NTHL1 is a recessive cancer susceptibility gene.

In search of novel breast cancer (BC) risk variants, we performed a whole-exome sequencing and variant analysis of 69 Finnish BC patients as well as analysed loss-of-function variants identified in DNA repair genes in the Finns from the Genome Aggregation Database. Additionally, we carried out a validation study of SERPINA3 c.918-1G>C, recently suggested for BC predisposition.

A search for modifying genetic factors in CHEK2:c.1100delC breast cancer patients.

The risk of breast cancer associated with CHEK2:c.1100delC is 2-threefold but higher in carriers with a family history of breast cancer than without, suggesting that other genetic loci in combination with CHEK2:c.1100delC confer an increased risk in a polygenic model.

The relationship between anger regulation, mood, pain, and pain-related disability in women treated for breast cancer.

Objective: Anger, depressive symptoms, and anxiety are known reactions to cancer and suggested to modulate pain experience. We examined the association between anger regulation, mood, and pain in 952 breast cancer patients followed for 3 years.

Methods: Preoperatively, the patients completed questionnaires about depressive symptoms (BDI), state anxiety (STAI), anger regulation (STAXI-2), and pains in the surgical and other areas.

Cancer Patients' Symptom Burden and Health-related Quality of Life (HRQoL) at Tertiary Cancer Center from 2006 to 2013: A Cross-sectional Study.

Background/aim: To observe changes in symptoms and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) over 7 years among cancer patients at different stages of the disease.

Patients And Methods: This prospective cross-sectional study at the Helsinki University Hospital Cancer Center, was carried out in 2006 and repeated in 2013. All participants filled in the EORTC-QLQ-C30 questionnaire.

Machine-learning-derived classifier predicts absence of persistent pain after breast cancer surgery with high accuracy.

Background: Prevention of persistent pain following breast cancer surgery, via early identification of patients at high risk, is a clinical need. Supervised machine-learning was used to identify parameters that predict persistence of significant pain.

Methods: Over 500 demographic, clinical and psychological parameters were acquired up to 6 months after surgery from 1,000 women (aged 28-75 years) who were treated for breast cancer.

Pain in 1,000 women treated for breast cancer: a prospective study of pain sensitivity and postoperative pain.

Background: This article describes the methods and results of the early part (experimental pain tests and postoperative analgesia) of a study that assesses genetic and other factors related to acute pain and persistent pain after treatment of breast cancer in a prospective cohort of 1,000 women.

Methods: One thousand consenting patients were recruited to the study. Before surgery (breast resection or mastectomy with axillary surgery), the patients filled in questionnaires about health, life style, depression (Beck Depression Inventory), and anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory).

2-Weekly versus 3-weekly docetaxel to treat castration-resistant advanced prostate cancer: a randomised, phase 3 trial.

Background: Docetaxel administered every 3 weeks is a standard treatment for castration-resistant advanced prostate cancer. We hypothesised that 2-weekly administration of docetaxel would be better tolerated than 3-weekly docetaxel in patients with castration-resistant advanced prostate cancer, and did a prospective, multicentre, randomised, phase 3 study to compare efficacy and safety.

Methods: Eligible patients had advanced prostate cancer (metastasis, a prostate-specific-antigen test result of more than 10·0 ng/mL, and WHO performance status score of 0-2), had received no chemotherapy (except with estramustine), had undergone surgical or chemical castration, and had been referred to a treatment centre in Finland, Ireland, or Sweden.

Development of a screening instrument for risk factors of persistent pain after breast cancer surgery.

Background: Persistent postsurgical pain can have a significant effect on the quality of life of women being treated for breast cancer. The aim of this prospective study was to develop a screening tool to identify presurgical demographic, psychological and treatment-related factors that predict persistence of significant pain in the operated area after 6 months from surgery.

Methods: Background and self-reported questionnaire data were collected the day before surgery and combined with treatment-related data.

Lymphoedema therapy in breast cancer patients: a systematic review on effectiveness and a survey of current practices and costs in Finland.

Background: This study systematically evaluates the effects and harms of physiotherapy methods and explores current treatment practices and costs in relation to lymphoedema in breast cancer patients in Finland.

Material And Methods: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on physiotherapy interventions for breast cancer patients with lymphoedema. A postal survey to lymph therapists, a telephone and register survey for therapy costs.

How palliative care of cancer patients is organised between a university hospital and primary care in Finland.

The aim of this study was to find out how palliative care is organised between the Helsinki University Central Hospital (University Hospital) and primary care. The study consisted of 102 patients whose oncological treatment was terminated and the responsibility of palliative care was transferred to primary care. The patients were interviewed by phone using a structured questionnaire.

