New tests find deadly new virus that killed three
A previously unknown virus killed three women who got organ transplants from an Australian donor, and researchers say the technique they used to identify it could lead them to many more new infectious agents.
The as-yet-unnamed virus appears to be related to a bug called lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus, which usually causes only a minor flu-like illness.
But this one killed the three transplant patients by causing encephalitis, a swelling of the brain, the team reported on Wednesday in The New England Journal of Medicine.
Couples agree on telling kids of donor conception
Couples who conceive with the help of a donor usually agree on whether to tell their child about it, a study suggests.
In interviews with 141 married couples who had conceived using donor eggs or sperm, researchers found that 95 percent had come to an agreement over whether to tell their child.
Half of the couples said they had never differed in their opinion on the issue; of the other half, most were able to reach an agreement after discussing it, the study found.
Obesity-Related Plasma Hemodilution and PSA Concentration among Men with Prostate Cancer
The important association that increased circulating plasma volumes in obese men may hemodilute PSA and result in lower levels is reported in the November 21, 2007 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association by Dr. Banez and associates. This may result in delayed indications for prostate biopsy and detection of prostate cancer (CaP) in obese men, which could contribute to the explanation that obese men present with more aggressive CaP.
The data analyzed came from the VA SEARCH database along with data from Duke University and Johns Hopkins University. The number of patients from these sites was 1,373, 1,974, and 10,287, respectively. Body mass index (BMI) was categorized as normal (<25), overweight (25-29.9), mildly obese (30-34.9), and moderately-severely obese (>35). BMI was examined for association with 3 outcomes variables; serum PSA concentration, plasma volume, and PSA mass. The multivariable model adjusted for a variety of clinical and pathological variables. In particular, to study the relationship of BMI and PSA independent of any association between BMI and CaP severity, cancer-specific variables were also adjusted.
Obesity and Mortality in Men with Locally Advanced Prostate Cancer
An analysis of RTOG 85-31 patients suggests that increased body mass index (BMI) is associated with increased prostate cancer specific mortality (PCSM). The report appears in the online version of Cancer and is authored by Dr. Efstathiou and collaborators.
Greater BMI is associated with more aggressive higher-grade prostate cancer (CaP) and increase biochemical recurrence rates after radical prostatectomy. There is less data published regarding radiotherapy (XRT). This study sought to analyze the relationship between BMI and PCSM in a large cohort of patients treated with XRT on the RTOG 85-31 trial. RTOG 85-31 was a phase III trial comparing the XRT with indefinite androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) begun during the last week of XRT, to XRT alone with ADT initiated at the time of disease recurrence. Participants had evidence of locally advanced disease, clinical stage T3, or evidence of regional lymph node metastasis. Stage T4 tumors were not included and patients needed a Karnofsky performance status >60%. Total XRT dose was 65-70Gy. PCSM was defined as death from CaP or protocol treatment. All cause mortality (ACM) was death from any cause. Univariate and multivariate analysis was performed, the latter including age, race, centrally reviewed Gleason score, clinical stage, nodal metastasis, prior prostatectomy, treatment arm, and BMI.
