No abstract

Cancer appears to be inversely associated with both Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. The relationship between cancer and sporadic motor neuron disease (SMND), however, remains uncertain. Most previous cancer-SMND studies have been undertaken in northern hemisphere populations. We therefore undertook a case-control study to see if a link between cancer and SMND exists in an Australian population. A questionnaire was used to compare past cancer diagnoses in 739 SMND patients and 622 controls, recruited across Australia. Odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals were calculated to look for associations between cancer and SMND. A history of cancer was not associated either positively or negatively with a risk of subsequent SMND. This result remained when age, gender, smoking status, and the four SMND diagnostic subgroups were taken into account. No association was observed between SMND and specific tumours, including melanoma, a common malignancy in Australia. In conclusion, this Australian case-control study does not support an association between a past history of cancer and the development of SMND. This suggests that some pathogenetic mechanisms, such as apoptosis, are less relevant in SMND than in other neurodegenerative diseases where negative associations with cancer have been found.

No abstract

Anti-double stranded DNA (dsDNA) antibodies are examined in cases of suspected systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) as an aid to diagnosis, classification and response to treatment. We examined anti-dsDNA results submitted between 2017 and 2021 for the RCPAQAP's programs. Of the 40 survey cycles reviewed, 35 (87.5%) had donor history available and 15 (38.5%) of these were unable to set qualitative targets. Furthermore, this variable reporting was observed both within and between method groups. Four (16%) surveys with consensus qualitative reporting also displayed variable performance between methods, suggesting discrepancies in assay specificity and/or sensitivity. The majority (93.3%) of surveys with variable results were derived from patients on immunosuppression (prednisone, mycophenolate). Of these donors, nine (60%) were currently being administered combination therapy, while six (40%) were on a single agent at sample collection. Immunosuppressive therapy was less frequent in surveys with consensus reporting. Ten (40%) surveys were obtained from donors undergoing treatment; nine (36%) were from donors on combination therapy, and one (4%) on a single agent. Taken together, our results suggest anti-dsDNA antibody assays are most useful for SLE diagnosis, but are less reliable and robust for long-term disease monitoring.