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[Trends in cancer mortality and morbidity in Hungarian and international statistics. Characteristics and potential outcome of public health screening programs].

This work is a comparative analysis of Hungarian and international cancer mortality and morbidity data with special attention to the epidemiological background of these indices. The authors also discuss the epidemiological reasons for a national public health screening program, its major objectives and the strategy of choice in relation to similar international programs. The recent cancer mortality and morbidity data including their trends are also provided.

Breast Neoplasms↗

[Universal newborn hearing screening program in Würzburg. Experience with more than 4000 newborns and the influence of non-pathological factors on the test results].

BACKGROUND: The BERAphon(R) method employing a special headphone and the time-course step-stimulus algorithm offers a quick and reliable tool for universal hearing screening in newborns. An ABR-based universal newborn hearing screening program has been established in Würzburg since August, 1997. Until August 2001, 4115 newborns have undergone primary and/or control-screening with the BERAphon(R). The validity of this method was further examined by testing the effects of non-pathological factors such as gender, age, Apgar score, pH value of the umbilical cord, head circumference and duration of pregnancy on the ABR wave V latency in 415 infants. RESULTS: Out of 3930 infants who were primary screened, 27 infants were diagnosed to have hearing loss. Furthermore, hearing loss was detected in 35 out of 185 infants referred for control screening. Non-pathological factors showed a minor effect on the test results. Apgar score, gender or chronological age did not have any significant effects on the latency of wave V. Duration of pregnancy, pH value of the umbilical cord or head circumference showed a significant but weak correlation with wave V latency. CONCLUSIONS: Only non-pathological factors related to maturation had a minor effect on ABR measurements using the time-course-step-stimulus algorithm. The BERAphon(R) method has proven to be a reliable, robust method giving information related to the hearing threshold and accordingly can be used reliably for hearing screening in newborn infants.

Audiometry, Evoked Response↗

Evaluation of the expanded newborn screening program in New York City.

Since September 1974, New York State public health law has mandated that all newborn infants be tested for phenylketonuria, maple syrup urine disease, homocystinuria, histidinemia, galactosemia, adenosine deaminase deficiency, and sickle cell anemia in accordance with regulations of the state commissioner of health. During the period from May 1, 1975, to April 30, 1976, a total of 110,180 babies born in New York City were tested for these seven conditions. One year's experience with the screening program demonstrated a paucity of technological problems, low observed rate of both false-negatives and -positives, and the expected incidence of the conditions of highest prevalence, incidentally found during screening: i.e., sickle cell traits, AS and AC. What is equally apparent in reviewing this first year's experience is the extent to which the New York State law, its structure, and implementation have fallen short of the ultimate objective. The major reason for this failure is lack of funds and facilities in the areas of education, case retrieval, continuing medical care, and counseling. This report is presented with the hope that it will benefit all involved in genetic screening and especially those concerned with establishing similar programs.

Adenosine Deaminase↗

Cigarette smoking and breast cancer: a case-control study of screening program participants.

A case-control study of Canadian women aged 40-59 years (n = 123; 369) has been conducted on the relationship of cigarette-smoking and initial visit breast cancer detection within a multicenter screening program. Among premenopausal women, a relative risk of 2.1 (1.1, 4.0) was found for ever-smokers versus never-smokers. There was a dose-response gradient with relative risks of 1.0, 1.3, 2.5, and 3.5 among women with 0, 1-200, 201-500, and greater than 500 cigarette-years of exposure, respectively. No overall association was detected among postmenopausal women but a significant interaction with parity was present in this group. When menopausal status was ignored, there was a nonsignificantly elevated risk of 1.4 (0.9, 2.1) for ever- versus never-smokers but the dose-response was significant with relative risks of 1.0, 0.9, 1.7, and 2.0 in the above four exposure categories, respectively. These results persisted despite adjustment for several important variables. These data are consistent with an interaction of smoking and participation in the screening study or with a possible etiologic role for smoking. Even if smoking is not related to breast cancer etiologically, these data still suggest that smokers who visit screening centers have an elevated risk of breast cancer detection on initial visit, especially among premenopausal women. They do not support the hypothesis of a protective effect of smoking and underscore the need for further study into this important relationship.

