Gender, assigned sex at birth, and gender diversity: Windows into diagnostic timing disparities in autism

LAY ABSTRACT

Later autism diagnosis is associated with risk for mental health problems. Understanding factors related to later autism diagnosis may help reduce mental health risks for autistic people. One characteristic associated with later autism diagnosis is female sex. However, studies often do not distinguish sex assigned at birth and gender identity. Gender diversity may be more common in autistic relative to neurotypical people, and autism is more common in gender-diverse populations. We studied age at autism diagnosis by sex assigned at birth, gender identity, and gender diversity (gender-diverse vs cisgender) status, separately. We studied three separate autistic samples, each of which differed in how they were diagnosed and how they were recruited. The samples included 193 persons (8.0-18.0 years) from a research-recruited academic medical center sample; 1,550 people (1.3-25.4 years) from a clinic-based sample; and 244 people (18.2-30.0 years) from a community-enriched sample. We found significant differences in the clinic-based and community-enriched samples. People assigned female sex at birth were diagnosed with autism significantly later than people assigned male at birth. People of female gender were diagnosed significantly later than people of male gender. Gender-diverse people were diagnosed significantly later than cisgender people. Sex assigned at birth, gender identity, and gender diversity may each show unique relationships with age of autism diagnosis. Differences in how autistic people are diagnosed and recruited are important to consider in studies that examine sex assigned at birth or gender identity. More research into autism diagnosis in adulthood is needed.

Understanding autism diagnosis in primary care: Rates of diagnosis from 2004 to 2019 and child age at diagnosis

LAY ABSTRACT

The current demand for autism diagnostic services exceeds the ability of the workforce to assess and diagnose children in a timely manner. One solution may be to equip primary care providers (PCPs) with the tools and expertise needed to diagnose autism within their practice. PCPs are often trusted professionals who have many touchpoints with children during early development, in which they can identify early signs of autism. Recent initiatives have focused on bolstering PCPs' diagnostic capabilities; however, no studies have examined how the rates of autism diagnosis in primary care have changed over time. We aimed to evaluate whether autism diagnosis in primary care has changed over time and how diagnosis in primary care relates to a child's age at the time of diagnosis. We found that the likelihood of a child being diagnosed by a PCP decreased by about 2% with every passing year from 2004 to 2019 when accounting for demographic characteristics. In our sample, PCPs diagnosed children approximately 1 year earlier than non-PCPs (e.g., psychologists and psychiatrists). Further research is needed to understand why the proportion of children diagnosed by PCPs decreases over time. However, this decrease suggests more work is needed to get capacity-building initiatives into community primary care practice. Though we must continue to find effective ways to build community PCPs' ability to diagnose autism, the present findings support the crucial role PCPs can play in early autism diagnosis.

Association between Age at Diagnosis of Hyperlipidemia and Subsequent Risk of Dementia

OBJECTIVES

The relationship between age at diagnosis of hyperlipidemia and dementia remains unclear. We examined whether younger age at diagnosis of hyperlipidemia is associated with higher risk of subsequent dementia.

DESIGN

A longitudinal population-based study with a median follow-up of 12.8 years.

SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS

We analyzed data on a sample of 489,642 participants in the United Kingdom.

METHODS

This study was based on the UK Biobank. Information on hyperlipidemia and dementia diagnoses was collected at baseline (2006-2010) and follow-up [median = 12.8 years, interquartile range (IQR): 12.1-13.6 years]. Propensity score matching method and Cox proportional hazards models were used to assess the association between age at diagnosis of hyperlipidemia and dementia.

RESULTS

Among 489,642 participants (mean age: 56.9 ± 8.1 years; female: 54.7%), 114,112 (23.3%) were diagnosed with hyperlipidemia. Younger age at diagnosis of hyperlipidemia (per 10-year decrease) was significantly associated with higher risks of all-cause dementia [hazard ratio (HR), 1.12; 95% CI, 1.07-1.18; P < .001], Alzheimer's disease (AD) (HR, 1.22; 95% CI, 1.14-1.31; P < .001), and vascular dementia (VD) (HR, 1.16; 95% CI, 1.05-1.27; P < .001). After propensity score matching, patients with hyperlipidemia diagnosed before 50 years had the highest HR for all-cause dementia (HR, 1.46; 95% CI, 1.15-1.86; P = .002), followed by patients diagnosed between 50 and 69 years (HR, 1.21; 95% CI, 1.12-1.31; P < .001) and then patients diagnosed aged 70 years and older (HR, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.84-1.06; P = .302). Similar results were observed for AD and VD.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

A dose-response relationship between age at hyperlipidemia diagnosis and risk of dementia was found in the longitudinal cohort study, with younger age at diagnosis of hyperlipidemia being associated with higher subsequent risk.

Does camouflaging predict age at autism diagnosis? A comparison of autistic men and women

It is frequently reported that females are likely to receive an autism diagnosis at a later age than their male counterparts, despite similar levels of autistic traits. It has been suggested that this delay in diagnosis may in part reflect the propensity of females, more than males, to engage in camouflaging behaviors that reduce the appearance of autism-related traits. This article presents two studies which examined the relationship between gender/sex, camouflaging, and age at diagnosis in two samples of (cis-gender) autistic adults. Study 1 included data from three online samples including 242 autistic men and 570 autistic women aged 18-75 years. Study 2 included data from a longitudinal population-based sample including 24 autistic men and 35 autistic women aged 20-24 years. Camouflaging was measured with the self-report Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire (CAT-Q). Overall, the results showed that, on average, females were diagnosed later than males. There was a stronger relationship between camouflaging and age at autism diagnosis (AaD) for females, compared with males. Within sample one, there was a significant camouflaging-by-sex interaction; high-camouflaging females had a later AaD. The role of autistic traits and changes in attitudes towards female autism and camouflaging need further exploration. These findings highlight the need for greater clinician and key stakeholder awareness and understanding of camouflaging behavior, particularly for females, during the diagnostic process.

Association between diabetes at different diagnostic ages and risk of cancer incidence and mortality: a cohort study

Background

Different ages for diagnosis of diabetes have diverse effects on risks of cardiovascular disease, dementia, and mortality, but there is little evidence of cancer. This study investigated the relationship between diabetes at different diagnostic ages and risks of cancer incidence and mortality in people aged 37-73 years.

Methods

Participants with diabetes in the UK Biobank prospective cohort were divided into four groups: ≤40, 41-50, 51-60, and >60 years according to age at diagnosis. A total of 26,318 diabetics and 105,272 controls (1:4 randomly selected for each diabetic matched by the same baseline age) were included. We calculated the incidence density, standardized incidence, and mortality rates of cancer. Cox proportional hazard model was used to examine the associations of diabetes at different diagnostic ages with cancer incidence and mortality, followed by subgroup analyses.

Results

Compared to corresponding controls, standardized incidence and mortality rates of overall and digestive system cancers were higher in diabetes diagnosed at age 41-50, 51-60, and >60 years, especially at 51-60 years. Individuals diagnosed with diabetes at different ages were at higher risk to develop site-specific cancers, with a prominently increased risk of liver cancer since the diagnosis age of >40 years. Significantly, participants with diabetes diagnosed at 51-60 years were correlated with various site-specific cancer risks [hazard ratio (HR) for incidence: 1.088-2.416, HR for mortality: 1.276-3.269]. Moreover, for mortality of digestive system cancers, we observed an interaction effect between smoking and diabetes diagnosed at 51-60 years.

Conclusion

Our findings highlighted that the age at diagnosis of diabetes, especially 51-60 years, was critical risks of cancer incidence and mortality and may represent a potential preventative window for cancer.

Preoperative serum CA125 level and age at diagnosis: An effective prognosis prediction tool for patients with early-stage endometrial cancer

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the combined predictive value of the preoperative serum cancer antigen 125 (CA125) level and age at diagnosis among patients with early-stage endometrial cancer (EC) after initial treatment.

METHODS

We retrospectively analyzed data from patients with early-stage EC from 1999 to 2015 in multiple institutions in China. All 447 patients received postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy for FIGO 2009 stage I and II EC with complete data on preoperative serum CA125 levels. All patients were divided into four groups according to the ESMO-ESGO-ESTRO risk classification. The predictive probability of 5-year overall survival (OS) and the sensitivity and specificity of CA125 and age were calculated.

RESULTS

The median follow-up time was 59 months (3-201 months). The 5-year OS and disease-free survival rates were 94.4% and 89.1%. Multivariate analysis showed that the preoperative CA125 level and age at diagnosis were independent prognostic factors for 5-year OS. The area under the curve for CA125 combined with age at diagnosis for 5-year OS was .692, and the corresponding sensitivity and specificity were 68.2% and 68.2% (p < .002), which were significantly better than the corresponding values for CA125 or age alone. After all 447 patients were divided into four groups according to CA125 combined with age, the 5-year OS of the elderly and higher CA125 group was only 73.7%.

CONCLUSIONS

Although preoperative CA125 had limited sensitivity in predicting the prognosis for early-stage EC after initial treatment, it remains a useful serum marker for risk assessment of early-stage EC. Combining CA125 with age may increase its predictive sensitivity.

Age at diagnosis, diabetes duration and the risk of cardiovascular disease in patients with diabetes mellitus: a cross-sectional study

Background

The purpose of the study was to evaluate characteristics and risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) according to age at diagnosis and disease duration among adults with diabetes mellitus (DM).

