(Press-News.org) Endometrial cancer (EC) can spread by several routes, including the lymph system, blood vessels, through the uterine wall, as well as through the fallopian tubes into the peritoneal cavity, but the association of transtubal dissemination of EC with cancer stage, histological type, and mortality is unknown. However, according to a study published June 18 in the JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute, women who have undergone a tubal ligation (TL) and develop more aggressive types of EC may have lower mortality. The authors postulate that women who have had TL have reduced passage of cancer cells through the fallopian tubes, thus lowering disease stage, which is a strong prognostic factor.
To investigate the possible relationship between TL and EC outcomes, Ashley Felix, Ph.D., of the Hormonal and Reproductive Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics and Cancer Prevention Fellowship Program, Division of Cancer Prevention, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, and colleagues analyzed data from the multi-institutional NRG Oncology/Gynecologic Oncology Group 210 trial conducted between September 2003 and December 2011. They assessed the history and outcomes for 4489 women diagnosed with EC, including TL, stage, metastasis, and mortality.
About 28% of the women reported having TL at a median age of 32 years. The researchers found that EC patients who also had TL were less likely to have stage III or IV EC across all subtypes of the disease. They were also less likely to have peritoneal metastasis, even if they had more aggressive EC types (high-grade endometrial or serous carcinoma). Metastases to the fallopian tubes, ovaries, parametrium, and bladder/bowel were also inversely associated with TL. However, when adjusted for stage, TL was not associated with disease-specific or overall mortality, except for clear cell EC. This suggests that the mortality benefit was related to inhibiting dissemination of cancer cells through the fallopian tubes.
A limitation of the study, Felix et al. note, is lack of information on types of TL procedures, which have changed over time. Newer methods such as mechanical clips or tubal implants may have a different effect from older ones such as partial excision of tubal segments. However, the authors write that "...our study provides evidence that transtubal spread is an important mechanism of metastasis for aggressive histological types of endometrial carcinoma and that this process can be inhibited by TL."
INFORMATION:
Contact info:
Ashley Felix, Ph.D., ashley.felix@nih.gov
DALLAS, June 18 -- Individual state stroke legislation plays a compelling role in certifying primary stroke centers and improving availability and accessibility of care to acute stroke patients, according to research in the American Heart Association journal Stroke.
A hospital that has been certified as a Primary Stroke Center (PSC) has met specific standards for delivering prompt stroke care. To be eligible, hospitals must meet several criteria, including setting up a dedicated stroke-focused program staffed by medical professionals trained in stroke care.
Researchers ...
University of Washington biologist Samuel Wasser is a pioneer in using DNA evidence to trace the origin of illegal ivory and help police an international trade that is decimating African elephant populations.
The broadest application yet uses DNA from tons of ivory samples associated with large-scale trafficking. Results show that over the past decade, ivory has largely come from just two areas in Africa -- one each for the forest and savanna elephants. The findings are published June 18 in the journal Science.
'Africa is a huge continent, and poaching is occurring ...
This news release is available in Japanese.
New genetic tools are helping researchers to trace illegal ivory back to the elephant populations from which it came, and they might help law enforcement crack down on poaching in the future. Elephant poaching is happening at rates that threaten African populations with extinction. After analyzing 28 ivory seizures made between 1996 and 2014 -- each of them containing half a ton of tusks or more -- Samuel Wasser and colleagues suggest that the illegal ivory trade has been fueled primarily by two poaching hotspots in Africa ...
This news release is available in Japanese.
Researchers have found evidence of shared decision-making among a troop of wild baboons, providing insight into how animals that live in socially complex, hierarchical societies reach consensus on decisions that affect the entire group. Until now, researchers had wondered if animals with clear hierarchies, such as primates or wolves, use democracy to reach a consensus -- or if their decisions are governed by dominant leaders. It's been difficult to study this, however, because recording the behavior of many individuals simultaneously ...
This news release is available in Japanese. A new study aiming to provide a better understanding of how injection wells in the U.S. influence earthquake activity cites wastewater injection rate as a critical factor. In the study, the highest-rate wastewater disposal wells analyzed were nearly twice as likely to be associated with earthquake events compared to their lower-rate counterparts. Earthquakes can be induced by industrial processes, a fact established decades ago. Since 2009, when seismicity in the U.S. midcontinent began to surge, earthquakes induced by the underground ...
This news release is available in Japanese. Opening Iran's national uranium enrichment plant to multinational involvement could limit the long-term risks of Iran's nuclear program as restrictions on it expire, according to this Policy Forum. In July, Iran is expected to sign an agreement restricting its nuclear program, but also affirming its right to pursue uranium enrichment as those restrictions end in 2025 and beyond. Authors Alexander Glaser, Zia Mian, and Frank von Hippel suggest that selling shares of Iran's uranium enrichment plant to other countries could help ...
PRINCETON, N.J.--Within the next two weeks, or soon after, the United States and five world powers hope to finalize a nuclear deal with Iran to limit its nuclear activities in exchange for a relaxing of international economic and financial sanctions. But what happens in 10 years when some of the key restrictions being discussed begin to phase out?
One of the biggest concerns is Iran's uranium enrichment program, which uses high-speed centrifuges to produce uranium enriched to a level appropriate for nuclear power reactor fuel. Enrichment plants like this can be quickly ...
Well-practiced motor skills like riding a bike are extremely stable memories that can be effortlessly recalled after years or decades. In contrast, a new study publishing in PLOS Computational Biology shows that changes to motor skill memories occurring over the course of a single practice session are not immediately stable, according to researchers Andrew Brennan and Maurice Smith of Harvard University School of Engineering and Applied Science and Center for Brain Science.
We're all familiar with the old saying that you never forget how to ride a bike and perhaps personally ...
Chlamydia trachomatis is a formidable foe. It's the most common sexually transmitted pathogen, infecting more than 100 million people each year. In the developing world, chlamydial infection is the leading cause of preventable blindness. Around the world, it ranks as the number one cause of infertility and ectopic pregnancy.
Chlamydial infection ignites chronic inflammation, which scars mucosal surfaces such as eyelids, ovaries or fallopian tubes. Most people who carry the bacterium don't know it. Women with chlamydia are much more vulnerable to other sexually transmitted ...
To predict how a seasonal influenza epidemic will spread across the United States, one should focus more on the mobility of people than on their geographic proximity, a new study suggests.
PLOS Pathogens published the analysis of transportation data and flu cases conducted by Emory University biologists. Their results mark the first time genetic patterns for the spread of flu have been detected at the scale of the continental United States.
"We found that the spread of a flu epidemic is somewhat predictable by looking at transportation data, especially ground commuter ...
