Feasibility and patient perception of a web-based exercise program during COVID pandemic in breast and ovarian cancer patients

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Background: Current literature shows us that therapeutic exercise has multiple benefits in oncology patients, such as improvement in quality of life or a reduction in cancer-related fatigue. Furthermore, given the risk of obesity, both exercise and diet play a key role in recovery from cancer. As a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, oncology patients present more difficulties to attend programs as they are considered a risk population, so new online exercise programs should be developed to ensure that patients take advantage of them in the post-COVID era. The main objective was to study patient´s perspectives and the feasibility of a web-based tailored and supervised therapeutic exercise program during COVID pandemic. Methods: A prospective study was performance on patients recruited from the Medical Oncology Unit of the Hospital Virgen de la Victoria, Malaga. Participants were between 18 and 65 years old and diagnosed of early resected breast cancer after finishing chemotherapy (CT) or metastatic ovarian (MOC) or breast cancer (MBC) with or without active treatment. Patients had had a good performance status (PS) with no prior cardiovascular history, and they were excluded if they were not used to online technologies. The duration of the program was 3 months, twice a week, delivered by a physiotherapist and a nutritionist. At the end of the program, women were asked 9 questions about their perspectives on the program. All of them signed informed consent. Results: 17 breast cancer survivor (BCS), 10 MBC and 3 MOC patients were initially recruited. From 30 patients recruited, 5 BCS did not started the program because of clinical contraindication and 5 patients left due to personal issues. 15 out of the remaining 20 completed the survey. All of patients reported that the program had contributed to improve their mood during the pandemic due to issues such functional ability, feeling better or less asthenia, and serving as improvement and encouragement in their lives. 86,7% reported having met their objectives and 100% reported going to continue doing some type of exercise or physical activity on a regular basis after the program is finished. Regarding advantages of online format compared to the face-to-face one, they reported avoiding displacement and lower risk of contagion. Lately, if they could participate again, 50% reported they would prefer online, while the remining 50% would prefer traditional modality. Conclusions: At the light of these results, the tele-exercise program contributed to improve the mood and fatigue of patients during the pandemic. The web-based program seems to be feasible and allow patients to meet their objectives after program completion and encourage them to keep doing some type of physical activity.

Functional status of patients suffering from ovarian cancer: A cross-sectional study

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Background: Physical activity displays multiple benefits in oncology patients, with the strongest evidence related to breast cancer. But there is little information about patient with ovarian cancer, even less in those who are metastatic. The main objective of this study was to assess and describe the performance´s in patients suffering from ovarian cancer in terms of function and cancer-related fatigue (CRF). Methods: Patients willing to join therapeutic exercise program (TEP) were at the Medical Oncology Unit of the Hospital Virgen de la Victoria, Malaga. A physiotherapist carried out an interview and a baseline assessment. The following outcomes were recorded: number of repetitions (n) performed in 30 seconds sit-to-stand test (30-STS), handgrip strength (Kg), cancer related fatigue (CRF) measured by Piper Fatigue Scale (0-10), upper and lower limb function measured by Upper Limb Functional Index (ULFI) and Lower Upper Limb Functional Index (LLFI), respectively (%). Results: Patients recruited had a diagnosed of an advanced ovarian cancer receiving or not active treatment. All participants had a good performance status (PS) and signed informed consent. 8 women were included, with a mean age of 52.66 (9.53) years and a mean BMI of 27.22 (4.56) kg/m2. Women performed 22 (4.24) repetitions of 30-STS test. Handgrip strength was 22 (2.7) Kg and CRF 5.43 (2.91) points. Patients reported 64.81% (34.65) and 66.83% (37.91) in ULFI and LLFI questionnaires, respectively. Conclusions: At the light of these preliminary results, ovarian cancer patients present a good level of function measured by 30-STS and a good grip strength. However, they report a moderate level of CRF and affected upper and lower limbs function. In additions, patients measured had function enough to participate in a therapeutic exercise program. Given the heterogeneity of the sample and its low number of participants, future studies with a wider sample should be carried out.

Effect of tailored and supervised therapeutic exercise in metastatic breast cancer patients: A prospective study

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Background: The safety, feasibility and benefit of physical activity is robust in adjuvant breast cancer, but as far as we know, there is little information on the feasibility and benefit of exercise in women with advanced breast cancer. The objective of our study is to analyze the feasibility and impact on fatigue, quality of life and functionality of an individualized, prospective and supervised exercise program in a group of patients with metastatic breast cancer. Methods: A prospective study on 30 metastatic breast cancer patients who were recruited as volunteers between February 2018 and April 2019 by Medical Oncologists from the Medical Oncology Unit at University Clinical Hospital Virgen de la Victoria (Malaga, Spain). Participants included in this study were patients aged between 34 and 71 years old and all had metastatic breast cancer, not amenable to curative treatment. The intervention was a twelve-week Therapeutic Exercise and Education Programme delivered by a physiotherapist. The intervention was preceded by a physical assessment of the musculoskeletal system. The outcomes were cancer-related fatigue, quality of life and functional outcomes (patient- reported and other measured by investigators). Results: Of the 30 patients initially recruited, only 11 of them completed the program with an attendance greater or equal to 17 sessions (75% of assistance). Most of patients who dropped (19), did it because of personal matters, not related to disease progression. Regarding patients who completed the completion of physical activity program (n = 11), the majority were treated on first line of treatment with hormonal receptors positive tumors and bone metastasis. After the intervention, no major changes were observed in cancer-related fatigue, quality of life and several patients-reported outcomes, although an improvement in functionality was observed, in investigator-measured parameters (30-STS and adapted burpees). Conclusions: Our study shows that a supervised and individualized tailored physical activity program in metastatic breast cancer patients is safe and feasible, although more studies are needed to analyse its impact on improving functional parameters, fatigue and quality of life.