Adult↗

Glutathione-associated enzymes in the human cell lines of the National Cancer Institute Drug Screening Program.

The steady state expression of glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) at both the protein and mRNA level is reported for the 60 tumor cell lines that are used for the National Cancer Institute Drug Screening Program. Individual GST isozymes were separated, identified, and quantified (with reverse-phase calibration curves) through a novel high performance liquid chromatographic procedure. GSTP1 was the predominant isozyme and was found at quantifiable levels in all but two of the cell lines. This isozyme ranged from 0.03% to 2.7% of the total cytosolic protein. For the mu family, 90% of the lines had GSTM2, 68% had GSTM3, but only 28% were positive for the M1 phenotype. The M1 proportion is lower than would be expected from the standard M1 null phenotype for human populations. Isozymes of the alpha family were detected only at very low levels in 35% of the lines. Significant quantitative correlations among enzyme activity, total enzyme protein, and mRNA were shown for GSTP1. However, such relationships were not apparent for the mu or alpha families. Levels of glutathione (GSH), and the transcript levels of other enzymes involved in GSH homeostasis were determined. gamma-Glutamyl cysteine synthetase (gamma-GCS) was present in all cell lines, but did not correlate with levels of intracellular GSH. Glyoxalase-I and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase, both involved in GSH salvage, were found in 100% and 70% of the cell lines, respectively. Using a pattern-matching computer program, COMPARE, we compared and correlated the arrays of mRNA and protein levels with the pattern of chemosensitivity or chemoresistance of the 60 cell lines with 175 agents constituting a standard agent database. This database is composed of compounds to which a putative mechanism of action has been assigned. Although Pearson correlation coefficients relating the target and drug patterns were generally modest, when the patterns for the enzyme protein and mRNA levels for GST pi were correlated to drug sensitivity patterns, the list of 30 agents most closely matching (for which P < 0.05) was enriched with alkylating agents. gamma-GCS also showed an enrichment of alkylating agents in the COMPARE correlations, indicating that high levels of gamma-GCS may be an important determinant of resistance. In contrast, none of the other enzymes or GSH had patterns of expression that resulted in an obvious correlation to the sensitivity or resistance of alkylating agents.

Antineoplastic Agents↗

[Development and results of a screening program for COPD in primary care. The PADOC Project(Program for the Increase in the Diagnosis of COPD in Primary Care].

Several studies have shown that up to 75% of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) remain undiagnosed. Early diagnosis of such individuals will allow appropriate preventive and therapeutic measures to be prescribed. The PADOC project aimed to determine the efficacy of a COPD screening program for Spanish primary care settings. The participating primary care physicians were required to administer a spirometric test (forced expiratory volume) to all individuals who had not previously been given a diagnosis of COPD, who visited the clinic for any reason over a period of three months and who met the following enrollment criteria: a) age over 35 years and b) smoker of more than 10 cigarettes per day or ex-smoker of more than 10 packs per year. Individuals meeting the criteria for suspicion of COPD (FEV1 < 90% of predicted and FEV1/FVC < 70%) were referred to a pneumologist for confirmation of the diagnosis. One hundred ninety-four primary care physicians participated, administering 3,209 valid spirometric tests. The physicians identified 723 likely cases of COPD (22.5%). Pneumologists examined 278 patients (38.4% of the likely cases) and the final diagnosis was COPD in 153 of the 278 (55%) and asthma in 28 (10%). Therefore, 4.3% of all patients given spirometric tests received a diagnosis of COPD and 0.8% received a diagnosis of asthma. Agreement between spirometric measurements taken by the primary care physicians and those taken by pneumologists was low for FVC and FVC (%) (intra-class correlation coefficient ICC = 0.38 and 0.45, respectively) but good for FEV1 and FEV1 (%) (ICC = 0.78 and 0.67, respectively). We conclude that primary care screening for COPD is possible and would allow us to detect up to 22% of possible cases. Patient flow from one level of clinical care to another should be improved, given that most of the possible cases detected (61.6%) were not seen by the referral pneumologist. Agreement between spirometric measurements taken by primary care physicians and pneumologists was low for FVC but good for FEV1.

