Author Interviews, Dermatology, JAMA, Melanoma / 03.06.2015

Catherine M. Olsen, PhD Population Health Department QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute Queensland, Australia MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Catherine M. Olsen, PhD Population Health Department QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute Queensland, Australia MedicalResearch: What is the background for this study? Dr. Olsen: Effective skin cancer control requires two strategies: regular sun protection to prevent new cancers from occurring and early detection assisted by periodic skin examinations. The aim of our study was to describe the prevalence and predictive factors for sun protection and skin examination practices of adults in Queensland, Australia, a region that experiences the highest rates of skin cancer in the world. We were particularly interested in whether sun protection and skin examination practices differed between those with and without a previously confirmed melanoma and/or treatment for other skin lesions. MedicalResearch: What are the main findings? Dr. Olsen: The prevalence of both sun protection and skin examination practices was generally high in this large cohort of people who experience high levels of ambient sun exposure. People who had been diagnosed with a melanoma or other skin lesion were more likely than those without to report sun protection practices including regular use of sunscreen and wearing hats. The strongest predictor of sun protection practices was having a sun-sensitive skin type, and the strongest predictor of skin examination practices was having many moles and/or a family history of melanoma.
Author Interviews, Breast Cancer, JAMA, Leukemia / 03.06.2015

Efrat Amitay, PhD, MPH School of Public Health University of Haifa Mount Carmel, Haifa, IsraelMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Efrat Amitay, PhD, MPH School of Public Health University of Haifa Mount Carmel, Haifa, Israel Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Dr. Amitay: Although childhood cancer is still rare, we are seeing an increase of around 0.9% annually in the incidence rate in the western world. In spite of advancements in treatment technologies, childhood cancer is a leading cause of death among children and adolescents in the western world – accounting for about 12.3% of all deaths among children age 1-14 years in the US. Childhood cancer is also emerging as a major cause of death in other parts of the world where death rates from communicable diseases are declining. Leukemia is the most common type of childhood cancer and accounts for about 30% of all childhood and adolescent cancers. Medical Research: What are the main findings? Dr. Amitay: The meta-analysis of all 18 studies indicated that compared with no or shorter duration of breastfeeding, breastfeeding for 6 months or longer was associated with a 19% lower risk for childhood leukemia (OR=0.81, 95% CI, 0.73-0.89). A separate analysis of 15 of those studies indicated that ever being breastfed compared with never being breastfed was associated with an 11% lower risk for childhood leukemia (OR=0.89, 95% CI, 0.84-0.94). All meta-analyses of other sub groups of studies have shown similar associations, indicating that 14%-19% of all childhood leukemia cases may be prevented by breastfeeding for 6 months or more.
Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, JAMA, Transplantation / 03.06.2015

Paula Chatterjee, MD, MPH Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital Harvard Medical School Boston, MassachusettsMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Paula Chatterjee, MD, MPH Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital Harvard Medical School Boston, Massachusetts Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Chatterjee: Thousands of patients die every year due to organ shortages. Finding ways to address this public health issue is critical. States have designed a variety of strategies to promote organ donation and transplantation, however we don’t know if any of these strategies have been successful. The goal of our study was to try to figure out which strategies have been most successful in terms of increasing organ donation and transplantation. We found that states have implemented a wide and creative set of strategies, but unfortunately, it seems that these strategies have had almost no effect on increasing organ donation and transplantation. In states that adopted these strategies compared to those that did not, the rates of donation and transplantation increased at nearly the same rate over the past two decades. The only strategy that seemed to have a small effect was when states created revenue pools dedicated toward organ donation activities.
Author Interviews, JAMA, Ophthalmology, Technology / 02.06.2015

Andrew Bastawrous, MRCOphth International Centre for Eye Health, Clinical Research Department London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), London, EnglandMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Andrew Bastawrous, MRCOphth International Centre for Eye Health, Clinical Research Department London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), London, England Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Bastawrous: As part of my PhD with the International Centre for Eye Health at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, I led the follow-up of a major cohort study of eye disease [http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2415/14/60] following up 5,000 people in 100 different locations across the Great Rift Valley in Kenya. It was really challenging, two-thirds of the locations had no road access or electricity and we were carrying over £100,000 worth of fragile eye equipment and a team of 15 people in two vans to be able to carry out high quality measures of eye disease and answer some important questions for planning eye services. What we found was that in the most difficult to reach locations we would find lots of people waiting to see us who had been unnecessarily blind from preventable/treatable diseases. Despite the locations having no roads, electricity and often no water, nearly all the locations had good phone signal. Together with a brilliant team of developers, engineers and ophthalmologists we developed a suite of smartphone based tests to see if we could replace some of the standard equipment being used, in the hope that we could make it more portable and easier for non-specialists to perform so that ultimately the most high-risk individuals could be reached and treated. This paper describes one of those tests, the visual acuity test - Peek Acuity. Our field workers tested patients in their own homes using a standard card based Snellen chart (the type of vision test most non-ophthalmic healthcare workers are familiar with and has been the most commonly used acuity test for several decades now) and Peek Acuity. The same tests were repeated by the same healthcare worker in the clinic the following day as well as a reference standard vision test (LogMAR ETDRS) performed by an eye trained clinical officer. This allowed us to perform "test re-test", a measure of a tests repeatability. i.e. if you have the same test at two separate time points we would expect the the measures to be very close. We found that for both Peek Acuity and Snellen they were highly repeatable. An advantage of Snellen is the speed of the test, Peek Acuity came out slightly quicker overall. We also found when compared to the reference standard test, Peek Acuity was highly comparable and within a clinically acceptable limit of difference.
Author Interviews, Diabetes, Diabetologia, Imperial College, Nutrition / 02.06.2015