Methods

The association between age at diagnosis, diabetes duration and CVD were examined in 1,765 patients with DM. High risk of estimated ten-year atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) was performed by the Prediction for ASCVD Risk in China (China-PAR) project. Data were compared with analysis of variance and χ2 test, respectively. Multiple logistic regression was used to determine the risk factors of CVD.

Results

The mean age at diagnosis (± standard deviation) was 52.91 ± 10.25 years and diabetes duration was 8.06 ± 5.66 years. Subjects were divided into early-onset DM group (≤43 years), late-onset DM group (44 to 59 years), elderly-onset DM group (≥60 years) according to age at diagnosis. Diabetes duration was classified by 5 years. Both early-onset and longest diabetes duration (>15 years) had prominent hyperglycaemia. Diabetes duration was associated with the risk of ischemic stroke (odds ratio (OR), 1.091) and coronary artery disease (OR, 1.080). Early-onset group (OR, 2.323), and late-onset group (OR, 5.199), and hypertension (OR, 2.729) were associated with the risk of ischemic stroke. Late-onset group (OR, 5.001), disease duration (OR, 1.080), and hypertension (OR, 2.015) and hyperlipidemia (OR, 1.527) might increase the risk of coronary artery disease. Aged over 65 (OR, 10.192), central obesity (OR, 1.992), hypertension (OR, 18.816), cardiovascular drugs (OR, 5.184), antihypertensive drugs (OR, 2.780), and participants with disease duration >15 years (OR, 1.976) were associated with the high risk of estimated ten-year ASCVD in participants with DM.

Conclusion

Age at diagnosis, diabetes duration, hypertension and hyperlipidemia were independent risks of CVD. Longest (>15 years) diabetes duration increased the high risk of ten-year ASCVD prediction among Chinese patients with DM. It's urgent to emphasize the importance of age at diagnosis and diabetes duration to improve primary complication of diabetes.

Molecular characteristics of lung adenocarcinoma with respect to patient age at diagnosis

Lung cancer is primarily a disease of the elderly, with a median age at diagnosis around 70 years. In this study we sought to address the question of whether and how clinical characteristics, molecular alterations, and molecular phenotypes differ between patient populations with early-stage lung adenocarcinoma (AC) with respect to age at diagnosis. Patients were stratified based on age at diagnosis into five systematic age bins (<50, 50-60, 60-70, 70-80, and ≥80 years). To assess clinicopathological variables on a population-based level, we accessed data from the national quality registry for lung cancer in Sweden. In parallel, we used compiled datasets from public cohorts to investigate focal and genome-wide DNA alterations, epigenetic alterations, immune composition, and transcriptional patterns in relation to age at diagnosis. Gender, stage, WHO performance, and likelihood of receiving chemotherapy as adjuvant treatment were linked to age at diagnosis. Associations between younger patient age and likelihood of harboring certain driver mutations (e.g., in EGFR and ALK) were confirmed. We also found an association between age at diagnosis and certain mutational signatures. However, age did not seem to drive transcriptional, copy number, nor epigenetic variation in the tumors. Based on our findings, age at diagnosis alone does not appear to provide an additional layer of biological complexity above that of proposed genetic and transcriptional phenotypes of AC. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Clinical Features of Crohn's Disease Stratified by Age at Diagnosis According to Montreal Classification

Aim

The differences of clinical characteristics stratified by age at diagnosis especially according to Montreal classification were rarely studied in China. This study aimed to evaluate and compare the clinical features in various groups of CD patients stratified by age at diagnosis.

Methods

A cross-sectional study of CD patients was conducted through a stratified sampling according to Montreal classification. Patients were divided into three groups by age at diagnosis: group A1 (<17 years old), group A2 (17 to 40 years old), and group A3 (>40 years old). The clinical characteristics, laboratory tests, radiographic, and endoscopic features were analyzed by statistics.

Results

We enrolled 259 CD patients for the study. There was male predominance under 40 years old. Compared to group A1, more female patients were presented in group A3. There were more patients had perianal fistulas in group A1 compared to group A2 and group A3. Compared with group A1, patients in group A2 were associated with lower total protein (TP) levels. The mean TP and platelet count (PC) levels in group A3 were lower than group A1. Patients in group A1 had a lower rate of stricturing (B2) disease behavior than group A2 and group A3, and patients in group A3 who had a B2 disease behavior were higher than group A2. Those differences could guide early treatment or inventions for CD patients who might progress to a more complex disease behavior.

Conclusion

CD patients stratified by age at diagnosis according to Montreal classification had different clinical symptoms, laboratory test results as well as disease locations and behaviors.

Differences in Prostate Cancer Transcriptomes by Age at Diagnosis: Are Primary Tumors from Older Men Inherently Different?

Older age at diagnosis is consistently associated with worse clinical outcomes in prostate cancer. We sought to characterize gene expression profiles of prostate tumor tissue by age at diagnosis. We conducted a discovery analysis in The Cancer Genome Atlas prostate cancer dataset (n = 320; 29% of men >65 years at diagnosis), using linear regressions of age at diagnosis and mRNA expression and adjusting for TMPRSS2:ERG fusion status and race. This analysis identified 13 age-related candidate genes at FDR < 0.1, six of which were also found in an analysis additionally adjusted for Gleason score. We then validated the 13 age-related genes in a transcriptome study nested in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study and Physicians' Health Study (n = 374; 53% of men >65 years). Gene expression differences by age in the 13 candidate genes were directionally consistent, and age at diagnosis was weakly associated with the 13-gene score. However, the age-related genes were not consistently associated with risk of metastases and prostate cancer-specific death. Collectively, these findings argue against tumor genomic differences as a main explanation for age-related differences in prostate cancer prognosis.

PREVENTION RELEVANCE

Older age at diagnosis is consistently associated with worse clinical outcomes in prostate cancer. This study with independent discovery and validation sets and long-term follow-up suggests that prevention of lethal prostate cancer should focus on implementing appropriate screening, staging, and treatment among older men without expecting fundamentally different tumor biology.

The association between age at diagnosis of type 2 diabetes and albuminuria in Chinese adults: A nationwide population study

BACKGROUND

Type 2 diabetes is increasingly diagnosed at a younger age worldwide and in China. Limited data are available regarding the association between age at diabetes diagnosis and risks of albuminuria. This study sought to examine the independent effect of age at diagnosis of type 2 diabetes on the risk of albuminuria.

METHODS

We used data from a nationwide multicenter study with 207 961 participants in mainland China. Age, sex, and study site were matched for 31 366 screen-detected type 2 diabetes cases and 31 366 normal controls. Age, sex, study site, and diabetes duration were matched for 7490 self-reported type 2 diabetes cases and 7490 normal controls. Risks of having albuminuria in matched type 2 diabetes vs controls were examined using multivariable logistic regression analysis in strata of age at diabetes diagnosis.

RESULTS

Although the absolute rate of albuminuria is higher in older adults, the odds ratio of albuminuria in type 2 diabetes vs matched controls decreased with increasing age at diagnosis. For participants with diabetes diagnosed at an age of <50, 50 to 59, 60 to 69, or ≥70 years, the multivariable adjusted risk of albuminuria increased by 81%, 60%, 45%, and 33% for screen-detected diabetes, and 135%, 121%, 90%, and 58% for self-reported diabetes compared with their normal controls, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

A younger age at diagnosis of type 2 diabetes is associated with a more significantly elevated risk of albuminuria than an older age at diagnosis in Chinese adults.

Comparative analysis of the clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients with Wilms tumor in the United Kingdom and Japan

BACKGROUND

Wilms tumor (WT) demonstrates epidemiological differences by world region and ethnicity. To enhance understanding of these differences, we retrospectively analyzed clinical trial data sets from the UK and Japan over a 20-year period.

PROCEDURE

We used data from three consecutive clinical trials in the UK and a single study in Japan that enrolled patients diagnosed during 1996-2015, to compare clinical characteristics and outcomes between countries.

RESULTS

During 1996-2015, 1395 patients in the UK and 537 in Japan were included. Japanese patients have a significantly younger median age at diagnosis than those in the UK (28 months vs 39 months). The proportion of patients with stage IV, large tumors, and anaplastic histology appears to be higher in the UK than in Japan (18% vs 11%, 62% vs 49%, 8% vs 3%, respectively). During 2005-2015, 77 hospitals treated WT in Japan compared with only 20 hospitals in the UK. Five-year overall survival of patients with WT was over 90% in both countries, but five-year event-free survival of patients with stage IV was significantly lower in Japan than in the UK (50.0% vs 76.2%, P = 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Differences in age of onset, tumor size at diagnosis, and histology may reflect differences in the genetic background of patients with WT between countries, but population-based phenotype-genotype data are lacking. The difference in survival probability for stage IV patients may be due to different diagnostic criteria or different treatment strategies. Prospective, international clinical studies including genomic analyses are needed to confirm these findings and improve clinical practice.

Young age increases the risk of lymph node positivity but improves prognosis in patients with bladder cancer treated via cystectomy: a population-based study

Background

Age and lymph node positivity are significant prognostic indicators in patients with bladder cancer. This study aimed to investigate the impact of age on lymph node positivity and bladder cancer outcomes.

