The influence of pregnancy on the development of autoimmunity in chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

To examine whether pregnancy influences the development of autoimmunity in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), we studied 591 consecutive CLL patients (202 post-menopausal women and 389 men). The mean observation time for all patients was 3.8 years, corresponding to approximately 2200 person-years of follow-up.

Hormone therapy and the impact of estrogen intake on the risk of ovarian cancer.

Background: The association between menopausal hormone therapy (HT) and risk of ovarian cancer is as yet equivocal, and the effect of estrogen and estrogen-progestogen therapy, specifically the effect of the cumulative hormone intake, is unclear.

Methods: We conducted a nationwide population-based case-control study in Denmark. Cases were women aged 35 to 79 years with incident ovarian cancer diagnosed between January 1, 1995, and May 30, 1999.

The prognostic value of plasma soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) levels in stage III ovarian cancer patients.

The level of the urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) is elevated in tumor tissue from several forms of cancer. uPAR is shed from the cell surface and the soluble form, soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR), has been detected in several body fluids. High plasma levels of suPAR in patients with colorectal cancer and high serum levels of suPAR in patients with recurrent metastatic breast cancer have been associated with poor prognosis.

Loss of heterozygosity on the X chromosome is an independent prognostic factor in ovarian carcinoma: from the Danish "MALOVA" Ovarian Carcinoma Study.

Background: Ovarian carcinoma (OC) is the fifth most frequent female cancer type and the fourth most frequent cause of death from cancer among women in Denmark. At the time they are diagnosed with OC, approximately 70% of patients have advanced disease. It is believed that loss of tumor suppressor gene activity plays an important role in the origin and progression of OC and other malignancies.

Childhood tumor risk after treatment with ovulation-stimulating drugs.

Objective: To assess childhood cancer risk among children conceived following the use of ovulation-stimulating drugs.

Design: Record linkage study.

Setting: Infertility patients and their offspring as identified through medical records.

Evaluation of a polymorphism in intron 2 of the p53 gene in ovarian cancer patients. From the Danish "Malova" Ovarian Cancer Study.

Background: The p53 gene is frequently mutated in various human tumours. In addition, single nucleotide polymorphisms are often observed in exons and introns of the p53 gene in normal tissues and tumours.

Materials And Methods: A total of 210 blood and tissue samples from 182 ovarian cancers (OC) and 28 ovarian borderline tumours, in addition to blood samples from 72 healthy women, were analysed.

High plasma YKL-40 level in patients with ovarian cancer stage III is related to shorter survival.

YKL-40 (human cartilage glycoprotein-39) is a member of family 18 glycosyl hydrolases. YKL-40 is a growth factor and is secreted by cancer cells. High serum levels of YKL-40 in patients with colorectal cancer and recurrent metastatic breast cancer have been associated with a poor prognosis.

Distribution of HER-2 overexpression in ovarian carcinoma tissue and its prognostic value in patients with ovarian carcinoma: from the Danish MALOVA Ovarian Cancer Study.

Background: The HER-2 (Human Epidermal Growth factor receptor-2, also known as c-erb-2/neu) protooncogene encodes a transmembrane receptor protein, M(r) 185,000. Studies have shown that the HER-2 oncogene is overexpressed in approximately 25-30% of ovarian carcinoma (OC) cases, but to the authors' knowledge, to date no consensus regarding overexpression and prognosis has been possible. The objective of the current study was first to analyze the presence of HER-2 overexpression in tissue from Danish OC patients and correlate the distribution of HER-2 overexpression with clinical and biochemical data and second to investigate the value of HER-2 overexpression as a prognostic marker in OC and to compare this value with the prognostic value of other biochemical markers.

K-ras alterations in Danish ovarian tumour patients. From the Danish "Malova" Ovarian Cancer study.

Objective: Activation of ras oncogenes has been demonstrated in ovarian tumours. All the reported studies are based on a relatively small number of patients and the results therefore remain a subject of debate.

Methods: In this study, we analyzed the presence of mutations at codons 12 and 13 of the K-ras gene in 165 Danish women with ovarian tumours, including 138 invasive ovarian cancers and 27 borderline ovarian tumours, using a restriction fragment length polymorphism-polymerase chain reaction technique and evaluated whether such alterations were associated with the clinicopathological parameters of the patients and survival.

Determinants for non-use of contraception at first intercourse; a study of 10841 young Danish women from the general population.

Based on interview data from 10841 Danish women aged 20 to 29 years, determinants for non-use of contraception at first intercourse (NU) were studied. One-fourth of the women (n = 2704) reported NU, whereas condoms and oral contraceptives were used by, respectively, 59% and 15%. NU decreased with the birth year of the first male partner (OR = 3.

[Who are the users of emergency contraception?].

Introduction: A user profile is necessary in order to direct future campaigns for emergency contraception (EC).

Material And Methods: Over a three-month period, 423 women with prescriptions for EC were consecutively entered in the study, which was carried out in four inner-city pharmacies in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Results: The median age was 24 years (range 13-50 years).

P53 autoantibodies in sera from Danish ovarian cancer patients and their correlation with clinical data and prognosis.

The p53 gene, a tumour suppressor gene located on the short arm of chromosome 17 (17p13), is frequently mutated in various human tumours. Accumulation of p53 protein in neoplastic cells and its release following tumour necrosis can lead to development of circulating autoantibodies (AAb) against p53. Earlier studies of ovarian cancer (OC) patients reported different frequencies of p53 AAb and conclusions regarding the clinical and prognostic value of these AAb have not been in agreement.

Type specific persistence of high risk human papillomavirus (HPV) as indicator of high grade cervical squamous intraepithelial lesions in young women: population based prospective follow up study.

Objectives: To investigate the role of human papillomavirus (HPV) in the development of cervical neoplasia in women with no previous cervical cytological abnormalities; whether the presence of virus DNA predicts development of squamous intraepithelial lesion; and whether the risk of incident squamous intraepithelial lesions differs with repeated detection of the same HPV type versus repeated detection of different types.

Design: Population based prospective cohort study.

Setting: General population in Copenhagen, Denmark.

[Forty four pregnancies with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura].

Introduction: The aim of this project was to describe the course of pregnancy with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) and to estimate risk factors and indications for treatment.

Material And Methods: Birth, haematological, and neonatal files were examined retrospectively.

Results: Forty-eight ITP women with 55 pregnancies gave birth to 61 children, 59 live-born.

[Pregnancy-related thrombocytosis].

Pregnancy-related thrombocythaemia comprises myeloproliferative and inflammatory reactive subsets. In pregnant women treated for myeloproliferative disorders, especially polycythaemia vera and primary thrombocytosis, only 50-70 per cent are delivered successfully of a normal healthy baby. The maternal complications are cerebral, cardiac, and abdominal arterial thrombosis, and with deep venous thrombosis of the legs, whereas bleedings are mainly seen in the case of extreme thrombocythaemia, owing to absorption of factors by the platelets.

Distribution of p53 codon 72 polymorphisms in ovarian tumour patients and their prognostic significance in ovarian cancer patients.

Background: The p53 gene is frequently mutated in various human tumours. In addition, single nucleotide polymorphisms are often observed in exons and introns of the p53 gene in normal tissues and tumours.

Materials And Methods: The prevalence of a polymorphism involving codon 72 of exon 4 in the p53 gene was studied in peripheral white blood cells and tumour tissues from Danish ovarian tumour patients and in peripheral white blood cells from controls.