Dagfinn Aune, PhD student Norwegian University of Science and Technology and Imperial College LondonMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dagfinn Aune, PhD student Norwegian University of Science and Technology and Imperial College London Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: There are more than 360 million people worldwide that are affected by diabetes, and this number is projected to increase to more than 550 million by 2030, with serious consequences for the health and economy of both developed and developing countries. While previous research has found an association between increased dietary fibre intake and a reduced risk of developing type 2 diabetes, most of these data come from the United States, and amounts and sources of fiber intake differ substantially between countries. In this article the we evaluated the associations between total fiber as well as fiber from cereal, fruit, and vegetable sources, and new-onset type 2 diabetes in a large European cohort across eight countries, in the EPIC-InterAct Study (and included 12403 type 2 diabetes cases and 16835 sub-cohort members). We also conducted a meta-analysis where we combined the data from this study with those from 18 other independent studies from across the globe. We found that participants with the highest total fiber intake (more than 26 g/day) had an 18% lower risk of developing diabetes compared to those with the lowest total fiber intake (less than 19g/day), after adjusting for the effect of other lifestyle and dietary factors. When the results were adjusted for body mass index (BMI) as a marker of obesity, higher total fiber intake was found to be no longer associated with a lower risk of developing diabetes, suggesting that the beneficial association with fiber intake may be mediated at least in part by BMI. In other words, dietary fiber may help people maintain a healthy weight, which in turn reduces the chances of developing type 2 diabetes. In a meta-analysis of the EPIC-InterAct study and 18 other independent studies (>41000 type 2 diabetes cases) we found that the risk was reduced by 9% for each 10 g/day increase in total fiber intake and 25% for each 10 g/day increase in cereal fiber intake. There was no statistically significant association between fruit or vegetable fiber intake and diabetes.
Author Interviews, Heart Disease, JAMA, Surgical Research / 02.06.2015

Mark L. Friedell, MD, FACS Chairman Department of Surgery University of Missouri Kansas City School of Medicine Kansas City, MO 64108MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Mark L. Friedell, MD, FACS Chairman Department of Surgery University of Missouri Kansas City School of Medicine Kansas City, MO 64108 Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: The controversial practice of administering pre-surgery beta-blockers to patients having noncardiac surgery was associated with an increased risk of death in patients with no cardiac risk factors but it was beneficial for patients with three to four risk factors, according to a report published online by JAMA Surgery. Pre-surgery β-blockade is a widely accepted practice in patients having cardiac surgery. But its use in patients at low risk of heart-related events having noncardiac surgery is controversial because of the increased risk of stroke and hypotension (low blood pressure). Because of the persistent controversy, researcher Mark L. Friedell, M.D., of the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine, and coauthors analyzed data from the Veterans Health Administration to examine the effect of perioperative β-blockade on patients having noncardiac surgery by measuring 30-day surgical mortality. The analysis included 326,489 patients: 314,114 (96.2 percent) had noncardiac surgery and 12,375 (3.8 percent) had cardiac surgery. Overall, 141,185 patients (43.2 percent) received a β-blocker. Of the patients having cardiac surgery, 8,571 (69.3 percent) received a β-blocker and 132,614 (42.2 percent) of the patients having noncardiac surgery got one. The unadjusted 30-day mortality rates among patients having noncardiac surgery for those not receiving β-blockers were 0.5 percent for patients with no cardiac risk factors, 1.4 percent for patients with one to two risk factors and 6.7 percent for patients with three to four risk factors. For those patients having noncardiac surgery who did receive β-blockers, the unadjusted 30-day mortality rates for patients with no cardiac risk factors, one to two risk factors and three to four risk factors were 1 percent, 1.7 percent and 3.5 percent, respectively, according to the results. The results suggest that among patients with no cardiac risk factors having noncardiac surgery, those patients receiving β-blockers were 1.2 times more likely to die than those not receiving β-blockers. The risk of death decreased for those patients with one to two risk factors but the reduction was not significant. However, for patients having noncardiac surgery with three to four cardiac risk factors, those receiving β-blockers were significantly less likely to die than those not receiving β-blockers, the authors found. The authors did not observe similar results in patients having cardiac surgery. “β-blockade is beneficial perioperatively for patients with three to four cardiac risk factors undergoing NCS [noncardiac surgery] but not in patients with one to two cardiac risk factors. Most important, the use of β-blockers in patients with no cardiac risk factors appears to be associated with a higher risk of death, which has, to our knowledge, not been previously reported,” the study concludes.
ASCO, Author Interviews, Journal Clinical Oncology, Melanoma / 02.06.2015