Adult↗

The cost-effectiveness of screening programs using single and multiple birth cohort simulations: a comparison using a model of cervical cancer.

Despite early recognition of the theoretical advantages of simulations that include different population subgroups/ strata and different birth cohorts, many modeling-based economic evaluations of cervical screening have been based on unrealistic single birth cohort simulations. The authors examined the effect of a multiple birth cohort simulation on the incremental cost-effectiveness estimates of cervical screening programs, compared to a conventional single cohort simulation. The choice of hypothetical cohort that starts the simulation had a major impact on the cost-effectiveness estimates: Compared with a single birth cohort simulation, the incremental cost-effectiveness of a shift from biennial to triennial screening was 30% higher when using the multiple cohort simulation. Multiple cohort simulations using the different age structures of 4 countries had little impact on the cost effectiveness ratios (variation <5%). Future modeling-based evaluations of screening policies should better reflect the age range of the population that is targeted by carefully specifying the nature of the starting cohort(s).

Adult↗

Implementation of a screening program for diagnosing open neural tube defects: selection, evaluation, and utilization of alpha-fetoprotein methodology.

We evaluated and compared three different commercial kit immunoassays for alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) before we implemented our neural tube defect screening program. Each kit can be used with either serum or amniotic fluid. Analytical recovery ranges for AFP reference sera within each kit's standard curve limits (in kilo-int. units/L) were 97-108% (7.5-180) for the Kallestad kit, 77-101% (21.8-436) for Amersham, and 92-100% (0-177) for Hybritech. CVs, within each manufacturer's standard-curve limits, for combined intra-assay (amniotic fluid pools) and inter-assay (kit serum controls) averaged 3.6-7.3% (Kallestad), 2.4-9.3% (Amersham (y) kit results showed a correlation of r = 0.97, y = 1.05x + 5.5 kilo-int. units per liter of maternal serum (n = 66; range, 2.0-98.5). Gestational age did not influence these assay correlations. The Kallestad AFP assay demonstrated a maternal serum positivity rate of 2.9% at greater than or equal to 2.5 (n = 655) and 8.9% at less than 0.5 (n = 423) multiples of the median. All kits performed well analytically.

Amniotic Fluid↗

Implementation and evaluation of a lipid screening program in a large chain pharmacy.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the implementation of a lipid testing service across an entire market of a large chain pharmacy. DESIGN: Observational study using a validated satisfaction scale. SETTING: Nine Osco Drug pharmacies in Des Moines, Iowa. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Number of patients choosing to participate in a fee-for-service lipid screening program, type of test chosen, effects of marketing on service volume, and patient satisfaction. RESULTS: A total of 159 screenings were performed in the 9 pharmacies. The majority of patients (79.7%) chose the more expensive fasting lipid profile, and service volume seemed to correspond to the number and intensity of marketing efforts. There was a trend toward increased patient satisfaction with the services represented by the Managing Therapy and Friendly Explanation dimensions addressed in the survey. CONCLUSION: Patients were willing to pay out-of-pocket for lipid screening. More efforts need to be devoted to marketing this service to create value for the customer and to establish it as a viable component of pharmacy business.

Humans↗

Epidemiologic determinants of the mammographic parenchymal pattern. A population-based study within a mammographic screening program.

Epidemiologic data and information on the mammographic parenchymal pattern (classified according to Wolfe (Cancer 1976;37:2486-92)) were obtained from 38,757 (89%) of all women who were invited to undergo mammography in a population-based screening program in Kopparberg County, Sweden, starting in October 1977. The prevalence of the high-risk patterns (P2 and DY) was significantly higher in women aged 46-50 years than in any younger or older age group. A univariate analysis revealed that the odds ratio (OR) of having a high-risk pattern increased regularly with increasing age at first birth and was highest in nulliparous women. These associations remained evident in all age groups and were most pronounced in the oldest women. A history of breast biopsy increased the likelihood of having a high-risk pattern (OR = 1.57), whereas a similar weak overall association with prior cancer in the contralateral breast (OR = 1.40) and with familiar occurrence of breast cancer (OR = 1.20) was eliminated when other confounding factors were considered in a multivariate analysis. The authors conclude that characteristics of the reproductive lives of women have a significant and lifelong impact on their mammographic parenchymal patterns.

