Survival from breast cancers managed by surgeons participating in the National Breast Cancer Audit of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.

BACKGROUND: he National Breast Cancer Audit (NBCA) of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons has collected data on early breast cancer since 1998. In this project, deaths were traced by linkage of NBCA patient identifiers (first three digits of surname and date of birth) with the National Death Index that covers all deaths in Australia. METHODS: Death data were traced to 31 December 2007. Invasive cancers diagnosed in 1998-2005 were included in survival analyses to allow enough follow-up for assessment. Survivals were compared with survivals for similar stages recorded by the New South Wales (NSW) Cancer Registry and USA Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) programme. Survivals were analysed by conventional clinical risk factors to see if expected differences presented. RESULTS: The 5-year survival from breast cancer of 93% for NBCA cases was the same as the SEER figure for local and regional cases combined in 1996-2004. The NBCA figure for localized cases was 97%, which was the same as for NSW. Node-positive NBCA cancers had a 5-year survival of 89%, which was slightly higher than the corresponding 86% for NSW, which may reflect exclusion from the NBCA of some cases with a poorer prognosis, including those with positive fixed nodes. As expected, lower survivals presented for older cases and those with conventional clinical risk factors. CONCLUSIONS: These survivals are credible both overall and by clinical risk factor. Opportunities present to use these data for survival monitoring and to investigate survival by socio-demographic characteristic, treatment protocol, case volume and provider characteristics.

National Breast Cancer Audit: the use of multidisciplinary care teams by breast surgeons in Australia and New Zealand.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the involvement of members of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) Section of Breast Surgery in Australia and New Zealand in multidisciplinary care (MDC) teams. DESIGN AND SETTING: Questionnaire sent to all full members of the RACS Section of Breast Surgery in December 2006. PARTICIPANTS: 239 of 262 active full members of the RACS Section of Breast Surgery (response rate, 91.2%). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Surgeons' use of, and the composition and functioning of, MDC teams in public and private practice, and in metropolitan, regional and rural settings. RESULTS: 85% of responding surgeons reported participating in at least one fully established MDC team. Public-sector teams were operationally more consistent and functional than private teams, and rural teams were less well developed than those in metropolitan and regional centres. The six core disciplines recommended by the National Breast Cancer Centre appear to be well represented in most teams. Patients and their general practitioners were not considered to be part of the treatment team by surgeons. CONCLUSIONS: MDC is supported by most breast surgeons, but there are deficits in rural areas, and in the private sector relative to the public sector.

Life table (survival) analysis to generate cumulative pregnancy rates in assisted reproduction: an alternative method of calculating the cumulative pregnancy rate in assisted reproduction technology.

The current method of calculating cumulative pregnancy rate can lead to an overestimation of treatment efficacy, especially over many cycles of assisted reproduction treatment. The choice of scale of passage of time should be dependent upon the types of treatment to be evaluated. The number of treatment cycles to which patients' effort and commitment is directly related may be appropriate where the chance of pregnancy is expected to be significantly higher than non-treatment for them. Limiting the calculation of cumulative pregnancy rate only to the second or third cycle within 1 or 2 years will ensure that most patients are included in the calculation. More research is needed to assess different methods and develop better variables for assessing the efficacy of infertility treatment that can be informative for patients over the course of their treatment.

Risk factors for the deterioration of glucose metabolism in polycystic ovary syndrome.

Women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) have a high risk of abnormal glucose metabolism, which deteriorates gradually over time. This study was designed to assess contributing factors to the rate of deterioration of glucose metabolism over the 4- to 7-year follow-up period. The study group included 67 PCOS women who had normal glucose tolerance in the initial test in 1990-1992. There was a significant increase in both fasting and 2-h glucose concentrations, and body weight, over the follow-up period. The initial obesity, expressed as waist:hip ratio and BMI, was significantly related to the increase of glucose concentrations, while weight gain was not a significant factor. The overweight/obese PCOS women have a faster deterioration of glucose metabolism over the follow-up period than the non-obese ones. Moderate weight gain has no significant detrimental effect on the rate of deterioration of glucose metabolism.

Overweight infertile patients have a higher fecundity than normal-weight women undergoing controlled ovarian hyperstimulation with intrauterine insemination.