Howard L. Kaufman, MD, FACS Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey New Brunswick, NJMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Howard L. Kaufman, MD, FACS Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey New Brunswick, NJ Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: The study clearly demonstrated that advanced melanoma patients achieved a significant improvement in both response rate and durable response rate with Talimogene laherparepvec, or T-VEC. T-VEC is the first oncolytic virus to show a clinical benefit in a randomized phase 3 clinical trial for the treatment of cancer. Patients who received T-VEC also had an improved progress-free and overall survival with nearly 11% obtaining a complete response. T-VEC is an oncolytic virus that mediates anti-tumor activity by directly killing injected tumor cells and by initiating a systemic immune response. Treatment was also associated with few side effects, which were mostly low grade fever, fatigue, chills, nausea and pain at the injection site.
Author Interviews, Heart Disease, JACC, Weight Research / 31.05.2015

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Christopher X Wong MBBS MSc PhD Clinical Research Fellow | Clinical Trial Service Unit, Oxford Clinical Senior Lecturer | Centre for Heart Rhythm Disorders, Adelaide Clinical Trial Service Unit, University of Oxford Roosevelt Drive, Oxford Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Wong: Atrial fibrillation is an increasingly common heart rhythm disorder. This study demonstrates that even small increments in obesity are associated with a significantly increased risk of atrial fibrillation. Our data suggest that for every 1 unit reduction in body mass index there may be a 3-5% reduction in atrial fibrillation; for every 5 unit reduction, there may be 10-29% reductions. It should also be noted that this is likely to be a significant underestimate of the effect of weight reduction on atrial fibrillation rates as weight control has favourable effects on other risk factors for atrial fibrillation, such as hypertension and diabetes. Given the more than 45 million people with atrial fibrillation worldwide, even small but widespread reductions in obesity would thus help contain this ‘epidemic’ of atrial fibrillation.
Author Interviews, Heart Disease, JACC, Toxin Research / 31.05.2015

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Renjie Chen PhD and Dr. Haidong Kan, PhD School of Public Health, Key Lab of Public Health Safety of the Ministry of Education, Fudan University, Shanghai, China MedicalResearch: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Although several previous studies in developed countries with cleaner air have reported health benefits due to air filtration, no such interventional studies were conducted in a developing country with much severer air pollution problems. Our main findings suggested that even a short-term intervention (2 days) could significantly reduce indoor air pollution and improve cardiopulmonary health among healthy young adults.
Author Interviews, Diabetes, Genetic Research, Lipids, PLoS / 31.05.2015

Dr. Yann C Klimentidis, PhD Assistant professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health University of Arizona Medical CenterMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Yann Klimentidis Ph.D. Assistant Professor Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health University of Arizona Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Klimentidis: Previous studies have hinted at the possibility that genes which are associated with higher triglyceride levels may also be associated with lower type-2 diabetes. We set out  to test this hypothesis in multiple prospective cohort studies, in European-Americans and in African-Americans. We found that on a collective basis, the alleles which are associated with higher triglycerides are also associated with reduced type-2 diabetes risk. We also identified some individual genetic variants which are driving this trend.
ASCO, Author Interviews, Breast Cancer, Cancer Research, NEJM, Surgical Research, Yale / 31.05.2015

Anees B. Chagpar, MD, MSc, MPH, MA, MBA, FRCS(C), FACSAssociate Professor, Department of Surgery Director, The Breast Center -- Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven Assistant Director -- Global Oncology, Yale Comprehensive Cancer Center Program Director, Yale Interdisciplinary Breast Fellowship Yale University School of Medicine Breast Centerm New Haven, CT 06510MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Anees B. Chagpar, MD, MSc, MPH, MA, MBA, FRCS(C), FACS, Associate Professor, Department of Surgery Director, The Breast Center -- Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven, Assistant Director -- Global Oncology, Yale Comprehensive Cancer Center Program Director, Yale Interdisciplinary Breast Fellowship Yale University School of Medicine Breast Centerm New Haven, CT, Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Every year in the US, nearly 300,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer -- the majority of these will have early stage breast cancer, and will opt for breast conserving surgery to remove their disease.  The goal of this operation is to remove the cancer with a rim of normal tissue all the way around it (i.e., a margin), but sadly, 20-40% of women will have cancer cells at the edge of the tissue that is removed, often mandating a return trip to the operating room to remove more tissue to ensure that no further disease is left behind.  No one likes to go back to the operating room -- so we asked the question, "How can we do better?".  Surgeons have debated various means of obtaining clear margins.  Some have advocated taking routine cavity shave margins -- a little bit more tissue all the way around the cavity after the tumor is removed at the first operation.  Others have argued that this may not be necessary; that one could use intraoperative imaging of the specimen and gross evaluation to define where more tissue may need to be removed (if at all) -- i.e., selective margins.  We conducted a randomized controlled trial to answer this question.  We told surgeons to do their best operation, using intraoperative imaging and gross evaluation, and removing selective margins as they saw fit.  After they were happy with the procedure they had performed and were ready to close, we opened a randomization envelope intraoperatively, and surgeons were either instructed to close as they normally would ("NO SHAVE"), or take a bit more tissue all the way around the cavity ("SHAVE"). Patients in both groups were evenly matched in terms of baseline characteristics.  The key finding was that patients who were randomized to the "SHAVE" group half as likely to have positive final margins and require a re-operation than patients in the "NO SHAVE" group.  On their postoperative visit, we asked patients, before they knew which group they had been randomized to, what they thought of their cosmetic results.  While the volume of tissue excised in the "SHAVE" group was higher than in the "NO SHAVE" group, the distribution of patient-perceived cosmetic outcomes were identical in both groups.  Complication rate was also no different between the two groups.  We will be following patients for five years for long-term cosmetic and recurrence outcomes.
Author Interviews, Heart Disease, JACC, NIH, Race/Ethnic Diversity / 31.05.2015

