Distinct alterations in chromatin organization of the two IGF-I promoters precede growth hormone-induced activation of IGF-I gene transcription.

Many of the physiological actions of GH are mediated by IGF-I, a secreted 70-residue peptide whose gene expression is induced by GH in the liver and other tissues via mechanisms that remain incompletely characterized but depend on the transcription factor Stat5b. Here we investigate the chromatin landscape of the IGF-I gene in the liver of pituitary-deficient young adult male rats and assess the impact of a single systemic GH injection. Despite minimal ongoing transcription in the absence of GH, both IGF-I promoters appear to reside in open chromatin environments, at least as inferred from relatively high levels of acetylation of core histones H3 and H4 when compared with adjacent intergenic DNA and from enhanced trimethylation of histone H3 at lysine 4.

Attentional and executive dysfunction as predictors of smoking within the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study cohort.

Introduction: Previous research has suggested that childhood cancer survivors initiate smoking at rates approaching those of healthy individuals, even though smoking presents unique risks to survivors. The present study explores whether the attentional and executive functioning (EF) deficits associated with cancer and treatment place survivors of childhood cancer at increased risk for smoking.

Methods: Data from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study were examined to identify concurrent and longitudinal correlates of tobacco use.

Severity of health conditions identified in a pediatric cancer survivor program.

Background: The Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events v3.0 (CTCAE) was designed for reporting acute and late effects of cancer treatment. To date, no study of pediatric-aged cancer survivors has graded health conditions using CTCAE, for patients in active follow-up in a cancer survivor program.

Cardiovascular risk factors in adult survivors of pediatric cancer--a report from the childhood cancer survivor study.

Background: Childhood cancer survivors are at higher risk of morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular disease compared with the general population.

Methods: Eight thousand five hundred ninety-nine survivors (52% male) and 2,936 siblings (46% male) from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study, a retrospectively ascertained, prospectively followed study of persons who survived 5 years after childhood cancer diagnosed from 1970 to 1986, were evaluated for body mass index of > or =30 kg/m(2) based on self-reported heights and weights and self-reported use of medications for hypertension, dyslipidemia, and impaired glucose metabolism. The presence of three or more of the above constituted Cardiovascular Risk Factor Cluster (CVRFC), a surrogate for Metabolic Syndrome.

Knowledge of hepatitis C virus screening in long-term pediatric cancer survivors: a report from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study.

Background: Pediatric cancer survivors who were treated before routine hepatitis C virus (HCV) screening of blood donors in 1992 have an elevated risk of transfusion-acquired HCV.

Methods: To assess long-term pediatric cancer survivors' knowledge of HCV testing and blood transfusion history, a questionnaire was administered to 9242 participants in the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study who are at risk for transfusion-acquired HCV after cancer therapy from 1970 to 1986.

Results: More than 70% of survivors reported either no prior HCV testing (41%) or uncertainty about testing (31%), with only 29% reporting prior testing.

Cardiac outcomes in a cohort of adult survivors of childhood and adolescent cancer: retrospective analysis of the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study cohort.

Objectives: To assess the incidence of and risks for congestive heart failure, myocardial infarction, pericardial disease, and valvular abnormalities among adult survivors of childhood and adolescent cancers.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting: 26 institutions that participated in the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study.

Late recurrence in pediatric cancer: a report from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study.

Background: An increasing percentage of childhood cancer patients are surviving their disease, but there is limited research on late recurrence. We sought to estimate late recurrence rates for the most common pediatric cancers and to determine risk factors for late recurrence.

Methods: The incidence of late recurrences, or first recurrences that occurred more than 5 years after diagnosis, was analyzed for the most common pediatric cancers using data from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study, a retrospective cohort of 5-year survivors of childhood and adolescent cancers who were diagnosed between 1970 and 1986.

Fertility of male survivors of childhood cancer: a report from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study.

Purpose: This study was undertaken to determine the effect of treatment for childhood cancer on male fertility.

