Empowering of Oncology Patients and Informal Caregivers: Analysis of an Interdisciplinary Seminar Model for Breast Cancer and Gyneco-Oncological Patients.

Introduction: The interdisciplinary empowerment seminar aims to familiarize patients and informal caregivers (ICs) with supportive measures, focusing on understanding disease, therapy, and side effect management.

Methods: The seminar, conducted in two courses over 1-month intervals prior to chemotherapy, included lectures, supportive materials, Q and A sessions, and individual discussions with experts in nutrition, exercise, psycho-oncology, and complementary medicine. Evaluation is based on a self-developed questionnaire and questionnaires on QoL (EORTC-QLQ-C30, BR23, CX24, OV28), anxiety and depression (HADS-D) at week 0, 5, 9, and 12.

Stressors related to the COVID-19 pandemic and their association with distress, depressive, and anxiety symptoms in cancer out-patients.

Patients with cancer might be particularly prone to stress caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of pandemic-related stressors on oncological patients' psychological well-being. During the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany 122 cancer out-patients of the Comprehensive Cancer Center Munich reported on COVID-19-related stressors (information satisfaction, threat perception, and fear of disease deterioration) and answered standardized questionnaires for psychosocial distress (DT) as well as depression and anxiety symptoms (PHQ-2, GAD-2).

[The views of cancer out-patients on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic].

Background: This study investigates current needs and psychosocial burden of out-patients with cancer during the COVID-19-Pandemic.

Material And Methods: Between 11/2020 and 02/2021 122 cancer patients who underwent out-patient treatment at the Comprehensive Cancer Center Munich participated in the study. Based on a standardized, semi-structured interview, participants were asked about their knowledge and informational needs related to COVID-19, risk perception and concerns regarding continuing out-patient treatment, COVID-19 related distress, confidence in the national health system, and their readiness to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

Distress in hospitalized cancer patients: Associations with personality traits, clinical and psychosocial characteristics.

Objective: To improve allocation of psychosocial care and to provide patient-oriented support offers, identification of determinants of elevated distress is needed. So far, there is a lack of evidence investigating the interplay between individual disposition and current clinical and psychosocial determinants of distress in the inpatient setting.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we investigated 879 inpatients with different cancer sites treated in a German Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Late Presentation at Primary Diagnosis of Breast Cancer: Patients' Personality Characteristics and Attitudes.

Introduction: Breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer in women worldwide. Despite screening and information efforts, about 10% of patients present with tumor size T3 or T4 at primary diagnosis. Late presentation is associated with more advanced tumor stage and consecutively with worse survival rates.

Factors associated with the decline of psychological support in hospitalized patients with cancer.

Objective: Many distressed cancer patients do not want or, finally, do not use psychological support. This study aimed at identifying factors associated with the decline of psychological support during hospital stay.

Methods: This cross-sectional study included inpatients with different cancer diagnoses.

Thyronamine regulation of TAAR1 expression in breast cancer cells and investigation of its influence on viability and migration.

Objectives: A correlation exists between breast cancer and thyroid disorders, which are common in elderly women. Thyroid hormones are degraded into trace amines, which can bind to the G-protein-coupled receptor trace amine-associated receptor 1 (TAAR1) and thereby activate it. The transformation of thyroid hormones into trace amines is carried out by the ornithine decarboxylase.

Evaluation of Reproductive Concerns and Biographical Impact of Breast Cancer in Young Patients.

Background: This study evaluates interventions offered to young breast cancer (BC) patients, including fertility preservation, genetic testing, and counseling for parenthood concerns, and analyzes the effect of BC on biographical issues.

Methods: Women who were diagnosed with BC at the age of 18-40 years and who underwent treatment at the Breast Center, Ludwig-Maximilian University (LMU) in Munich between 2006 and 2013, were eligible for this study. Patients received a self-developed questionnaire which covered the following topics: fertility preservation, family planning, genetic testing, parenthood concerns and children's needs, partnership status, and employment situation.

Dopamine synthesis and dopamine receptor expression are disturbed in recurrent miscarriages.

Objectives: l-dopa decarboxylase (DDC) is responsible for the synthesis of dopamine. Dopamine, which binds to the D-dopamine receptor (D2R), plays an important role in the maintenance of pregnancy. Aim of our study was the analysis of DDC and D2R expression in placentas of spontaneous miscarriages (SMs) and recurrent miscarriages (RMs) in comparison to healthy controls.

EP3 (prostaglandin E2 receptor 3) expression is a prognostic factor for progression-free and overall survival in sporadic breast cancer.

Background: In various cancers, overexpression of cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 and elevated prostaglandin (PG) E2 synthesis have been associated with tumor development and progression. The potential of COX-2 inhibitors in cancer prevention and treatment has been shown repeatedly; however, their clinical use is limited due to toxicity. PGE2 signals via EP receptors 1-4, whose functions are analyzed in current research in search for targeted anti-PG therapies.

TAAR1 induces a disturbed GSK3β phosphorylation in recurrent miscarriages through the ODC.