Dr. Samson Y. Gebreab, Ph.D., M.Sc. Lead Study Author and Research Scientist National Human Genome Research Institute Bethesda, MarylandMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Samson Y. Gebreab, Ph.D., M.Sc. Lead Study Author and Research Scientist National Human Genome Research Institute Bethesda, Maryland Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Dr. Gebreab: It is well known that African Americans hold a commanding lead in cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality and morbidity compared to whites and other ethnic groups.  Furthermore, the risk for developing CVD begins early in life and extends over a lifecourse.  Previous studies have indicated the influence of both childhood and adult socioeconomic status (SES) on CVD risk. However, the impact of lifecourse socioeconomic status (both childhood and adulthood) on CVD risk in African American population is not fully understood.  The purpose of our study was to investigate the associations of different measures of lifecourse socioeconomic status with cardiovascular disease risk in African Americans and whether the associations were modified by sex and/ or age after controlling for known cardiovascular disease risk factors.  We analyzed 10-year follow-up data of African American adults who were participating in Jackson Heart Study, Jackson, MS. Medical Research: What are the main findings? Dr. Gebreab: Our findings highlights that among those of lower socioeconomic status,  women and younger (<=50 years old)  African Americans are at increased risk of CVD, including heart disease and stroke compared to their counterparts of higher socioeconomic status groups.          African American women in the lowest socioeconomic status, had more than twice the risk of developing cardiovascular disease than those in the highest socioeconomic status group.          African Americans of 50 years and younger in the lowest socioeconomic status group had more than three times higher risk of experiencing a cardiovascular disease event than those in the highest socioeconomic status group.
ASCO, Author Interviews, Journal Clinical Oncology, Mayo Clinic / 31.05.2015

Ruben A. Mesa, MD, FACP Consultant Hematologist Chair, Division of Hematology & Medical Oncology Deputy Director, Mayo Clinic Cancer Center Professor of Medicine Mayo Clinic Cancer Center NCI Designated Comprehensive Cancer Center Scottsdale, AZMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Ruben A. Mesa, MD, FACP Consultant Hematologist Chair, Division of Hematology & Medical Oncology Deputy Director, Mayo Clinic Cancer Center Professor of Medicine Mayo Clinic Cancer Center NCI Designated Comprehensive Cancer Center Scottsdale, AZ Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Mesa: Myelofibrosis is a rare and chronic blood cancer associated with significantly reduced quality of life and shortened survival. In patients with this disease, spleen enlargement (splenomegaly) is a very common and debilitating symptom – and as the disease progresses, the body slows production of important blood cells. The results presented at ASCO were from the PERSIST-1 study, which is a Phase 3 registration-directed trial designed to compare pacritinib — an investigational oral multikinase inhibitor with specificity for JAK2 and FLT3 – to best available therapy (exclusive of a JAK inhibitor) in patients with myelofibrosis — regardless of their platelet counts.  Data from this study showed that compared to best available therapy, pacritinib resulted in a significantly higher proportion of patients with spleen volume reduction and control of disease-related symptoms, regardless of platelet levels at the time of enrollment.
Author Interviews, Diabetes, Johns Hopkins, Macular Degeneration, Ophthalmology, PNAS / 29.05.2015

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Akrit Sodhi, M.D., Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology Retina Division Wilmer Eye Institute Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Sodhi: Diabetic eye disease is the most common cause of severe vision loss in the working age population in the developed world, and proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) is its most vision-threatening sequela. In proliferative diabetic retinopathy, retinal ischemia leads to the upregulation of angiogenic factors that promote neovascularization. Therapies targeting vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) delay the development of neovascularization, in some, but not all diabetic patients, implicating additional factor(s) in proliferative diabetic retinopathy pathogenesis. In our study, we demonstrate that the angiogenic potential of aqueous fluid from PDR patients is independent of VEGF concentration, providing an opportunity to evaluate the contribution of other angiogenic factor(s) to PDR development. We identified angiopoietin-like 4 (ANGPTL4) as a potent angiogenic factor whose expression is upregulated in hypoxic retinal Müller cells in vitro and the ischemic retina in vivo. Expression of ANGPTL4 was increased in the aqueous and vitreous of PDR patients, independent of VEGF levels, correlated with the presence of diabetic eye disease, and localized to areas of retinal neovascularization. Inhibition of ANGPTL4 expression reduced the angiogenic potential of hypoxic Müller cells; this effect was additive with inhibition of VEGF expression. An ANGPTL4 neutralizing antibody inhibited the angiogenic effect of aqueous fluid from proliferative diabetic retinopathy patients, including samples from patients with low VEGF levels or receiving anti-VEGF therapy. Collectively, our results suggest that targeting both ANGPTL4 and VEGF may be necessary for effective treatment or prevention of proliferative diabetic retinopathy and provide the foundation for studies evaluating aqueous ANGPTL4 as a biomarker to help guide individualized therapy for diabetic eye disease.
Author Interviews, Depression, End of Life Care, JAMA / 28.05.2015

