy arms of the BIG 1-98 study, and results from the sequential treatment arms. Implications for daily practice from BIG 1-98 and from other adjuvant trials will be discussed. Despite cross-over from tamoxifen to letrozole by 25% of the patients after unblinding of the tamoxifen monotherapy arm, the improvement of disease-free survival (HR 0.88, 0.78-0.99, p = 0.03) and time to distant recurrence (HR 0.85, 0.72-1.00, p = 0.05) for letrozole monotherapy as compared to tamoxifen monotherapy remained significant in the intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis. A trend for an overall survival advantage for letrozole was seen in the ITT analysis (HR 0.87, 0.75-1.02, p = 0.08). No statistically significant differences were found for the sequential treatment arms versus letrozole monotherapy, with respect to disease-free survival, time to distant recurrence or overall survival. Cumulative incidence analysis of breast cancer recurrence favors the initiation of adjuvant endocrine treatment with letrozole instead of tamoxifen, especially in patients at higher risk for early recurrence. Similarly, data suggest that patients commenced on letrozole can be switched to tamoxifen after 2 years, if required. The BIG 1-98 study update with median follow up of 76 months confirms a significant reduction in the risk of breast cancer recurrence and a trend towards improved overall survival

[Efficacy of compression knee-high socks ULCER X in treatment of venous-genesis trophic ulcers].

PubMed

Bogdanets, L I; Bogachev, V Iu; Lobanov, V N; Smirnova, E S

2013-01-01

The study was aimed at comparatively assessing the efficacy of treatment for venous trophic ulcers at stages II-III of the wound process using special compression knee-length socks of the ULCER X kit (Sigvaris AG, St. Gallen, Switzerland) and long-stretch bandages Lauma. Compression therapy was included into the programme of outpatient treatment of forty 31-to-74-year-old patients presenting with trophic ulcers (stage II-III of the wound process) with an average area of 5,36±1,1 cm2. The Study Group consisting of 20 patients used compression knitted fabrics in the form of knee-length socks ULCER X and the comparison group (n=20) used long-stretch bandages Lauma. The obtained findings (6 months) demonstrated that using compression therapy exerted a positive effect on the process of healing of venous trophic ulcers, also proving advantages of compression therapy with the knee-length socks ULCER X that create an adequate level of pressure on the crus and maintain it in long-term daily use, reliably accelerating the healing of venous trophic ulcers as compared with elastic long-stretch bandages. The use of long-stretch elastic bandages in treatment of venous trophic ulcers turned out to be not only ineffective but fraught with a possibility of the development of various complications. During 6 months of follow up the patients using the special knee-length socks ULCER X were found to have 80 % of ulcers healed (16 patients), mainly within the first 2 months, whereas using elastic bandages resulted in only 30 % of healing (6 patients) by the end of the study. Along with it, we documented a considerable decrease in the malleolar circumference in the study group patients (from 30,05±0,78 to 28,35±0,86 cm) and in the control group from 31,2±30,35 to 30,25±0,75 cm), accompanied and followed by more than a two-fold increase in quality of life of the patients along all the parameters in the study group and a 1.4-fold increase in the control group patients.

Pathological complete response after neoadjuvant chemotherapy is an independent predictive factor irrespective of simplified breast cancer intrinsic subtypes: a landmark and two-step approach analyses from the EORTC 10994/BIG 1-00 phase III trial.

PubMed

Bonnefoi, H; Litière, S; Piccart, M; MacGrogan, G; Fumoleau, P; Brain, E; Petit, T; Rouanet, P; Jassem, J; Moldovan, C; Bodmer, A; Zaman, K; Cufer, T; Campone, M; Luporsi, E; Malmström, P; Werutsky, G; Bogaerts, J; Bergh, J; Cameron, D A

