Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte Ratio as a Predictive Marker of Response to Abiraterone Acetate: A Retrospective Analysis of the COU302 Study.

Background: The neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is an inexpensive and accessible prognostic marker for many cancers, including metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC).

Objective: In this study, we assess the role of NLR as a predictive biomarker through a retrospective analysis of the pivotal COU302 study of abiraterone acetate (AA) as first-line therapy for men with asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic mCRPC.

Design, Setting, And Participants: The COU302 study randomized asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic men with mCRPC to receive AA plus prednisone or prednisone as first-line treatment.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids Survey in Men under Active Surveillance for Prostate Cancer: from Intake to Prostate Tissue Level.

Dietary omega-3 fatty acids (ω3), particularly long-chain ω3 (LCω3), have protective effects against prostate cancer (PCa) in experimental studies. Observational studies are conflicting, possibly because of the biomarker used. This study aimed at evaluating associations between grade reclassification and ω3 levels assessed in prostatic tissue, red blood cells (RBC), and diet.

Prospective Evaluation of Nutritional Factors to Predict the Risk of Complications for Patients Undergoing Radical Cystectomy: A Cohort Study.

The objective of this study was to identify nutritional preoperative factors associated with complications after radical cystectomy (RC). We prospectively evaluated the Mini-Nutritional Assessment Score, body mass index (BMI), appetite, stool frequency, hydration, food intake, weight loss, albuminemia, and prealbuminemia of 144 patients who underwent RC between January 2011 and April 2014. Postoperative complications were defined as any adverse event reported in the patient's file up to 90 days after surgery.

Prognostic value of urinary prostate cancer antigen 3 (PCA3) during active surveillance of patients with low-risk prostate cancer receiving 5α-reductase inhibitors.

Objectives: To determine the clinical performance of the urinary prostate cancer antigen 3 (PCA3) test to predict the risk of Gleason grade re-classification amongst men receiving a 5α-reductase inhibitor (5ARI) during active surveillance (AS) for prostate cancer.

Patients And Methods: Patients with low-risk prostate cancer were enrolled in a prospective Phase II study of AS complemented with prescription of a 5ARI. A repeat biopsy was taken within the first year and annually according to physician and patient preference.

Metabolic Imaging of Prostate Cancer Reveals Intrapatient Intermetastasis Response Heterogeneity to Systemic Therapy.

Unlabelled: Although intrapatient heterogeneity of prostate cancer (PCa) has recently been characterized via genomic and transcriptomic studies, the heterogeneity of systemic treatment responses has yet to be reported or imaged. Our objective was to evaluate the intrapatient intermetastasis response to systemic treatment among patients with metastatic PCa. We evaluated the metabolic response for each individual metastatic lesion (n=165) in 15 patients with metastatic PCa who underwent F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography before and at least 3 mo after initiation of a systemic therapy that did not change in that period.

Disinfection by-products exposure and intra-uterine growth restriction: Do genetic polymorphisms of CYP2E1or deletion of GSTM1 or GSTT1 modify the association?

Background: Exposure to disinfection by-products (DBPs) during pregnancy was associated with reduced foetal growth. Genetic susceptibility might play a role, especially for genes encoding for the Cytochrome P450 (CYP2E1) and Glutathione S-Transferase (GST) enzymes, involved in metabolism and activation of DBPs. Few epidemiological studies evaluated these gene-environment interactions and their results were never replicated.

Phase II Drug-Metabolizing Polymorphisms and Smoking Predict Recurrence of Non-Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer: A Gene-Smoking Interaction.

Cigarette smoking is the most important known risk factor for urinary bladder cancer. Selected arylamines in cigarette smoke are recognized human bladder carcinogens and undergo biotransformation through several detoxification pathways, such as the glutathione S-transferases (GST), and uridine-diphospho-glucuronosyltransferases (UGT) pathways. GSTM1 deletion status and UGT1A1*28 rs8175347 genotypes were assessed in 189 non-muscle-invasive bladder cancers (NMIBC) patients with pTa (77.

