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Results for “prognostic stratification”

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PubMed2004

Analytical performance of the Synchron LX20 Pro, BN trade mark II and IMMAGE high sensitivity C-reactive protein assays and concordance in cardiovascular risk stratification.

BACKGROUND: C-reactive protein (CRP) can provide valuable prognostic information for risk of cardiovascular events. Several automated high sensitivity CRP immunoassays are currently available for risk assessment. METHODS: The analytical performance of the Synchron LX20 Pro, BN II and IMMAGE high sensitivity CRP assays were evaluated and concordance within cardiovascular risk tertiles was examined for 529 serum samples. RESULTS: All three assays exhibited satisfactory between-run imprecision based on CVs< or =9.0% over a wide range of CRP concentrations. The LX20 Pro and BN II were linear over an extensive measuring range, whereas the IMMAGE exhibited a slight deviation from linearity producing results with a positive bias at CRP levels between 0.7 and 2.6 mg/l. Moderately hemolyzed samples interfered with the LX20 Pro and IMMAGE CRP assays, whereas moderate lipemia interfered with the BN II. Correlation studies revealed that the LX20 Pro and IMMAGE produced results 8.2% lower and 5.1% lower, respectively, compared with the BN II. There was good agreement among methods for cardiovascular risk assessment. CONCLUSIONS: All three CRP assays exhibited acceptable analytical performance for cardiovascular risk assessment. Although results by the LX20 Pro and IMMAGE were lower than the BN II, there was good agreement within each cardiovascular risk assessment tertile.

Animals↗

PubMed2004

Noninvasive in vivo detection of prognostic indicators for high-risk uveal melanoma: ultrasound parameter imaging.

PURPOSE: Primary malignant melanoma of the choroid and ciliary body has traditionally been treated without histologic staging, using purely clinical indicators. The presence of extravascular matrix patterns (EMP) in histologic sections of uveal melanoma has been shown to be an independent indicator of metastatic risk. These patterns are of a dimension and physical composition that are likely to be detected with ultrasound backscatter analysis. Our aim was to determine whether ultrasound parameter imaging could detect the presence of EMP at a diagnostically significant level for treatment staging and for planning investigational studies of therapeutic modalities. DESIGN: Prospective, masked ultrasound-pathologic correlative study. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred seventeen patients diagnosed with previously untreated choroidal melanoma were scanned within 2 weeks before enucleation. METHODS: Tumors were evaluated histologically and divided into high-risk and low-risk groups on the basis of the presence of 2% or more histologic cross-sectional area composed of EMP patterns. Digital ultrasound data were processed to generate parameter images representing the size and concentration of ultrasound scatterers. Histologic and ultrasound images and data were correlated, and linear and nonlinear statistical methods were used to create multivariate models for noninvasive differentiation of high-risk and low-risk tumors. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Presence or absence of high-risk EMP and associated ultrasound parameter classification models. RESULTS: Of the 117 tumors, 69 were classified as low risk, and 48 were classified as high-risk with histologic analysis. A classification that used ultrasound parameter image features with linear discriminant analysis could correctly identify 79.5% of cases retrospectively and 75.2% of cases by use of cross-validation, an estimate of prospective classification ability. By use of a more powerful classification technique (support vector machine), 93.1% of cases were correctly classified retrospectively. With a cross-validation procedure, 80.10% of cases were correctly classified. CONCLUSIONS: Ultrasound can be used noninvasively to classify tumors into high-risk and low-risk groups by detecting the presence of EMP patterns. By the use of previous studies that compared the histologic presence of EMP patterns with patient survival, estimates of hazard rates associated with ultrasound risk groups can be made. The noninvasive ultrasound classification is potentially useful as a prognostic variable and as a tool for stratification of patient populations for tumor treatment evaluation.

Eye Enucleation↗

PubMed1995

Exercise technetium-99m myocardial tomography for the risk stratification of men with medically treated unstable angina pectoris.

