Citations

Purpose Prior reports have indicated that patients with colon cancer who demonstrate high-level microsatellite instability (MSI-H) or defective DNA mismatch repair (dMMR) have improved survival and receive no benefit from fluorouracil (FU) -based adjuvant therapy compared with patients who have microsatellite-stable or proficient mismatch repair (pMMR) tumors. We examined MMR status as a predictor of adjuvant therapy benefit in patients with stages II and III colon cancer. Methods MSI assay or immunohistochemistry for MMR proteins were performed on 457 patients who were previously randomly assigned to FU-based therapy (either FU + levamisole or FU + leucovorin; n = 229) versus no postsurgical treatment (n = 228). Data were subsequently pooled with data from a previous analysis. The primary end point was disease-free survival (DFS). Results Overall, 70 (15%) of 457 patients exhibited dMMR. Adjuvant therapy significantly improved DFS (hazard ratio [HR], 0.67; 95% CI, 0.48 to 0.93; P = .02) in patients with pMMR tumors. Patients with dMMR tumors receiving FU had no improvement in DFS (HR, 1.10; 95% CI, 0.42 to 2.91; P = .85) compared with those randomly assigned to surgery alone. In the pooled data set of 1,027 patients (n = 165 with dMMR), these findings were maintained; in patients with stage II disease and with dMMR tumors, treatment was associated with reduced overall survival (HR, 2.95; 95% CI, 1.02 to 8.54; P = .04). Conclusion Patient stratification by MMR status may provide a more tailored approach to colon cancer adjuvant therapy. These data support MMR status assessment for patients being considered for FU therapy alone and consideration of MMR status in treatment decision making.

AbstractBackground: High-sensitivity cardiac troponin assays will augment the frequency of increased results, making important the determination of reference change values to distinguish acute from chronic increases. We assessed short- and long-term biological variability of cardiac troponin T (cTnT) in healthy subjects with a novel high-sensitivity (hs) assay.Methods: We collected blood from 20 healthy volunteers at 5 time points for short-term study and biweekly at 4 times from the same volunteers for long-term study. We analyzed serum samples in duplicate with a hscTnT assay on the Roche Modular E170 and computed reference change values (RCVs) for analytical, intraindividual, interindividual, and total change values (CVA, CVI, CVG, and CVT, respectively) and the index of individuality (II). We calculated RCVs by using a log-normal approach, owing to the skewed results of the data.Results: Short- and long-term CVA values were 53.5% and 98%. CVI and CVG were 48.2% and 85.9%, respectively, for short-term studies and 94% and 94% for long-term studies. Mean δ values for the within-day study were 58% and −57.5%, and between-day mean δ values were 103.4% and −87%. Within- and between-day IIs were 0.8 and 0.14, respectively.Conclusions: The biological variation demonstrated with the hscTnT assay is higher than prior data for cardiac troponin I. This may be attributed to differences in biology or assay imprecision at low concentrations. A short-term change (RCV log normal) of 85% and a long-term change of 315% is necessary to define a changing pattern.

A recently identified variant within the fat mass and obesity-associated ( FTO ) gene is carried by 46% of Western Europeans and is associated with an ~1.2 kg higher weight, on average, in adults and an ~1 cm greater waist circumference. With >1 billion overweight and 300 million obese persons worldwide, it is crucial to understand the implications of carrying this very common allele for the health of our aging population. FTO is highly expressed in the brain and elevated body mass index (BMI) is associated with brain atrophy, but it is unknown how the obesity-associated risk allele affects human brain structure. We therefore generated 3D maps of regional brain volume differences in 206 healthy elderly subjects scanned with MRI and genotyped as part of the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. We found a pattern of systematic brain volume deficits in carriers of the obesity-associated risk allele versus noncarriers. Relative to structure volumes in the mean template, FTO risk allele carriers versus noncarriers had an average brain volume difference of ~8% in the frontal lobes and 12% in the occipital lobes—these regions also showed significant volume deficits in subjects with higher BMI. These brain differences were not attributable to differences in cholesterol levels, hypertension, or the volume of white matter hyperintensities; which were not detectably higher in FTO risk allele carriers versus noncarriers. These brain maps reveal that a commonly carried susceptibility allele for obesity is associated with structural brain atrophy, with implications for the health of the elderly.

Objective: To determine apolipoprotein E (APOE)-ε4 and -ε2 frequencies and risk of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia in Shanghai, China. Methods: A total of 34 MCI and 34 dementia cases were recruited from an urban Memory Disorders Clinic and 32 controls were recruited from a residential community served by the clinic. Apolipoprotein E was genotyped using standard methods. Results: Among controls, frequencies were ε2, 0.11; ε3, 0.84; and ε4, 0.05; among MCI, 0.05, 0.77, and 0.18; and for dementia, 0.02, 0.84, and 0.15, respectively. In education-adjusted models, the odds ratio (OR) = 5.6 for dementia (95% CI = 1.09-29.3) and 4.7 for MCI (95% CI = 0.90-25.2) associated with any ε4 allele. The ε2 allele was inversely associated with dementia (OR = 0.12, 95% CI = 0.013-0.997) and MCI (OR = 0.38, 95% CI = 0.08-1.61). Conclusions: APOE-ε4 increases and -ε2 decreases the risk of dementia vs normal cognition. Similar trends were observed for amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI).

Abstract Pathologic examination of products of conception (POC) is used to differentiate hydropic abortus (HA), partial hydatidiform mole (PM), and complete hydatidiform mole (CM). Histologic classification of POC specimens can be difficult, and ancillary testing is often required for a definitive diagnosis. This study evaluated 66 POC specimens by flow cytometry, digital image analysis, p57 immunohistochemical analysis, and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). The final diagnosis, based on the combined analysis of all test results, included 33 HAs, 24 PMs, and 9 CMs. The p57 immunostain identified 9 CMs that were evaluated as nontriploid by all other techniques. FISH seems to have the best accuracy (100%) for determining whether a specimen contains a triploid chromosome complement. These data suggest that the combination of p57 and FISH seems to be the best ancillary testing strategy to aid pathologists in the appropriate identification of CM, PM, and HA in POC specimens.