Adult↗

Plasma B-type natriuretic peptide measurement in a multiphasic health screening program.

The aim of this study was to determine whether measurement of plasma levels of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) and B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) is an efficacious method to predict patients with heart disease irrespective of left ventricular function in a multiphasic health screening program. We have examined whether patients with various heart disease selected by physical examination, ECG, and chest X-rays can be identified by plasma levels of ANP and BNP. We examined 481 consecutive subjects who visited our checkup clinic for a multiphasic health screening test. By routine methods, among the 481 subjects, 13 were found to have some form of heart disease (old myocardial infarction, 2; cardiomyopathy, 2; valvular heart disease, 2; hypertensive heart disease, 5, and lone atrial fibrillation, 2). Sensitivity, specificity, and quintile analysis for identification of the patients with heart disease were determined by various cutoff levels of plasma ANP and BNP. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were constructed for the identification of these patients. A plasma BNP level of 40 pg/ml had a sensitivity of 85% and a specificity of 92% for heart disease detection. The area under the ROC curve for BNP was significantly greater than that for ANP (0.94 vs. 0.81; p < 0.001). A plasma BNP level of 13 pg/ml or less gave a 100% negative prediction value for heart disease. Plasma BNP concentration is a useful biochemical marker for the screening of asymptomatic patients with heart disease due to various etiologies from large population samples.

Adult↗

Urbanization and baseline prevalence of genital infections including Candida, Trichomonas, and human papillomavirus and of a disturbed vaginal ecology as established in the Dutch Cervical Screening Program.

OBJECTIVE: An overgrowth of coccoid bacilli in the absence of lactobacilli (bacterial vaginosis) is considered a sign of a "disturbed" vaginal ecologic system. The aim of this study was to establish the baseline prevalence of genital infections and of a disturbed vaginal ecologic system and their relationship to urbanization. STUDY DESIGN: More than 190,000 cervical smears were screened by 1 cytology laboratory in the context of the Dutch national screening programs. The women who were symptom free and had been registered in the statutory files of municipal units were screened by invitation. Urbanization (place of residence) was derived from the postal code. To investigate a trend in prevalence in relation to urbanization, Schaafsma's method was used. RESULTS: Bacterial vaginosis had the highest score per 1000 screened women (36.1), followed by Candida (12.6). Higher prevalence of human papillomavirus, bacterial vaginosis, and Trichomonas was related to urbanization as was, whereas Candida was not. CONCLUSION: Human papillomavirus and Trichomonas are more frequently found in women who live in the large cities, which in The Netherlands also harbor the high-risk population for premalignant cytologic evidence. Our findings concerning the baseline prevalence pattern of bacterial vaginosis support the hypothesis of the importance of a disturbed bacterial ecologic system in cervical carcinogenesis.

Adult↗

An evaluation of screening programs for the detection of brucellosis in dairy herds.

Data were collected from approximately 1000 dairy herds, initially blood tested for brucellosis in 1977, in each of southeastern and southwestern Ontario. These data were used to evaluate three brucellosis screening programs, the area recertification program, the market cow program and the milk test program. The milk test program was the most efficient program at detecting brucellosis, 29.5% of the herds tested were classified as infected, but lacked the ability to detect a large proportion of "infected" herds (relative sensitivity = 24%). The market cow program was more efficient than the area recertification program at finding infected herds, 3.9% of the herds tested under the market cow program were infected, but had a low relative sensitivity of 12%. The area recertification program was least efficient, 2.3% of herds tested under the area recertification program were infected, but had the highest relative sensitivity (53%). The relative efficiency (predictive value) of the programs was not affected significantly by location of the herds, season of the initial test or herd size. The relative sensitivity of the milk test program was significantly higher in eastern than western Ontario and tended to decrease as herd size increased. The market cow program tended to be more sensitive in the summer months. The relative specificity of the milk test program (0.997) was higher than that of the market cow program (0.960) and the area recertification program (0.884).