Methods

Patients with bladder cancer who underwent cystectomy with at least one lymph node examined between 2004 and 2015 were identified from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database. Cochran-Armitage trend tests and logistic regression analyses were used to evaluate the association between age and lymph node positivity in all T stages. Multivariate Cox regression analysis was used to analyze the effect of age on overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS).

Results

Overall, 13,251 patients were identified, 648 of whom were under 50 years of age (4.89%). Lymph node positivity was negatively associated with increasing age in each stage except in non-invasive-muscular bladder cancer. In the multivariable analysis, age was an independent prognostic factor for OS and CSS in both the overall cohort and the lymph node positivity group.

Conclusions

In patients with bladder cancer undergoing cystectomy, young age at diagnosis is associated with a higher risk of lymph node positivity and superior outcomes. These findings may guide clinicians in selecting suitable treatments, determining the aggressiveness of lymph node involvement, and predicting survival outcomes in patients of different ages.

Clinical and laboratory parameters by age for patients diagnosed with multiple sclerosis between 2000 and 2015

AIM OF THE STUDY

To compare the demographic, clinical and laboratory characteristics of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) analysed based on the age at which they were diagnosed.

CLINICAL RATIONALE FOR THE STUDY

Most cases of MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 40 years, but the clinical characteristics of patients with MS over this age range have rarely been studied.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

182 patients diagnosed with MS between 2000 and 2015 were divided into four groups by age at diagnosis: < 30 years (n = 62), 30-39 years (n = 54), 40-49 years (n = 27), and ≥ 50 years (n = 39). The demographic, clinical and laboratory features of each age group were investigated and between-groups comparisons analysed.

RESULTS

There were no significant differences in the female-to-male ratio between groups, which was close to 3:1 in every group (p = 0.98). Motor symptoms were more common as the first manifestation of MS with increasing age (< 30: 19.3%; 30-39: 37.0%; 40-49: 44.4%; ≥ 50: 61.5%). Visual and sensory symptoms were responsible for nearly half of first manifestations in patients < 30 to 49, but affected a significantly lower proportion of patients in the oldest group (p = 0.01). Median (interquartile range [IQR]) Expanded Disability Status Scale at diagnosis was higher with advancing age (2 [1.5-3], 2.25 [1.5-3.5], 3 [2-3.5], and 3.5 [3-5]; p < 0.01). There was also a higher proportion of patients with progressive forms of the disease with age, especially primary progressive MS (0.0%, 3.7%, 14.8%, and 51.3%; p < 0.01). The median (IQR) time needed to confirm the diagnosis of MS became significantly longer as age increased (7 [2-25], 9 [2-32], 12 [6-58], and 26 [12-60] months; p < 0.01). In laboratory tests, significant differences were found only in the rate of post-contrast enhancement by magnetic resonance imaging, which was lower in the older age groups (63.2%, 50.0%, 31.6%, and 30.0%; p < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS

Our study indicates significant differences in the demographic and clinical picture of MS depending on the age of the patient at diagnosis. Diagnostic delay in older patients is a common problem, and this study shows the features of later forms of MS to help inform neurologists and improve time to diagnosis.

Remoteness of residence predicts tumor stage, receipt of treatment, and mortality in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

Background and Aim

Surveillance and early detection and curative treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are the mainstay of improving survival for patients, but there are several barriers to achieving this goal. We reported the impact of remoteness of residence on receipt of treatment, tumor stage, and survival in patients with HCC in Queensland.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 1651 HCC patients (147 migrants) from 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2016. We used Wilcoxon rank‐sum test to compare the median age at the time of diagnosis and Bayesian Weibull accelerated failure time regression to identify independent predictors of time to death.

Results

The median survival time after HCC diagnosis was 9.0 months (interquartile range 2.0–24.0). Metropolitan residence (P = 0.02), non‐English language (P < 0.001), foreign country of origin (P < 0.001), and HBV etiology (P < 0.001) were significantly associated with receiving surgical resection for HCC treatment. The strongest predictors of time to death were undifferentiated tumor at presentation (time ratio [TR] = 0.30, 95% credible interval (CrI) 0.23–0.39), age ≥70 years (TR = 0.42, 95% CrI 0.34–0.53), living in remote areas (TR = 0.67, 95% CrI 0.55–0.80), and presence of ≥1 comorbidity (TR = 0.69 95% CrI 0.54–0.90). All the other covariates adjusted, including country of birth (TR = 0.76, 95% CrI 0.49–1.06), did not predict survival time.

Conclusions

Patients living in rural and remote areas had late stage clinical presentation and poor survival. Remoteness of residence may limit access to HCC surveillance in at‐risk patients such as those with cirrhosis, and timely curative treatment to improve survival in these patients.

Tracking changes in age distribution of head and neck cancer in the United States from 1975 to2016

INTRODUCTION

Several independent studies report an alarming increase in patients younger than 40 being diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma. There is currently a lack of available data clearly tracking changes in the age distribution of head and neck cancer (HNC) within the United States. This study attempts to elucidate any trends in oral cavity, oropharynx, larynx and hypopharynx cancer age distribution in the United States population from 1975 to 2016. Unlike previous studies, this paper does not track incidence but rather reports proportional changes of prevalence within age cohorts over time.

METHODS

This is a retrospective chart review centred on data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program of the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Each decade interval from 1975 to 2016 displays the proportion of HNC patients, classified by primary tumour subsite, within each age cohort.

RESULTS

Mean age at diagnosis increased for all subsites except oropharynx. Oropharyngeal cancer was the only subsite to show a decrease in the mean age at diagnosis. In addition, oropharyngeal cancer was the only subsite to demonstrate an overall increase in proportional prevalence, largely due to increased incidence in middle-age (40-59 years) patients. Cancers of the oral cavity were the only subset to show a true increase in the proportion of young (0-39 years) patients, but its mean age at diagnosis still increased. When stratifying by gender, the proportion of young patients in female HNC cases is higher than the young male proportion.

CONCLUSION

Overall, this study demonstrates an increased proportion of older HNC patients that is consistent with the ageing population. Oral cavity cancer demonstrated a true increase in the proportion of young patients, likely due to the increased incidence of young women diagnosed with this cancer. Oropharyngeal cancer was the only subsite to show a decrease in the mean age at diagnosis. The increased proportion of middle-age patients with oropharyngeal cancer likely reflects the increase in HPV-related cancers.

"Anemia and Response to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Breast Cancer Patients"

We analyzed the effect of anemia on tumor response of patients with primary invasive breast cancer (BC) receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT). The patient collective was very homogenous; finally, 74 BC patients with identical medication and duration of NACT were enrolled. After completion of NACT, 49 patients (66.2%) had a post-NACT Hb level <12 g/dl. In the anemic group, we found a tendency of lower median tumor response compared to nonanemic patients at this time (15 versus 17 mm, retrospectively, p = 0.18). Age at diagnosis significantly correlated with the difference of Hb [before initiation - after completion of NACT] (correlation coefficient = 0.40, p < 0.001).

The development and initial evaluation of referral flowchart for suspected neuroblastoma for pediatricians in nononcology clinics in China

BACKGROUND

The delayed diagnosis of neuroblastoma (NB) is common in China, which results in the prognosis of NB in China lagging behind that in developed countries.

METHODS

A referral flowchart for suspected NB was implemented in nononcology clinics at Beijing Children's Hospital (BCH). Patients with symptoms of suspected NB were referred from nononcology clinics in BCH to oncology clinics and confirmed NB cases were regarded as referral group. The control group comprised patients initially diagnosed with NB who came directly to oncology clinics in BCH from other regions nationwide. The age at NB diagnosis was compared as primary outcome, and the 5-year overall survival (OS) and event-free survival (EFS) were compared via the Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank tests.

RESULTS

In total, 3337 children with suspected NB were screened consecutively from 687 070 pediatric patients. Through examination of urine vanillylmandelic acid and homovanillic acid, or B-ultrasound, 102 of 3337 patients were referred to oncologists for comprehensive evaluations. Eventually, 29 referred patients were diagnosed as NB and the hospital-based diagnosis rate of NB was 4.2 per 100 000 visits. The median age at diagnosis in the referral group was 21.0 months, which was 9 months earlier than that of the control group (30.0 months, P = .026). The 5-year OS rate was 72.4% in the referral group, which was higher than that of the control group (66.7%) but without statistical significance (P = .664).

CONCLUSION

Delayed NB detection could be avoided by training pediatricians in nononcology clinics to detect suspected NB and refer these patients to oncologists.

At What Age Could Screening for Familial Retinoblastoma Be Discontinued? A Systematic Review

The aim of this systematic review is to assess the latest age at diagnosis for detection of familial retinoblastoma in order to evaluate at what age screening of at-risk children could be discontinued. Extended screening beyond this age would result in unnecessary patient burden and costs. However, discontinuing screening prematurely would have the adverse effect of missing tumors. We performed a literature search (PubMed, Embase, CINAHL and the Cochrane Library) up until February of 2021 and systematically included studies where patients had a family history of retinoblastoma, a known age at diagnosis, and who were ophthalmologically screened for retinoblastoma from birth. A total of 176 familial retinoblastoma patients from 17 studies were included in this review. Based on 48 months of age being the latest age of diagnosis, ophthalmological screening for familial retinoblastoma could safely be discontinued at age four years.