The prognostic value of predischarge maximal exercise stress testing with technetium-99m sestamibi (MIBI) myocardial tomography was assessed in 126 consecutive men hospitalized with a diagnosis of unstable angina pectoris who were medically stabilized. None had coronary revascularization for < or = 6 months after testing. Over a mean follow-up of 12 +/- 7 months (range 1 to 29), 35 patients (28%) had a cardiac event--nonfatal acute myocardial infarction (n = 6), cardiac death (n = 5), or rehospitalization for unstable angina (n = 24). Any type of cardiac event occurred in 12% of patients with normal MIBI scans, compared with 39% of those with an abnormal MIBI scan (p < 0.001) and 60% of those with a reversible perfusion defect (p < 0.0001). Only 2% of patients with normal scans had either a nonfatal myocardial infarction or cardiac death, compared with 14% of those with abnormal MIBI scans (p < 0.05) and 25% with a reversible defect (p < 0.001). A fixed perfusion defect was not associated with increased cardiac risk. With use of multivariable Cox proportional-hazards modeling, the only scintigraphic variable with independent predictive value was the presence of a reversible MIBI defect, with a relative risk of 3.8 (95% confidence interval 1.6 to 8.6, p < 0.05) for any cardiac event, and 19.2 (95% confidence interval 2.2 to 167.0, p < 0.05) for a nonfatal myocardial infarction or cardiac death. Cardiac event-free survival was also significantly decreased in patients with a reversible perfusion defect (p < 0.001).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗

PubMed1982

Practical experience of randomization in cancer trials: an international survey.

The results from an international survey of 15 major cancer centres have clarified how randomization is being implemented in cancer trials. As regards the mechanics of obtaining treatment assignment for each patient a system of telephone registration to a central randomization office was widely used. We also advise formal checks for patient eligibility immediately before treatment assignment, and subsequent written confirmation of randomization to the investigators. As regards statistical methods, stratification of randomization by one or two prognostic factors (and institution in multicentre trials) is commonplace. Most centres used the standard approach of random permuted blocks within strata though some others used "dynamic" institution-balancing or "minimization" methods instead. The value of stratified allocation is chiefly for the trial's credibility in having comparable treatment groups, rather than for statistical efficiency. One should avoid overstratification and use only the really important prognostic factors. One essential is that randomization should in practice work for every patient, so undue complexity is to be avoided.

Clinical Trials as Topic↗

PubMed2000

Dobutamine stress echocardiography and exercise electrocardiography for risk stratification in medically treated unstable angina.

UNLABELLED: Previous reports have demonstrated the superiority of exercise echocardiography over exercise electro-cardiography (ex-ECG) for risk stratification in patients with medically stabilized unstable angina (UA). We sought to analyze the prognostic value of dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE) compared with ex-ECG for risk stratification in patients with UA. METHODS: Ninety-two patients with medically treated UA were studied (mean age 65 +/- 11 years, 24 women, 42% of patients had electrocardiographic abnormalities on admission). Dobutamine stress echocardiography and treadmill ex-ECG were performed on the third day after hospital admission. End points were recurrent UA, myocardial infarction (MI), or cardiac death. RESULTS: Mean follow-up was 24 +/- 7 months. During follow-up, 22 patients had cardiac events (18 recurrent UA, 2 MI, 2 cardiac deaths). The event-free survival rate was 80% for patients with negative DSE results for ischemia and 52% for those with positive DSE results (log rank 9.57; P =.002), compared with an event-free survival rate of 79% for patients with negative ex-ECG results and 66% for those with positive ex-ECG results (log rank 2.06; P = not significant). Left ventricular dysfunction (P =.01) and a positive dobutamine stress echocardiogram (P =.03), but not a positive exercise electrocardiogram, were independent predictors of cardiac events during follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Dobutamine stress echocardiography performed early in medically treated patients with UA predicts cardiac events during follow-up more accurately and with more specificity than ex-ECG does in this population.

Aged↗

PubMed2026

Nested co-expression network analysis identifies compact gene clusters in a black box.

