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Registration for on-site participation is now open The Summit ventolin price will take place on 16-18 October 2022 in Berlin, Germany. Participants will focus on “Making the Choice for Health” by reflecting on pressing topics such as Investment for Health and Well-Being, Climate Change and Planetary Health, Architecture for ventolin Preparedness, Digital Transformation for Health, Food Systems and Health, Health Systems Resilience and Equity, and Global Health for Peace. See more information about the programme and the confirmed speakers hereWHS 2022 is a milestone in a long-term collaboration, as WHO has been a strategic partner of the World Health Summit since its start. WHS 2022 aims to strengthen exchange, stimulate innovative solutions to health challenges, foster global health as a key political issue and promote the global health debate in the spirit of ventolin price the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

SDG 17 “Partnership for the Goals”For more information, visit. Https://www.worldhealthsummit.org For media inquiries, follow. Https://www.worldhealthsummit.org/whs-2022/media-center.html More information available hereThe WHO Director-General has the pleasure of transmitting the Report of the Meeting of the International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR) Emergency Committee regarding the multi-country ventolin price monkeypox outbreak, held on 23 June 2022, from 12:00 to 17:00 Geneva time (CEST). The WHO Director-General concurs with the advice offered by the IHR Emergency Committee regarding the multi-country monkeypox outbreak and, at present, does not determine that the event constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC).

Since 11 May 2022, the WHO Secretariat alerted the States Parties to the IHR in relation to this event, through postings on the Event Information Site (a secured platform established by the WHO Secretariat for information sharing with States Parties to the IHR). These postings aimed to raise awareness about the extent of the outbreak, inform readiness efforts, and provide access to technical guidance for immediate public health actions recommended by the WHO Secretariat.Convening an IHR Emergency Committee signals an escalation of the level of alert for States Parties ventolin price to the IHR and the international public health community, and it represents a call for intensified public health actions in response to this event. The WHO Director-General is taking the opportunity to express his most sincere gratitude to the Chair, Vice-Chair, and Members of the IHR Emergency Committee, as well as to its Advisers.Proceedings of the meetingMembers of and Advisers to the Emergency Committee were convened in person (Chair and Vice-Chair) and by teleconference, via Zoom.The WHO Secretariat welcomed the participants. The Representative of the Office of Legal Counsel briefed the Members and Advisers on their roles and responsibilities and identified the mandate of the Emergency Committee under the relevant articles of the IHR.

The Ethics Officer from the Department ventolin price of Compliance, Risk Management, and Ethics provided the Members and Advisers with an overview of the WHO Declaration of Interests process. The Members and Advisers were made aware of their individual responsibility to disclose to WHO, in a timely manner, any interests of a personal, professional, financial, intellectual or commercial nature that may give rise to a perceived or actual conflict of interest. They were additionally reminded of their duty to maintain the confidentiality of the meeting discussions and the work of the Committee. Each Member and Adviser was surveyed ventolin price.

No conflicts of interest were identified. The Principal Legal Officer then facilitated the election of officers of the Committee, in accordance with the rules of procedures and working methods of the Emergency Committee. Dr Jean-Marie Okwo-Bele was elected as Chair of the Committee, ventolin price Professor Nicola Low as Vice-Chair, and Dr Inger Damon as Rapporteur, all by acclamation. The meeting was handed over to the Chair who introduced the objectives of the meeting.

To provide views to the WHO Director-General on whether the event constitutes a public health emergency of international concern, and if so, to provide views on potential temporary recommendations. Presentations The WHO Director-General joined by video and welcomed the ventolin price participants, welcoming the Committee’s advice on the event. The WHO Secretariat presented the global epidemiological situation, highlighting that since the beginning of May 2022, 3040 cases have been reported to WHO from 47 countries. Transmission is occurring in many countries that have not previously reported cases of monkeypox, and the highest numbers of cases are currently reported from countries in the WHO European Region.

Initial cases of monkeypox, detected in several countries in different WHO Regions, had no epidemiological links to areas that have historically reported ventolin price monkeypox, suggesting that undetected transmission might have been ongoing for some time in those countries. The majority of confirmed cases of monkeypox are male and most of these cases occur among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men in urban areas and are clustered social and sexual networks.The clinical presentation is often atypical, with few lesions localized to the genital, perineal/perianal or peri-oral area that do not spread further, and an asynchronous rash that appears prior to the development of a prodromal phase (i.e. Lymphadenopathy, fever, malaise). There have been few hospitalizations to date, and one death in an immunocompromised individual was ventolin price reported.