Evidence for familial clustering in breast cancer age of onset

BACKGROUND

Familial clustering of age at onset would have implications for both personalized screening and aetiology, but has not been studied for breast cancer.

METHODS

We prospectively studied a cohort of 23 145 sisters to explore whether their breast cancer risk changed near the age at diagnosis of a previously affected older sister. Using an age-time-dependent variable in a Cox regression model, we estimated hazard ratios for breast cancer when participants were near their sister's diagnosis age, relative to similarly aged women whose sister was diagnosed at a very different age. To rule out a correlation driven by young-onset familial cancer, we separately investigated women who had enrolled at age 50 or older.

RESULTS

Of the 23 145 women, 1412 developed breast cancer during follow-up (median 9.5 years). The estimated hazard ratio was 1.80 (95% confidence interval: 1.18, 2.74) at their sister's age at diagnosis, suggesting a substantial increase in risk compared with women of the same age but whose sister was diagnosed at a very different age. Restriction to women who enrolled at or after age 50 produced similar results.

CONCLUSIONS

This familial clustering suggests that there may be important genetic and/or early environmental risk factors that influence the timing of breast cancer, even when onset is late in life. Personalized screening might need to account for the age at which a sister was earlier diagnosed with breast cancer.

Can National Tests from the Last Year of Compulsory School Be Used to Obtain More Detailed Information about Academic Performance in Children Treated for Brain Tumours? A Nationwide, Population-Based Study from Sweden

Simple Summary

Children treated for brain tumours often suffer from late-appearing complications, including impaired cognitive performance. In this study, 475 Swedish children diagnosed with a brain tumour before their 15th birthday and 2197 matched controls were included. Data from compulsory national tests performed school year nine in the first foreign language English, the mother tongue Swedish and mathematics were analysed. These tests offered more detailed information on academic strengths and weaknesses than the final grades, as different skill sets were assessed. Cases performed worse than controls in English tests than in Swedish and mathematics tests, and they may have performed better in oral than written tasks. There were larger differences between girls treated for brain tumours and their female controls than between boys treated for brain tumours and their male controls. National tests may be useful to complement neuropsychological follow-ups. Characterising these shortcomings is essential to provide appropriate support and prevent social isolation.

Abstract

Children treated for brain tumours often have late-appearing complications that may affect their school performance. Uneven skill profiles may help reveal late complications that can be compensated for but otherwise remain undetected. We investigated Swedish national school tests of oral, reading and writing skills in the first foreign language (English), the mother tongue (Swedish) and mathematics. Data were obtained from The Swedish Childhood Cancer Registry and Statistics Sweden. The results from 475 children diagnosed with a brain tumour before their 15th birthday and 2197 matched controls showed that children treated for brain tumours evinced more difficulties with national tests than controls in almost all subtests, especially in the subject English, and that they may perform better on oral than written tasks. There were larger differences between female cases and controls than between male cases and controls; age at diagnosis played a significant role for some subtests, whereas tumour grade did not. Missing information from national tests proved to be a strong predictor of poor academic performance. Our results show that regular educational follow-ups, as a complement to neuropsychological follow-ups, are important for all children treated for brain tumours, regardless of sex, age at diagnosis or tumour grade.

Association between age at type 1 diabetes diagnosis and metabolic outcome at young adulthood: a real-life observational study

BACKGROUND

Younger age at diagnosis of type 1 diabetes (T1D) may affect the clinical course and outcome. We examined whether age at diagnosis was associated with glycemic control and metabolic outcome in young adulthood.

METHODS

This observational study included 105 young adults with T1D (current mean age: 21.2 ± 3.0 years, mean age at diagnosis 12.0 ± 4.0 years) followed during 2012 to 2019. Data on HbA1c, glucose variability, continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) metrics, body mass index (BMI), blood pressure (BP), and body composition were collected from medical records from age 18 years until last visit, and the association between age at diagnosis and outcomes was assessed.

RESULTS

Age at T1D diagnosis was negatively associated with HbA1c levels (r = -0.368, P = .001), BMI (r = -0.218, P = .026), and diastolic BP (r = -0.215, P = .028). Younger age at diagnosis predicted poorer glycemic control after controlling for T1D duration, sex, socioeconomic status, BMI, and CGM use (r² = 0.19, P = .002). There was a 0.1% greater HbA1c reduction for every yearly increase in age at diagnosis (β = -0.090, P = .042). The mean metabolic age of females diagnosed at <10 years of age was older than their chronological age (P = .049).

CONCLUSIONS

Younger age at T1D diagnosis predicts worse glycemic control at young adulthood, independent of recognized confounding risk factors (disease duration, sex, socioeconomic status, weight, and use of diabetes technology). Female patients diagnosed at a young age have an older metabolic age, indicating the need for lifestyle alteration to improve their basal metabolic rate.

Risk of Colorectal Carcinoma May Predispose to the Genetic Variants of the GST, CYP450, and TP53 Genes Among Nonsmokers in the Saudi Community

PURPOSE

Colorectal carcinoma (CRC) represents a considerable public health burden in Saudi Arabia. Several candidate genes and genetic variants have been associated with morbidity and mortality among patients with CRC. We explored whether allelic variants of the GSTM1, GSTT1, CYP450 (rs4646903 and rs1048943), and TP53 (rs1042522) genes predisposed nonsmoking Saudi individuals to increased risk for CRC.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

DNA from buccal cells of 158 participants (80 with CRC and 78 healthy controls) were analyzed for five SNPs using conventional PCR and TaqMan genotyping assays. The SNPStats software was utilized to choose the best interactive inheritance mode for selected SNPs (https://www.snpstats.net).

RESULTS

The mean age of diagnosis was 62.4±13.5 years (range, 40-83 years), with those aged 71-80 years and those aged 40-50 years accounting for the most diagnoses (35.7% and 28.6% of diagnosis, respectively). The GSTM1 and TP53 rs1042522 SNPs were associated with CRC (OR= 3.7; P< 0.0001, and OR= 1.6; P= 0.033, respectively). A plausible contribution to CRC was observed for the GSTM1 and TP53 rs1042522 SNPs (x ² _Yates= 14.7; P= 0.00013, and x ² _Yates= 11.2; P= 0.0008, respectively), while the GSTT1 null variant did not affect risk. Heterozygosity in the CYP450 (rs4646903 and rs1048943 SNPs) was associated with a significant risk for CRC. The GSTM1/GSTT1 and CYP450 rs4646903/rs1048943 SNP pairs were in linkage disequilibrium, and the associations were statistically significant (P= 0.01 and P= 4.6x10^‒7, respectively).

CONCLUSION

The GSTM1 and TP53 rs1042522 variants can increase the development of CRC in Saudi nonsmokers. Even the presence of one copy of a variant allele in the CYP1A1 gene can predispose CRC risk. Additional studies should also examine other SNP combinations with lifestyle factors that may help prevent, rather than facilitate, colorectal tumorigenesis.

Age Influences the Prognosis of Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer Patients

BACKGROUND

The staging system for patients with anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) was updated in the 8^th edition of the American Joint Committee on Cancer Staging Manual. A cut-off age of 55 years was stipulated as a prognostic factor for differentiated thyroid cancer; however, age was not considered for ATC patients. To this end, this study investigated the relationship between age at diagnosis and prognosis of ATC patients.

METHODS

The clinical information on ATC patients was acquired from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program public database. Youden's index and X-tile analyses were used to calculate the high-point age at diagnosis associated with prognosis. Cox proportional hazards models, Kaplan-Meier curves, and 1000-person-year were then used for verifying the accuracy of the high-point age.

RESULTS

After inclusion/exclusion criteria was applied, 586 patients were included in this study. The high-point age was determined to be 70 years by both the Youden's index and X-tile plot methods. The hazard ratio was 1.662 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.321-2.092), indicating that there was an increased risk of poor prognosis for patients > 70 years of age. The cancer-specific mortality rates per 1000-person-years for patients ≤ and > 70 years-old were 949.980 (95% CI: 827.323-1090.822) and 1546.667 (95% CI: 1333.114-1794.428), respectively. P-values were < 0.001 for the results shown above.

CONCLUSION

Our study found that age influenced the prognosis of ATC patients. Furthermore, we determined that the high-point age at diagnosis was 70 years and that > 70 years of age was associated with a poor prognosis. These results provide a useful addition to the staging manual and can improve the diagnosis, treatment strategies and prognosis of ATC patients.

Analyzing non-cancer causes of death of colorectal carcinoma patients in the US population for the years 2000-2016

Background

Colorectal cancer (CRC) treatment and patient survival improved greatly. Consequently an increased incidence of non‐cancer‐related deaths is observed. This study analyzed the causes of non‐cancer death for people suffering from CRC based on the year of diagnosis, follow‐up time, and patient's age.

Methods

The data from patients diagnosed with CRC in the years 2000–2016 were taken from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results 18 database. Patients were categorized according to: death from CRC, non‐CRC cancer, and non‐cancer. Constituent ratios and standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) were calculated to describe the death causes distribution and relative death risks.

Results

Between 2000 and 2016, a stable and rapid drop for the original diagnosis as death cause for CRC patients was observed (70.19% to 49.35%). This was coupled to an increase in non‐cancer‐associated death reasons (23.38% to 40.00%). The most common non‐cancer death cause was heart disease, especially for elderly patients. However, deaths from accidents and adverse effects were frequent in younger CRC patients. Patients died from septicemia more often within the first follow‐up year; however, a 6‐fold increase in death from Alzheimer's disease was found for after at least 180 months follow‐up time.

