Marital Status, Living Arrangement, and Survival among Individuals with Advanced Prostate Cancer in the International Registry for Men with Advanced Prostate Cancer

BACKGROUND

Studies have shown improved survival among individuals with cancer with higher levels of social support. Few studies have investigated social support and overall survival (OS) in individuals with advanced prostate cancer in an international cohort. We investigated the associations of marital status and living arrangements with OS among individuals with advanced prostate cancer in the International Registry for Men with Advanced Prostate Cancer (IRONMAN).

METHODS

IRONMAN is enrolling participants diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer (metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer, mHSPC; castration-resistant prostate cancer, CRPC) from 16 countries. Participants in this analysis were recruited between July 2017 and January 2023. Adjusting for demographics and tumor characteristics, the associations were estimated using Cox regression and stratified by disease state (mHSPC, CRPC), age (<70, ≥70 years), and continent of enrollment (North America, Europe, Other).

RESULTS

We included 2,119 participants with advanced prostate cancer, of whom 427 died during up to 5 years of follow-up (median 6 months). Two-thirds had mHSPC. Most were married/in a civil partnership (79%) and 6% were widowed. Very few married participants were living alone (1%), while most unmarried participants were living alone (70%). Married participants had better OS than unmarried participants [adjusted HR: 1.44; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.02-2.02]. Widowed participants had the worst survival compared with married individuals (adjusted HR: 1.89; 95% CI: 1.22-2.94).

CONCLUSIONS

Among those with advanced prostate cancer, unmarried and widowed participants had worse OS compared with married participants.

IMPACT

This research highlighted the importance of social support in OS within this vulnerable population.

Hormesis: a response to low environmental concentrations of petroleum hydrocarbons

Crab zoeae (Rhithropanopeus harrisii) were exposed to water-soluble fractions of jet fuel (JP5) for the first 5 days or for the duration of zoeal development (11 to 14 days). Short-term exposure or continuous exposure to low concentrations of petroleum hydrocarbons caused no increase in mortality or changes in development rate, and increased megalopal weight was characteristic of such groups. This phenomenon, termed "hormesis," is probably a generalized aspect of environmental stress etiology but has seldom been reported as such.

Methylation of Trimethyltin Compounds by Estuarine Sediments

Both biologically active and autoclaved sediments convert trimethyltin hydroxide to the volatile tetramethyltin. Larger amounts of tetramethyltin were formed in the bioactive sediments than in the sterile sediments. No volatile tin compounds were detected in the absence of trimethyltin hydroxide or from trimethyltin hydroxide in seawater or in seawater containing bentonite. The formation of tetramethyltin is slow, taking over 80 days at 16 degrees C to reach a maximum. The extent of conversion, although significant, is not extensive. The formation of tetramethyltin occurs in estuarine sediments by both abiotic and biologically enhanced pathways. A redistribution mechanism accounts for at least the abiotic pathway and possibly both formation pathways.

Conversion of 2,4,6-trinitrophenol to a mutagen by Pseudomonas aeruginosa

A strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa reduced 2,4,6-trinitrophenol (picric acid) to 2-amino-4,6-dinitrophenol (picramic acid) under anaerobic conditions. Mutagenic assays of picric acid and picramic acid were carried out with histidine-requiring strains of Salmonella typhimurium. Picric acid (10 micrograms per plate) demonstrated mutagenicity (both frame shift and base substitution-gype mutations) only after activation with a rat liver homogenate preparation. Picramic acid (1 microgram per plate) induced both base pair substitution and frame shift-tupe mutations without activation by the rat liver preparation.