Comparison of digital image analysis and visual scoring of KI-67 in prostate cancer prognosis after prostatectomy.

Background: The tumor proliferative index marker Ki-67 was shown to be associated with clinically significant outcomes in prostate cancer, but its clinical application has limitations due to lack of uniformity and consistency in quantification. Our objective was to compare the measurements obtained with digital image analysis (DIA) versus virtual microscopy (visual scoring (VS)).

Methods: To do so, we compared the measurement distributions of each technique and their ability to predict clinically useful endpoints.

Outcome of ICU patients with Clostridium difficile infection.

Introduction: As data from Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) in intensive care unit (ICU) are still scarce, our objectives were to assess the morbidity and mortality of ICU-acquired CDI.

Methods: We compared patients with ICU-acquired CDI (watery or unformed stools occurring ≥ 72 hours after ICU admission with a stool sample positive for C. difficile toxin A or B) with two groups of controls hospitalized at the same time in the same unit.

Attributable risk estimation for adjusted disability multistate models: application to nosocomial infections.

Attributable risk has become an important concept in clinical epidemiology. In this paper, we suggest to estimate the attributable risk of nosocomial infections using a multistate approach. Recently, a multistate model (called progressive disability model in the literature) has been developed in order to take into consideration both the time-dependency of the risk factor (e.

Smoking and asthma: disentangling their mutual influences using a longitudinal approach.

Background: The association between smoking and asthma remains unclear and has mostly been assessed in cross-sectional studies, with potential selection bias ("healthy smoker effect").

Aims: Using a longitudinal approach, the aims were to assess whether 1) childhood asthma modifies smoking initiation, 2) active smoking influences asthma incidence in adults and 3) active smoking among subjects with asthma influences the persistence of the disease or the 12-year evolution in lung function in children and adults.

Methods: Subjects (513 children and 1190 adults) were recruited and followed-up for 12 years in the context of the EGEA study (Epidemiological study on the Genetics and Environment of Asthma).

Multiple-center evaluation of mortality associated with acute kidney injury in critically ill patients: a competing risks analysis.

Introduction: In this study, we aimed to assess the association between acute kidney injury (AKI) and mortality in critically ill patients using an original competing risks approach.

Methods: Unselected patients admitted between 1997 and 2009 to 13 French medical or surgical intensive care units were included in this observational cohort study. AKI was defined according to the RIFLE criteria.

Attributable mortality of ventilator-associated pneumonia: respective impact of main characteristics at ICU admission and VAP onset using conditional logistic regression and multi-state models.

Purpose: Methods for estimating the excess mortality attributable to ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) should handle VAP as a time-dependent covariate, since the probability of experiencing VAP increases with the time on mechanical ventilation. VAP-attributable mortality (VAP-AM) varies with definitions, case-mix, causative microorganisms, and treatment adequacy. Our objectives here were to compare VAP-AM estimates obtained using a traditional cohort analysis, a multistate progressive disability model, and a matched-cohort analysis; and to compare VAP-AM estimates according to VAP characteristics.

Association between hypernatraemia acquired in the ICU and mortality: a cohort study.

Background: The aim of this study is to describe the prevalence and outcomes of intensive care unit (ICU)-acquired hypernatraemia (IAH).

Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on a prospectively collected database fed by 12 ICUs. Subjects are unselected patients with ICU stay >48 h.

Predicting the risk of documented ventilator-associated pneumonia for benchmarking: construction and validation of a score.

Objectives: : To build and validate a ventilator-associated pneumonia risk score for benchmarking. The rate of ventilator-associated pneumonia varies widely with case-mix, a fact that has limited its use for measuring intensive care unit performance.

Methods: : We studied 1856 patients in the OUTCOMEREA database treated at intensive care unit admission by endotracheal intubation followed by mechanical ventilation for >48 hrs; they were allocated randomly to a training data set (n = 1233) or a validation data set (n = 623).