The SMRs of all 25 non‐cancer death causes initially decreased in all CRC subgroups, followed by an increase with follow‐up times. Gradually decreasing SMR values were observed with increasing age of CRC patients.

Conclusions

These findings could help modify and sharpen preventive measures and clinical management and raise physician's awareness to potential non‐CRC death risk factors for CRC patients.

Age at autism spectrum disorder diagnosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis from 2012 to 2019

LAY ABSTRACT

We currently assume that the global mean age at diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder ranges from 38 to 120 months. However, this range is based on studies from 1991 to 2012 and measures have since been introduced to reduce the age at autism spectrum disorder diagnosis. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis (statistical analysis that combines the results of multiple scientific studies) for studies published between 2012 and 2019 to evaluate the current age at autism spectrum disorder diagnosis. We included 56 studies that reported the age at diagnosis for 40 countries (containing 120,540 individuals with autism spectrum disorder). Results showed the current mean age at diagnosis to be 60.48 months (range: 30.90-234.57 months) and 43.18 months (range: 30.90-74.70 months) for studies that only included children aged ⩽10 years. Numerous factors that may influence age at diagnosis (e.g. type of autism spectrum disorder diagnosis, additional diagnoses and gender) were reported by 46 studies, often with conflicting or inconclusive results. Our study is the first to determine the global average age at autism spectrum disorder diagnosis from a meta-analysis. Although progress is being made in the earlier detection of autism spectrum disorder, it requires our constant attention.

Change in Age at Diagnosis of Oropharyngeal Cancer in the United States, 1975-2016

Simple Summary

While previous studies have suggested that HPV-associated head and neck cancer (HNC) is mostly in the younger population, we found that in the last 40 years, the mean age at diagnosis of oropharyngeal cancer has been 60.3 years. We found that after an initially decrease leading up to the early 2000s, there has been a steady increase in age at diagnosis of oropharyngeal cancer since 2002. For non-oropharyngeal HNC, mean age at diagnosis has steadily increased throughout the last four decades. Finally, we found that age at diagnosis of HNC is higher among females in general, and lowest among blacks.

Abstract

The emergence of the human papillomavirus (HPV) as the primary etiology of oropharyngeal cancer has changed head and neck cancer (HNC) epidemiology. This study described change in the age at diagnosis of oropharyngeal and non-oropharyngeal HNC in the United States in the last four decades. Using a retrospective cohort analysis, the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results dataset from 1975 to 2016 was queried for eligible adult cases of HNC, grouped as oropharyngeal (n = 31,702) versus non-oropharyngeal (n = 87,108). Age at diagnosis was compared by gender (female, male) using independent t-test, and by race/ethnicity (Hispanic, non-Hispanic black, non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic other) using analysis of variance. Joinpoint regression estimated yearly increases/decreases in age of diagnosis by sex and race/ethnicity through annual percent changes (APC), which were summarized with average annual percent changes (AAPC). Mean age at diagnosis for oropharyngeal cancer was 60.3 years. While there was initially a decrease in age at diagnosis, a 0.37% annual increase occurred from 2002 to 2016 (APC = 0.37, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.28, 0.45). For non-oropharyngeal cancer, mean age at diagnosis was 63.2 years, with a continuous increase in age at diagnosis throughout the study period (1975–2016 AAPC = 0.08, 95% CI 0.04, 0.12). Females had higher average age at diagnosis than males for both sites, while blacks (57.4 years for oropharyngeal cancer; 59.0 years for non-oropharyngeal) had the lowest age at diagnosis of all races/ethnicity. Age at diagnosis of oropharyngeal cancer has increased significantly since 2002, while non-oropharyngeal HNC has increased significantly in the last four decades.

The Prognostic Impact of Age at Diagnosis Upon Breast Cancer of Different Immunohistochemical Subtypes: A Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Population-Based Analysis

Background and Objectives: The influence of age at diagnosis of breast cancer upon the prognosis of patients with different immunohistochemical (IHC)-defined subtypes is still incompletely defined. Our study aimed at examining the association of age at diagnosis and risk of breast cancer-specific mortality (BCSM). Methods: 172,179 eligible breast cancer patients were obtained for our study cohort using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database from 2010 to 2015. Patients were classified into four IHC-defined subtypes according to their ER, PgR, and HER2 status. Kaplan-Meier plots were used to describe BCSM among patients in different age groups. A Cox proportional hazards model was used for multivariate analysis. A multivariable fractional polynomial model within the Cox proportional hazards model was used to evaluate the relationship between age at diagnosis and the risk of BCSM. Results: For the whole cohort, the median follow-up time was 43 months. Patients younger than 40 years and those older than 79 years presented with the worst BCSM (hazard ratio [HR] 1.13, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.03-1.23, and HR 3.52, 95% CI 3.23-3.83, respectively, p < 0.01, with age 40-49 years as the reference). The log hazard ratios of hormone receptor (HoR)(+)/HER2(-) patients formed a quadratic relationship between age at diagnosis and BCSM, but not in the other three subtypes of breast cancer. In the HoR(+)/HER2(-) subtype, patients younger than 40 years had worse BCSM than those aged at 40-49 years (HR 1.26, 95% CI 1.10-1.45, and p < 0.01). Conclusions: Women diagnosed with HoR(+)/HER2(-) breast cancer younger than 40 years or older than 79 years of age suffer higher rates of cancer-specific mortality. Young age at diagnosis may be particularly prognostic in HoR(+)/HER2(-) breast cancer.

Geographical and Racial Disparities in Head and Neck Cancer Diagnosis in South-Eastern United States: Using Real-World Electronic Medical Records Data

Background: Rurality, race, and age at diagnosis are important predictors in head and neck cancer (HNC) prognosis. However, literature on the associations of rurality and race with age at HNC diagnosis is limited. Data on geographical, racial, and gender disparities in young HNC patients (diagnosed ≤45 years) are also scarce.

Materials and Methods: This retrospective study assesses rural–urban, racial, and gender disparities in age at HNC diagnosis, using electronic medical records (Cerner) data of 4258 HNC patients (1538 residing in rural counties and 2720 in urban counties) from National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center in Alabama. Rurality was defined based on 2010 U.S. Census Bureau's rural–urban classification. Logistic regression was used to assess the association of young HNC diagnosis with demographical, behavioral, and clinical variables. ArcGIS 10.2 was used to map geospatial distribution of age and population-adjusted HNC case across rural and urban counties.

Results: Patients from rural counties were less likely to be diagnosed at younger age (≤45 years) compared with urban counties (odds ratio [OR] [95% confidence interval (CI)]: 0.74 [0.58–0.93]). Most patients present at stage III/IV (64.9% in rural and 60.2% in urban). Compared with white patients, black patients were 70% more likely to get diagnosed at a young age (95% CI: 1.23–2.35). Young patients were more likely to be females and blacks compared with older patients (p<0.0001). Among oral cavity cancer patients, rural patients were 51% less likely to get diagnosed at young age compared with urban patients (95% CI: 0.27–0.89).

Conclusions: Head and neck cancer screening is not routinely conducted so most show up at later stage of cancer. There is also evidence of disparities in age at HNC diagnosis based on rurality, race, and gender; targeted screening can help in reducing these disparities.

Global incidence trends in primary liver cancer by age at diagnosis, sex, region, and etiology, 1990-2017

BACKGROUND

The incidence of primary liver cancer (PLC) continues to increase worldwide. The incidence trends and patterns of PLC associated with different age at diagnosis remain unknown.

METHODS

We collected detailed information on PLC between 1990 and 2017 from Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. Estimated annual percentage changes in the PLC age-standardized incidence rate (ASR) diagnosed by age, sex, region, and etiology were calculated to quantify the temporal trends in PLC ASR.

RESULTS

Globally, the number of PLC cases for which the age at diagnosis was <30 years decreased from 17,381 in 1990 to 14,661 in 2017, whereas the number of PLC cases diagnosed at age 30 to 59 and ≥60 years old increased from 216,561 and 241,189 in 1990 to 359,770 and 578,344 in 2017, respectively. The ASR of PLC cases with age at diagnosis <30 years and between 30 and 59 years decreased in both sexes, whereas the ASR of PLC with age at diagnosis ≥60 years increased in males and remained stable in females at the global level. Males had a more dramatic increase in PLC diagnosed at age ≥60 years but a milder decrease in PLC diagnosed between 30 and 59 years of age. This decrease was attributed largely to the reduction in PLC caused by hepatitis B and hepatitis C and was consistent in most regions except for developed countries, in which the ASR of PLC increased irrespective of sex and age. The ASR of PLC due to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) increased by the greatest magnitude in most regions.

CONCLUSION

PLC in highly endemic regions has been partly alleviated due to the potent control of hepatitis, especially among young and middle-aged people. However, an unfavorable trend was observed in most developed countries and in elderly populations. As such, PLC prevention schedules should give more attention to NASH and elderly patients.

Elevated systemic inflammatory responses, factors associated with physical and mental quality of life, and prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma

Impaired quality of life (QOL) is common in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. In this study, we used a large hospital-based multiethnic HCC patient cohort to systematically identify factors associated with QOL and investigate the prognostic value of QOL.

