Treatment of stage I seminoma, with one course of adjuvant carboplatin or surveillance, risk-adapted recommendations implementing patient autonomy: a report from the Swedish and Norwegian Testicular Cancer Group (SWENOTECA).

BACKGROUND: The purpose of the protocol was to reduce the treatment burden in clinical stage I (CSI) seminoma by offering risk-adapted treatment. The protocol aimed to prospectively validate the proposed risk factors for relapse, stromal invasion of the rete testis and tumor diameter >4 cm, and to evaluate the efficacy of one course of adjuvant carboplatin. PATIENTS AND METHODS: From 2007 to 2010, 897 patients were included in a prospective, population-based, risk-adapted treatment protocol implementing one course of adjuvant carboplatin AUC7 (n = 469) or surveillance (n = 422). In addition, results from 221 patients receiving carboplatin between 2004 and 2007 are reported. RESULTS: At a median follow-up of 5.6 years, 69 relapses have occurred. Stromal invasion of the rete testis [hazard ratio (HR) 1.9, P = 0.011] and tumor diameter >4 cm (HR 2.7, P < 0.001) were identified as risk factors predicting relapse. In patients without risk factors, the relapse rate (RR) was 4.0% for patients managed by surveillance and 2.2% in patients receiving adjuvant carboplatin. In patients with one or two risk factors, the RR was 15.5% in patients managed by surveillance and 9.3% in patients receiving adjuvant carboplatin. We found no increased RR in patients receiving carboplatin <7 × AUC compared with that in patients receiving ≥7 × AUC. CONCLUSION: Stromal invasion in the rete testis and tumor diameter >4 cm are risk factors for relapse in CSI seminoma. Patients without risk factors have a low RR and adjuvant therapy is not justified in these patients. The efficacy of adjuvant carboplatin is relatively low and there is need to explore more effective adjuvant treatment options in patients with high-risk seminoma. The data do not support the concept of a steep dose response for adjuvant carboplatin.

Faecal calprotectin and lactoferrin as markers of acute radiation proctitis: a pilot study of eight stool markers.

BACKGROUND: Non-invasive diagnostic tools to evaluate the severity of acute, radiation-induced proctitis are not readily available. The faecal excretion of eight markers of gut inflammation was therefore examined. Five proteins and three lipid derivates were analysed in sequential stool samples taken before and during radiation therapy. METHODS: Stool samples from 15 patients with prostate cancer scheduled for radiation therapy were examined. Pretreatment and in-treatment samples (2nd and 6th weeks) were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (calprotectin, lactoferrin, transferrin, leukotriene B4, prostaglandin E2, thromboxane B2 and TNF alpha) or nephelometry (alpha 1-antitrypsin). RESULTS: Calprotectin and lactoferrin concentrations increased significantly during radiation treatment (P = 0.0005 and P = 0.019). Transferrin was detected in only 9 out of 45 samples. There were no changes in tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha), leukotriene B4, prostaglandin E2 and thromboxane B2 during treatment. alpha 1-antitrypsin could not be detected in any sample. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that faecal calprotectin and lactoferrin concentrations could be markers of acute, radiation-induced proctitis. Patient compliance and stability of the markers make this a promising method for clinical research. Eicosanoids could be measured in stool samples, but the concentrations did not increase with increasing radiation dose.

Physical activity and exercise training prescriptions for patients.

The dominant outcome from exercise prescription is an increase in various markers of exercise capacity. A very large group of studies have demonstrated that the VO2max is increased in response to exercise performed according to well-accepted principles of exercise prescription. Other markers of exercise capacity, such as the VT, also improve substantially following exercise training. Finally, improvement in exercise capacity is generally related to improved quality of life, particularly in patients with exercise capacity limited by various disease processes. Beyond the specific physiologic gains from training, exercise contributes to a better overall clinical outcome. Although there are few data conclusively demonstrating that exercise independently causes favorable changes in other risk factors, it should be recognized that exercise can contribute indirectly to modulation of other risk factors. Exercise represents positive health advice. Since most of our other recommendations to patients are in the nature of negative advice (e.g., don't smoke, don't eat high-fat foods), and since people are infamous for ignoring negative advice, the value of using a positive recommendation that may indirectly lead the patient to discontinue bad behaviors can hardly be overstated.

Assessing patients with possible heart disease using scores.

Multivariable analysis of clinical and exercise test data has the potential to become a useful tool for assisting in the diagnosis of coronary artery disease, assessing prognosis, and reducing the cost of evaluating patients with suspected coronary disease. Since general practitioners are functioning as gatekeepers and decide which patients must be referred to the cardiologist, they need to use the basic tools they have available (i.e. history, physical examination and the exercise test), in an optimal fashion. Scores derived from multivariable statistical techniques considering clinical and exercise data have demonstrated superior discriminating power compared with simple classification of the ST response. In addition, by stratifying patients as to probability of disease and prognosis, they provide a management strategy. While computers, as part of information management systems, can run complicated equations and derive these scores, physicians are reluctant to trust them. Thus, these scores have been represented as nomograms or simple additive tables so physicians are comfortable with their application. Their results have also been compared with physician judgment and found to estimate the presence of coronary disease and prognosis as well as expert cardiologists and often better than nonspecialists. However, the discriminating power of specific variables from the medical history and exercise test remains unclear because of inadequate study design and differences in study populations. Should expired gases be substituted for estimated metabolic equivalents (METs)? Should ST/heart rate (HR) index be used instead of putting these measurements separately into the models? Should right-sided chest leads and HR in recovery be considered? There is a need for further evaluation of these routinely obtained variables to improve the accuracy of prediction algorithms especially in women. The portability and reliability of these equations must be demonstrated since access to specialised care must be safe-guarded. Hopefully, sequential assessment of the clinical and exercise test data and application of the newer generation of multivariable equations can empower the clinician to assure the cardiac patient access to appropriate and cost-effective cardiological care.