Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37114140›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in oncology2023

Prognostic role of plasma vitamin D and its association with disease characteristics in germ cell tumours.

Peter Lesko, Barbora Vlkova, Katarina Kalavska, Valentina De Angelis, Vera Novotna, Jana Obertova, Zuzana Orszaghova, Patrik Palacka, Katarina Rejlekova, Zuzana Sycova-Mila and 7 more

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in oncology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
1.0field-weighted citation impact, top 26% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 3 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Exploring the microbiome-gut-testis axis in testicular germ cell tumors.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2024
    Review
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

17 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Peter Lesko2nd Department of Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University and National Cancer Institute, Bratislava, Slovakia.
Barbora VlkovaInstitute of Molecular Biomedicine, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia.
Katarina KalavskaTranslation Research Unit, Comenius University, National Cancer Institute, Bratislava, Slovakia.
Valentina De Angelis2nd Department of Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University and National Cancer Institute, Bratislava, Slovakia.
Vera Novotna1st Department of Oncology, Faculty of Medicine Comenius University (FMCU) and St. Elizabeth Cancer Institute, Bratislava, Slovakia.
Jana Obertova2nd Department of Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University and National Cancer Institute, Bratislava, Slovakia.
Zuzana Orszaghova2nd Department of Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University and National Cancer Institute, Bratislava, Slovakia.
Patrik Palacka2nd Department of Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University and National Cancer Institute, Bratislava, Slovakia.
Katarina Rejlekova2nd Department of Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University and National Cancer Institute, Bratislava, Slovakia.
Zuzana Sycova-Mila2nd Department of Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University and National Cancer Institute, Bratislava, Slovakia.
Boris Kollarik2nd Department of Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University and National Cancer Institute, Bratislava, Slovakia.
Ramadan AziriDepartment of Surgical Oncology, National Institute for Oncology, Bratislava, Slovakia.
Daniel PindakDepartment of Surgical Oncology, National Institute for Oncology, Bratislava, Slovakia.
Jozef Mardiak2nd Department of Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University and National Cancer Institute, Bratislava, Slovakia.
Michal Chovanec2nd Department of Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University and National Cancer Institute, Bratislava, Slovakia.
Peter CelecInstitute of Molecular Biomedicine, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia.
Michal MegoTranslation Research Unit, Comenius University, National Cancer Institute, Bratislava, Slovakia.
Comenius University Bratislava · SK

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Testicular cancer is the most common malignancy among young men. Vitamin D has pluripotent effects on cancer pathogenesis and plays a role in the metastatic cascade. The aim of this study is to analyze plasma vitamin D in association with clinico-pathological findings and prognosis in patients with germ-cell tumors (GCTs). Methods: This study included 120 newly diagnosed and/or relapsed GCT patients treated from April 2013 to July 2020, for whom plasma was available in the biobank. Blood samples were drawn the 1st chemotherapy cycle as well as before the 2nd cycle. Plasma vitamin D was measured using ELISA and correlated with disease characteristics and the outcome. For survival analysis, the cohort was dichotomized into "low" and "high" based on median vitamin D. Results: There was no significant difference in vitamin D plasma levels between healthy donors and GCT patients (p = 0.71). Vitamin D level was not associated with disease characteristics except for brain metastases, where patients with brain metastases had a vitamin D level that was 32% lower compared to patients without brain metastases, p = 0.03. Vitamin D was also associated with response to chemotherapy, with an approximately 32% lower value in patients with an unfavorable response compared to a favorable response, p = 0.02. Moreover, low plasma levels of vitamin D were significantly associated with disease recurrence and inferior progression-free survival (PFS), but not with overall survival (OS) (HR = 3.02, 95% CI 1.36-6.71, p = 0.01 for PFS and HR = 2.06, 95% CI 0.84-5.06, p = 0.14 for OS, respectively). Conclusion: Our study suggests the prognostic value of pretreatment vitamin D concentrations in GCT patients. Low plasma vitamin D was associated with an unfavorable response to therapy and disease recurrence. However, it remains to be determined whether the biology of the disease confirms a causative role for low vitamin D and whether its supplementation affects the outcome.

Indexed as

cholecalciferolgerm cell tumoroverall survivalprognostic biomarkerprogression-free survival

Identifiers

PMID37114140
PMCPMC10126247
OpenAlexW4363648886

What Socratic holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.