Prevalence and Spectrum of Gene Mutations and Colorectal Cancer

This cohort study examines the frequency and spectrum of cancer susceptibility gene mutations among patients with early-onset colorectal cancer.

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Identifying Genetic Predisposition for Colorectal Cancer

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer in the United States, diagnosed at a median age of 69 years for men and 72 years for women. Although CRC incidence and mortality have declined overall as a result of an increased uptake of screening, work remains to be done since 40% of eligible individuals are not compliant with CRC screening recommendations and CRC incidence is rising among adults younger than the screening age of 50 years. Hereditary cancer syndromes are implicated in approximately 5% of all CRC cases. Although the prevalence of genetic predisposition is likely higher among individuals who develop cancers at an early age, younger patients with CRC are significantly less likely than their counterparts with young-onset breast cancer to undergo genetic evaluation. Identification of hereditary cancer syndromes is important because morbidity can be averted through frequent endoscopic surveillance beginning at an early age.

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Discordance Between 2 Next-Generation Sequencing Platforms in Oncology

This study compares reports from 2 next-generation sequencing tests to determine the level of concordance between platforms.

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Effects of potentially functional polymorphisms in suppressor of cytokine signaling 3(SOCS3) on the risk of head and neck squamous cancer

Abstract

Background

Suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 (SOCS3) has been identified as an inhibitor of JAK/STAT pathway that plays a significant role in carcinogenesis. SOCS3 and JAK2 polymorphisms may influence the gene expression or function, contributing to the disease susceptibility; however, such effect has not been evaluated in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).

Methods

A case-control study was performed to test the associations of SOCS3 and JAK2 polymorphisms with risk of HNSCC in 576 cases and 1552 cancer-free controls from China. Seven potentially functional polymorphisms predicted by bioinformatics tools were genotyped using Infinium BeadChip platform. The association between genotypes and HNSCC risk was estimated by computing odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) in univariate and multivariate logistic regression models.

Results

We found that rs2280148 located at 3′-untranslated region of SOCS3 was significantly associated with an increased risk of HNSCC (additive model: adjusted OR=1.21, 95% CI=1.03-1.43, P=0.021). Moreover, rs8064821 located in the promoter region of SOCS3 was linked with a decreased risk of the cancer (additive model: adjusted OR=0.83, 95% CI= 0.71-0.97, P=0.022). Combined analysis of these variants by the number of risk alleles showed a significant locus-dosage effect on the risk of HNSCC (P_trend = 0.006).

Conclusions

We provided the first evidence that SOCS3 polymorphisms may influence the risk of HNSCC, which could be applied as novel biomarkers to identify individuals at high risk of the disease.

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Healing Acceleration of Oral Mucositis Induced by 5-Fluorouracil with Pistacia atlantica (Bene) Essential Oil in Hamsters

Abstract

Background

Oral mucositis is a common debilitating condition in cancer patients receiving cytotoxic therapies. The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of topical administrations of the essential oil extracted from hull of Pistaciaatlanticafruit (Bene) on healing of oral mucositis in golden hamsters.

Methods

Forty hamsters with oral mucositis induced by 5-Fluorouracil administered on days 0, 5 and 10 and buccal mucosal scratching were randomly divided into four equal groups; group 1 received no additional treatment, group 2 received gel base, groups 3 and 4 received gels containing 5 and 10% oilrespectively. From day 12, after blood sampling of all animals, a half randomly-selected fraction of each group (four half groups) received once daily topical administration of either gel type (gel base, 5% and 10%) or no treatment (control subgroup)over the buccal pouches for 3 days and the remaining halves received the same treatments for 6 days. On each final day 15 and 18, the corresponding subgroups underwent consecutively the repeated blood sampling, mucosal clinical examination and excision for histopathology.

Results

Comparisons on macro- and microscopicaloral mucositis scorings demonstrated dose-dependent healing promotion in the subgroups receiving active gels (P< 0.05). The blood samplings revealed the chemotherapy related pancytopenia with no significant difference among all subgroups on either endpoint (P > 0.05).

Conclusions

The healing effect of the Bene oil could mainly be local and attributed to its antioxidants and fatty acid contents present in nonsaponified and saponified fractions respectively.