One-year morbidity after sentinel node biopsy and breast surgery.

Posttreatment morbidity within 1 year after sentinel node biopsy was evaluated objectively by physical examination and also by evaluating patients self-reports of symptoms in a questionnaire. These patients were compared with patients who underwent axillary clearance. At 2 weeks after surgery patients who had undergone sole sentinel node biopsy had made significantly better recoveries than those who had undergone axillary clearance.

Venlafaxine in the treatment of atypical facial pain: a randomized controlled trial.

Aims: To study in a randomized placebo-controlled design the efficacy of the antidepressant venlafaxine, a serotonin and a weak noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor, in the treatment of atypical facial pain (AFP).

Methods: The study was a randomized, double-blind, crossover comparison of venlafaxine and a placebo. It consisted of 2 treatment periods, each of 4 weeks' duration, separated by a 2-week washout period.

Venlafaxine in neuropathic pain following treatment of breast cancer.

Amitriptyline effectively relieves neuropathic pain following treatment of breast cancer. However, adverse effects are a major problem. Venlafaxine has no anticholinergic effects and could have a better compliance.

Chronic post-sternotomy pain.

Background: Chronic postoperative pain is a well-recognised problem. The incidence of severe incapacitating pain is about 3-5% after various types of surgery such as thoracotomy, repair of inguinal hernias and mastectomy. Sternotomy causes considerable postoperative pain and patients with chronic post-sternotomy pain are often referred to pain clinics.

Chronic pain after thoracic surgery: a follow-up study.

Background: The incidence of long-term post-thoracotomy pain is reported to be up to 67%. A relationship between the severity of acute postoperative pain and the development of chronic post-thoracotomy pain has been suggested.

Methods: Patients scheduled for elective thoracotomy were interviewed before and one week after surgery to find out if they had pain before surgery and how much pain they experienced postoperatively.

Chronic post-treatment symptoms in patients with breast cancer operated in different surgical units.

Aims: This study was designed to find out whether women operated in high volume surgical units have less chronic symptoms than women operated in smaller volume units.

Methods: A questionnaire was sent to 265 consecutive women treated at the Department of Oncology, Helsinki University Central Hospital, from January to June 1996. Of the patients, 129 were operated in hospitals experienced in breast cancer surgery (high volume units = HVU) and 92 patients in district hospitals with less experience in breast surgery (low volume units = LVU).

Treatment-related factors predisposing to chronic pain in patients with breast cancer--a multivariate approach.

A study was carried out to assess the factors predisposing to chronic post-treatment pain in the breast area and in the ipsilateral arm in patients treated for breast cancer using two multivariate models. In the study 509 patients with non-metastasized breast cancer who were treated during 1988-1994 completed the questionnaire about pain in the operated breast and in the ipsilateral arm 10-58 months after surgery. The factors included in the analysis were: age, type of operation, size of the tumour, number of lymph nodes removed, involvement of lymph nodes, complications of surgery, intensity of the acute postoperative pain remembered by the patient, number of doses of analgesics, number of months from surgery, adjuvant radiotherapy, chemotherapy and endocrine treatment.

Effect of present pain and mood on the memory of past postoperative pain in women treated surgically for breast cancer.

In our recent retrospective study on breast cancer patients, the intensity of the past postoperative pain was a primary factor in predisposing the development of chronic post-treatment pain. The present prospective study was designed to find out if the remembered intensity of postoperative pain (RIPP) after breast surgery was influenced by the development of chronic pain and if the RIPP had any correlation with the development of depression or anxiety. The patient's estimation of the severity of the RIPP was determined three times in the year after surgery.

Pain and other symptoms during the first year after radical and conservative surgery for breast cancer.

This study assessed pain, neurological symptoms, oedema of the ipsilateral arm, anxiety and depression occurring in women treated surgically for breast cancer, the impact of these symptoms on daily life and how they evolved during the 1 year follow-up. Ninety-three consecutive patients with non-metastasised breast cancer who were treated during 1993-94 were examined before surgery and after 1, 6 and 12 months. They were asked about pain, neurological symptoms and oedema in the breast scar region and/or ipsilateral arm.

Pain and other symptoms after different treatment modalities of breast cancer.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to analyse the risk factors that predispose women to chronic symptoms related to the treatment of breast cancer.

Patients And Methods: A questionnaire was sent to 569 women who had undergone modified radical mastectomies with axillary evacuation (MRM) or breast resection with axillary evacuation (BCT).

Results: Pain, paraesthesias and strange sensations were reported by half of the patients.