Patients And Methods: We reviewed the fertility of male Childhood Cancer Survivor Study survivor and sibling cohorts who completed a questionnaire. We abstracted the chemotherapeutic agents administered, the cumulative dose of drug administered for selected drugs, and the doses and volumes of all radiation therapy from medical records.

Neurocognitive status in long-term survivors of childhood CNS malignancies: a report from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study.

To assess neurocognitive functioning in adult survivors of childhood Central Nervous System (CNS) malignancy, a large group of CNS malignancy survivors were compared to survivors of non-CNS malignancy and siblings without cancer on a self-report instrument (CCSS-NCQ) assessing four factors, Task Efficiency, Emotional Regulation, Organization and Memory. Additional multiple linear regressions were used to assess the contribution of demographic, illness, and treatment variables to reported neurocognitive functioning in CNS malignancy survivors and the relationship of reported neurocognitive functioning to socioeconomic indicators. Survivors of CNS malignancy reported significantly greater neurocognitive impairment on all CCSS-NCQ factors than non-CNS cancer survivors or siblings (p < .

Predictors of marriage and divorce in adult survivors of childhood cancers: a report from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study.

Background/objective: Adult survivors of childhood cancer can have altered social functioning. We sought to identify factors that predict marriage and divorce outcomes in this growing population.

Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study of 8,928 > or = 5-year adult survivors of childhood malignancy and 2,879 random sibling controls participating in the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study.

Ocular late effects in childhood and adolescent cancer survivors: a report from the childhood cancer survivor study.

Introduction: Approximately 80% of children currently survive 5 years following diagnosis of their cancer. Studies based on limited data have implicated certain cancer therapies in the development of ocular sequelae in these survivors.

Procedure: The Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (CCSS) is a retrospective cohort study investigating health outcomes of 5+ year survivors diagnosed and treated between 1970 and 1986 compared to a sibling cohort.

Behaviors associated with ultraviolet radiation exposure in a cohort of adult survivors of childhood and adolescent cancer: a report from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study.

Background: Previous research from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (CCSS) has shown that risk of skin cancer is strongly associated with exposure to radiation therapy. The potential role of ultraviolet radiation exposure in survivors has not been described.

Methods: The CCSS is a retrospective cohort study designed to investigate late effects among 5-year survivors of children and adolescents diagnosed with cancer between 1970-1986.

Adrenal function testing in pediatric cancer survivors.

Background: Central adrenal insufficiency is observed after cranial radiation therapy for cancer. Screening at risk patients is recommended, but the best screening strategy is unknown.

Methods: A retrospective review of pediatric cancer survivors who underwent hypothalamic/pituitary/adrenal axis testing was conducted.

Radiation dose and breast cancer risk in the childhood cancer survivor study.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to quantify the risk of breast cancer in relation to radiation dose and chemotherapy among survivors of childhood cancer.

Methods: We conducted a case-control study of breast cancer in a cohort of 6,647 women who were 5-year survivors of childhood cancer and who were treated during 1970 through 1986. One hundred twenty patients with histologically confirmed breast cancer were identified and were individually matched to four selected controls on age at initial cancer and time since initial cancer.

Determinants of Mammography Screening Participation in Adult Childhood Cancer Survivors: Results From the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study.

Purpose/Objectives: To identify treatment, intrapersonal, and provider factors that influence childhood cancer survivors' adherence to recommended mammography screening.Design: Secondary analysis of data derived from three consecutive surveys within the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study.Sample: Female childhood cancer survivors: N = 335, X age = 30.

Improvement of a real-time RT-PCR assay for the detection of enterovirus RNA.

We describe an improvement of an earlier reported real-time RT-PCR assay for the detection of enterovirus RNA, based on the 5' exonuclease digestion of a dual-labeled fluorogenic probe by Taq DNA polymerase. A different extraction method, real-time RT-PCR instrument and primer set were evaluated. Our data show that the optimized assay yields a higher sensitivity and reproducibility and resulted in a significant reduced hands-on time per sample.