Katherine Ornstein, PhD MPH Assistant Professor Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine Institute for Translational Epidemiology Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai One Gustave L. Levy Place, Box 1070 New York, NY 10029MedicalResearch.co Interview with: Katherine Ornstein, PhD MPH Assistant Professor Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine Institute for Translational Epidemiology Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai New York, NY 10029 Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Ornstein: There is an increased focus on the need to support caregivers and families, particularly at the End of Life (EOL). They play a critical role in the care process and decision making, yet this can be a very high stress role with an increased risk for negative consequences. Hospice services, which are increasing, are focused on palliative rather than curative care and include medical services, symptom management, spiritual counseling, social services and bereavement counseling delivered by an interdisciplinary team of professionals for dying patients.  An important part of the hospice service is the provision of support to families during illness and after death.  Prior research suggests that hospice (which is cost saving, has benefits to patients), may also  be beneficial to families. Yet these studies have been largely limited to patients with cancer, have failed to adequately control for differences between patients who do or do not use hospice. Overall, there was an increase in depressive symptoms after death.  However, surviving spouses of those who used hospice were more likely to have a decrease in depressive symptoms. We found that the positive benefit of hospice was much stronger when we looked at least 1 year after death.
ALS, Author Interviews, Mayo Clinic, Science / 28.05.2015

Dr. Leonard Petrucelli Ph.D Mayo Clinic Jacksonville, FL 32224MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Leonard Petrucelli Ph.D Mayo Clinic Jacksonville, FL 32224 MedicalResearch: What is the background for this study? Dr. Petrucelli: According to the ALS Association, more than 30,000 Americans live with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a condition that destroys motor neuron cells that control essential muscle activity such as speaking, walking, breathing and swallowing. After Alzheimer’s disease, frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is the most common form of early onset dementia. It is characterized by changes in personality, behavior, and language due to loss of neurons in the brain’s frontal lobe. Once considered rare, frontotemporal dementia is now thought to account for up to 10 to 15 percent of all dementia cases, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. In 2011, Mayo investigator Rosa Rademakers, Ph.D., identified the most common genetic mutation known to cause ALS and FTD, namely a repeat expansion in the gene C9ORF72. The C9ORF72 repeat expansion leads to the generation of toxic RNA species that form abnormal foci, as well as inclusions of c9RAN proteins in affected cells in the central nervous system. Prior to this research study lead by Leonard Petrucelli, Chair of the Department of Neuroscience at the Mayo Clinic Florida, no animal model existed that fully recapitulated the known clinicopathological features of what is now collectively referred to as c9FTD/ALS. Without such an animal it has remained difficult to identify important mechanisms by which the repeat expansion leads to neurodegeneration and putative therapeutic targets that may mitigate disease in patients where currently there are no curative treatments.
Alcohol, Author Interviews, BMJ, Heart Disease, Women's Heart Health / 27.05.2015

Alexandra Gonçalves, MD, PhD Postdoctoral Research Fellow Cardiovascular Department Brigham and Women's Hospital Boston, MA 02115MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Alexandra Gonçalves, MD, PhD Postdoctoral Research Fellow Cardiovascular Department Brigham and Women's Hospital Boston, MA 02115 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Dr. Gonçalves: Excessive alcohol consumption is associated with alcoholic cardiomyopathy, while light to moderate drinking might have benefits in the risk of heart failure (HF). However, the cardiovascular mechanisms and the alcohol dosage associated with risks or potential benefits are uncertain. Furthermore, the variation in the toxic and protective effects of alcohol by sex remains controversial, as women may be more sensitive than men to the toxic effects of alcohol on cardiac function, developing alcoholic cardiomyopathy at a lower total lifetime dose of alcohol compared to men. In this study we assessed the associations between alcohol intake and cardiac structure and function by echocardiography, in elderly men and women in the large, community-based Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study. MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings? Dr. Gonçalves: We studied 4466 participants (76±5 years and 60% women) with alcohol consumption ascertained, who underwent transthoracic echocardiography. Participants were classified into 4 categories based on self-reported alcohol intake: non-drinkers, drinkers of up to 7 drinks per week, ?7 to 14 and ? 14 drinks per week. In both genders, increasing alcohol intake was associated with larger left ventricular (LV) diastolic and systolic diameters and larger left atrial diameter. In men, increasing alcohol intake was associated with greater LV mass and higher E/E’ ratio. In women, increasing alcohol intake was associated with lower LV ejection fraction.
Author Interviews, BMJ, OBGYNE, Pharmacology, Thromboembolism / 27.05.2015

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Yana Vinogradova, Research Fellow Division of Primary Care School of Medicine University of Nottingham Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Combined oral contraceptives are an effective method of birth control but do have measurable side effects.  One – common to all combined contraceptives and sometimes fatal – is an increased risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE).  A number of earlier studies investigated VTE risks for different types of hormonal contraceptives, but all were performed some years ago or had insufficient data to analyse newer preparations, while some included only healthy users and others did not adequately control for lifestyle and health issues.  The data used for this study were representative of the UK population and covered all currently prescribed drugs, with results adjusted for the widest possible range of available relevant factors. We found that the venous thromboembolism risks of combined oral contraceptives appear to fall into two distinct groups.  Newer drugs containing gestodene, desogestrel, drospirenone or cyproterone were associated with risks of VTE between 1.5 and 1.8 times higher than both the older compositions containing norethisterone or levonorgestrel and the relatively newer norgestimate.  While our findings are statistical associations between different compositions and venous thromboembolism risks, they do represent more comprehensive and reliable information for doctors making evidence-based prescribing decisions.
Asthma, Author Interviews, JAMA, Nutrition / 27.05.2015