2014-06-01

Pathological complete response (pCR) following chemotherapy is strongly associated with both breast cancer subtype and long-term survival. Within a phase III neoadjuvant chemotherapy trial, we sought to determine whether the prognostic implications of pCR, TP53 status and treatment arm (taxane versus non-taxane) differed between intrinsic subtypes. Patients were randomized to receive either six cycles of anthracycline-based chemotherapy or three cycles of docetaxel then three cycles of eprirubicin/docetaxel (T-ET). pCR was defined as no evidence of residual invasive cancer (or very few scattered tumour cells) in primary tumour and lymph nodes. We used a simplified intrinsic subtypes classification, as suggested by the 2011 St Gallen consensus. Interactions between pCR, TP53 status, treatment arm and intrinsic subtype on event-free survival (EFS), distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) and overall survival (OS) were studied using a landmark and a two-step approach multivariate analyses. Sufficient data for pCR analyses were available in 1212 (65%) of 1856 patients randomized. pCR occurred in 222 of 1212 (18%) patients: 37 of 496 (7.5%) luminal A, 22 of 147 (15%) luminal B/HER2 negative, 51 of 230 (22%) luminal B/HER2 positive, 43 of 118 (36%) HER2 positive/non-luminal, 69 of 221(31%) triple negative (TN). The prognostic effect of pCR on EFS did not differ between subtypes and was an independent predictor for better EFS [hazard ratio (HR) = 0.40, P < 0.001 in favour of pCR], DMFS (HR = 0.32, P < 0.001) and OS (HR = 0.32, P < 0.001). Chemotherapy arm was an independent predictor only for EFS (HR = 0.73, P = 0.004 in favour of T-ET). The interaction between TP53, intrinsic subtypes and survival outcomes only approached statistical significance for EFS (P = 0.1). pCR is an independent predictor of favourable clinical outcomes in all molecular subtypes in a two-step multivariate analysis. EORTC 10994/BIG 1-00 Trial registration number NCT00017095. © The Author 2014

Picking vs Waveform based detection and location methods for induced seismicity monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grigoli, Francesco; Boese, Maren; Scarabello, Luca; Diehl, Tobias; Weber, Bernd; Wiemer, Stefan; Clinton, John F.

2017-04-01

regional and teleseismic applications, thus its performance with microseismic data might be limited. We analyze the performance of the three methodologies for a synthetic dataset with realistic noise conditions as well as for the first hour of continuous waveform data, including the Ml 3.5 St. Gallen earthquake, recorded by a microseismic network deployed in the area. We finally compare the results obtained all these three methods with a manually revised catalogue.

Influence of a lifestyle intervention in preschool children on physiological and psychological parameters (Ballabeina): study design of a cluster randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Niederer, Iris; Kriemler, Susi; Zahner, Lukas; Bürgi, Flavia; Ebenegger, Vincent; Hartmann, Tim; Meyer, Ursina; Schindler, Christian; Nydegger, Andreas; Marques-Vidal, Pedro; Puder, Jardena J

2009-03-31

Childhood obesity and physical inactivity are increasing dramatically worldwide. Children of low socioeconomic status and/or children of migrant background are especially at risk. In general, the overall effectiveness of school-based programs on health-related outcomes has been disappointing. A special gap exists for younger children and in high risk groups. This paper describes the rationale, design, curriculum, and evaluation of a multicenter preschool randomized intervention study conducted in areas with a high migrant population in two out of 26 Swiss cantons. Twenty preschool classes in the German (canton St. Gallen) and another 20 in the French (canton Vaud) part of Switzerland were separately selected and randomized to an intervention and a control arm by the use of opaque envelopes. The multidisciplinary lifestyle intervention aimed to increase physical activity and sleep duration, to reinforce healthy nutrition and eating behaviour, and to reduce media use. According to the ecological model, it included children, their parents and the teachers. The regular teachers performed the majority of the intervention and were supported by a local health promoter. The intervention included physical activity lessons, adaptation of the built infrastructure; promotion of regional extracurricular physical activity; playful lessons about nutrition, media use and sleep, funny homework cards and information materials for teachers and parents. It lasted one school year. Baseline and post-intervention evaluations were performed in both arms. Primary outcome measures included BMI and aerobic fitness (20 m shuttle run test). Secondary outcomes included total (skinfolds, bioelectrical impedance) and central (waist circumference) body fat, motor abilities (obstacle course, static and dynamic balance), physical activity and sleep duration (accelerometry and questionnaires), nutritional behaviour and food intake, media use, quality of life and signs of hyperactivity (questionnaires

Patient survival and tumor characteristics associated with CHEK2:p.I157T - findings from the Breast Cancer Association Consortium.