Objectives: Thyroid hormones play an important role in the maintenance of pregnancy. Their derivates, endogenous amines, act via binding to the trace amine-associated receptor (TAAR1). The aim of our study was to analyse the regulation of TAAR1, serine/threonine kinase (pGSK3β) and ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) in placentas of healthy pregnancies, spontaneous (SM) and recurrent miscarriages (RM) and to investigate the influence of thyroid hormone derivates on TAAR1 expression in trophoblast model cells .

Investigation of RIP140 and LCoR as independent markers for poor prognosis in cervical cancer.

Introduction: RIP140 (Receptor Interacting Protein) is involved in the regulation of oncogenic signaling pathways and in the development of breast and colon cancers. The aim of the study was to analyze the expression of RIP140 and its partner LCoR in cervical cancers, to decipher their relationship with histone protein modifications and to identify a potential link with patient survival.

Methods: Immunohistochemical analyses were carried out to quantify RIP140 and LCoR expression in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue sections cervical cancer samples.

Chemotherapy and Post-traumatic Stress in the Causation of Cognitive Dysfunction in Breast Cancer Patients.

Background: Cancer-related cognitive dysfunction has mostly been attributed to chemotherapy; this explanation, however, fails to account for cognitive dysfunction observed in chemotherapy-naïve patients. In a controlled, longitudinal, multisite study, we tested the hypothesis that cognitive function in breast cancer patients is affected by cancer-related post-traumatic stress.

Methods: Newly diagnosed breast cancer patients and healthy control subjects, age 65 or younger, underwent three assessments within one year, including paper-and-pencil and computerized neuropsychological tests, clinical diagnostics of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and self-reported cognitive function.

Increased trace amine-associated receptor 1 (TAAR1) expression is associated with a positive survival rate in patients with breast cancer.

Purpose: A correlation between breast cancer and thyroid disorders has been described in previous studies. Degraded thyroid hormones are referred to as trace amines. These endogenous amines have the ability to bind to the G-protein-coupled receptor TAAR1 (trace amine-associated receptor) and thereby activate it.

Clinically assessed posttraumatic stress in patients with breast cancer during the first year after diagnosis in the prospective, longitudinal, controlled COGNICARES study.

Objective: There is ongoing debate whether cancer qualifies as traumatic stressor. We investigated prevalence and course of posttraumatic stress in patients with early breast cancer (BC) during their first year after diagnosis and determined effects of mastectomy and chemotherapy.

Methods: Patients with stage 0-III BC aged ≤65 years were evaluated with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV modules for acute and posttraumatic stress disorder (ASD and PTSD, respectively) before treatment, after chemotherapy, and 1 year after diagnosis.

International Expert Consensus on Primary Systemic Therapy in the Management of Early Breast Cancer: Highlights of the Fifth Symposium on Primary Systemic Therapy in the Management of Operable Breast Cancer, Cremona, Italy (2013).

Expert consensus-based recommendations regarding key issues in the use of primary (or neoadjuvant) systemic treatment (PST) in patients with early breast cancer are a valuable resource for practising oncologists. PST remains a valuable therapeutic approach for the assessment of biological antitumor activity and clinical efficacy of new treatments in clinical trials. Neoadjuvant trials provide endpoints, such as pathological complete response (pCR) to treatment, that potentially translate into meaningful improvements in overall survival and disease-free survival.

Chemotherapy and Cognitive Function in Breast Cancer Patients: The So-Called Chemo Brain.

Self-perceived problems of cognitive functioning after treatment for early-stage breast cancer have the potential to substantially affect the lives of patients. In the past two decades, neuropsychological studies have accumulated evidence of corresponding cognitive deficits that have mostly been attributed to neurotoxic effects of chemotherapy. Nevertheless, observations of impaired cognitive functioning already before the start of adjuvant or neoadjuvant chemotherapy question the singular role of chemotherapy for the causation of these deficits.

Elucidating pretreatment cognitive impairment in breast cancer patients: the impact of cancer-related post-traumatic stress.

Background: Pretreatment cognitive impairment in cancer patients is well established but unexplained. Similar cognitive compromise has been observed in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) patients, and PTSD symptoms are a frequent concomitant of cancer diagnosis. We tested the hypothesis that pretreatment cognitive impairment is attributable to cancer-related post-traumatic stress.

Brief Distress Screening in Clinical Practice: Does it Help to Effectively Allocate Psycho-Oncological Support to Female Cancer Inpatients?

Background: The usefulness of distress screening in cancer inpatient settings has rarely been investigated. This study evaluated a brief distress screening of inpatients in a breast cancer centre and a gynaecological cancer centre.

Patients And Methods: Hospitalised patients with breast or gynaecological cancers were screened with the Distress Thermometer.

Menopausal status in breast cancer patients with past chemotherapy determines long-term hypoactive sexual desire disorder.

Introduction: Chemotherapy and endocrine treatment in young breast cancer patients are frequently associated with abrupt menopause. Little is known about the long-term prevalence of hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD) in these patients.

Aims: To examine the effects of adjuvant endocrine therapy on sexual desire in premenopausal patients with breast cancer and past chemotherapy.