Publications by authors named "Msc Conlon"

In this multi-ancestry genome-wide association study (GWAS) and fine mapping study of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) subsites, we analysed 19,073 cases and 38,857 controls and identified 29 independent novel loci. We provide robust evidence that a 3' UTR variant in (rs78378222, T>G) confers a 40% reduction in odds of developing overall HNSCC. We further examine the gene-environment relationship of and variants demonstrating their effects act through both smoking and alcohol use.

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Article Synopsis
  • This study looked at how many men with prostate cancer in Ontario met with a radiation doctor before having surgery from 2010 to 2019.
  • They found that most patients (94.70%) primarily saw urologists, while fewer saw radiation doctors (37.66%) and medical oncologists (1.77%).
  • It also showed that men from lower-income neighborhoods or rural areas were less likely to meet with a radiation oncologist, indicating issues with access to care based on location and income.
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Smoking during cancer treatment is associated with reduced treatment response and cancer recurrence in patients with tobacco-related cancers. The purpose of this study was to examine smoking characteristics in head and neck cancer patients ( = 503) with a history of smoking and examine the impact of an intensive clinical tobacco intervention to patients who were currently smoking. All participants completed an interviewer-administered questionnaire at study enrollment which examined smoking behaviours, motivations to quit, and strategies used to cessate smoking.

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Purpose: Many patients diagnosed with head-and-neck cancer are current or former smokers. Despite the well-known adverse effects of smoking, continuation of smoking during cancer treatment is associated with reduced efficacy of that treatment and with cancer recurrence. In the present study, we examined smoking characteristics in patients with head-and-neck cancer near the time of cancer treatment.

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Background: Access to hospice palliative care may improve quality of life, reduce the use of potentially aggressive end-of-life care and allow for death to occur outside of an acute care hospital. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of an ambulatory hospice palliative care program on end-of-life care compared to care received by a matched control group of deceased patients.

Methods: This retrospective study included patients who received hospice palliative care through the Symptom Management Program in Sudbury, Ontario, during 2012-2015.

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Purpose: Inter-individual variations in treatment efficacy may be influenced by polymorphisms in DNA repair genes. We investigated the association of 3 functional polymorphisms in the nucleotide excision repair (NER) pathway with survival outcome of 95 patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) treated with DNA-damaging chemotherapy.

Methods: ERCC1 8092 C/A, ERCC2 Asp312Asn and ERCC2 Lys751Gln were determined using Taqman-based genotyping assays.

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Background: The relationship between smoking and breast cancer remains controversial. The study aim was to assess the relationship of passive and active smoking to breast cancer risk by N-acetyltransferase 2 (NAT2) phenotype, using a comprehensive assessment of both passive and active smoking.

Methods: We undertook a population-based case-control study in Northeastern Ontario, Canada of 347 women diagnosed (2002-2004) with breast cancer and 775 population-based controls.

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Treatments for metastatic breast cancer (MBC) are primarily palliative with variable efficacy and outcomes may be influenced by individual differences in drug metabolism. In this study, we examined the association of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes involved in drug metabolism with progression free survival (PFS) and breast cancer specific survival (BCSS) in 95 patients with MBC that received high dose chemotherapy (HDC) with autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT). SNPs in the SOD2 (SOD2-01, Val16Ala), MPO (MPO-02, -463 promoter variant) and GSTP1 [GSTP1-01 (Ile105Val), GSTP1-02 (Ala114Val)] genes were examined in DNA isolated from cryopreserved blood products using genotyping assays.

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Purpose: Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in DNA repair and cell cycle control genes may alter protein function and therefore the efficacy of DNA damaging chemotherapy. We retrospectively evaluated the association of SNPs in DNA repair genes, XRCC1-01 (Arg399Gln) and XRCC3-01 (Thr241Met), and a cell cycle control gene, CCND1-02 (A870G), with progression-free survival (PFS) and breast cancer specific survival (BCSS) in patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC).

Patients And Methods: SNPs in 95 patients with MBC enrolled onto one of five prospective clinical trials of high-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem-cell transplantation were evaluated using genotyping assays.

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Background: This descriptive epidemiology study reports the cancer incidence and mortality experience of Northeastern Ontario residents during the 8-year period from 1991-1998.

Methods: Standardized Incidence Ratios (SIRs), Standardized Mortality Ratios (SMRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated for a number of cancer sites (n = 25 for males, n = 26 for females), using rates determined from the Ontario population as the referent population.

Results: During the period 1991-1998, 24,019 cases of primary incident cancers (excluding non-melanotic skin cancer) and 11,677 deaths attributed to cancer occurred in Northeastern Ontario residents.

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