PubMed

Muranen, Taru A; Blomqvist, Carl; Dörk, Thilo; Jakubowska, Anna; Heikkilä, Päivi; Fagerholm, Rainer; Greco, Dario; Aittomäki, Kristiina; Bojesen, Stig E; Shah, Mitul; Dunning, Alison M; Rhenius, Valerie; Hall, Per; Czene, Kamila; Brand, Judith S; Darabi, Hatef; Chang-Claude, Jenny; Rudolph, Anja; Nordestgaard, Børge G; Couch, Fergus J; Hart, Steven N; Figueroa, Jonine; García-Closas, Montserrat; Fasching, Peter A; Beckmann, Matthias W; Li, Jingmei; Liu, Jianjun; Andrulis, Irene L; Winqvist, Robert; Pylkäs, Katri; Mannermaa, Arto; Kataja, Vesa; Lindblom, Annika; Margolin, Sara; Lubinski, Jan; Dubrowinskaja, Natalia; Bolla, Manjeet K; Dennis, Joe; Michailidou, Kyriaki; Wang, Qin; Easton, Douglas F; Pharoah, Paul D P; Schmidt, Marjanka K; Nevanlinna, Heli

2016-10-03

P.I157T is a CHEK2 missense mutation associated with a modest increase in breast cancer risk. Previously, another CHEK2 mutation, the protein truncating c.1100delC has been associated with poor prognosis of breast cancer patients. Here, we have investigated patient survival and characteristics of breast tumors of germ line p.I157T carriers. We included in the analyses 26,801 European female breast cancer patients from 15 studies participating in the Breast Cancer Association Consortium. We analyzed the association between p.I157T and the clinico-pathological breast cancer characteristics by comparing the p.I157T carrier tumors to non-carrier and c.1100delC carrier tumors. Similarly, we investigated the p.I157T associated risk of early death, breast cancer-associated death, distant metastasis, locoregional relapse and second breast cancer using Cox proportional hazards models. Additionally, we explored the p.I157T-associated genomic gene expression profile using data from breast tumors of 183 Finnish female breast cancer patients (ten p.I157T carriers) (GEO: GSE24450). Differential gene expression analysis was performed using a moderated t test. Functional enrichment was investigated using the DAVID functional annotation tool and gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA). The tumors were classified into molecular subtypes according to the St Gallen 2013 criteria and the PAM50 gene expression signature. P.I157T was not associated with increased risk of early death, breast cancer-associated death or distant metastasis relapse, and there was a significant difference in prognosis associated with the two CHEK2 mutations, p.I157T and c.1100delC. Furthermore, p.I157T was associated with lobular histological type and clinico-pathological markers of good prognosis, such as ER and PR expression, low TP53 expression and low grade. Gene expression analysis suggested luminal A to be the most common subtype for p.I157T carriers and CDH1 (cadherin 1) target genes to be significantly

GATA3 expression in clinically useful groups of breast carcinoma: a comparison with GCDFP15 and mammaglobin for identifying paired primary and metastatic tumors.

PubMed

Yang, Yuqiong; Lu, Shanming; Zeng, Wenqin; Xie, Shoucheng; Xiao, Shengjun

2017-02-01

GATA3 has been recognized as the novel marker for identifying primary and metastatic breast carcinomas, consistently showing that GATA3 was significantly more sensitive than traditional markers gross cystic disease fluid protein 15 (GCDFP15) and mammaglobin (MGB). However, clinically useful groups of breast carcinomas status were not identified, which were determining appropriate treatment strategy, affecting the prognosis. In this study, we undertook a comparative study of the marker GATA3 and GCDFP15 and MGB in clinically useful groups of paired primary and metastatic breast cancer. We retrieved 64 cases of matched primary and metastatic breast cancer from the surgical pathology archive at our institution. According to the emerging 2015 St. Gallen Consensus, the clinically useful groups were divided into ER and/or PR (+), HER2 (-), abbreviated as A; ER and/or PR (+), HER2 (+), abbreviated as B; ER and PR (-), HER2 (+), abbreviated as C; ER, PR and HER2 (-), abbreviated as D; each group contained 16 cases (n=16). Tissue microarrays were created, with three 1-mm punch specimens from each case. The tissue microarrays were cut at 4-μm thickness and stained with monoclonal antibodies to GATA3, GCDFP15, and MGB. Staining intensity (0-3+) and extent (0%-100%) were scored with an H-score calculated (range, 0-300). Sensitivities by varying H-score cutoffs (any; ≥50; ≥150) for a positive result in the clinically useful groups of matched primary or metastatic breast cancer among GATA3, GCDFP15, and MGB. GATA3 was significantly more sensitive than GCDFP15 and MGB A and B groups (P<.05) rather than C and D groups (P>.05). However, GATA3 in conjunction with GCDFP15 and MGB detection could improve the sensitivity of C group (P<.05) rather than D group (P>.05). Significantly, good coincidence was observed between primary and metastatic tumor GATA3 expression (κ value = 0.826 >0.75) as compared with the coincidence of GCDFP15 (κ value =0.492 <0.75) and MGB (κ value =0

