Cancer survival in adult patients in Spain. Results from nine population-based cancer registries.

INTRODUCTION: With the aim of providing cancer control indicators, this work presents cancer survival in adult (≥15 years) patients in Spain diagnosed during the period 2000-2007 from Spanish cancer registries participating in the EUROCARE project. METHODS: Cancer cases from nine Spanish population-based cancer registries were included and analysed as a whole. All primary malignant neoplasms diagnosed in adult patients were eligible for the analysis. Cancer patients were followed until 31 December 2008. For each type of cancer, 1-, 3- and 5-year observed and relative survival were estimated by sex, age and years from diagnosis. Furthermore, age-standardized 5-year relative survival for the period 2000-2007 has been compared with that of the period 1995-1999. RESULTS: Skin melanoma (84.6 95% CI 83.0-86.2), prostate (84.6% 95% CI 83.6-85.6) and thyroid (84.2% CI 95% 82.0-86.6) cancers showed the highest 5-year relative survival, whereas the worst prognosis was observed in pancreatic (6% 95% CI 5.1-7.0) and oesophageal (9.4% 95% CI 7.9-11.1) cancers. Overall, survival is higher in women (58.0%) than in men (48.9%). The absolute difference in relative survival between 2000-2007 and 1995-1999 was positive for all cancers as a whole (+4.8% in men, +1.6% in women) and for most types of tumours. Survival increased significantly for chronic myeloid leukaemia, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and rectum cancer in both sexes, and for acute lymphoid leukaemia, prostate, liver and colon cancers in men and Hodgkin's lymphoma and breast cancer in women. Survival patterns by age were similar in Europe and Spain. A decline in survival by age was observed in all tumours, being more pronounced for ovarian, corpus uteri, prostate and urinary bladder and less for head and neck and rectum cancers. CONCLUSION: High variability and differences have been observed in survival among adults in Spain according to the type of cancer diagnosed, from above 84% to below 10%, reflecting high heterogeneity. The differences in prognosis by age, sex and period of diagnosis reveal opportunities for improving cancer care in Spain.

Cancer incidence in Spain, 2015.

PURPOSE: Periodic cancer incidence estimates of Spain from all existing population-based cancer registries at any given time are required. The objective of this study was to present the current situation of cancer incidence in Spain. METHODS: The Spanish Network of Cancer Registries (REDECAN) estimated the numbers of new cancer cases occurred in Spain in 2015 by applying the incidence-mortality ratios method. In the calculus, incidence data from population-based cancer registries and mortality data of all Spain were used. RESULTS: In 2015, nearly a quarter of a million new invasive cancer cases were diagnosed in Spain, almost 149,000 in men (60.0%) and 99,000 in women. Globally, the five most common cancers were those of colon-rectum, prostate, lung, breast and urinary bladder. By gender, the four most common cancers in men were those of prostate (22.4%), colon-rectum (16.6%), lung (15.1%) and urinary bladder (11.7%). In women, the most common ones were those of breast (28.0%), colon-rectum (16.9%), corpus uteri (6.2%) and lung (6.0%). In recent years, cancer incidence in men seems to have stabilized due to the fact that the decrease in tobacco-related cancers compensates for the increase in other types of cancer like those of colon and prostate. In women, despite the stabilization of breast cancer incidence, increased incidence is due, above all, to the rise of colorectal and tobacco-related cancers. CONCLUSION: To reduce these incident cancer cases, improvement of smoking control policies and extension of colorectal cancer screening should be the two priorities in cancer prevention for the next years.

Anti M. leprae IgM antibody determination by ultramicroimmunoenzymatic (UMELISA HANSEN) for the diagnosis and monitoring leprosy.

The relationship between the IgM antibody response, antigenic load as well as the clinical improvement after chemotherapy was studied in order to obtain useful data for the early diagnosis and monitoring leprosy. A level of 82% (94/115) agreement was obtained between IgM UMELISA HANSEN and slit-skin smear examination. Discrepant results were observed in 16 patients who showed positive IgM response despite negative by the skin smear examination. In these patients, the IgM response was seen to be associated to the early signal for bacilli recurrence in the skin. In one of these patients the presence of bacilli was demonstrated in the skin, two months after IgM antibodies being detected by UMELISA HANSEN. Also in one of the treated patients positive by both diagnostic techniques, a remarkable decrease in the IgM antibody levels was seen, correlating with a significant clinical improvement. Moreover it was found a direct relationship between the IgM antibody response and bacterial antigenic load, regardless the time elapsed in the disease's evolution.

[Ultramicro ELISA to the detection of IgM antibodies in Mycobacterium leprae using dry blood samples]. / UltramicroELISA para la detección de anticuerpos IgM al Mycobacterium leprae utilizando muestras de sangre seca.

In this work the adequate conditions for the detection of IgM antibodies to PGL-I in eluates from dried blood spots using the UMELISA HANSEN and the SUMA technology are established. A total of 300 blood donors and 58 leprosy patients samples were studied. For both populations, in the previously established conditions, we compared the results of the eluates from dried blood spots with the serum samples, and was obtained a correlation of 0.919 in blood donors, 0.969 in patients, and 0.954 for the total of both populations. It was also obtained a level of agreement of 98% in patients and 96% in blood donors. In the patients population was found a sensitivity of 93% and an specificity of 100% for the eluates of dried blood spots evaluated by the UMELISA HANSEN in the comparison with the serum samples analized by the same assay.