The Short Form-12 questionnaire was used to assess QOL. The Physical Component Summary (PCS) and Mental Component Summary (MCS) scores were categorized into three groups (low, medium, and high) and ordered logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the association of PCS and MCS scores with patient characteristics. The association of PCS and MCS scores with mortality was assessed by Cox regression analysis.

Notably, a panel of elevated systemic inflammatory response markers was associated with poor QOL. Other significant factors associated with QOL included age, liver function, sex, smoking, HCC etiology, and major clinical features. Patients with low (hazard ratio [95% CI], 1.72 [1.36-2.17]) and medium (1.52 [1.23-1.89]) PCS scores exhibited higher risks of death compared to patients with high PCS score. The association of MCS with the risk of death was not significant. These observations were consistent across all the different ethnicities.

The identified factors associated with QOL may help clinicians formulate interventions to improve QOL and outcomes in HCC patients.

Systematic evaluation of cancer-specific genetic risk score for 11 types of cancer in The Cancer Genome Atlas and Electronic Medical Records and Genomics cohorts

BACKGROUND

Genetic risk score (GRS) is an odds ratio (OR)-weighted and population-standardized method for measuring cumulative effect of multiple risk-associated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). We hypothesize that GRS is a valid tool for risk assessment of most common cancers.

METHODS

Utilizing genotype and phenotype data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Electronic Medical Records and Genomics (eMERGE), we tested 11 cancer-specific GRSs (bladder, breast, colorectal, glioma, lung, melanoma, ovarian, pancreatic, prostate, renal, and thyroid cancer) for association with the respective cancer type. Cancer-specific GRSs were calculated, for the first time in these cohorts, based on previously published risk-associated SNPs using the Caucasian subjects in these two cohorts.

RESULTS

Mean cancer-specific GRS in the population controls of eMERGE approximated the expected value of 1.00 (between 0.98 and 1.02) for all 11 types of cancer. Mean cancer-specific GRS was consistently higher in respective cancer patients than controls for all 11 types of cancer (P < 0.05). When subjects were categorized into low-, average-, and high-risk groups based on cancer-specific GRS (<0.5, 0.5-1.5, and >1.5, respectively), significant dose-response associations of higher cancer-specific GRS with higher OR of respective type of cancer were found for nine types of cancer (P_-trend  < 0.05). More than 64% subjects in the population controls of eMERGE can be classified as high risk for at least one type of these cancers.

CONCLUSION

Validity of GRS for predicting cancer risk is demonstrated for most types of cancer. If confirmed in larger studies, cancer-specific GRS may have the potential for developing personalized cancer screening strategy.

TNM stages inversely correlate with the age at diagnosis in ALK-positive lung cancer

BACKGROUND

To clearly reveal the correlations between age at diagnosis, tumor-nodes-metastasis (TNM) stages and frequency of ALK-positive lung cancer.

METHODS

We reviewed patients who presented with ALK rearrangements (n=411) or KRAS-mutations (n=122) between September 2010 and January 2018. The clinical characteristics and overall survival were analyzed for the two genotype cohorts and stratified by different age categories (<40, 40-49, 50-59, ≥60 years).

RESULTS

In the ALK-positive cohort, the younger group showed more frequent disease in the T3/4 stage (P=0.014), lymph node metastasis (P=0.011) and distant metastasis (P=0.015) than the older groups. Meanwhile, the mean age at diagnosis for the ALK-positive patients showed a significant inverse correlation with the clinical stages (stage I/II vs. III vs. IV, 54.7 vs. 52.0 vs. 49.7 years; P<0.001), as well as with the T, N, and M categories. However, KRAS-mutant patients did not exhibit similar relationships to those observed in ALK-positive patients. Importantly, for ALK-positive patients, the frequency of stage IIIb-IV disease was almost twice that of stage I-IIIa disease (6.1% vs. 3.4%, P<0.001); there was a similar incidence of the different disease stages in KRAS-mutant lung cancer (P=0.924). Lastly, in ALK-positive patients, the ≥60 years group was associated with a trend toward better survival than the other younger groups.

CONCLUSIONS

The TNM stages exhibited a significant inverse correlation with age at diagnosis for ALK-positive lung cancer patients. More unique therapeutic strategies should be required in these young patients.

Impact of age on survival of locoregional nasopharyngeal carcinoma: An analysis of the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program database, 2004-2013

OBJECTIVES

To determine the impact of age at diagnosis and other factors on survival in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).

DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS

A retrospective, population-based cohort study of 3103 patients are selected, whose records were submitted to the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database between 2004 and 2013. We evaluated the demographic and clinical characteristics of patients who were 20 years or older with a diagnosis of primary, non-metastatic NPC.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Overall survival (OS) and risks of OS and NPC-specific survival.

RESULTS

Overall survival rates at 1, 3, and 5 years were 85.8%, 71.0%, and 62.6%, respectively. Older age was a significant predictor of poor OS, as was Chinese ethnicity. We also determined that middle-aged white patients, but not middle-aged black or Chinese patients, were at a higher risk of death than were younger patients of the same race/ethnicity. Nodal (N) stage 0-1 disease was a significant predictor of poor OS when comparing survival of older patients with N0-1 vs N2-3 stage disease. Finally, we found that married patients had a decreased risk of death when compared to those who were single.

CONCLUSIONS

The survival of older patients with NPC is inferior to that of younger patients. Race/ethnicity, marital status, and stage of disease are important modifiers of risk. Collectively, our results indicate that management of older patients requires optimisation.

Young age increases the risk of lymph node positivity in papillary thyroid cancer patients: a SEER data-based study

Introduction

Currently in papillary thyroid cancer (PTC), the correlation between lymph node positivity (LN+) and patient's age at diagnosis is still inconclusive. The aim of this study was to investigate whether younger PTC patients had higher LN+ rates.

Patients and methods

From the 1998-2013 Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database, we analyzed PTC patients with at least 1 LN examined. The patients were divided into 5 groups by age separately for each T stage: ≤30; 31-40; 41-50; 51-60; >60 years.

Results

A total of 46,077 PTC patients were identified, including 8,386 (18.2%) patients aged ≤30 years, 10,971 (23.8%) patients aged 31-40 years, 11,646 (25.3%) patients aged 41-50 years, 8,596 (18.7%) patients aged 51-60 years, and 6,478 (14.1%) patients aged >60 years. In each T stage, LN+ rates were inversely associated with age at diagnosis, which was validated by multivariate logistic regression analysis (p<0.001). In addition, the subset of patients 30 or younger had the highest lymph node ratio compared with other subsets (p<0.001).

Conclusion

We identified that younger PTC patients have an increased predisposition for LN+ regardless of T stage. This finding could help surgeons to select the optimal treatment for younger PTC patients.

Differences in Clinical Course, Genetics, and the Microbiome Between Familial and Sporadic Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

BACKGROUND AND AIM

Family history is the strongest risk factor for developing Crohn's disease [CD] or ulcerative colitis [UC]. We investigated whether the proximity of relationship with the affected relative and concordance for type of inflammatory bowel disease [IBD] modifies the effect of family history on phenotype and disease severity.

METHOD

This cross-sectional study included patients with a confirmed diagnosis of IBD in a clinical registry. Family history of IBD was assessed by a questionnaire ascertaining presence of disease in a first-first-degree, second-second-degree or distant relative. Our primary outcomes were disease phenotype as per the Montreal classification and severity measured by need for immunomodulator, biologic, or surgical therapy. Genotyping was performed on the Immunochip and faecal samples were subjected to 16S rRNA microbiome sequencing.

RESULTS

Our study included 2136 patients with IBD [1197 CD, 939 UC]. Just under one-third [32%] of cases ere familial IBD [17% first-degree, 21% second-degree]. Familial IBD was diagnosed at an earlier age, both in CD [26 vs 28 years, p = 0.0006] and UC [29 vs 32 years, p = 0.01]. Among CD patients, a positive family history for CD was associated with an increased risk for complicated disease in the presence of an affected family member (odds ratio [OR] 1.48, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.07-2.03). However, this effect was significant only for first-degree relatives [OR 1.82, 95% CI 1.19-2.78].

CONCLUSIONS

A family history of CD in first-degree relatives was associated with complicated CD. Family history discordant for type of IBD or in distant relatives did not influence disease phenotype or natural history.

Health status in 1040 adults with disorders of sex development (DSD): a European multicenter study

OBJECTIVE

The knowledge about health status in adults with disorder of sex development (DSD) is scarce.

DESIGN AND METHODS

A cross-sectional observational study in 14 European tertiary centers recruited 1040 participants (717 females, 311 males, 12 others) with DSD. Mean age was 32.4 ± 13.6 year (range 16-75). The cohort was divided into: Turner (n = 301), Klinefelter (n = 224), XY-DSD (n = 222), XX-DSD (excluding congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) and 46,XX males) (n = 21), 46,XX-CAH (n = 226) and 45,X/46,XY (n = 45). Perceived and objective health statuses were measured and compared to European control data.