MOTIVATION: Digital analysis of biological systems requires methods capable of identifying both broad and nested gene modules reflecting complex biological processes. Existing transcriptomic methods often miss compact gene sets corresponding to subprocesses in specialized cell types, limiting insights into functional heterogeneity. RESULTS: We present Nested-WGCNA, a two-stage unsupervised network analysis algorithm designed to identify coarse-grained and fine-grained gene modules. Applied to bulk RNA-Seq data, Nested-WGCNA reveals stable modules reproducible across datasets. When validated against scRNA-Seq data, these modules correspond to both major and minor immune cell subtypes. Application to immunotherapy response datasets uncovers predictive and prognostic biomarkers, highlighting its utility in treatment stratification and biomarker discovery. AVAILABILITY: The NestedWGCNA source code and analysis pipeline are available on GitHub (https://github.com/ilyada/NestedWGCNA) and archived on Zenodo (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18959244).

Algorithms↗

PubMed1997

Prognostic value of residual ischaemia assessed by exercise electrocardiography and dobutamine stress echocardiography in low-risk patients following acute myocardial infarction.

BACKGROUND: Risk stratification after uncomplicated myocardial infarction is major clinical problem. In particular, the prognostic value of residual inducible ischaemia is still controversial. We compared the relative prognostic value of exercise ECG and dobutamine stress echocardiography performed in the early post-infarction period. METHODS: Four hundred and six patients (53 female) aged 57 +/- 9 years, undergoing maximal exercise ECG and dobutamine stress echocardiography within 10 days of an uncomplicated myocardial infarction off therapy, were prospectively followed-up for 8.8 months. Age, sex, diabetes, smoking habit, hypertension, dyslipidaemia, infarct location, thrombolysis and resting wall motion score index were taken into account among clinical variables. Prognostic correlations were made vs spontaneous events (cardiac death, non-fatal reinfarction and unstable angina requiring hospitalization) whilst patients undergoing revascularization (by means of percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty or coronary artery bypass surgery) at the time of the procedure were censored. RESULTS: One hundred and twenty-seven events occurred during the follow-up: 41 (10%) were spontaneous (five deaths, 12 reinfarctions and 24 unstable angina) and 86 procedural (27 angioplasty and 59 bypass surgery). Spontaneous events were not predicted by any clinical, exercise ECG or dobutamine stress echocardiography variable, but the negative predictive value of both tests was excellent (91% and 90% respectively). With a multivariate Cox analysis, male gender, positive low-workload (< 100 W) exercise ECG (P < 0.0001), positive low-dose dobutamine stress echocardiography (P < 0.0001) and rest-stress wall motion score index variation (P < 0.001) were found to predict cumulative cardiac events with an independent and additive value. Dobutamine stress echocardiography was significantly more sensitive (P < 0.05) and less specific (P < 0.01) in predicting the outcome of patients with anterior infarction, whilst exercise ECG was significantly more sensitive (P < 0.05) in patients with non-Q wave infarction. CONCLUSIONS: (1) Spontaneous events are poorly predicted by provocative tests in low-risk patients after uncomplicated myocardial infarction. (2) However, both exercise ECG and dobutamine stress echocardiography can predict a favourable outcome with a very high negative predictive value. (3) Dobutamine stress echocardiography should be considered a secondary option in cases where the exercise ECG is equivocal or when the location of ischaemia is a relevant issue. (4) The possibility that the two tests have a differential utility depending on the infarct location and type (Q wave vs non-Q wave) may be clinically relevant and deserves further evaluation.

Aged↗

PubMed2000

Age, sex, haemoglobin level, and white cell count at diagnosis are important prognostic factors in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia treated with BFM-type protocol.

