Plasma free thyroxine in the upper quartile is associated with an increased incidence of major cardiovascular events in older men that do not have thyroid dysfunction according to conventional criteria.

Background: The aim of this study was to assess the association of plasma free thyroxine (FT4) and serum thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) concentrations with the past diagnosis of cardiovascular disease and incidence of new cardiovascular events in older men with no known thyroid disease.

Methods: This study involved a cohort of community-recruited older men without known thyroid disease. Plasma FT4 and serum TSH were measured by immunoassay.

Higher IGFBP3 is associated with increased incidence of colorectal cancer in older men independently of IGF1.

Objective: Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) has anabolic and growth-promoting effects, raising concerns regarding its potential to promote tumour growth. Circulating IGF1 is bound to binding proteins, which modulate bioavailability of IGF1. This study assessed the associations of IGF1 and its binding proteins 1 (IGFBP1) and 3 (IGFBP3) with cancer risk.

Phase II Study of Proton-Based Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy for Liver Metastases: Importance of Tumor Genotype.

Background: We evaluated the efficacy and safety of risk-adapted, proton-based stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) for liver metastases from solid tumors.

Methods: This single-arm phase II single institutional study (NCT01239381) included patients with limited extrahepatic disease, 800 mL or greater of uninvolved liver, and no cirrhosis or Child-Pugh A, who had received proton-based SBRT to one to four liver metastases from solid tumors. Treatment comprised 30 to 50 Gray equivalent (GyE) in five fractions based on the effective volume of liver irradiated.

Progressive impairment of testicular endocrine function in ageing men: Testosterone and dihydrotestosterone decrease, and luteinizing hormone increases, in men transitioning from the 8th to 9th decades of life.

Context: Sex hormone trajectories in ageing men and their health implications remain unclear. We examined longitudinal trajectories and associations of testosterone (T), dihydrotestosterone (DHT), oestradiol (E2), luteinizing hormone (LH) and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) in oldest old men.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Prospective, Randomized Study of Radiation Dose Escalation With Combined Proton-Photon Therapy for Benign Meningiomas.

Purpose: To assess the outcomes of benign meningiomas (BM) treated to two radiation dose levels.

Methods And Materials: We randomly assigned patients (1:1) with incompletely resected or recurrent BM to 2 radiation doses: 55.8 Gy(relative biological effectiveness [RBE]) and 63.

Phase 1 trial of preoperative image guided intensity modulated proton radiation therapy with simultaneously integrated boost to the high risk margin for retroperitoneal sarcomas.

Purpose: To conduct phase 1 and 2 trials with photon intensity modulated radiation therapy and intensity modulated proton therapy (IMPT) arms to selectively escalate the retroperitoneal sarcoma preoperative radiation dose to tumor volume (clinical target volume [CTV] 2) that is judged to be at a high risk for positive margins and aim to reduce local recurrence. We report on the IMPT study arm in phase 1.

Methods And Materials: Patients aged ≥18 years with primary or locally recurrent retroperitoneal sarcoma were treated with preoperative IMPT, 50.

Lower TSH and higher free thyroxine predict incidence of prostate but not breast, colorectal or lung cancer.

Context: Thyroid hormones modulate proliferative, metabolic and angiogenic pathways. However few studies have examined associations of thyroid hormones with cancer risk.

Objectives: To explore associations of thyrotropin (TSH), free thyroxine (FT4) and anti-thyroperoxidase antibodies (TPOAb) with the incidence of all (non-skin) cancers and specific common cancers.

Greater physical activity and higher androgen concentrations are independently associated with lower cardiometabolic risk in men.

Context: Male ageing is associated with lower circulating testosterone (T) and increased incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Whether physical activity (PA) interacts with hormones to modify CVD risk is unclear.

Objective: We assessed whether PA and sex hormone concentrations were independently associated with measures of CVD risk.

Detecting Predeath Grief in Family Caregivers of Persons With Dementia: Validity and Utility of the Marwit-Meuser Caregiver Grief Inventory in a Multiethnic Asian Population.

Background And Objectives: Coping with predeath grief (PDG) is an unmet need in caregivers of persons with dementia (PWD). The Marwit-Meuser Caregiver Grief Inventory (MM-CGI) and its abbreviated MM-CGI-Short-Form (MM-CGI-SF) are among the few empirically developed scales that detect PDG, yet they have not been substantially validated outside United States. We evaluated the reliability and validity of the PDG scales in a multiethnic Asian population distinct from that of United States.

Analysis of patient outcomes following proton radiation therapy for retinoblastoma.

Purpose: Proton radiotherapy (PRT) is used in the treatment of retinoblastoma (RB) and has the potential to minimize exposure of normal tissue to radiation and thus decrease risk of toxicity and second malignancies. However, comprehensive analyses of long-term patient outcomes are not available.

Methods: RB patients treated with PRT at our institution between 1986 and 2012 were invited to return for participation in a study designed to assess long-term outcomes.

Effects of androgen deprivation therapy on telomere length.

Objective: Recent evidence suggests that androgens either directly or via aromatisation to oestradiol may regulate telomere length, hence providing a mechanism whereby reproductive steroids are linked to biological ageing in men. Using men with prostate cancer initiating androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), we tested the hypothesis that severe sex steroid deprivation would accelerate telomere shortening.

Design: We conducted a secondary analysis of a 2-year prospective controlled study among 65 men with nonmetastatic prostate cancer newly commencing adjuvant ADT (n=40) and age- and radiotherapy-matched prostate cancer controls (n=25).