The revision of the Swiss Inventory of Geosites (2006-2012)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reynard, Emmanuel

2013-04-01

Federal Office of Topography (Swisstopo). Finally, a book, containing the list of Swiss geosites and a selection of the most emblematic sites, described in more detail, will be published in 2013. In terms of content, the revision of the inventory needed a huge amount of homogenization work. A lot of data was added mainly because most of the geosites were poorly detailed in the 1999 inventory. Several sites were merged, others were abandoned because their national relevance was debatable. Moreover, a large survey was carried out to add new sites, especially for regions as well as fields of Earth sciences that were missing in the 1999 inventory. Also, some sites, which were not known in the 1990s, could be added. A good example is the Courtedoux geosite where numerous dinosaur tracks were discovered in 2000 during the construction of the A16 highway and that has gained international recognition today. The Glarner Hauptüberschiebung / Sardona Tektonic Arena, in the Cantons of Glarus, St. Gallen and Graubünden, is another good example. As a matter of fact, though the Glarus overthrust had already been recognized since the mid-19th century as one of the prominent examples of alpine tectonic history, it was curiously not proposed in the 1999 inventory. In the meantime, the site has been inscribed as a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO in 2008 and was added to the Swiss inventory of geosites. An initial list of 248 geosites was published in 2008, while the final list (322 sites) was published in 2012. This inventory stimulated an interesting debate around the generic name that should be given to it. According to the FOEN, the terms "inventory" and "national importance" as used in 1999 (SCNAT,) - should be avoided today because such references could create a confusion with the official inventories carried out based on the Nature Protection Act. Finally, it was decided to call it the "Swiss Inventory of Geosites". The next steps will be to distribute the inventory to Swiss

Tumour bed boost radiotherapy for women after breast-conserving surgery.

PubMed

Kindts, Isabelle; Laenen, Annouschka; Depuydt, Tom; Weltens, Caroline

2017-11-06

Breast-conserving therapy, involving breast-conserving surgery followed by whole-breast irradiation and optionally a boost to the tumour bed, is a standard therapeutic option for women with early-stage breast cancer. A boost to the tumour bed means that an extra dose of radiation is applied that covers the initial tumour site. The rationale for a boost of radiotherapy to the tumour bed is that (i) local recurrence occurs mostly at the site of the primary tumour because remaining microscopic tumour cells are most likely situated there; and (ii) radiation can eliminate these causative microscopic tumour cells. The boost continues to be used in women at high risk of local recurrence, but is less widely accepted for women at lower risk. Reasons for questioning the boost are twofold. Firstly, the boost brings higher treatment costs. Secondly, the potential adverse events are not negligible. In this Cochrane Review, we investigated the effect of the tumour bed boost on local control and side effects. To assess the effects of tumour bed boost radiotherapy after breast-conserving surgery and whole-breast irradiation for the treatment of breast cancer. We searched the Cochrane Breast Cancer Specialised Register, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE (January 1966 to 1 March 2017), Embase (1980 to 1 March 2017), the World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform, and ClinicalTrials.gov on 1 March 2017. We also searched the European Society of Radiotherapy and Oncology Annual Meeting, the St Gallen Oncology Conferences, and the American Society for Radiation Oncology Annual Meeting for abstracts. Randomised controlled trials comparing the addition and the omission of breast cancer tumour bed boost radiotherapy. Two review authors (IK and CW) performed data extraction and assessed risk of bias using Cochrane's 'Risk of bias' tool, resolving any disagreements through discussion. We entered data into Review Manager 5 for