The presenting features and treatment outcome for 575 Malaysian children (< or = 12 years of age) with newly diagnosed acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), admitted to the University Hospital, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia between 1 January 1980 and 30 May 1995 were evaluated to determine their prognostic significance. Two-year overall survival was achieved in 67 per cent of all patients and 55 per cent of patients were relapse-free at 2 years. All except 10 patients, with identified French-American-British L3 morphology were treated with the modified Berlin-Frankfurt-Munster 78 treatment protocol. Univariate analyses of failure rate conferred age, sex, white cell count and hemoglobin level as potentially significant prognostic factors. All four presenting features retained their prognostic strength in a multivariate analysis. Race, platelet count, morphological subtype, liver/spleen size, lymphadenopathy, central nervous system and mediastinal mass involvement did not show any significant effect on treatment outcome. The 2-year survival rate was significantly different with regard to age, white cell count and hemoglobin level. However, sex was not significantly related to overall survival. These prognostic factors may have implications on future stratification of risk-adjusted initial treatment in the management of childhood ALL. Our analysis of Malaysian children is similar to what could be predicted based on previous studies in other populations.

Age Factors↗

PubMed2006

Increased ventricular ectopic activity in relation to C-reactive protein, and NT-pro-brain natriuretic peptide in subjects with no apparent heart disease.

BACKGROUND: Subjects with frequent ventricular premature complexes (VPC) and no apparent heart disease make a heterogenic group with regard to prognosis. Some biomarkers have recently proved useful in risk stratification in different heart diseases. We examined prognostic impact of NT-Pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-Pro BNP), and C-reactive protein (CRP) in relation to frequent VPC in subjects with no apparent heart disease. METHODS: Six hundred seventy-eight healthy subjects between 55 and 75 years of age with no history of cardiovascular disease were included in the study. All were tested with fasting laboratory testing and 48-hour ambulatory ECG monitoring. Frequent VPC was defined as VPC > or =30/hour. RESULTS: In 56 subjects (8%) with frequent VPC the prognosis was much poorer compared to those without frequent VPC (Hazard ratio and 95% CI: 2.3;1.2-4.4, P = 0.01), after adjustment for conventional risk factors. In subjects with frequent VPC increased levels of CRP (above 2.5 microg/mL) was the only factor among the tested biomarkers, which was associated with a poor prognosis. Taking subjects without frequent VPC as reference, the hazard ratio and 95% CI for subjects with frequent VPC and increased CRP was 3.6;1.8-7.1, P = 0.0004, and for those with frequent VPC and normal CRP 0.8;0.2-3.5, P = 0.83, after correction for conventional risk factors. CONCLUSIONS: Among middle-aged and elderly subjects with no apparent heart disease and frequent VPCs, a CRP value > or =2.5 microg/mL is associated with a significantly higher risk of death and acute myocardial infarction. These subjects deserve primary prevention measures and further work up for structural heart disease.

Aged↗

PubMed1996

Aortic root complications in Marfan's syndrome: identification of a lower risk group.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to examine clinical and echocardiographic predictors of outcome in a cohort of patients with Marfan's syndrome. BACKGROUND: Serial echocardiographic measurements of aortic root dimensions are an important clinical method for monitoring patients with Marfan's syndrome. However, there are few data on the prognostic importance of echocardiographic variables for risk stratification and timing of aortic root replacement. METHODS: In 89 consecutive patients with Marfan's syndrome (age range 1-54 years) clinical and serial echocardiographic data (n = 62) were evaluated as potential predictors of outcome (mean (range) follow up 4 (< 1-16) years). Aortic sinus diameter and an aortic ratio normalised for age and body surface area were examined using Kaplan-Meier life table and Cox regression analysis, with the end point defined as death or surgery for ascending aortic dissection and events defined as an end point or surgery for ascending aortic aneurysm. RESULTS: Overall actuarial survival at two and five years was 96% and 92% and event free survival was 85% and 76%, respectively. There were five deaths due to aortic dissection, four patients survived surgery for ascending dissection, and nine underwent root replacement with a composite graft for ascending aneurysm. Those with aortic events were older (35 (12) v 25 (13) years, P = 0.007) and had greater initial aortic root dimensions (47 (14) v 33 (8) mm, P < 0.0001) and ratios (1.6 (0.5) v 1.3 (0.2), P < 0.0001). In the 62 patients with serial echocardiographic follow up, the rate of aortic root dilatation was more rapid in those with events (15 (17) v 0 (3)%/year, P < 0.0001). Utilising a Cox proportional hazards model, the groups with an initial aortic ratio > or = 1.3 or an annual change in aortic ratio > or = 5% had a relative risk of an aortic complication of 2.7 and 4.1, respectively (95% confidence limits 1.5 to 4.8 and 1.8 to 9.3). Only one of 31 patients with an initial aortic ratio of < 1.3 and a rate of change of < 5% had an event (five year event free survival 97%). CONCLUSIONS: A low risk subgroup of patients with Marfan's syndrome can be identified as those with an aortic ratio < 1.3 and an annual change in aortic ratio of < 5%. These findings are helpful in optimising echocardiographic monitoring and risk stratification of patients with Marfan's syndrome.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2002