This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

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Family of Minn. teen who froze to death sues responders

By EMS1 Staff

MINNEAPOLIS — The parents of a college student who froze to death in 2013 filed a federal lawsuit last week, claiming first responders were negligent in providing their son medical care. 

Jake Anderson, 19, was found along the Mississippi River December 2013 after celebrating the end of his first year as a freshman, reported the Star Tribune. Responders who found Anderson said he was frozen to death. 

His parents, Bill and Kristi Anderson, are suing first responders for failing to pull Anderson from the cold to try and revive him. The suit references several cases where individuals survived subzero temperatures for 12 hours, even though they did not have a pulse and appeared to be dead. 

"We assumed everything was done to save him when they found him," Kristi Anderson said. "When they come and tell you at two in the afternoon that your son is dead, you're presupposing that they have taken every measure to save him."

The Andersons are seeking a minimum of $75,000 per individual named in the suit.

According to their attorney, Anderson was found in a hypothermic state face down, slumped over a metal rail; he was mostly likely exposed to zero degree temperatures from 2 a.m. until he was found six to seven hours later. 

The lawsuit alleges that fire officials failed to recognize Anderson as a hypothermia victim and declared him dead after evaluating him for no more than 90 seconds. A fire report stated that Anderson had "no pulse and no breathing and was frozen, indicating obvious death." However, fire procedure indicates that victims must be "cold in a warm environment" or have "obvious mortal trauma" before being classified as dead. 

"Everybody who lived through hypothermia was found by somebody who cared about them and did something about it," Bill Anderson said. 

A most recent case happened a week before Anderson's death, in which college student Alyssa Lommel was found frozen by a passerby; she had been exposed to minus-17 degrees for over nine hours. She was taken to a hospital and survived. 

"You can't make an evaluation when a person is cold in a cold environment," attorney Robert Hopper said. 

Minneapolis and Hennepin County Medical Center personnel have also been named in the suit. The city attorney's office released a statement stating, "Jake Anderson's death is tragic. However, first responders in the city of Minneapolis, including fire and police personnel, are not responsible for his death. We can only imagine the grief of Mr. Anderson's parents, family and friends are experiencing."

http://ift.tt/2gQ0Kr5

Family of Minn. teen who froze to death sues responders

By EMS1 Staff

MINNEAPOLIS — The parents of a college student who froze to death in 2013 filed a federal lawsuit last week, claiming first responders were negligent in providing their son medical care. 

Jake Anderson, 19, was found along the Mississippi River December 2013 after celebrating the end of his first year as a freshman, reported the Star Tribune. Responders who found Anderson said he was frozen to death. 

His parents, Bill and Kristi Anderson, are suing first responders for failing to pull Anderson from the cold to try and revive him. The suit references several cases where individuals survived subzero temperatures for 12 hours, even though they did not have a pulse and appeared to be dead. 

"We assumed everything was done to save him when they found him," Kristi Anderson said. "When they come and tell you at two in the afternoon that your son is dead, you're presupposing that they have taken every measure to save him."

The Andersons are seeking a minimum of $75,000 per individual named in the suit.

According to their attorney, Anderson was found in a hypothermic state face down, slumped over a metal rail; he was mostly likely exposed to zero degree temperatures from 2 a.m. until he was found six to seven hours later. 

The lawsuit alleges that fire officials failed to recognize Anderson as a hypothermia victim and declared him dead after evaluating him for no more than 90 seconds. A fire report stated that Anderson had "no pulse and no breathing and was frozen, indicating obvious death." However, fire procedure indicates that victims must be "cold in a warm environment" or have "obvious mortal trauma" before being classified as dead. 

"Everybody who lived through hypothermia was found by somebody who cared about them and did something about it," Bill Anderson said. 

A most recent case happened a week before Anderson's death, in which college student Alyssa Lommel was found frozen by a passerby; she had been exposed to minus-17 degrees for over nine hours. She was taken to a hospital and survived. 

"You can't make an evaluation when a person is cold in a cold environment," attorney Robert Hopper said. 

Minneapolis and Hennepin County Medical Center personnel have also been named in the suit. The city attorney's office released a statement stating, "Jake Anderson's death is tragic. However, first responders in the city of Minneapolis, including fire and police personnel, are not responsible for his death. We can only imagine the grief of Mr. Anderson's parents, family and friends are experiencing."

http://ift.tt/2gQ0Kr5