Longitudinal associations of callous-unemotional and oppositional defiant behaviors over a three-year interval for Spanish children.

The objective was to determine the longitudinal associations between callous-unemotional (CU) and oppositional defiant (OD) behaviors from the first to fourth grades for Spanish children. Four possible outcomes were evaluated: (a) CU behaviors in the first grade predict increases in OD behaviors in the fourth grade, controlling for OD behaviors in the first grade; (b) OD behaviors in the first grade predict increases in CU behaviors in the fourth grade, controlling for CU behaviors in the first grade; (c) both unique effects are significant; and (d) neither unique effect is significant. A longitudinal panel model with two latent variables (CU and OD behaviors), three sources (mothers, fathers, teachers), and two occasions (spring of the first and fourth grades) was used to evaluate the four possibilities among 758 (54% boys) first grade and 469 (53% boys) fourth grade Spanish children. For mother-, father-, and teacher-reports, OD behaviors in the first grade predicted increases in CU behaviors in the fourth grade, after controlling for CU behaviors in the first grade, whereas CU behaviors in the first grade did not predict increases in OD behaviors in the fourth grade, after controlling for OD behaviors in the first grade. OD behaviors thus conferred independent vulnerability to increases in CU behaviors 3 years later among young children.

Consistency of Limited Prosocial Emotions Across Occasions, Sources, and Settings: Trait- or State-Like Construct in a Young Community Sample?

Limited prosocial emotions (LPE, also referred to as callous-unemotional [CU] traits) are considered to reflect a more trait- than state-like construct. Our first objective was to determine the amount true score variance in CU/LPE that was consistent (trait consistency) over two occasions (12-month interval) of measurement versus specific (occasion-specificity) to each occasion. Our second objective was to determine the convergent validity of the consistent (trait) and occasion-specific (state) variance in CU/LPE symptom ratings within and across settings. Mothers, fathers, primary teachers, and ancillary teachers rated the CU/LPE symptoms in sample of 811 Spanish children (55% boys) on two occasions (i.e., end of first and second grades). CU/LPE symptom ratings showed more trait consistency than occasion-specificity for mothers and fathers, slightly more occasion-specificity than trait consistency for primary teachers, and much more occasion-specificity than trait consistency for ancillary teachers. Convergent validity for trait consistency was strong for fathers with mothers but weaker for primary with ancillary teachers. There was essentially no convergent validity for either trait consistency or occasion-specificity across home and school settings. CU/LPE symptom ratings within this age range represented a more trait-like construct for mothers and fathers and more state-like construct for primary teachers and ancillary teachers. In contrast, earlier studies showed ADHD and ODD ratings to be trait-like within and across home and school. The study of CU/LPE in young children should therefore include multiple sources in multiple settings across occasions to better understand the consistent and occasion-specific nature of the CU/LPE construct.

Evaluation of a four-item DSM-5 Limited Prosocial Emotions specifier scale within and across settings with Spanish children.

The objective was to evaluate a 4-item measure of the DSM-5 Limited Prosocial Emotions (LPE) specifier (a 4-item measure of prosocial emotions). Mothers, fathers, primary teachers, and ancillary teachers completed measures of prosocial emotions (PE), oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)-inattention (IN), ADHD-hyperactivity/impulsivity (HI), academic and social impairment on 811 Spanish first-grade children (46% girls). Confirmatory factor and structural regression analyses showed PE symptom scores to have (a) good reliability for the 4 sources (80% to 89% true score variance), (b) invariance of like-symptom loadings and intercepts across the 4 sources, (c) strong convergent and discriminant validity within home and school settings, (d) no convergent validity across settings, and (e) associations with academic and social impairment independent of the ODD dimension (the unique effects of PE also remained significant after controlling for ODD, ADHD-IN, and ADHD-HI for mothers and ancillary teachers). A graded response item response theory analysis indicated that PE scores provided an accurate measure of the PE trait across a wide trait range and especially at low PE trait levels (i.e., scores in the clinical range). Findings also supported the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria of 2 or more LPE symptoms in 2 or more settings (e.g., high levels of the LPE trait were associated with the occurrence of 2 or more symptoms with 4% of the sample showing 2 or more symptoms in both settings). Although additional studies are still required, the PE measure appears useful as a brief measure of the LPE specifier. (PsycINFO Database Record

[Basic principles for the development of biomarkers in oncology]. / Principios básicos para el desarrolo de biomarcadores en oncología.