Sequential biochemotherapy versus chemotherapy for metastatic melanoma: results from a phase III randomized trial.

PURPOSE: The addition of cytokines to chemotherapy has produced encouraging results in advanced melanoma. In this phase III trial, we compared the effects of chemotherapy (cisplatin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine [CVD]) with those of sequential biochemotherapy consisting of CVD plus interleukin-2 and interferon alfa-2b. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Metastatic melanoma patients who had not previously received chemotherapy were stratified by prognostic factors and given chemotherapy or biochemotherapy. CVD consisted of dacarbazine (days 1 and 22) and cisplatin and vinblastine (days 1 to 4 and 22 to 25). Biochemotherapy involved CVD with vinblastine reduced 25% plus interleukin-2 by 24-hour continuous infusion (on days 5 to 8, 17 to 20, and 26 to 29) and interferon alfa-2b by subcutaneous injection (on days 5 to 9, 17 to 21, and 26 to 30). Response was assessed every 6 weeks. RESULTS: Among 190 patients enrolled, 91 were assessable for biochemotherapy and 92 for chemotherapy. Ten percent of the patients were alive a median of 52 months from start of therapy. Response rates were 48% for biochemotherapy and 25% for chemotherapy (P =.001); six patients given biochemotherapy and two given chemotherapy had complete responses. Median time to progression (TTP) was 4.9 months for biochemotherapy and 2.4 months for chemotherapy (P =.008); median survival was 11.9 and 9.2 months, respectively (P =.06). The influence of treatment on TTP and survival was confirmed in multivariate analyses with other prognostic factors not included in the original stratification. Biochemotherapy produced substantially more constitutional, hemodynamic, and myelosuppressive toxic effects. CONCLUSION: Cytokines substantially augment the antitumor activity of chemotherapy at the expense of considerable toxicity in patients with metastatic melanoma.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Colon cancer survival is associated with decreasing ratio of metastatic to examined lymph nodes.

PURPOSE: Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States, with poor survival predicted by regional lymph node (LN) metastasis. The impact of LN ratio (LNR) on survival is unknown in this disease. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We analyzed data from Intergroup trial 0089 of adjuvant chemotherapy for stage II and III patients with colon cancer, in which all patients received fluorouracil-based therapy. Survival was similar for all arms of the study, allowing us to evaluate all patients together. End points included overall survival (OS), cancer-specific survival (CSS), and disease-free survival (DFS). Multivariate analyses were performed on all patients and on groups according to LNR quartiles (LNR: < 0.05, 0.05 to 0.19, 0.2 to 0.39, and 0.4 to 1.0). Covariates included in the models were age, sex, tumor stage, grade, histology, number of positive LNs, number of LNs removed, and LNR. RESULTS: The median age was 63.7 years, and the median number of LNs removed was 11. In the multivariate analysis, LNR was a significant factor for OS, DFS, and CSS in patients with 10 to 15 LN and more than 15 LN removed but not for patients with less than 10 LN removed. Using quartiles, LNR maintained its significance for all three end points when patients were grouped by node status. CONCLUSION: After curative resection for colorectal cancer, the LNR is an important prognostic factor and should be used in stratification schemes for future clinical trials investigating adjuvant treatments.

Adenocarcinoma↗

PubMed2006

High expression of the ETS transcription factor ERG predicts adverse outcome in acute T-lymphoblastic leukemia in adults.

