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Aim: Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists are used to treat men with prostate cancer (PCa). To date, no study has fully assessed patterns of adherence to GnRH agonists. We investigated patterns of adherence to GnRH agonists using data from Prostate Cancer data Base Sweden (PCBaSe). Methods: PCBaSe links the National Prostate Cancer Register (NPCR) Sweden to other healthcare registers and demographic databases. Men on primary or secondary GnRH agonists between 2006–2013 entered the study 45 days after GnRH agonists' initiation (run-in period) and exited at 3 years. Medication possession ratio quantified adherents (≥80%). Multivariable logistic regression models included age, injection interval, PCa risk categories, Charlson Comorbidity Index, prior PCa treatment, civil status and year of GnRH initiation. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) expressed odds of adherence. Results: Men on primary GnRH agonists (n = 8,105) were more adherent with increasing age (75–84 years compared to ≤65 years OR: 1.49; 95% CI: 1.23–1.81), longer injection intervals (365 days compared to 90 days OR: 3.29; 95% CI: 2.52–4.30) and higher PCa risk categories at diagnosis (distant metastasis compared to low risk PCa OR: 3.56; 95% CI: 2.54–5.00). Men on secondary GnRH agonists (n = 4,738) were more adherent with increasing age (≥85 years compared to ≤65 years OR: 1.65; 95% CI: 1.23–2.22) and prior PCa treatment (anti-androgens compared to deferred treatment OR: 1.50; 95% CI: 1.23–1.82), (radiotherapy compared to deferred treatment OR: 1.35; 95% CI: 1.11–1.64). Conclusions: Longer injection intervals could be addressed in the clinical setting to improve adherence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on a study which investigated the benefits of prostate cancer screening on an individual level. A total of 43,987 men, aged 55-74 years, were recruited between 1993 and 1999 for the intervention arm of the European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC) section in the Netherlands, Sweden and Finland, while a total of 42,503 men, aged 55-74 years, were recruited for a clinical population in Northern Ireland. The findings of the study are presented and discussed in detail.

Abstract: Background: The risk of suicide is increased among cancer patients including men with prostate cancer (PCa). However, whether this increased risk applies to men diagnosed subsequent to prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing is not known. Objective: To assess the risk of suicide among men diagnosed with PCa subsequent to PSA testing. Design, setting, and participants: The Prostate Cancer Base Sweden (PCBaSe Sweden) database, the Swedish Cause of Death Register, and the Swedish census database were used. The PCBaSe Sweden is a merged database that includes data from the Swedish National Prostate Cancer Register (NPCR) for cases diagnosed between January 1, 1997, and December 31, 2006. The number of suicides registered for cases in the PCBaSe cohort was compared with the expected number of suicides in an age-matched general male Swedish population. Measurements: Standardised mortality ratios (SMRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated for different categories of cases. Results and limitations: There were 128 suicides among the 77 439 PCa cases in the NPCR compared with an expected number of 85 (SMR: 1.5; 95% CI, 1.3–1.8). The risk of suicide was not increased for the 22 405 men with PSA-detected T1c tumours (SMR: 1.0; 95% CI, 0.6–1.5), whereas the 22 929 men with locally advanced nonmetastatic tumours (SMR: 2.2; 95% CI, 1.6–2.9) and the 8350 men with distant metastases (SMR: 2.1; 95% CI, 1.2–3.6) had statistically significant increased SMRs for suicide. Potential effects of comorbid medical and psychiatric conditions could not be investigated. Conclusions: No increased risk of committing suicide was observed among men with PCa diagnosed subsequent to PSA testing, whereas the risk was twice as high among men with locally advanced or metastatic disease, compared with an age-matched male population. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In a national register-based study of incidence trends and mortality of incidental prostate cancer in Sweden, we found that a significant proportion (26.6%) of affected men diagnosed died of their disease, which challenges earlier descriptions of incidental prostate cancer as a non-lethal disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objectives: The aims were to assess the initial symptoms of penile carcinoma and patients’ time frame in treatment seeking, and to describe the effect of laser treatment on sexual activity and life satisfaction. Patients and methods: A retrospective face-to-face structured interview study of patients laser treated for localised penile carcinoma at the department of Urology in Örebro, Sweden, during 1986 to 2000. Sixty-seven was treated and 58 of them (mean age, 63 yr; range, 34–90) were alive at the time of this study. Forty-six (79%) agreed to participate. Results: Ninety-six percent of the patients recalled their first symptom of penile carcinoma. Superficial ulceration and fissures were the most common symptoms (39%). Thirty-seven percent delayed seeking treatment for more than 6 mo. The patients had a greater lifetime number of sexual partners and a greater lifetime prevalence of STIs than a Swedish representative comparator population. Some aspects of sexual life, such as manual stimulation/caressing and fellatio, decreased markedly after laser treatment. Patient satisfaction with life as a whole was approximately the same as that of the general population. Conclusions: Patients delayed seeking treatment for a considerable period, despite awareness of the first local symptoms. Men with laser-treated localised penile carcinoma resume their sexual activities to a large extent after the treatment. Except for satisfaction with somatic health, similar—or even higher—proportions of patients than comparators are satisfied with life as a whole and with other domains of life including satisfaction with sexual life. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article presents the summary result of Shared Occupational Risks for Transitional Cell Cancer of the Bladder and Renal Pelvis among Men and Women in Sweden in the year 1971-1989. Research in cancer sites shows that among occupational categories, shop and construction metal work causes high risk proportion of bladder (12%) and renal pelvis (14%) cancers among men and women. Two tables of gathered information of employed Swedish residents show that there were 1,014 and 360 renal pelvis cancers and 18,244 and 3,347 bladder cancers among men and women.

Investigators have reported an inverse association between coffee consumption and risk of colorectal cancer in several case-control studies, but prospective studies, most of them involving small numbers of cases, have not supported such a relation. In this analysis, the authors prospectively examined the association of coffee consumption with colorectal cancer risk among participants from two population-based cohort studies: 61,433 women in the Swedish Mammography Cohort and 45,306 men in the Cohort of Swedish Men. Information about coffee consumption was obtained from food frequency questionnaires in 1987–1990 and 1997 for women and in 1997 for men. The authors used Cox proportional hazards modeling for cohort-specific multivariate analyses, and results were pooled using random-effects models. During 1,240,597 person-years of follow-up, 1,279 incident cases of colorectal cancer were diagnosed. Coffee consumption was not associated with risk of colorectal cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer in either women or men. For both cohorts combined, the multivariate rate ratio for colorectal cancer for each additional cup of coffee per day was 1.00 (95% confidence interval: 0.97, 1.04). The associations were not modified by colorectal cancer risk factors. The findings from these two large prospective cohort studies do not support the hypothesis that coffee consumption lowers the risk of colorectal cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]