The accelerated expansion of the knowledge of genetic and molecular basics of cancer, together with the recent development of molecular biology techniques, have had a significant impact in the field of oncology, among other medical disciplines. So, over the last few years, we are crossing from an empiricism-based model to an evidence-based model in which drugs are adapted depending of the molecular alterations which result crucial for tumor development (both for carcinogenesis and acquisition of an aggressive phenotype leading to tumor invasion and resistance to therapy). The molecular alterations /variations offer the possibility of being detected and used as biomarkers in clinical practice. Biomarkers may have multiple applications in the field of oncology, from determining the risk to suffer the disease to prediction of response to therapy, including diagnosis, prognosis and disease monitoring, with the final aim of performing a more personalized medicine and achieving greater efficacy for the therapies selected, diminishing each therapy's own adverse events. Considering the importance biomarkers may get to have in clinical decision making, it is basic that their development is performed under straight evaluation and validation rules. In this article we review the various types of biomarkers and the basic methodological principles for their development, validation and subsequent clinical application.

Principios básicos para el desarrollo de biomarcadores en oncología / Basic principles for the development of biomarkers in oncology

La expansión acelerada del conocimiento de las bases genéticas y moleculares del cáncer, unido al desarrollo reciente de técnicas de biología molecular, ha tenido un impacto significativo en el campo de la oncología, entre otras disciplinas médicas. Así, en los últimos años, se está pasando de un modelo de tratamiento basado en el empirismo, a un modelo basado en las evidencias en el que los fármacos se adecúan según las alteraciones moleculares que resultan cruciales para el desarrollo tumoral (tanto para la carcinogénesis como para la adquisición de un fenotipo agresivo que conduzca a la invasión y diseminación tumoral o a la resistencia al tratamiento). Las alteraciones/variaciones moleculares ofrecen la posibilidad de ser determinadas y utilizadas en la práctica clínica como biomarcadores (BMSS). Los BMSS pueden tener múltiples aplicaciones en el campo de la oncología, desde la determinación del riesgo para padecer la enfermedad hasta la predicción de la respuesta al tratamiento, incluyendo el diagnóstico, pronóstico y monitorización de la enfermedad. El objetivo último es realizar una medicina más personalizada y conseguir una mayor eficacia de las terapias seleccionadas, disminuyendo los efectos secundarios propios del tratamiento. Teniendo en cuenta la importancia que los BMSS pueden llegar a tener en la toma de decisiones clínicas, es fundamental que su desarrollo se realice bajo unas estrechas normas de evaluación y validación. En este artículo revisamos los diferentes tipos de biomarcadores y los principios metodológicos básicos para su desarrollo, validación y posterior aplicación clínica (AU)

The accelerated expansion of the knowledge of genetic and molecular basics of cancer, together with the recent development of molecular biology techniques, have had a significant impact in the field of oncology, among other medical disciplines. So, over the last few years, we are crossing from an empiricism-based model to an evidence-based model in which drugs are adapted depending of the molecular alterations which result crucial for tumor development (both for carcinogenesis and acquisition of an aggressive phenotype leading to tumor invasion and resistance to therapy). The molecular alterations /variations offer the possibility of being detected and used as biomarkers in clinical practice. Biomarkers may have multiple applications in the field of oncology, from determining the risk to suffer the disease to prediction of response to therapy, including diagnosis, prognosis and disease monitoring, with the final aim of performing a more personalized medicine and achieving greater efficacy for the therapies selected, diminishing each therapy`s own adverse events. Considering the importance biomarkers may get to have in clinical decision making, it is basic that their development is performed under straight evaluation and validation rules. In this article we review the various types of biomarkers and the basic methodological principles for their development, validation and subsequent clinical application (AU)

Human recombinant erythropoietic agents do not induce changes in circulating levels of endoglin and vascular endothelial growth factor in anemic cancer patients.

The correlation of erythropoietin (EPO) receptor levels with angiogenesis and progression in some cancers has suggested that EPO could acts directly as an angiogenic factor. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of treatment with human recombinant erythropoietic (rHuEPO) agents in cancer patients with chemotherapy-induced anaemia on endoglin and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) circulating levels as a possible marker of angiogenesis. Endoglin and VEGF were measured in serum samples from 25 cancer patients with chemotherapy-induced anemia before and after 3-4 weeks of treatment with rHuEPO. A group of 28 healthy voluntaries was used as control. VEGF serum levels were significantly higher in cancer patients than in controls. For endoglin, higher levels were observed without reaching statistical significance. No statistically significant differences in endoglin and VEGF serum levels were found between samples obtained before and after treatment with rHuEPO agents. In conclusion, our result do not support that rHuEpo treatment in anaemic cancer patients induce angiogenesis.