PURPOSE: In adult T-lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) disease-free survival remains limited to 32% to 46%. The adverse prognosis in T-ALL has not been attributed to cytogenetic or molecular aberrations. We have determined the prognostic impact of the oncogenic transcription factor ERG in T-ALL. PATIENTS AND METHODS: ERG expression was analyzed by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in 105 adults with newly diagnosed T-ALL treated on the German ALL protocols. Patients were dichotomized at ERG's median expression into low (n = 52) and high (n = 53) expressers. Homeobox (HOX) 11 and HOX11L2 expression was determined by real-time PCR. RESULTS: High ERG expressers compared with low ERG expressers had an inferior overall survival (OS, P = .02; 5-year OS: high ERG 26% v low ERG 58%) and relapse-free survival (RFS, P = .003; 5-year RFS: high ERG 34% v low ERG 72%). On multivariable analysis high ERG expression (P = .005), immunophenotypic subgroups (early v mature v thymic T-ALL; overall P = .04), HOX11L2 positivity (P = .055), and absence of HOX11 (P = .017) were independent adverse risk factors predicting RFS. Patients with high ERG expression had a hazard ratio (HR) for relapse of 3.2. Within the good prognostic subgroup of thymic T-ALL (n = 57), high ERG (HR, 4.1; P = .02) and presence of HOX11L2 (HR, 6.6; P = .008) were independent adverse factors for RFS. CONCLUSION: High expression of ERG is an adverse risk factor in adult T-ALL. Within thymic T-ALL, otherwise classified as standard-risk, high ERG expression-identified patients that were four times more likely to fail long-term RFS. The prognostic impact of ERG may assist treatment stratification and suggest the need of alternative regimens.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Treatment results of the TPOG-NHL92 protocols for childhood non-Hodgkin's lymphomas in Taiwan: a report from the Taiwan Pediatric Oncology Group (TPOG)

A nation-wide chemotherapeutic trial for childhood non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) was conducted by the Taiwan Pediatric Oncology Group (TPOG). Four TPOG-NHL92 protocols based on stage and histology were activated in 1992: TPOG-92LD (treatment duration: 8 months) was used for localized (stages I/II) NHL with any histology, 92LB (2 years), 92SNC (5 months), and 92LC (1 year) for advanced (stages III/IV) lymphoblastic (LB), small non-cleaved cell (SNC), and large cell (LC) lymphoma, respectively. From January 1992 through June 1998, 200 children with newly diagnosed NHL from 13 member hospitals of TPOG were enrolled. There were 140 boys and 60 girls. Their ages at diagnosis ranged from 2.4 months to 18.3 years with a median of 8.2 years. There were 54 (27.3%) patients with LB, 94 (47.5%) with SNC including B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL), and 50 (25.2%) with LC. Stages I, II, III, and IV (including B-ALL) of the disease comprised 5%, 10%, 43%, and 42% of cases, respectively. There were 176 patients eligible for evaluation of treatment results. The remission rate of induction was 82.4%, induction failed in 22 (12.5%) patients, and nine patients died during induction. As of August 31, 1999, 26 patients relapsed, six died during remission, one patient developed secondary acute myelomonocytic leukemia, and 105 patients remained in continuous remission with a median remission duration of 49 months. The event-free survival (EFS) at 7 years was 63.5%, 61.5% and 65% for LB, SNC, and LC groups (P = 0.8298). The 7-year EFS for stages I/II, III, and IV of the disease was 73%, 68.9%, and 50.3% (P = 0.0212), respectively. We concluded that following the strategy of stratification of therapy, only disease stages had prognostic significance in this study. More efforts are needed to improve our treatment results.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

The metastatic/examined lymph node ratio is an important prognostic factor after pancreaticoduodenectomy for pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