RESULTS

In DSD, fair to very good general health was reported by 91.4% and only 8.6% reported (very) bad general health (controls 94.0% and 6.0%, P < 0.0001). Longstanding health issues other than DSD and feeling limited in daily life were reported in 51.0% and 38.6%, respectively (controls 24.5% and 13.8%, P < 0.0001 both). Any disorder except DSD was present in 84.3% (controls 24.6%, P < 0.0001). Males reported worse health than females. In the subgroup analysis, Klinefelter and 46,XX-DSD patients reported bad general health in 15.7% and 16.7%, respectively (Turner 3.2% and CAH 7.4%). Comorbidities were prevalent in all DSD subgroups but Klinefelter and Turner were most affected. Early diagnosis of DSD and a healthy lifestyle were associated with less comorbidities.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, general health appeared to be good but a number of medical problems were reported, especially in Klinefelter and Turner. Early diagnosis of DSD and a healthy lifestyle seemed to be important. Lifelong follow-up at specialized centers is necessary.

Identification of genetic variants predictive of early onset pancreatic cancer through a population science analysis of functional genomic datasets

Biomarkers are critically needed for the early detection of pancreatic cancer (PC) are urgently needed. Our purpose was to identify a panel of genetic variants that, combined, can predict increased risk for early-onset PC and thereby identify individuals who should begin screening at an early age. Previously, we identified genes using a functional genomic approach that were aberrantly expressed in early pathways to PC tumorigenesis. We now report the discovery of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in these genes associated with early age at diagnosis of PC using a two-phase study design. In silico and bioinformatics tools were used to examine functional relevance of the identified SNPs. Eight SNPs were consistently associated with age at diagnosis in the discovery phase, validation phase and pooled analysis. Further analysis of the joint effects of these 8 SNPs showed that, compared to participants carrying none of these unfavorable genotypes (median age at PC diagnosis 70 years), those carrying 1–2, 3–4, or 5 or more unfavorable genotypes had median ages at diagnosis of 64, 63, and 62 years, respectively (P = 3.0E–04). A gene-dosage effect was observed, with age at diagnosis inversely related to number of unfavorable genotypes (P_trend = 1.0E–04). Using bioinformatics tools, we found that all of the 8 SNPs were predicted to play functional roles in the disruption of transcription factor and/or enhancer binding sites and most of them were expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) of the target genes. The panel of genetic markers identified may serve as susceptibility markers for earlier PC diagnosis.

Age at diagnosis and gender modify the risk of 9q22 and 14q13 polymorphisms for papillary thyroid carcinoma

INTRODUCTION

Papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) shows familial occurrence, and some susceptibility single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have been identified in FOXE1 and near the NKX2-1 locus. The aim of our study was to analyse the association of PTC risk with SNPs in FOXE1 (rs965513, rs1867277, rs1443434) and near the NKX2-1 locus (rs944289) in a Polish population, and, in the second step, the interac-tion between SNPs and patient-related factors (age at diagnosis and gender).

MATERIAL AND METHODS

A total of 2243 DNA samples from PTC patients and 1160 controls were included in the study. The SNP analysis was performed with the allelic discrimination technique.

RESULTS

There were significant associations of all SNPs with PTC (rs965513 odds ratio [OR] = 1.72, p = 8 × 10-7; rs1867277 OR = 1.59, p = 1 × 10-6; rs1443434 OR = 1.53, p = 1 × 10-5; rs944289 OR = 1.52, p = 4 × 10-5). Logistic regression analysis revealed an increased PTC risk in the interaction of rs944289 with age at diagnosis (OR = 1.01 per year, p = 6 × 10-4) and a decreased PTC risk in the interaction of male gender with the GGT FOXE1 protective haplotype (OR = 0.69, p = 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS

the association between PTC and all analysed SNPs was confirmed. It was also shown that patient-related factors modify the predisposition to PTC by increasing the risk for rs944289 per year of age, and by enhancing the protective effect of the FOXE1 GGT haplotype in men.

Influence of age at diagnosis on the clinical characteristics of Crohn's disease in Korea: Results from the CONNECT study

BACKGROUND AND AIM

The present study evaluated the clinical characteristics of Korean patients with Crohn's disease (CD) according to their age at diagnosis in a nationwide multicenter cohort study.

METHODS

A total of 1224 patients diagnosed with CD between 1982 and 2008 in 32 hospitals were included, and age at diagnosis was categorized as ≤ 16 (G1), 17-40 (G2), 41-59 (G3) and ≥ 60 (G4) years old. The baseline characteristics, medication, and intestinal resection were compared according to the age at diagnosis.

RESULTS

The number of patients in each age group was 155 (G1; 12.7%), 919 (G2; 75.1%), 120 (G3; 9.8%), and 30 (G4; 2.5%). The frequencies of ileocolonic disease in the late adult onset and elderly onset groups were lower than those in the other groups (P < 0.001). The cumulative probabilities of thiopurine and anti-tumor necrosis factor use in late adult onset and elderly onset groups were significantly reduced compared with those of the other groups (P < 0.01). However, the risk of the first intestinal resection was not different among the age groups. The ileal location (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.59; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.11-2.27), complicated behavior (HR: 3.35; 95% CI: 2.63-4.27), and early thiopurine use (HR: 0.27; 95% CI: 0.17-0.43) were associated with the first intestinal resection, whereas the age at diagnosis was not a risk factor.

CONCLUSIONS

Elderly onset CD may be related to favorable outcomes in Korea. Thus, the heterogeneity of this disease should be considered when developing a tailored strategy for the treatment of CD.

The prevalence of malignant and borderline ovarian cancer in pre- and post-menopausal Chinese women

The incidence of ovarian cancer depends on the ethnicity and geographical area. Menopausal status is a well-known risk factor for ovarian cancer and most cases occur after menopause in Caucasians. However, it is less clear how the status of menopause or age at diagnosis is associated with ovarian cancer including its subtypes in Chinese women. Data on 1,283 women with primary malignant or borderline ovarian cancer including age at diagnosis, age at menopause and histology from the largest women's hospital in China was analysed. The median age at diagnosis was 53, 44 and 23 years for epithelial ovarian cancer or sex-cord tumors or germ cell tumors respectively. 58% of epithelial ovarian cancers were diagnosed after menopause, while 58% and 95% of sex-cord tumors and germ cell tumors were diagnosed before menopause. Around 60% of serous, endometrioid and clear-cell carcinoma of epithelial ovarian cancer were diagnosed after menopause, while 23% of mucinous carcinoma was diagnosed after menopause. The median age at diagnosis was 35 years for borderline ovarian cancer and 80% of patients were diagnosed before menopause. Our data demonstrates that the median age at diagnosis of ovarian cancer is younger in our study population than Caucasians reported in the literature regardless of malignant or borderline ovarian cancers, and regardless of subtypes of epithelial ovarian cancer. The prevalence of ovarian cancer is proportionately higher in our study population before menopause than Caucasians. Our results suggest clinicians to be more aware of the symptoms of ovarian cancer in premenopausal Chinese women.

Age at First Identification of Autism Spectrum Disorder: An Analysis of Two US Surveys

OBJECTIVE

Evidence regarding the age at which autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is identified is essential for improving early detection, yet many extant studies have not applied time-to-event analyses, which account for statistical biases that arise from sampling in cross-sectional surveys by adjusting for child age at time of parental report. Our objective was to estimate age distributions for first identification of ASD in national parent surveys using time-to-event analyses.

METHOD

We conducted time-to-event analyses of responses to identical questions in the 2011 to 2012 National Survey of Children's Health (n = 95,677) and the 2009 to 2010 National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs (n = 371,617).

RESULTS

Parents in both surveys reported that a minority of ASD cases were identified before age 3 years, and that one-third to one-half of cases were identified after 6 years. In both surveys, a majority of parents described their child's ASD severity as mild, and these parents reported the oldest age at identification (mean, 5.6 and 8.6 years). In contrast, parents who described their child's ASD as severe reported earlier age at identification (mean, 3.7 and 4.5 years). Time-to-event analyses yielded older estimates of age at identification than analyses based on raw distributions.

CONCLUSION

In two national surveys, a majority of parents of children with ASD reported identification after 3 years, when eligibility for early intervention services expires, and many reported identification of ASD after school age. Later identification of children with milder symptoms highlights the need for early screening that is sensitive to all forms of ASD, regardless of severity.

Child's verbal ability and gender are associated with age at diagnosis in a sample of young children with ASD in Europe

BACKGROUND

Autism spectrum disorder can in some cases be reliably diagnosed by age 2 years, but in community settings, the mean age at diagnosis is often considerably higher. Later diagnosis has been found to be associated with lower symptom severity, lower parental socioeconomic status and fewer parental concerns. Gender differences in age at diagnosis have been examined, with mixed evidence.

METHODS

We examined the association of child's verbal ability and gender, and parental education, with age at diagnosis in a large sample of young children with autism spectrum disorder in 18 European countries (n = 1410).

RESULTS

There was considerable variation in age at diagnosis across countries. Children with better communication skills were diagnosed significantly later than non-verbal and minimally verbal children. There was also a significant interaction of gender with verbal ability on age at diagnosis, in that female children with complex phrase speech were diagnosed later than male children with the same level of verbal ability.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings highlight the need to implement public awareness initiatives and training for professionals to promote early detection and, consequently, early intervention for autism spectrum disorder in Europe.

Susceptibility to Breast Cancer and Intron 3 Ins/Del Genetic Polymorphism of DNA Double-Strand Break Repair Gene XRCC4

BACKGROUND

Since genetic variations in X-ray cross-complementing group 4 (XRCC4; OMIM: 194363) repair gene might be associated with a reduction in cellular DNA repair capacity, it is hypothesized that XRCC4 Ins/Del (I/D) polymorphism (in intron 3 of the gene; rs28360071) may be a risk factor for breast cancer. Therefore, the present case-control study was carried out.