Fertility of female survivors of childhood cancer: a report from the childhood cancer survivor study.

Purpose: This study was undertaken to determine the effect, if any, of treatment for cancer diagnosed during childhood or adolescence on fertility.

Patients And Methods: We reviewed the fertility of female participants in the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (CCSS), which consisted of 5-year survivors, and a cohort of randomly selected siblings who responded to a questionnaire. Medical records of all members of the cohort were abstracted to obtain chemotherapeutic agents administered; the cumulative dose of drug administered for several drugs of interest; and the doses, volumes, and dates of administration of all radiation therapy.

Pediatric cancer survivorship research: experience of the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study.

The Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (CCSS) is a comprehensive multicenter study designed to quantify and better understand the effects of pediatric cancer and its treatment on later health, including behavioral and sociodemographic outcomes. The CCSS investigators have published more than 100 articles in the scientific literature related to the study. As with any large cohort study, high standards for methodologic approaches are imperative for valid and generalizable results.

The Childhood Cancer Survivor Study: a National Cancer Institute-supported resource for outcome and intervention research.

Survival for childhood cancer has increased dramatically over the last 40 years with 5-year survival rates now approaching 80%. For many diagnostic groups, rapid increases in survival began in the 1970s with the broader introduction of multimodality approaches, often including combination chemotherapy with or without radiation therapy. With this increase in rates of survivorship has come the recognition that survivors are at risk for adverse health and quality-of-life outcomes, with risk being influenced by host-, disease-, and treatment-related factors.

Late mortality among 5-year survivors of childhood cancer: a summary from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study.

The Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (CCSS) has assembled the largest cohort to date for assessment of late mortality. Vital status and cause of death of all patients eligible for participation in CCSS was determined using the National Death Index and death certificates to characterize the mortality experience of 20,483 survivors, representing 337,334 person-years of observation. A total of 2,821 deaths have occurred as of December 31, 2002.

Medical screening participation in the childhood cancer survivor study.

Background: Despite their risk for serious late sequelae, survivors of childhood cancer do not adhere to recommended medical screening guidelines. We identified treatment, survivor, physician, and contextual factors that may influence survivor adherence to recommended echocardiography and bone densitometry screening.

Methods: Structural equation modeling of data from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study; 838 participants had received a diagnosis of and were treated for pediatric cancers between 1970 and 1986.

Second neoplasms in survivors of childhood cancer: findings from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study cohort.

Purpose: To review the reports of subsequent neoplasms (SNs) in the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (CCSS) cohort that were made through January 1, 2006, and published before July 31, 2008, and to discuss the host-, disease-, and therapy-related risk factors associated with SNs.

Patients And Methods: SNs were ascertained by survivor self-reports and subsequently confirmed by pathology findings or medical record review. Cumulative incidence of SNs and standardized incidence ratios for second malignant neoplasms (SMNs) were calculated.

Breast cancer surveillance practices among women previously treated with chest radiation for a childhood cancer.

Context: Women treated with chest radiation for a pediatric malignancy have a significantly increased risk of breast cancer at a young age and are recommended to have an annual screening mammogram starting at age 25 years or 8 years after radiation, whichever occurs last.

Objective: To characterize the breast cancer surveillance practices among female pediatric cancer survivors who were treated with chest radiation and identify correlates of screening.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Between June 2005 and August 2006, a 114-item questionnaire was administered to a random sample of 625 women aged 25 through 50 years who had survived pediatric cancer, who had been treated with chest radiation, and who were participating in the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (CCSS), a North American cohort of long-term survivors diagnosed from 1970-1986.

A brown tumor after biliopancreatic diversion for severe obesity.

A case of a brown tumor due to iatrogenic malabsorption following biliopancreatic diversion (BPD) is presented. A 52 year old women with a history of BPD 2 years before was referred to orthopedic surgery because of a painful lytic lesion of the left ankle. A bone biopsy revealed a giant cell tumor compatible with the diagnosis of a brown tumor.