Longevity Klotho gene polymorphism and the risk of dementia in older men.

Introduction: Klotho variants (KL-VS) have been associated with increased longevity and better cognitive function. It is unclear whether they modulate dementia risk.

Methods: We recruited 527 men aged 71-87 years who were free of cognitive impairment.

Depression as a modifiable factor to decrease the risk of dementia.

Depression is an accepted risk factor for dementia, but it is unclear if this relationship is causal. This study investigated whether dementia associated with depression decreases with antidepressant use and is independent of the time between exposure to depression and the onset of dementia. We completed a 14-year longitudinal study of 4922 cognitively healthy men aged 71-89 years, and collected information about history of past depression, current depression and severity of depressive symptoms.

Systolic Blood Pressure and Vascular Disease in Men Aged 65 Years and Over: The HIMS (Health in Men Study).

There is uncertainty about the relation between blood pressure and vascular disease at older age. We assessed the association of systolic blood pressure (SBP) and major vascular events in a prospective cohort study of 7564 men aged 65 to 94 years, recruited in 1996-1999 from the general population in Perth, Western Australia. SBP was measured at baseline and again at resurvey in 2001-2004.

Circulating osteocalcin is unrelated to glucose homoeostasis in adults with type 1 diabetes.

Aims: To assess the relationship between total osteocalcin (tOC), undercarboxylated osteocalcin (ucOC) and a range of markers of glucose homeostasis in type 1 diabetes.

Methods: One hundred and eight community-based Caucasian adults (53 males, 55 females) without a history of osteoporosis and with a mean±SD age 39.1±15.

Interleukin-6 and Hepcidin Levels during Hormone-Deplete and Hormone-Replete Phases of an Oral Contraceptive Cycle: A Pilot Study.

Background: In the past, elevated estradiol levels were reported to downregulate the iron regulatory hormone hepcidin, thereby potentially improving iron metabolism. As estrogen plays a role in regulating the menstrual cycle and can influence the cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6; a hepcidin up-regulator), this investigation examined the effects of estradiol supplementation achieved by the use of a monophasic oral contraceptive pill (OCP) on IL-6, hepcidin levels and iron status during the hormone-deplete versus hormone-replete phases within an oral contraceptive cycle (OCC).

Methods: Fifteen healthy female OCP users were recruited and provided a venous blood sample on 2 separate mornings during a 28-day period.

Multifaceted interaction of bone, muscle, lifestyle interventions and metabolic and cardiovascular disease: role of osteocalcin.

Undercarboxylated osteocalcin (ucOC) may play a role in glucose homeostasis and cardiometabolic health. This review examines the epidemiological and interventional evidence associating osteocalcin (OC) and ucOC with metabolic risk and cardiovascular disease. The complexity in assessing such correlations, due to the observational nature of human studies, is discussed.

Higher Dihydrotestosterone Is Associated with the Incidence of Lung Cancer in Older Men.

Advancing age is associated with increased cancer incidence, but the role of sex hormones as risk predictors for common cancers in older men remains uncertain. This study was performed to assess associations of testosterone (T), dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and estradiol (E2), with incident prostate, lung and colorectal cancer in community-dwelling older men. Plasma T, DHT and E2 were assayed using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry between 2001 and 2004 in 3690 men.

Validation of a Gene Expression Test for Mesothelioma Prognosis in Formalin-Fixed Paraffin-Embedded Tissues.

A molecular test performed using fresh-frozen tissue was proposed for use in the prognosis of patients with pleural mesothelioma. The accuracy of the test and its properties was assessed under Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments-approved guidelines using FFPE tissue from an independent multicenter patient cohort. Concordance studies were performed using matched frozen and FFPE mesothelioma samples.

Higher thyrotropin concentration is associated with increased incidence of colorectal cancer in older men.

Context: Thyroid hormones regulate cellular survival and metabolism; however, their association with cancer incidence and death has not been well explored.

Objectives: Our aim was to examine the relationship between thyrotropin (TSH) and free thyroxine (FT4) with cancer incidence (all cancers, prostate, colorectal and lung cancer). Associations with cancer-related deaths were also explored.

Depression Among Nonfrail Old Men Is Associated With Reduced Physical Function and Functional Capacity After 9 Years Follow-up: The Health in Men Cohort Study.

Background: Older adults with depression have increased risk of frailty and death.

Objective: To determine if history of depression hinders future physical and functional capacity.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Prospective longitudinal cohort study of 1148 men aged 70-87 years who were living in the Perth metropolitan community in 2001-2004 and completed a follow-up assessment of physical and functional capacity in 2011-2012.

Profile of diabetes in men aged 79-97 years: the Western Australian Health in Men Study.

Aims: To investigate behavioural, physical and biochemical characteristics associated with diabetes in the oldest age group of elderly men.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of community-dwelling men aged 79-97 years from Perth, Western Australia. Lifestyle behaviours, self-rated health, physical function, and fasting glucose and HbA levels were assessed.

Affective Disorders, Psychosis and Dementia in a Community Sample of Older Men with and without Parkinson's Disease.

Background: Dementia and affective and psychotic symptoms are commonly associated with Parkinson's disease, but information about their prevalence and incidence in community representative samples remains sparse.

Methods: We recruited a community-representative sample 38173 older men aged 65-85 years in 1996 and used data linkage to ascertain the presence of PD, affective disorders, psychotic disorders and dementia. Diagnoses followed the International Classification of Disease coding system.