Agglutination Tests↗

Trends in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection among a patient population of an inner-city emergency department: implications for emergency department-based screening programs for HIV infection.

Personnel of inner-city emergency departments (EDs), which are frequently the only source of medical care for many patients, may be in a unique position to detect human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection earlier than personnel at other recommended screening sites. To assist development of ED-based screening strategies for HIV infection, we undertook a serosurvey of HIV infection in adult patients attending an ED during a 6-week period in 1992 using an identity-unlinked technique and compared our findings with data collected similarly in 1988. Of 1,606 patients, 183 (11.4%) were HIV-positive, compared with 6.0% in 1988. Seroprevalence rates of HIV infection among patients only at risk of heterosexual transmission increased more than fourfold (7% to 30.3%). CD4+ cell counts were higher in those patients with undiagnosed HIV infection than in those with known HIV infection. Targeting minority patients aged 25-44 years, intravenous drug users, and those patients at heterosexual risk would have identified 87% of patients with new HIV infection, while requiring screening of 41% of the study sample. Targeted voluntary screening programs in certain EDs would likely detect significant numbers of new early HIV infections.

Adolescent↗

Anxiety concerning fetal malformations in pregnant women exposed or not exposed to an antenatal serum alpha-fetoprotein screening program.

Individual degrees of anxiety concerning fetal malformations were assessed in early, mid- and late pregnancy by means of self-rating on visual analogue scales. Two samples of women were compared, i.e., 699 women living in an area with a well-established serum alpha-fetoprotein screening program and 239 women living in an area where such a program had never been in operation. At the beginning of pregnancy the distribution of the individual degrees of anxiety were found to be similar in both samples of women. However, in mid- and late pregnancy the anxiety in women from the screening area was found to be lower than the anxiety in women from nonscreened areas.

Anxiety↗

[An improved screening program for 160 pesticides].

A screening system for 170 pesticides is reported. The following analytical methods are used: TLC (corrected Rf-value), GLC (retention index) and UV-spectroscopy. Also quantitative aspects are mentioned when modern TLC-scanners are applied.

Chromatography, Thin Layer↗

[Mandatory test for HIV infections in prison population: evaluation of the efficacy of a screening program].

The effectiveness of a screening programme for HIV infection among prisoners is discussed, in relation to validity of screening test, natural history ad modalities of transmission of the infection, hypothetical objectives of the programme, in comparison with alternatives prevention programmes. The association between HIV infection, e.v. drug abuse and sexual behaviours is analyzed. On the basis of available evidences the hypothesis of lack of effectiveness and possible harmfulness of this screening programme is proposed.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

Multiple fluoroscopy of the chest: carcinogenicity for the female breast and implications for breast cancer screening programs.

The risk of radiation carcinogenesis has been established for breast tissue from experience with total body irradiation and multiple fluoroscopy of the chest with the patient prone. The doubling dose has been estimated to lie between 20 and 50 rads. Before undertaking radiologic screening programs for breast cancer, therefore, it is necessary to determine whether exposures below this range are safe. Of 792 women who had had tuberculosis and were followed for a minimum of 20 years, 451 had had multiple fluoroscopy while supine; 341 had not had fluoroscopy. The first group received a total radiation dose to the breast averaging 17 rads (141.5 fluoroscopies); the incidence of breast cancer in this group was not increased. Had fluoroscopy been performed with the patient prone the total radiation dose would have averaged 308 rads. The difference is thought to explain the increased incidence of breast cancer attributable to fluoroscopy given with the patient prone. Mid-breast exposure with mammography or xeroradiography varies between 3 and 6 rads. Repetitive screening would, therefore, appear safe provided total exposure did not exceed 20 rads. With this restriction there would appear to be no reason to curtail screening of women for breast cancer.

Breast Neoplasms↗