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International audience; We conducted a multicentre test negative case control study to estimate the 2013–14 influenza vaccine effectiveness (IVE) against hospitalised laboratory confirmed influenza in 12 hospitals in France, Italy and Spain. We included all ≥18 years hospitalised patients targeted by local influenza vaccination campaign reporting an influenza-like illness within 7 days before admission. We defined as cases patients RT-PCR positive for influenza and as controls those negative for all influenza virus. We used a logistic regression to calculate IVE adjusted for country, month of onset, chronic diseases and age. We included 104 A(H1N1)pdm09, 157 A(H3N2) cases and 585 controls. The adjusted IVE was 42.8% (95%CI: 6.3;65;0) against A(H1N1)pdm09. It was respectively 61.4% (95%CI: −1.9;85.4), 39.4% (95%CI: −32.2;72.2) and 19.7% (95%CI:-148.1;74.0) among patients aged 18–64, 65–79 and ≥80 years. The adjusted IVE against A(H3N2) was 38.1% (95%CI: 8.3;58.2) overall. It was respectively 7.8% (95%CI: −145.3;65.4), 25.6% (95%CI: −36.0;59.2) and 55.2% (95%CI: 15.4;76.3) among patients aged 18–64, 65–79 and ≥80 years. These results suggest a moderate and age varying effectiveness of the 2013–14 influenza vaccine to prevent hospitalised laboratory-confirmed influenza. While vaccination remains the most effective prevention measure, developing more immunogenic influenza vaccines is needed to prevent severe outcomes among target groups. © 2016 Taylor & Francis.

The presence of IL-1 in human cancers is associated with aggressive tumor biology but its prognostic value is unknown. We studied whether IL-1a expression is a prognostic marker of distant metastasis in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). IL-1a mRNA and protein levels were determined in tumor samples and cancer cell lines using RT-PCR and ELISA. The effects of constitutive IL-1a expression by tumor lines were characterized. IL-1a mRNA and protein secretion were higher in tumor samples from patients who later developed distant metastasis than in patients who did not. By using distant metastasis as a dependent variable, patients were classified into two categories of IL-1a transcript-levels. The high-IL-1a group had a significantly lower five-year distant metastasis-free survival than the low-IL-1a group [70.0% (CI 95%: 55.9-84.1%) vs 94.7% (CI 95%:90.2-99.2%)]. When IL-1a transcript-levels were combined with clinical factors related to tumor metastasis, the predictive power of the model increased significantly. Additionally, transcript levels of IL-1a correlated significantly with those of the IL-1 family genes and genes related to the metastatic process. IL-1 treatment of microvascular endothelial cells increased adhesion of HNSCC cells but no differences were found based on constitutive IL-1a expression by tumor cells. Nevertheless, IL-1a produced by tumor cells effectively increased their transmigration across the endothelium. We found a significant relationship between IL-1a expression and development of distant metastasis in HNSCC patients. IL-1a expression could help to define a subset of patients at high risk of distant metastasis who could benefit from adjuvant treatment.

Background The aim of this study was to evaluate nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-?B) expression as a biologic marker to predict local control in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) treated with radiotherapy or chemoradiotherapy. Methods The mRNA expression levels of the NF-?B family genes were determined with real-time-polymerase chain reaction in 77 patients with HNSCC treated with radiotherapy or chemoradiotherapy. Results The mRNA NF-?B (p65) expression in pretreatment tumors was significantly related to local control (p =.03). The 5-year local recurrence-free survival rate in patients with low-level NF-?B (p65) expression (n = 42) was 79.9%, and in patients with a high level of expression it was 42.1% (p =.001). In a multivariate analysis, the mRNA NF-?B (p65) expression level was the only variable related to local control of the tumor. Conclusion Expression of the NF-?B (p65) gene may be a radiosensitivity marker for patients with a HNSCC. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Objective: Leukotrienes (LT) play a role in inflammation, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer. Although some studies suggest that there are genes that determine variability of some LT-related phenotypes, the genetic influence on these phenotypes has not been evaluated. Methods: The relative contributions of genetic and environmental influences to the 5-lipoxygenase pathway-related phenotypes (5-Lipoxygenase, five lipoxygenase activating protein (FLAP), LTA4-hydrolase and LTC4-synthase expression, and LTB4-plasma concentration and LTB4 production by stimulated whole blood) were assessed in a sample of 934 individuals in 35 extended families. Our design is based on extended families recruited through a probands with idiopathic thrombophilia. This strategy allows us the analysis of the effects of measured covariates (such as sex, age and smoking), genes, and environmental variables shared by members of a household. Results: All of these phenotypes showed significant genetic contributions, with heritabilities ranging from 0.33 to 0.51 for enzyme expression and from 0.25 to 0.50 for LTB4 production of the residual phenotypic variance. Significant phenotypic and genetic correlation among the LT-related traits was found. More importantly, FLAP and LTA4-hydrolase expression exhibit significant genetic correlations with arterial thrombosis, indicating that some of the genes that influence quantitative variation in these phenotypes also influence the risk of thrombosis. Conclusion: This is the first study that quantifies the genetic component of 5-Lipoxygenase pathway phenotypes. The high heritability of these traits and the significant genetic correlations between arterial thrombosis and some of these phenotypes suggest that the exploitation of correlated quantitative phenotypes will aid the search for susceptibility genes. © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd.