ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: Women's sexual health and wellbeing with cervical or vaginal cancer may be largely affected by complications from external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) and utero-vaginal brachytherapy (BT), of which vaginal stenosis is the main complication. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of support by a nurse sexologist on sexuality, vaginal side-effects, and the quality of clinical follow-up in patients treated with brachytherapy for cervical or vaginal cancer. METHODS: We performed a retrospective study of the sexuality of women treated for cervical or vaginal cancer. Data from patients with cervical or vaginal cancer who underwent brachytherapy between 2013 and 2017 were collected at Institut Universitaire de Cancer de Toulouse-Oncopôle (IUCT-Oncopôle). Patients were divided into two groups: group A (intervention group) received support from a nurse sexologist and group B (control group) did not. The chi-square test and a logistic multivariate model were used for data analysis. RESULTS: A total of 156 patients were included in this study, including 57.7% who were followed by a nurse sexologist. We observed low compliance in using vaginal dilators after brachytherapy and/or radiotherapy over time regardless of the group, and patients' sexual activity was inadequately addressed. Information regarding the resumption of sexuality 2 months after treatment was missing in 1.1% of patients in group A and in 36.4% of patients in group B. Multivariate analysis showed that patients in group A had a lower risk of developing vaginal stenosis with OR crude = 0.5 (95% CI = 0.25-0.92) and OR adj. = 0.5 (95% CI = 0.26-1.09) compared with those in group B. CONCLUSION: This retrospective study highlights the lack of information collected by physicians during follow-up concerning the sexuality of patients with cervical or vaginal cancer treated by EBRT and BT. The support offered by nurse sexologists in improving patients' sexual activity and reducing their physical side-effects such as vaginal stenosis is likely to be beneficial. A prospective study is currently being conducted to validate the present findings.
Subject(s)
Brachytherapy/adverse effects , Psychosocial Support Systems , Sexual Behavior/psychology , Sexuality/statistics & numerical data , Uterine Cervical Neoplasms/radiotherapy , Vaginal Neoplasms/radiotherapy , Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Carcinoma in Situ/radiotherapy , Constriction, Pathologic/epidemiology , Constriction, Pathologic/etiology , Dilatation , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , Middle Aged , Nurses , Patient Compliance , Prospective Studies , Retrospective Studies , Sexology/methodsABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The association of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) babA2 gene with gastric cancer (GC) was reported by several studies, but results were inconsistent. This meta-analysis was performed to investigate the relationship between H. pylori babA2 gene and GC risk. METHODS: Case-control studies involving the association between H. pylori babA2 gene and GC risk were systematically identified from PubMed databases. A meta-analysis was used to pool studies and to estimate odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of H. pylori babA2 gene associated with GC risk. RESULTS: Twenty studies were identified with a total of 1289 GC cases and 1081 controls. H. pylori babA2 gene was associated with an increased risk of GC by 2.05 fold (95% CI, 1.30-3.24, P = 0.002). In subgroup analysis, we found that H. pylori babA2 gene was significantly associated with GC risk in Asian population (OR = 2.63, 95% CI: 1.36-5.09 P = 0.004) but not in South American population (OR = 1.35, 95% CI: 0.69-2.64, P = 0.379). CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis indicates that H. pylori babA2 gene may be associated with increased risk of GC, especially in Asian population.
Subject(s)
Adhesins, Bacterial/genetics , Bacterial Proteins/genetics , Helicobacter Infections/complications , Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide , Stomach Neoplasms/etiology , Genotype , Helicobacter Infections/genetics , Helicobacter Infections/virology , Helicobacter pylori/genetics , Humans , Prognosis , Risk Factors , Stomach Neoplasms/pathologyABSTRACT
Objective. Recent studies on the association between uridine diphosphosglucuronosyltransferases (UGTs) 2B17 polymorphism and risk of prostate cancer (PCa) showed inconclusive results. To clarify this possible association, we conducted a meta-analysis of published studies. Methods. We searched the published literature from PubMed, Embase, Google Scholar, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI). According to our inclusion criteria, studies that observed the association between UGT2B17 polymorphism and PCa risk were included. The principal outcome measure was the adjusted odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) for the risk of PCa associated with UGT2B17 polymorphism. Results. A total of 6 studies with 7,029 subjects (3,839 cases and 3,190 controls) were eligible for inclusion in the meta-analysis. Overall, there was a significant association between UGT2B17 polymorphism and increased risk of prostate cancer (OR = 1.74, 95% CI 1.14-2.64, P < 0.001). Similar results were found in the subgroup analyses by ethnicity and types of controls. Conclusion. This meta-analysis demonstrates that UGT2B17 polymorphism is associated with prostate cancer susceptibility, and it contributes to the increased risk of prostate cancer.