METHODS

The present case-control study included 407 females with breast cancer and a total of 394 healthy females from the general population matched with patients according to age. Genotypic analysis for the XRCC4 I/D polymorphism was performed by PCR. In order to investigate the effect of XRCC4 I/D polymorphism on age at diagnosis of breast cancer, the Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and the Cox proportional hazards regression model were used.

RESULTS

Based on the present case-control study, the ID (OR=0.95, 95% CI: 0.69-1.31, P=0.781) and DD (OR=1.24, 95% CI: 0.84-1.83, P=0.274) genotypes were not associated with breast cancer risk compared with the II genotype. Based on the Cox regression model, there was significant association between genotypes of I/D polymorphism and age at diagnosis of breast cancer (ID+DD vs II; HR=0.79, 95% CI: 0.64-0.98, P=0.036).

CONCLUSION

Although there was no significant association between XRCC4 I/D polymorphism and risk of breast cancer, patients having the II genotype have lower age at diagnosis in comparison with patients having ID+DD genotypes.

Age at Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Diagnosis by Race, Ethnicity, and Primary Household Language Among Children with Special Health Care Needs, United States, 2009-2010

We examined prevalence of diagnosed autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and age at diagnosis according to child's race/ethnicity and primary household language. From the 2009-2010 National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs, we identified 2729 3-17-year-old US children whose parent reported a current ASD diagnosis. We compared ASD prevalence, mean diagnosis age, and percentage with later diagnoses (≥5 years) across racial/ethnic/primary household language groups: non-Hispanic-white, any language (NHW); non-Hispanic-black, any language (NHB); Hispanic-any-race, English (Hispanic-English); and Hispanic-any-race, other language (Hispanic-Other). We assessed findings by parent-reported ASD severity level and adjusted for family sociodemographics. ASD prevalence estimates were 15.3 (NHW), 10.4 (NHB), 14.1 (Hispanic-English), and 5.2 (Hispanic-Other) per 1000 children. Mean diagnosis age was comparable across racial/ethnic/language groups for 3-4-year-olds. For 5-17-year-olds, diagnosis age varied by race/ethnicity/language and also by ASD severity. In this group, NHW children with mild/moderate ASD had a significantly higher proportion (50.8 %) of later diagnoses than NHB (33.5 %) or Hispanic-Other children (18.0 %). However, NHW children with severe ASD had a comparable or lower (albeit non-significant) proportion (16.4 %) of later diagnoses than NHB (37.8 %), Hispanic-English (30.8 %), and Hispanic-Other children (12.0 %). While NHW children have comparable ASD prevalence and diagnosis age distributions as Hispanic-English children, they have both higher prevalence and proportion of later diagnoses than NHB and Hispanic-Other children. The diagnosis age findings were limited to mild/moderate cases only. Thus, the prevalence disparity might be primarily driven by under-representation (potentially under-identification) of older children with mild/moderate ASD in the two minority groups.

Female Gender Is an Age-dependent Negative Prognostic Factor for Patients with Upper Tract Urothelial Carcinoma

AIM

To analyze female gender as a possible age-dependent prognostic factor for overall (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) in patients with upper urinary tract urothelial carcinoma (UUTUC) after radical nephroureterectomy (RNU).

PATIENTS AND METHODS

A total of 167 men and 101 women with UUTUC treated with RNU with bladder cuff resection at our clinic were retrospectively analyzed. Female patients were divided into pre- and post-menopausal groups and compared against male patients of the same age. We used a cut-off age of 59 years or more as a surrogate for the post-menopausal hormonal status of women. Kaplan-Meier analyses and multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analyses were performed to analyze gender as a possible prognostic factor of OS and CSS.

RESULTS

Women aged 59 years or more had a significantly worse CSS with an average of 231 months after RNU compared to 303 months for their male counterparts (p=0.011). Univariate Cox regression analysis showed a 2.44-fold higher risk of death (p=0.013), while multivariate analyses, adjusted for tumor stage and tumor grade, showed a 2.92-fold higher risk (p=0.011) of cancer-specific death for women aged 59 years or more.

CONCLUSION

Female gender is an age-dependent prognostic factor for CSS for patients with UUTUC treated with RNU.

The impact of HPV infection, smoking history, age and operability of the patient on disease-specific survival in a geographically defined cohort of patients with oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma

CONCLUSIONS

Patients with human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive tumours had better 5-year disease-specific survival (DSS) than HPV-negative patients. TNM score only predicted prognosis among HPV-negative patients. A previous history of smoking and age at diagnosis predicted DSS among HPV-positive patients whereas operability at diagnosis predicted DSS among both HPV-positive and HPV-negative patients.

OBJECTIVES

HPV is a risk factor for oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC). The extent to which smoking, age and operability could play a role in HPV-positive surgically treated head and neck SCCs has not been extensively addressed previously and this study aimed to evaluate these factors.

METHODS

We identified 232 patients with OPSCC, of which 186 from the tonsil or base of the tongue region were treated in the period 1992-2008 in Western Norway. The 5-year DSS was recorded. Details on smoking history and whether the lesion was operable or not, as well as clinical information, were obtained retrospectively from the hospital records.

RESULTS

TNM stage predicted survival only among HPV-negative patients. A previous smoking affected prognosis only among HPV-positive patients (relative risk (RR) = 2.5; confidence interval (CI) = 1.0-6.2; p = 0.05). Increasing age of the patient had a negative effect on survival in HPV-positive patients only, especially among the oldest quartile (RR = 4.4; CI = 2.0-9.0; p < 0.001). Whether the tumour was operable or not uniquely predicted DSS both among HPV-positive (RR = 0.34; CI = 0.13-0.93; p < 0.05) and HPV-negative (RR = 0.25; CI = 0.10-0.66; p < 0.01) patients with tonsil/base of the tongue SCC.

Differential effect of genetic burden on disease phenotypes in Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis: analysis of a North American cohort

OBJECTIVES

Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) are chronic immunologically mediated diseases with a progressive relapsing remitting course. There is considerable heterogeneity in disease course and accurate prediction of natural history has been challenging. The phenotypic implication of increasing genetic predisposition to CD or UC is unknown.

METHODS

The data source for our study was a prospective cohort of CD and UC patients recruited from a tertiary referral center. All patients underwent genotyping on the Illumina Immunochip. A genetic risk score (GRS) incorporating strength of association (log odds ratio) and allele dose for each of the 163 inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) risk loci was calculated and phenotypic associations examined across GRS quartiles.

RESULTS

Our study cohort included 1,105 patients (697 CD, 408 UC). Increasing genetic burden was associated with earlier age of diagnosis of CD (Ptrend=0.008). Patients in the highest GRS quartile were likely to develop disease 5 years earlier than those in the lowest quartile. Increasing genetic burden was also associated with ileal involvement in CD (Ptrend <0.0001). The effect of genetic burden was independent of the NOD2 locus and was stronger among those with no NOD2 variants, and in never smokers. UC patients with an involved first-degree relative had a higher genetic burden, but GRS was not associated with disease phenotype in UC.

CONCLUSIONS

Increasing genetic burden is associated with early age of diagnosis in CD, but not UC. The expanded panel of IBD risk loci explains only a fraction of variance of disease phenotype, suggesting limited clinical utility of genetics in predicting natural history.

Genetic variants in telomerase-related genes are associated with an older age at diagnosis in glioma patients: evidence for distinct pathways of gliomagenesis

BACKGROUND

Genome-wide association studies have implicated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 7 genes as glioma risk factors, including 2 (TERT, RTEL1) involved in telomerase structure/function. We examined associations of these 7 established glioma risk loci with age at diagnosis among patients with glioma.

METHODS

SNP genotype data were available for 2286 Caucasian glioma patients from the University of California, San Francisco (n = 1434) and the Mayo Clinic (n = 852). Regression analyses were performed to test for associations between "number of risk alleles" and "age at diagnosis," adjusted for sex and study site and stratified by tumor grade/histology where appropriate.

RESULTS

Four SNPs were significantly associated with age at diagnosis. Carrying a greater number of risk alleles at rs55705857 (CCDC26) and at rs498872 (PHLDB1) was associated with younger age at diagnosis (P = 1.4 × 10(-22) and P = 9.5 × 10(-7), respectively). These SNPs are stronger risk factors for oligodendroglial tumors, which tend to occur in younger patients, and their association with age at diagnosis varied across tumor subtypes. In contrast, carrying more risk alleles at rs2736100 (TERT) and at rs6010620 (RTEL1) was associated with older age at diagnosis (P = 6.2 × 10(-4) and P = 2.5 × 10(-4), respectively). These SNPs are risk factors for all glioma grades/histologies, and their association with age at diagnosis was consistent across tumor subgroups.

CONCLUSIONS

Carrying a greater number of risk alleles might be expected to decrease age at diagnosis. However, glioma susceptibility conferred by variation in telomerase-related genes did not follow this pattern. This supports the hypothesis that telomerase-related mechanisms of telomere maintenance are more associated with gliomas that develop later in life than those utilizing telomerase-independent mechanisms (ie, alternative lengthening of telomeres).