British journal of cancer
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British journal of cancer · Jun 2016
Effects of microsatellite instability on recurrence patterns and outcomes in colorectal cancers.
Among colorectal cancers (CRCs), high-frequency microsatellite instability (MSI-H) is associated with a better prognosis, compared with low-frequency MSI or microsatellite stability (MSI-L/MSS). However, it is unclear whether MSI affects the prognosis of recurrent CRCs. ⋯ Recurrence patterns differed between MSI-H CRC and MSI-L/MSS CRC, and recurrent MSI-H CRCs had a worse prognosis.
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British journal of cancer · May 2016
Health service use and costs in the last 6 months of life in elderly decedents with a history of cancer: a comprehensive analysis from a health payer perspective.
There is growing interest in end-of-life care in cancer patients. We aim to characterise health service use and costs in decedents with cancer history and examine factors associated with resource use and costs at life's end. ⋯ We analysed health services use and costs from a payer perspective, and highlight important differences in patterns of care by cause of death in patients with a cancer history. In particular, there are growing numbers of highly complex patients approaching the end of life and the heterogeneity of these populations may present challenges for effective health service delivery.
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British journal of cancer · May 2016
Comparative StudyChromatin changes predict recurrence after radical prostatectomy.
Pathological evaluations give the best prognostic markers for prostate cancer patients after radical prostatectomy, but the observer variance is substantial. These risk assessments should be supported and supplemented by objective methods for identifying patients at increased risk of recurrence. Markers of epigenetic aberrations have shown promising results in several cancer types and can be assessed by automatic analysis of chromatin organisation in tumour cell nuclei. ⋯ A novel assessment of epigenetic aberrations was capable of improving risk stratification after radical prostatectomy.
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British journal of cancer · Apr 2016
Gene and pathway level analyses of germline DNA-repair gene variants and prostate cancer susceptibility using the iCOGS-genotyping array.
Germline mutations within DNA-repair genes are implicated in susceptibility to multiple forms of cancer. For prostate cancer (PrCa), rare mutations in BRCA2 and BRCA1 give rise to moderately elevated risk, whereas two of B100 common, low-penetrance PrCa susceptibility variants identified so far by genome-wide association studies implicate RAD51B and RAD23B. ⋯ MSH5 is a novel candidate gene warranting additional follow-up as a prospective PrCa-risk locus. MSH5 has previously been reported as a pleiotropic susceptibility locus for lung, colorectal and serous ovarian cancers.
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British journal of cancer · Mar 2016
Multicenter StudyPhase 2 multicentre trial investigating intermittent and continuous dosing schedules of the poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitor rucaparib in germline BRCA mutation carriers with advanced ovarian and breast cancer.
Rucaparib is an orally available potent selective small-molecule inhibitor of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) 1 and 2. Rucaparib induces synthetic lethality in cancer cells defective in the homologous recombination repair pathway including BRCA-1/2. We investigated the efficacy and safety of single-agent rucaparib in germline (g) BRCA mutation carriers with advanced breast and ovarian cancers. ⋯ Rucaparib is well tolerated and results in high levels of PARP inhibition in surrogate tissues even at the lowest dose levels. Rucaparib is active in gBRCA-mutant ovarian cancer and this activity correlates with platinum-free interval. The key lessons learned from this study is that continuous rucaparib dosing is required for optimal response, the recommended phase 2 dose (RP2D) for continuous oral scheduling has not been established and requires further exploration and, thirdly, the use of a PD biomarker to evaluate dose-response has its limitations.