Some preliminary research has estimated that the reproduction number (R0) to be 0.8 and, among cases who identify as men who have sex with men, to be greater than 1. The mean incubation period among cases reported is estimated at 8.5 days, ranging from 4.2 to 17.3 days (based on 18 cases in Netherlands). The mean serial interval is ventolin price estimated at 9.8 days (95% CI 5.9-21.4 day, based on 17 case-contact pairs in the United Kingdom). To date, 10 cases of have been reported among health care workers, of which at least nine were non-occupational.Representatives of Canada, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom updated the Committee on the epidemiological situation in their countries and the current response efforts.

The WHO Secretariat then presented the draft “WHO Strategic Plan for the Containment of the Multi-Country Monkeypox Outbreak.” The plan emphasized that a strengthened, agile, and collaborative approach must be adopted, with a particular focus on raising awareness and empowering affected population groups to adopt safe behaviors and protective measures based on the risks they face, and on stopping further spread of monkeypox within those population groups. The WHO Secretariat also presented their ventolin price technical guidance, offered to countries in support of their efforts in responding to this event, and revolving around. Enhanced surveillance. Isolation of cases.

Contact identification and monitoring ventolin price. Strengthened laboratory and diagnostic capacities. Clinical management and prevention and control measures within health care and community settings, including care pathways. Engagement with affected population ventolin price groups and effective communication to avoid stigmatization.

Robust care pathways, including the use of medical countermeasures under collaborative research frameworks, using standardized data collection tools to rapidly increase evidence generation on efficacy and safety of these products. Deliberative session Following the presentations session, the Committee reconvened in a closed meeting to examine the questions in relation to whether the event constitutes a PHEIC or not, and if so, to consider the Temporary Recommendations, drafted by the WHO Secretariat in accordance with IHR provisions. At the request of ventolin price the Chair, the WHO Secretariat reminded the Committee Members of their mandate and recalled the definition of a PHEIC under the IHR. An extraordinary event, which constitutes a public health risk to other States through international transmission, and which potentially requires a coordinated international response.

The Committee discussed key issues related to the outbreak, including. Current observations of plateauing or potential downward ventolin price trends in case numbers in some of the countries experiencing outbreak early on. The need for further understanding of transmission dynamics. The challenges related to contact tracing, particularly because of anonymous contacts, and potential links to international gatherings and LGBTQI+ Pride events conducive for increased opportunities for exposure through intimate sexual encounters.

The need for continuous evaluation of interventions that appear to have ventolin price had an impact on transmission. The identification of key activities for risk communications and community engagement, working in close partnership with affected communities to raise awareness about personal protective measures and behaviours during upcoming events and gatherings. The need to evaluate the impact of different interventions, including the evaluation of vaccination strategies implemented by certain countries in response to the outbreak, and the availability and equity in access and licensing of medical countermeasures. The Committee was concerned about the potential for exacerbation of the stigmatization and infringement of human rights, including the rights to privacy, non-discrimination, physical ventolin price and mental health, of affected population groups, which would further impede response efforts.

Additionally, for the protection of public health, some Members of the Committee expressed the views that laws, policies and practices that criminalize or stigmatize consensual same-sex behaviour by state or non-state actors create barriers to accessing health services and may also hamper response interventions.Additional knowledge gaps and areas of uncertainty, for which more information is needed rapidly to support a more comprehensive assessment of the public health risk of this event, include. Transmission modes. Full spectrum ventolin price of clinical presentation. Infectious period.

Reservoir species and potential for reverse zoonoses. The possibility ventolin price of ventolin. And access to treatments and antivirals and their efficacy in humans.The Committee recognized that monkeypox is endemic in parts of Africa, where it has been noted to cause disease, including fatalities, for decades, and that the response to this outbreak must serve as a catalyst to increase efforts to address monkeypox in the longer term and access to essential supplies worldwide. Conclusions and adviceThe Committee noted that many aspects of the current multi-country outbreak are unusual, such as the occurrence of cases in countries where monkeypox ventolin circulation had not been previously documented, and the fact that the vast majority of cases is observed among men who have sex with men, of young age, not previously immunized against smallpox (knowing that vaccination against smallpox is effective in protecting against monkeypox as well).

Some Members suggested that, given the low level of population immunity against pox ventolin , there ventolin price is a risk of further, sustained transmission into the wider population that should not be overlooked. The Committee also stressed that monkeypox ventolin activity has been neglected and not well controlled for years in countries in the WHO African Region. The Committee also noted that the response to the outbreak requires collaborative international efforts, and that such response activities have already started in a number of high-income countries experiencing outbreaks, although there has been insufficient time to have evaluated the effectiveness of these activities.While a few Members expressed differing views, the committee resolved by consensus to advise the WHO Director-General that at this stage the outbreak should be determined to not constitute a PHEIC. However, the Committee unanimously acknowledged the emergency nature of the event and that controlling the further spread of outbreak requires ventolin price intense response efforts.