Lewis J. Smith, MD Professor of Medicine and Associate Vice President for Research Northwestern University and the Feinberg School of Medicine Chicago, IL 60611MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Lewis J. Smith, MD Professor of Medicine and Associate Vice President for Research Northwestern University and the Feinberg School of Medicine Chicago, IL 60611 Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Smith: We previously observed in a survey of more than 1,000 patients with asthma that those consuming soy isoflavones in their diet had better lung functioning than their counterparts who consumed little or none.  Using a more detailed soy questionnaire, we confirmed the observation in a different group of patients with asthma, and followed that up with laboratory studies.  In cell culture studies, we saw that genistein, the major soy isoflavone, at levels that are achieved in individuals consuming a high soy diet, reduces eosinophilic inflammation, a key feature in asthma. In addition, people who consume more soy products, mostly in Japan and parts of China, generally have less asthma than in western countries.  Although these data indicate a potential beneficial effect of soy isoflavones in patients with asthma and nutritional supplements are commonly used by people to treat and prevent disease and improve their health, there was little direct data to prove that the supplement is actually effective.  As a result, we explored the effects of a soy isoflavone supplement in 386 adults and children aged 12 or older with poorly controlled asthma. All were taking medicine to treat their asthma – either corticosteroids or leukotriene modifiers – but none consumed soy more than once a week. In the randomized, double-blind study, half of the participants took a soy isoflavone supplement twice daily for six months, and the other half took a placebo. We found that the supplement, though able to increase blood levels of genistein, did not improve lung function, symptoms or measures of inflammation in these individuals.
Author Interviews, Biomarkers, Nature, Prostate Cancer, Technology / 27.05.2015

Gabriel Popescu PhD Associate Professor Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering & Bioengineering University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology Urbana, IL 61801MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Gabriel Popescu PhD Associate Professor and Shamira Sridharan, Ph.D. candidate Quantitative Light Imaging Laboratory, Department of Bioengineering, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign Urbana, IL Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Popescu: We developed a new optical tool that can identify patients at high risk for recurrence of prostate cancer after undergoing radical prostatectomy as treatment.  Early identification of risk for recurrence can allow early treatment of disease. Our main finding was that among individuals with worse disease outcomes, the tissue is more disorganized.  This manifests as a decrease in anisotropy, or light scattering angle, which reports on nano-scale differences in tissue architecture.
Author Interviews, Coffee, Erectile Dysfunction, PLoS, University Texas / 26.05.2015

David S. Lopez, Dr.P.H., M.P.H. Assistant professor University of Texas Health School of Public HealthMedicalResearch.com Interview with: David S. Lopez, Dr.P.H., M.P.H. Assistant professor University of Texas Health School of Public Health Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Lopez: Coffee, and its most studied component, caffeine, have been implicated in potential health benefits due to the rich sources of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds contained in this beverage. Caffeine intake reduced the odds of prevalent erectile dysfunction, especially an intake equivalent to approximately 2-3 daily cups of coffee (170-375 mg/day). This reduction was also observed among overweight/obese and hypertensive men, but not among diabetic men. These associations are warranted to be investigated in prospective studies. Medical Research: What are the main findings? Dr. Lopez: Caffeine intake reduced the odds of prevalent erectile dysfunction, especially an intake equivalent to approximately 2-3 daily cups of coffee (170-375 mg/day). This reduction was also observed among overweight/obese and hypertensive men, but not among diabetic men. These associations are warranted to be investigated in prospective studies.
Author Interviews, Dermatology, JAMA / 26.05.2015

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Robert E Kalb, M.D. Clinical Professor of Dermatology State University of New York at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences Buffalo Medical Group, P.C. Buffalo, NY 14221MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Robert E Kalb, M.D. Clinical Professor of Dermatology State University of New York at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences Buffalo Medical Group, P.C. Buffalo, NY 14221 Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Kalb: It's important to evaluate the safety of biologics in the real world post-marketing setting, and in particular with respect to serious infections. We studied patients with psoriasis in the PSOLAR registry and evaluated the risk of various biologic therapies. We found that infliximab and adalimumab were associated with increased risk of serious infections when compared with non-biologic/non-methotrexate therapies, while ustekinumab and etanercept were not associated with increased risk.
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Chemotherapy, JNCI, MD Anderson, Ovarian Cancer / 26.05.2015

Wei Zhang, Ph.D., Professor Department of Pathology Director, Cancer Genomics Core Lab University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Houston, Texas 77030MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Wei Zhang, Ph.D., Professor Department of Pathology Director, Cancer Genomics Core Lab University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Houston, Texas 77030 Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Zhang: Epithelial ovarian cancer remains the most lethal gynecological malignancy. The 5-year survival rate for patients with advanced ovarian cancer is only 30-40%, and acquired resistance to platinum is considered a major factor in disease relapse. A major challenge in cancer treatment is the resilient ability of cancer cells to repair DNA damage caused by chemotherapy agents.  In this study, we found that adding a molecule called miR-506 to standard chemotherapy can help cells overcome drug resistance, so that the chemotherapy drugs remain effective against ovarian cancer. This research supports a new combination approach, which may substantially benefit patients with this deadly disease.
Author Interviews, Diabetes, Nature, Neurological Disorders, Vegetarians / 26.05.2015

