6 years. QOL was assessed at 6, 12, and 18 months post-diagnosis, using the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy, Breast (FACT-B+4) questionnaire. Raw scores for the FACT-B+4 and subscales were computed and individuals were categorized according to whether QOL declined, remained stable or improved between 6 and
18 months. Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazards survival methods were used to estimate OS and its associations with QOL. Logistic regression models identified factors associated with QOL decline.
Results: Within FACT-B+4 subscales, between 10% and 23% of women showed declines in QOL. Following adjustment for established prognostic factors, emotional well-being and FACT-B+4 scores at 6 months post-diagnosis were associated with OS (p < 0.05). Declines in physical (p < 0.01) or functional (p = 0.02) well-being this website between 6 and 18 months post-diagnosis were also associated significantly with OS. Receiving multiple forms of adjuvant treatment, a perception of not handling stress well and reporting Nutlin-3 cell line one or more other major life events at 6 months post-diagnosis were factors
associated with declines in QOL in multivariable analyses.
Conclusions: Interventions targeted at preventing QOL declines may ultimately improve quantity as well as quality of life following breast cancer. Copyright (C) 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.”
“The Arabidopsis transcription factor CRABS CLAW (CRC) is a major determinant of carpel growth and fusion, and, in concert with other redundantly acting genes, of floral meristem termination. Its rice ortholog, however, has additional functions in specifying carpel organ identity. We were interested in VX 770 understanding the history of gene function modulation of CRC-like genes during angiosperm evolution. Here, we report the identification and functional characterization of EcCRC, the Californica poppy (Eschscholzia californica) CRC ortholog. The downregulation of EcCRC by virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) produces additional
organ whorls that develop exclusively into gynoecia, resulting in a reiteration of the fourth whorl. Additionally, defects in carpel polarity and ovule initiation are apparent, and the observed phenotype is restricted to the gynoecium. Our results further show that the history of CRC-like genes during angiosperm evolution is characterized by gains of function, independent of duplication processes in this gene subfamily. Moreover, our data indicate that the ancestral angiosperm CRC-like gene was involved in floral meristem termination and the promotion of abaxial cell fate in the gynoecium, and that in the lineage leading to Arabidopsis, additional genes have been recruited to adopt some of these functions, resulting in a high degree of redundancy.