Survival after curative resection for pancreatic adenocarcinoma remains poor; an important prognostic factor is lymph node (LN) status. Recent reports have established the number of LN examined as a separate prognostic factor in many malignancies. We retrospectively reviewed the charts of 128 patients undergoing pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) for pancreatic cancer and obtained information such as overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), tumor characteristics, preoperative carbohydrate antigen (CA) 19-9, sex, and age. The ratio of metastatic to examined LN (LNR) was determined, and OS and DFS were analyzed in relation to the three groups: LNR = 0, LNR < 0.15, and LNR > 0.15. The median number of LN collected was 17. There were 46 N0 patients (median = 12) and 83 N1 patients (median = 19). The number of LN harvested had no impact on OS or DFS in the N0 or N1 patient populations. When LNR was examined as a continuous variable, it had a borderline impact on OS (P = 0.068). Examination of LNR by three groups showed an impact on OS (P = 0.037) and DFS (P = 0.013). After curative PD for pancreatic cancer, the ratio of metastatic to examined lymph nodes is an important prognostic factor and should be evaluated in stratification schemes for future clinical trials investigating adjuvant treatments.

Adenocarcinoma↗

PubMed1983

Quantitative cytology in leukemia research.

A study was undertaken to determine the usefulness of flow cytometric analysis of bone marrow cells as an objective means for diagnosis, classification and prognosis in patients with leukemia. Abnormal DNA content as a marker of neoplastic disease was found in only 15% of 264 adult patients with acute leukemia (13% in AML, 26% in ALL/AUL). Alternative means of tumor cell detection in heterogeneous marrow samples include determination of nucleolar antigen density and double-stranded RNA content. Phenotypic characterization of leukemia subtypes can be afforded by RNA content analysis of acridine orange-stained cells, demonstrating significantly higher mean RNA content values in AML, compared to ALL/AUL. Cytokinetic parameters amenable to flow cytometric analysis include measurements of cell cycle compartment distribution by DNA content, of cycle traverse rate by BUdR-induced modification of fluorescence intensity of DNA specific dyes and of growth fraction employing the method of in situ DNA denaturation and subsequent acridine orange staining. Determination of cell cycle distribution and RNA content pretreatment and serially during remission induction in 82 patients demonstrated a significantly lower pretreatment biopsy S phase proportion in responding patients with AML compared to individuals failing treatment whereas an opposite trend was noted in patients with ALL/AUL. While of no prognostic impact pretreatment, serial determinations of the RNA content during the first chemotherapy induction course revealed significant differences between responding and failing patients with AML. Also, patients attaining remission demonstrated a rise in marrow biopsy S phase compartment size by day 10 to 14 of treatment, thus, predicting remission during marrow hypoplasia. We conclude that quantitative cytologic examination of marrow cells from patients with acute leukemia provides useful diagnostic and prognostic information that should aid in the stratification of patients with poor prognosis to receive new agents.

Adult↗

PubMed1994

Predictors of treatment response in obsessive-compulsive disorder: multivariate analyses from a multicenter trial of clomipramine.

There have been many attempts to find predictors of the therapeutic response to the clomipramine treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder. The majority of studies have failed to identify such predictors. Possible reasons for this failure include the small sample size of most studies, samples homogeneous with respect to the study factors of interest, and the use of statistical procedures that are insensitive to individual differences or that inadequately control for confounding. We have reanalyzed data from Ciba-Geigy's large, multicenter clinical trial of clomipramine for obsessive-compulsive disorder, using stratification and regression techniques to identify multiple prognostic factors and control for confounders. We assessed the relationship between therapeutic response and baseline measures such as severity of symptoms, type of symptoms (obsessions, compulsions, depression), length of illness, age of onset, and other demographic factors (age, race, and sex). We found age of onset to be a strong predictor of response to clomipramine: people who develop obsessive-compulsive disorder later in life have a better chance of responding than do those who become ill earlier, independent of length of illness. We also found that baseline depression is associated with response, but the association appears to be nonlinear.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1993

Clinicopathology of malignant surface epithelial neoplasms of the ovary.

Because clinical outcome in patients with malignant surface epithelial neoplasms (M-SENs) of the ovary is highly varied, stratification of patients into favorable and unfavorable prognostic groups is an important clinicopathologic function. This chapter analyzes the various prognostic factors, with an emphasis on M-SENs of grades II and III.

Female↗