Ulka Agarwal, M.D. California State University, East Bay Student Health and Counseling Services, Hayward, MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Ulka Agarwal, M.D. California State University, East Bay Student Health and Counseling Services Hayward, CA MedicalResearch: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Agarwal: Diabetic peripheral neuropathy affects 60 percent of patients with type 2 diabetes and can come with painful symptoms but limited treatment options. We thought a dietary intervention may help alleviate these symptoms since glycemic control plays a role in diabetes complications. To get started with the pilot, we put 17 adults on a low-fat vegan diet for 20 weeks and prescribed weekly nutrition classes. We found significant improvements in pain, measured by the Short Form McGill Pain questionnaire, the Michigan Neuropathy Screening Instrument physical assessment, and through electrochemical skin conductance in the foot. The participants also lost an average of 14 pounds.
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, JAMA, Toxin Research / 26.05.2015

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Catterina Ferreccio, MD, MPH School of Medicine Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile Santiago, Chile Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Ferreccio: In Chile, gallbladder cancer (GBC) is the 2nd highest cause of cancer death in women.  Other than gallstones no other causal factors have been identified. We conducted a pilot case-control study of gallbladder cancer to evaluate its association with aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) exposure. Aflatoxins are toxics products of the fungis Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus and are contaminants of food; AFB1 is carcinogenic. Usually they are found in areas closer to the Equator than Chile. Main findings were the high proportion (35%) of study subjects carrying aflatoxins adducts and the particularly high exposure among the Gallbladder cancer (GBC) cases (64%) compared with gallstones controls (18%) or with population controls (23%). Difference of gallbladder cancer vs controls were statistically significant and suggests aflatoxins may be a significant risk factor for gallbladder cancer; hypothesis never tested before.
Author Interviews, Genetic Research, JAMA / 26.05.2015

Prof. Alexandre Reymond Director, Center for Integrative Genomics University of Lausanne Lausanne SwitzerlandMedicalResearch.com Interview with : Prof. Alexandre Reymond Director, Center for Integrative Genomics University of Lausanne Lausanne Switzerland MedicalResearch : What is the background for this study? Prof. Reymond: Though a subset of recurrent DNA copy number variants (differing numbers of copies of genetic sequence at locations in the genome; CNVs) with rare population prevalence are known to have strong impact on carrier’s health, up to now their association with phenotypes such as intellectual disability has been almost exclusively evaluated in clinical context using individuals ascertained for diagnostics of developmental disorders. Thus the contribution of these genetic variants to health, cognition and life quality in the general population remains unclear. We used a population biobank, that of Estonia (Estonian Genome Center, University of Tartu), which contains samples from 52,000 adult participants (representative 5% of the country’s adult population), a British birth cohort (The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children; ALSPAC) and two more population-based cohorts from the USA and Italy to explore the consequences of CNVs in presumptively healthy populations. MedicalResearch : What are the main findings? Prof. Reymond: Rare recurrent CNVs known to be causative for specific syndromes (termed genomic disorders) have a global population prevalence of around 1%. Contrary to popular assumption that carriers of these syndromic CNVs identified in unselected, but assumed to be healthy, adult population cohorts are asymptomatic, we found that they are associated with unrecognized, but serious clinical sequelae. Additionally our results showed that individually rare (less than 1 in 2000 individuals) but collectively common (around 10% of population) intermediate-size CNVs are negatively associated with carriers’ educational attainment. Altogether our results suggest that the life quality of at least 1 of 40 people might be negatively affected by rare CNVs.
Author Interviews, Cognitive Issues, Infections, PLoS / 24.05.2015

Dr. Michael Eriksen Benrós Mental Health Centre Copenhagen University of Copenhagen Faculty of Health Sciences Copenhagen NV, Denmark, National Centre for Register-based Research Aarhus University DenmarkMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Michael Eriksen Benrós Mental Health Centre Copenhagen University of Copenhagen Faculty of Health Sciences Copenhagen NV, Denmark, National Centre for Register-based Research Aarhus University Denmark Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Response: It is increasingly recognized that infections and immune responses can affect the brain and activate immunocompetent cells within the brain, influencing on neuronal signal transduction and possibly cognition. Impaired cognition has been observed in association with several infections and with elevated levels of CRP in smaller studies. Furthermore, experimental activation of inflammatory reactions in healthy volunteers has been shown to induce short-term reduced cognitive performance. Moreover, particularly patients with infection in the brain or sepsis have been shown to have affected cognition in long time periods after the infection has been cleared, thus infections might also have a longer lasting effect on cognition. However, large-scale longitudinal studies had been lacking on the association between infections and cognitive ability in the general population. Medical Research: What are the main findings? Response: Our study is the first large-scale study utilizing the extensive Danish registers to follow 190,000 males that had their IQ assessed at conscription, out of which 35% had a previous hospital contact with infection before the IQ testing was conducted. Our research shows a correlation between severe infections with a hospital contact and subsequent impaired cognition corresponding to an IQ score of 1.76 lower than the average. People with five or more hospital contacts with infections had an IQ score of 9.44 lower than the average. The study thus shows a clear dose-response relationship between the number of infections. Furthermore the effect on cognitive ability increased with the temporal proximity of the last infection and with the severity of the infection. Infections in the brain affected the cognitive ability the most, but many other types of infections severe enough to require a hospital contact where also associated with impairment of the cognitive ability.
Author Interviews, Lancet, Ovarian Cancer, Surgical Research / 22.05.2015