Analysis of the fatigue benefit, functionality, and body composition of a program of therapeutic exercise and healthy lifestyle habits in patients breast cancer operated

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Background: Numerous studies support the benefit of physical exercise in breast cancer, with a lower rate of fatigue, lower risk of recurrence and greater survival. In addition, it prevents cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and obesity. The objective of this work is to analyze the effect of a program of physical exercise and habits of healthy life on fatigue, functionality and body composition in breast cancer patients of the Medical Oncology Unit of the Hospital Virgen de la Victoria, Malaga. Methods: Prospective study on 97 patients with breast cancer after completing locoregional treatment and systemic chemotherapy. Treatment with hormone therapy and trastuzumab was allowed. All patients were without disease, without cardiovascular history that contraindicated the program and have signed the relevant informed consent. The duration of the program was 3 months and the parameter measurement was performed before and after. The main objective was analyze cancer-related fatigue and secondary functional parameters, anthropometric and adherence to Mediterranean diet. Fatigue, parameters functional and adherence to Mediterranean diet were evaluated by tests specific and anthropometric by different measurements including use of Tanita TBF-300A. Results: 97 patients were recruited, with a median age of 52 years (32 and 69), 60% had received neo/adjuvant chemotherapy, 84% hormonal therapy and 12% trastuzumab. Most patients underwent conservative surgery. (76%). After 3 months of intervention, women improved significantly cancer-related fatigue (p = 0.000), levels of diet adherence Mediterranean (p = 0.000), as well as functional parameters. One was observed statistically significant improvement in limb functionality/mobility upper, lower limb and general functionality (p = 0.005, p = 0.013 and 0.000, respectively). No differences were observed in terms of mass index body, fat mass or lean mass. Conclusions: This study shows the benefit in functionality and fatigue of an exercise program therapeutic and healthy lifestyle habits in breast cancer operated patients. Despite a significant increase in adherence to the Mediterranean diet, it is not they observed differences in anthropometric parameters.

Moraxella bovis, Moraxella ovis and Moraxella bovoculi: biofilm formation and lysozyme activity

AIMS

This study aimed to verify the formation of biofilms by Moraxella bovis, Moraxella ovis and Moraxella bovoculi isolates from ruminants. In addition, the lysozyme activity against the isolates of M. bovis, M. ovis and M. bovoculi in free form and in biofilms was determined.

METHODS AND RESULTS

In this study, 54 isolates of Moraxella sp. obtained from bovine and ovine clinical samples were evaluated in vitro for capacity of biofilm formation and lysozyme susceptibility in planktonic and sessile cells. In addition, biofilms produced by four Moraxella sp. isolates were visualized under scanning electron microscope (SEM). It was possible to demonstrate, for the first time, the ability to form biofilms by M. ovis and M. bovoculi. The isolates of Moraxella sp. have the capacity to form biofilms in different intensities, varying among weak, moderate and strong. It was verified that the lysozyme shows activity on Moraxella sp. in planktonic form. However, on biofilms there was a reduction in the production, but without impairing its formation, and on consolidated biofilms the lysozyme did not have the capacity to eradicate the preformed biofilms.

CONCLUSIONS

This work shows the capacity of biofilm formation by Moraxella sp. of veterinary importance. The lysozyme susceptibility of Moraxella sp. in planktonic form shows that this enzyme has bacteriostatic activity on this micro-organism and it reduced the production of biofilms.

SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY

Based on the results, it is possible to infer that the biofilm formation capacity by Moraxella sp. and the resistance to lysozyme concentrations equal to or greater than the physiological levels of the ruminant tear may be linked not only to the capacity to colonize the conjunctiva, but also to remain in this place even after healing of the lesions, being a reservoir of Moraxella sp. in a herd.