There is a positive effect of being overweight or obese on the pregnancy rate in women undergoing controlled ovarian hyperstimulation with intrauterine insemination.

Improving reproductive performance in overweight/obese women with effective weight management.

Obesity and overweight are common conditions in the developed countries and they carry many health consequences, including some reproductive disorders. There is a very high prevalence of obese women in the infertile population and many studies have highlighted the link between obesity and infertility. A large proportion of infertile women have polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) which is also linked with increased risk of obesity and other metabolic anomalies. The association between obesity and/or PCOS and hyperinsulinaemia, hyper androgenism and abnormal secretion of other hormones, such as leptin, underlies many reproductive disorders observed in this population. It has been demonstrated that weight loss can improve the fertility of obese women through the recovery of spontaneous ovulation, whereas others will have improved response to ovarian stimulation in infertility treatment. Therefore, it is proposed that following the initial assessment of infertility and body mass index or other measurement of obesity, various weight management interventions, including diet, exercise or pharmacotherapeutic approaches, should be considered for overweight and obese infertile women.

Should we continue or stop insulin sensitizing drugs during pregnancy?

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The use of insulin sensitizing drugs such as metformin in polycystic ovary syndrome has been increasingly popular and validated by systematic reviews. There has also been an interest in the use of metformin for gestational diabetes. However, administration of metformin to prevent miscarriage is controversial and widespread use of this drug in early pregnancy requires investigation. RECENT FINDINGS: There are claims that miscarriage and gestational diabetes are more common in polycystic ovary syndrome and that use of insulin sensitizers improves outcomes dramatically. This review suggests there is no evidence for increased risk of miscarriage solely due to polycystic ovary syndrome and that there are insufficient data for promoting therapy with metformin. There is some reason for use of metformin in mid-pregnancy for gestational diabetes but better evidence from randomized controlled trials is urgently needed. SUMMARY: The use of metformin in early pregnancy for reducing the risk of miscarriage should be avoided outside of the context of properly designed prospective randomized trials. Safety in early pregnancy appears to be reassuring but not completely proven. The use of metformin in mid-pregnancy for gestational diabetes appears more logical but also needs adequate trials before general use is advocated.

What is the most relevant standard of success in assisted reproduction? Assessing the BESST index for reproduction treatment.

It has been proposed that use of performance indicators for assisted reproduction treatment (ART) should be revised to better reflect the burden of treatment endured by a couple, and to place greater emphasis on the desired outcome of healthy babies. Recently, the BESST (birth emphasizing a successful singleton at term) score as a routine measurement for use in ART has been suggested. We applied the BESST index to a sample of ART patients and found that the BESST score was sensitive to the effects of patient age and extremes in the number of embryos transferred. However, the statistical properties of the index placed great weight on the effective implantation rate, which when applied to a time series in which implantation rates were improving, showed BESST scores to increase simultaneously with multiple pregnancy rates. This limits the completeness of the summary score as an expression of benefits compared to risks. A modified BESST index, not including cycles of initiated treatment as a denominator, indicated that the ART births contained a substantially lower proportion of BESST babies when compared to the entire population of births.

Incidence of spontaneous abortion among pregnancies produced by assisted reproductive technology.

BACKGROUND: There has been increasing number of pregnancies following assisted reproductive technology treatment and their survival is understandably a matter of interest. The relative risk of spontaneous abortion in these pregnancies remains unclear. The objectives of this study were to quantify the relative risk in assisted reproductive technology pregnancies in relation to two cohorts of naturally conceived pregnancies and to assess the possible risk factors for spontaneous abortion among assisted reproductive technology pregnancies. METHODS: Three cohorts of pregnancies, 1945 pregnancies conceived following assisted reproductive technology treatment in a tertiary infertility clinic, 549 natural pregnancies in a prospective study of lifestyle and pregnancy (the Ford cohort), and 4265 pregnancies from another cohort (the Treloar cohort), were used in the study. RESULTS: After adjusting for age, the relative risk of spontaneous abortion was 1.20 (95% CI 1.03-1.46) in the assisted reproductive technology cohort in comparison with the Ford cohort. Within the assisted reproductive technology cohort, a history of spontaneous abortion predicted increased risk, while a low level of ovarian stimulation seemed to be related to a reduced risk. CONCLUSIONS: The study showed that the risk of spontaneous abortion was slightly increased in the assisted reproductive technology pregnancies after adjusting for maternal age and previous spontaneous abortion. Within the assisted reproductive technology cohort, several variables, including the level of stimulation, appeared to be linked with the risk of spontaneous abortion.