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Mr Matthew Nankivell MRC Clinical Trials Unit at University College London Institute of Clinical Trials and Methodology Aviation House, London UK Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Ovarian cancer is diagnosed in over 7000 women each year in the UK. Over 75% of these already have advanced disease, for which the standard treatment is surgery followed by platinum based chemotherapy. The prognosis for these patients remains poor however, with less than 25% surviving for 5 years. There is consistent evidence that achieving optimal debulking (meaning less than 1cm of residual tumour after surgery) is key to increasing survival. The theory tested in Chorus is that giving the chemotherapy before surgery (neo-adjuvantly) would be as least as effective as giving it post-operatively, and may in fact increase the chance of achieving optimal debulking, and subsequently living for longer. In Chorus we randomised 552 women to receiving either the current standard of immediate surgery followed by chemotherapy, or chemotherapy followed by surgery. The trial met its primary aim of showing that neo-adjuvant chemotherapy was no worse than post-operative chemotherapy, with median survival times of 24.1 and 22.6 months respectively. The proportion of women achieving optimal debulking increased from 41% in the post-operative chemotherapy group to 73% in the neo-adjuvant chemotherapy group. Additionally we saw that fewer women experienced serious post-operative complications having had neo-adjuvant chemotherapy (14% vs 24%), and fewer women died within 28 days of surgery (<1% vs 6%). There is a planned meta-analysis, to combine the data from Chorus with those from a similar European trial, which will allow further investigations to take place, and may allow the identification of groups of women who are more likely to benefit from one or other of the approaches.
AHA Journals, Author Interviews, Heart Disease, Metabolic Syndrome, Race/Ethnic Diversity, Weight Research / 21.05.2015

Michelle Schmiegelow, MD, PhD-studerende Hjertemedicinsk Forskning Gentofte Universitetshospital HellerupMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Michelle Schmiegelow, MD, PhD-student Hjertemedicinsk Forskning Gentofte Universitetshospital Hellerup Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Dr. Schmiegelow:  Obesity has become a worldwide epidemic, but the excess cardiovascular risk observed in obese individuals may primarily be attributable to metabolic mediators, rather than obesity per se. Several studies conducted in primarily non-Hispanic white populations suggest that obese individuals without the metabolic syndrome, defined as metabolically healthy obese, have a cardiovascular risk similar to that of normal weight metabolically healthy individuals. We used prospectively collected data from the Women’s Health Initiative studies to evaluate whether obesity unaccompanied by metabolic abnormalities was associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) across racial/ethnic subgroups in postmenopausal women. Additionally, we examined whether the use of the metabolic syndrome to define the metabolically healthy obese applied to the various racial/ethnic subgroups by quantifying the number and type of metabolic syndrome components. All women were classified by obesity level and metabolic health status at baseline. The women were thus categorized according to body mass index (BMI, kg/m2) into normal weight (BMI 18.5-24.9 kg/m2), overweight (25-29.9 kg/m2) and obese (30.0 kg/m2) women. Metabolic health status was first defined by presence of the metabolic syndrome (yes/no), and second by number of metabolic syndrome components. In accordance with the International Diabetes Federation and the American Heart Association/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute we defined the metabolic syndrome as any two of the following (criteria for women): increased waist circumference ≥80 cm; increased level of triglycerides ≥150 mg/dL (≥1.7 mM); decreased level of HDL-C <50 mg/dL (<1.3 mM); increased blood pressure with either systolic blood pressure ≥130 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure ≥85 mmHg, or treatment with antihypertensive drugs; and impaired fasting serum glucose ≥100 mg/dL (6.1 mM). Medical Research: What are the main findings? Dr. Schmiegelow: The study population comprised 14,364 women without diabetes or prior cardiovascular disease. The women had a median age of 64 years (interquartile range 57–69), and 47% were white, 36% were black and 18% were Hispanic. Over a median follow-up of 13 years (interquartile range 12–14 years), 1,101 women (7.7%) had a first cardiovascular event. The main findings of this study were that metabolic abnormalities appeared to confer more cardiovascular risk among black women than among white women. Consistent with other studies, among white women without the metabolic syndrome, obesity was not associated with increased cardiovascular risk compared with normal weight women. Conversely, black overweight and black obese women had increased cardiovascular risk compared with normal weight black women without the metabolic syndrome, even in absence of the metabolic syndrome. According to number of metabolic syndrome components, black overweight or obese women with just two metabolic abnormalities had increased risk of cardiovascular disease, although they would be considered “metabolically healthy” based on the standard definition, particularly since one of these abnormalities were abdominal obesity for 79% of overweight and 98% of obese women, irrespective of race/ethnicity. White obese women with three metabolic abnormalities did not have a statistically significantly increased cardiovascular risk compared with normal weight metabolically healthy women. Thus, cardiovascular disease risk appeared to be elevated in black women by the presence of only two or three metabolic abnormalities to a degree that would require four or more metabolic abnormalities among white women. These findings did not appear to be driven by any particular combination of metabolic abnormalities.