Abstract P1-07-08: Mixed ductal-lobular carcinomas of the breast: Abrogated cell adhesion in the clonal evolution from ductal to lobular morphology

Mixed ductal-lobular carcinomas (MDL) display both ductal and lobular morphology, and are a clear example of intratumour morphological heterogeneity. The evolution of MDL carcinomas is not well understood. There is a paucity of data surrounding the genetic origin of the different morphological compartments and it remains to be seen whether the coincident presentation of these distinct morphological entities represents two independent tumours that have collided (so called 'collision tumours'), or whether they arise from a common clone. We propose that clonal progression during the evolution of these tumours is associated with a change in phenotype. To address this, a cohort of 82 MDLs was studied for clinical, morphological and molecular features. Key findings include: i) MDLs more frequently co-exist with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) than lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS); ii) the E-cadherin-catenin complex was recurrently normal in the ductal component but aberrantly localised in the lobular component of the same tumour; iii) E-cadherin deregulation in the lobular component was almost always aberrantly located to the cytoplasm, conversely classic ILCs are typically completely negative for this molecule; iv) epithelial to mesenchymal transition marker expression was not associated with E-cadherin deregulation. Comparative Genomic Hybridsation (CGH) and exome sequencing was performed to investigate clonal relationships between the different intratumour morphologies and identify mechanisms underlying the change in phenotype. Our analysis revealed that i) all morphological components within a case are clonally related; ii) divergence of the morphological components may occur early during tumour evolution (where both DCIS and LCIS are present) or later during tumour progression (cases with only DCIS detectible); and iii) mutations were identified in genes such as CDH1 and ESR1, and other breast cancer driver genes. Together, these data strongly support the concept that the disparate morphological components of these mixed tumours are clonally related, and are not the result of a collision event. Furthermore, we show that lobular morphology can arise via a 'ductal' pathway of tumour progression. The mechanisms driving the change in phenotype are yet to be fully elucidated, but there is significant intertumour heterogeneity and each case may utilise a unique molecular mechanism.

Citation Format: McCart Reed AE, Kutasovic JR, Nones K, da Silva L, Melville L, Jayanthan J, Vargas AC, Reid LE, Saunus JM, Cummings MM, Porter A, Evans E, Waddell N, Lakhani SR, Simpson PT. Mixed ductal-lobular carcinomas of the breast: Abrogated cell adhesion in the clonal evolution from ductal to lobular morphology [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2016 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2016 Dec 6-10; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P1-07-08.

Molecular typing and differences in biofilm formation and antibiotic susceptibilities among Prototheca strains isolated in Italy and Brazil

Bovine mastitis caused by Prototheca is a serious and complex problem that accounts for high economic losses in the dairy industry. The main objective of this study was to identify and characterize at genetic level different Prototheca strains and provide the most complete data about protothecal antibiotic resistance. The study involves 46 isolates from Italian (13 strains) and Brazilian (33 strains) mastitic milk. These strains were identified by multiplex PCR and single strand conformation polymorphism analysis and characterized by randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD)-PCR. Moreover, biofilm production and antibiotic susceptibility were evaluated. Forty-two strains resulted as Prototheca zopfii genotype 2, whereas 4 isolates could belong to a potential new Prototheca species. The RAPD-PCR, performed with 3 primers (M13, OPA-4, and OPA-18), showed a notable heterogeneity among isolates and grouped the strains according to the species and geographical origin. Biofilm production was species-dependent and P. zopfii genotype 2 strains were classified as strong biofilm producers. In vitro antibiotic susceptibility tests indicated that Prototheca strains were susceptible to antibacterial drugs belonging to aminoglycosides group; the highest activity against Prototheca strains was observed in the case of colistin sulfate, gentamicin, and netilmicin (100% of susceptible strains). It is interesting to note that all the Italian P. zopfii genotype 2 strains showed lower minimum inhibitory concentration values than the Brazilian ones. Nisin showed more efficacy than lysozyme and potassium sorbate, inhibiting 31% of the strains. Results obtained in this study confirmed that RAPD-PCR is a rapid, inexpensive, and highly discriminating tool for Prototheca strains characterization and could give a good scientific contribution for better understanding the protothecal mastitis in dairy herd.

Phenotypic and molecular characterization of bovine Campylobacter fetus strains isolated in Brazil

The objective of the present study was to characterize the phenotypic and molecular aspects of Campylobacter fetus strains isolated from bovine herds with reproductive problems. Thirty-one Brazilian field isolates, together with one reference strain of each subspecies of C. fetus, were analyzed. The strains were submitted to phenotypic identification followed by subspecies characterization using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and numeric evaluation of restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) separated by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Phenotypically, 4 isolates (12.1%) were classified as C. fetus subsp. fetus, and 29 isolates (87.9%) were classified as C. fetus subsp. venerealis. However, according to molecular analysis, only 1 isolate (3.0%) was classified as C. fetus subsp. fetus (the reference strain), whereas 32 isolates (97.0%) were considered C. fetus subsp. venerealis. SalI digestion of C. fetus genomic DNA, obtained from the 33 strains, yielded 7-10 DNA fragments ranging in size from 40 to 373kb, with 12 distinct patterns. Furthermore, the numeric analysis by neighbor-joining of the DNA from the 33 strains resulted in a dendrogram in which 2 distinct groups were identified. It was concluded that phenotypic characterization of C. fetus subspecies might lead to erroneous classification of field isolates. Although RFLP-PFGE is a powerful and reliable technique to characterize C. fetus, it has the inconvenience of being time consuming and laborious. Whereas PCR, besides providing rapid results, was found to be reliable and convenient for the characterization of field isolates of C. fetus.