An increasing incidence of testicular cancer has been reported from several countries in the Western world during the last decades. According to current hypothesis, testicular cancer is initiated during the fetal period, and exposure to endocrine disruptors, i.e., xenoestrogens, has been of concern. In this investigation we studied the concentrations of the sum of 38 polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), p,p´-dichlorodiphenyl-dichloroethylene, hexachlorobenzene (HCB), and chlordanes, in 61 cases with testicular cancer and 58 age-matched controls. Furthermore, case and control mothers were also asked to participate, and 44 case mothers and 45 control mothers agreed. They were of similar age. In cases only the concentration on lipid basis of cis-nonachlordane was significantly increased, whereas case mothers showed significantly increased concentrations of the sum of PCBs, HCB, trans-and cis-nonachlordane, and the sum of chlordanes. Among case mothers the sum of PCBs yielded an odds ratio (OR) of 3.8; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.4-10 was calculated using the median concentration for the control mothers as cutoff value. For HCB, OR = 4.4 (95% CI, 1.7-12); for trans-nonachlordane, OR = 4.1 (95% CI, 1.5-11); for cis-nonachlordane, OR = 3.1 (95% CI, 1.2-7.8); and for sum of chlordanes, OR = 1.9 (95% CI, 0.7-5.0). No consistent different risk pattern was found for seminoma or nonseminoma testicular cancer.

Overall, no association between duration of breast-feeding and childhood malignancies was found except for a significantly increased risk for NHL, but this was based on low numbers of cases and needs to be confirmed in other investigations.

An increasing incidence of testicular cancer has been reported from several western countries during the last decades. According to current hypothesis testicular cancer is initiated during the foetal period and exposure to endocrine disruptors such as some persistent organic pollutants has been of concern. We have previously reported the results for concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), p,p'-dichlorodiphenyl-dichloroethylene (pp'-DDE), hexachlorobenzene (HCB) and chlordanes in 58 cases with testicular cancer, 61 age-matched controls and 44 case mothers and 45 control mothers. In that report, significant increase of odds ratio (OR) was found for sum of PCBs, HCB, trans- and cis-nonachlordane in case mothers. These data have now been further analysed for 37 congeners of PCBs. No significant differences were found among cases and controls. However, case mothers had significantly increased concentrations of a number of PCB congeners. A priori decided grouping of PCBs yielded for oestrogenic PCBs OR = 2.4, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.95-6.0, enzyme-inducing PCBsOR = 2.6, 95% CI = 1.03-6.5 and toxic equivalents (TEQ) yielded OR = 3.3, 95% CI = 1.3-8.4. These data further elucidate the role of foetal exposure to different PCB congeners in the aetiology of testicular cancer.

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IMPORTANCE Trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) is presently approved for treatment of advanced breast cancer and after incomplete response to neoadjuvant therapy, but the potential of T-DM1 as monotherapy is so far unknown.OBJECTIVE To assess pathologic complete response (pCR) to standard neoadjuvant therapy of combination docetaxel, trastuzumab, and pertuzumab (DTP) vs T-DM1 monotherapy in patients with ERBB2 (formerly HER2)-positive breast cancer. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTSThis randomized phase 2 trial, conducted at 9 sites in Sweden, enrolled 202 patients between December 1, 2014, and October 31, 2018. Participants were 18 years or older, with ERBB2-positive tumors larger than 20 mm and/or verified lymph node metastases. Analysis was performed on an intention-to-treat basis.INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomized to receive 6 cycles of DTP (standard group) or T-DM1 (investigational group). Crossover was recommended at lack of response or occurrence of intolerable toxic effects. Assessment with fluorine 18-labeled fluorodeoxyglucose ( 18 F-FDG) positron emission tomography combined with computed tomography (PET-CT) was performed at baseline and after 2 and 6 treatment cycles.MAIN OUTCOME AND MEASURES Pathologic complete response, defined as ypT0 or Tis ypN0. Secondary end points were clinical and radiologic objective response; event-free survival, invasive disease-free survival, distant disease-free survival, and overall survival; safety; health-related quality of life (HRQoL); functional and biological tumor characteristics; and frequency of breast-conserving surgery. RESULTSOverall, 202 patients were randomized; 197 (99 women in the standard group [median age, 51 years (range, 26-73 years)] and 98 women in the investigational group [median age, 53 years (range, 28-74 years)]) were evaluable for the primary end point. Pathologic complete response was achieved in 45 patients in the standard group (45.5%; 95% CI 35.4%-55.8%) and 43 patients in the investigational group (43.9%; 95% CI 33.9%-54.3%). The difference was not statistically significant (P = .82). In a subgroup analysis, the pCR rate was higher in hormone receptor-negative tumors than in hormone receptor-positive tumors in both treatment groups (45 of 72 [62.5%] vs 45 of 125 [36.0%]). Three patients in the T-DM1 group experienced progression during therapy. In an exploratory analysis, tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes at 10% or more (median) estimated pCR significantly (odds ratio, 2.76; 95% CI, 1.42-5.36; P = .003). Response evaluation with 18 F-FDG PET-CT revealed a relative decrease of maximum standardized uptake value by equal to or greater than 68.7% (median) was associated with pCR (odds ratio, 6.74, 95% CI, 2.75-16.51; P < .001). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCEIn this study, treatment with standard neoadjuvant combination DTP was equal to T-DM1.