Obesity increases the risk of spontaneous abortion during infertility treatment.

OBJECTIVE: This study examines the relationship between body mass and the risk of spontaneous abortion in a large cohort of patients who received infertility treatment. RESEARCH METHODS AND PROCEDURES: This is a retrospective study using data on pregnancies (n = 2349) achieved after treatment in a tertiary medical center from 1987 to 1999. One pregnancy per subject was included, and the subjects were stratified into five body mass groups based on body mass index (BMI): underweight, <18.5 kg/m(2); normal, 18.5 to 24.9 kg/m(2); overweight, 25 to 29.9 kg/m(2); obese, 30 to 34.9 kg/m(2); and very obese, > or =35 kg/m(2). Logistical regression analysis was used. RESULTS: The overall incidence of spontaneous abortion was 20% (476 of 2349). The effect of BMI on the risk of spontaneous abortion was significant after adjusting for several independent risk factors. Compared with the reference group (BMI 18.5 to 24.9 kg/m(2)), underweight women had a similar risk of spontaneous abortion, whereas there was progressive increase of risk in overweight, obese, and very obese groups (p < 0.05, p < 0.01, and p < 0.001, respectively). DISCUSSION: Of all known risk factors for spontaneous abortion, the control of obesity has great significance because it is noninvasive, potentially modifiable, possibly amenable to low cost, and self-manageable by patients. This study established a positive relationship between BMI and the risk of spontaneous abortion in women who became pregnant after assisted reproductive technology treatment.

The influence of body mass index, basal FSH and age on the response to gonadotrophin stimulation in non-polycystic ovarian syndrome patients.

BACKGROUND: Adequate ovarian response to exogenous gonadotrophins is important for both ovulation induction (OI) and controlled ovarian stimulation (COS). The objective of this study was to analyse the effect of a number of clinical factors that influence ovarian response in non-polycystic ovarian syndrome (non-PCOS) patients. METHODS: A total of 140 OI cycles (52 subjects), where each subject had a single abnormality (elevated FSH, abnormal body mass index (BMI) or > or = 40 years of age), were compared with 54 cycles (15 subjects) where the patients displayed none of these abnormal features (the normal group). Similarly, 275 COS cycles (135 subjects), where each subject displayed a single abnormality, were compared with 79 cycles (40 subjects) in the normal group. RESULTS: For OI, subjects with a high basal FSH generally had an inadequate response with a poor chance of conception. Subjects with an abnormal BMI commonly required dosage adjustment so were more difficult to manage. Their potential for conception was normal. Older women seemed to respond normally with a normal expectation of conception. In the COS group, subjects with a moderately high basal FSH responded and conceived normally. Subjects with an abnormal BMI had an increased risk of an inadequate response leading to cancellation but if the response was adequate then the outlook was good. Older women required more gonadotrophin with a poor response and a low chance of conception. CONCLUSION: The results have better defined the anticipated responses of non-PCOS patients to gonadotrophin stimulation in both OI and COS.

Surgically obtained sperm, and risk of gestational hypertension and pre-eclampsia.

The cause of pre-eclampsia is unknown, although a partner-specific immune maladaptation might be involved. We compared rates of pre-eclampsia and gestational hypertension in women whose genital tracts had and had not been exposed to their partner's sperm cells. Our aim was to ascertain whether or not protective partner-specific immune-tolerance is conveyed by sperm cells, rather than seminal fluid. Our findings indicate that, compared with women exposed to their partner's sperm cells and seminal fluid--ie, those treated with in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) with ejaculated sperm--the risk of hypertension was doubled and the risk of pre-eclampsia tripled in those never exposed to their partner's sperm--ie, those treated with ICSI done with surgically obtained sperm.