Cancer surveillance behaviors in women presenting for clinical BRCA genetic susceptibility testing.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES: To investigate cancer surveillance behaviors of women at risk for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer (HBOC) who presented for clinical BRCA cancer susceptibility testing, specifically to describe cancer surveillance behaviors and reasons for not engaging in behaviors, compare surveillance behaviors with existing surveillance guidelines, and evaluate associations of cancer surveillance behaviors with BRCA results. DESIGN: Cross-sectional, descriptive. SETTING: Genetic risk-assessment programs in a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center and a community cancer center, both in the southwestern region of the United States. SAMPLE: Purposive sample of 107 at-risk women. METHODS: Self-report survey. MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES: Breast and ovarian cancer surveillance behaviors and BRCA test results. FINDINGS: Ninety percent of participants had a personal history of breast cancer; 84% had a negative BRCA result. About 60% of participants engaged in at least the minimum recommended breast cancer surveillance behaviors, but 70% had suboptimal ovarian cancer surveillance behaviors. Lack of physician recommendation was the most frequently reported reason for not having surveillance procedures. BRCA results were not associated with the breast cancer surveillance categories and the ovarian cancer surveillance recommendations. CONCLUSIONS: Although most participants were not carriers of a mutation, the presence of other risk factors for breast and ovarian cancer dictates continued cancer surveillance. At-risk women may not be informed adequately about cancer surveillance. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING: Healthcare providers should be aware of changing breast and ovarian cancer surveillance recommendations and counsel their at-risk patients accordingly.

Differential learning strategies in spatial and nonspatial versions of the Morris water maze in the C57BL/6J inbred mouse strain.

We recently developed a new nonspatial version of the Morris water maze that requires the use of four visually distinct intra-maze patterns to efficiently locate a hidden platform. The nonspatial version was designed to match the spatial version on complexity of cue usage, and differs only on spatiality of cues, thereby allowing more meaningful comparisons between the two versions. Following a previous experiment that demonstrated nonspatial learning with the BXSB inbred mouse strain, C57 inbred mice were tested in this study. They received spatial and nonspatial training in a counter-balanced order so that Test Order and information transfer could be assessed. Subjects that received spatial training first had superior performance in both the spatial and the nonspatial tasks when compared to mice that received nonspatial training first. The mice that received spatial training first used extra-maze cues as a spatial strategy. However, during nonspatial testing they did not use the intra-maze cues to locate the platform; instead, the mice used an egocentric strategy of circling through the platform annulus. Subjects that received spatial testing first were superior on the nonspatial task to those subjects that received nonspatial training first. Moreover, subjects that received nonspatial testing first were unable to learn the spatial version. Overall, C57 mice can learn both the spatial and nonspatial versions of the Morris maze presented here; however, the nonspatial version is more difficult and is solved using an egocentric strategy.