The Committee advised that the event should be closely monitored and reviewed after a few weeks, once more information about the current unknowns becomes available, to determine if significant changes have occurred that may warrant a reconsideration of their advice. The Committee considered that the occurrence of one or more of the following should prompt a re-assessment of the event. Evidence of an increase in the rate of growth of cases reported in the next 21 days, ventolin price both among and beyond the population groups currently affected. Occurrence of cases among sex workers.

Evidence of significant spread to and within additional countries, or significant increases in number of cases and spread in endemic countries.

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Gardens, playgrounds, family rooms and accommodation for carers are among the highlights of a major expansion being delivered as part of the $619 million Stage 2 redevelopment at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead.New fly-through video released today showcases the world-class clinical areas ventolin 2 within the new state-of-the-art Paediatric Services building which has Visit This Link been designed to create a homelike and supportive environment for treatment and recovery. Premier Dominic Perrottet said the redevelopment will deliver new and expanded critical health care facilities as part of the NSW Government’s record investment in our health system.“The Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network is the largest provider of paediatric health services in Australia, and this redevelopment will deliver the best paediatric healthcare in the country,” Mr Perrottet said.“This is a once-in-a-generation project that will strengthen our frontline services by delivering world-class healthcare facilities and services for families to provide them with the care and support when they need it most.”Minister for Health Brad Hazzard said the major expansion at Westmead, alongside redevelopments at the Sydney’s Children’s Hospital at Randwick, is part of a record investment of more than $1.3 billion in paediatric healthcare across the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network.“Due for completion in 2025, the new state-of-the-art paediatric hospital for Western Sydney will consolidate the state’s most critical paediatric services including intensive care, surgical, medical and cancer care and provide the latest facilities for child and adolescent health,” Mr Hazzard said.“Patients, families, staff and community have been involved at every ventolin 2 stage of the planning to ensure these facilities support patient wellbeing, enable new models of care, and provide modern working environments for our staff to accommodate current and emerging treatments and technology.”The new Paediatric Services Building, which will provide new and expanded critical care and acute healthcare services including. Neonatal Intensive Care UnitPaediatric Intensive Care UnitCancer servicesOperating theatresCardiac catheterisation and interventional laboratoriesPharmacyInpatient units The redevelopment also features a revitalised forecourt and playground called KIDSPARK to welcome families, an Aboriginal Meeting Place, village green, and enhanced retail offerings to improve the experience for patients, families and staff at the hospital.Roberts Co has been awarded the contract to build the Paediatric ventolin 2 Services Building with work set to begin later this year.

To address the growth in healthcare services at Westmead, ventolin 2 a new multi-storey car park is also being delivered as part of the project which will provide almost 1,000 car parking spaces.The new hospital car park will be the first in NSW to feature solar panels on the façade and roof, generating around 600kW of renewable energy to reduce carbon emissions and general power at the hospital.Australian-owned business Kane Constructions has been awarded the contract to build the new carpark. Early work is under way ventolin 2 with work expected to be completed in 2023. The $619 million Stage 2 Redevelopment of The Children’s Hospital at Westmead follows the Stage 1 investment into the Westmead Redevelopment which included a new children's Emergency Department, Short Stay Unit and operating ventolin 2 theatres located in Block K (Central Acute Services Building) of Westmead Hospital.

A further $658 million has been committed to the redevelopment of the Sydney Children’s Hospital Stage 1 and Children’s Comprehensive Cancer Centre at Randwick.The investments into Westmead and Randwick are part of the NSW Government’s record $10.8 billion ventolin 2 investment in health infrastructure to 2024-25. Since 2011, more than 170 health capital works projects have been completed, with more than 110 currently underway.More information can be found at The Children's Hospital at Westmead - Stage 2 Redevelopment.Artist’s impressions and flythrough are available..

Gardens, playgrounds, family rooms ventolin price and accommodation for carers are among the highlights of a major expansion being delivered as part of the $619 million Stage 2 redevelopment at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead.New fly-through video released today showcases the world-class clinical areas within the new state-of-the-art Paediatric Services building which has been designed to create a homelike and supportive environment for treatment and recovery. Premier Dominic Perrottet said the redevelopment will deliver new and expanded critical health care facilities as part of the NSW Government’s record investment in our health system.“The Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network is the largest provider of paediatric health services in Australia, and this redevelopment will deliver the best paediatric healthcare in the country,” Mr Perrottet said.“This is a once-in-a-generation project that will strengthen our frontline services by delivering world-class healthcare facilities and services for families to provide them with the care and support when they need it most.”Minister for Health Brad Hazzard said the major expansion at Westmead, alongside redevelopments at the Sydney’s Children’s Hospital at Randwick, is part of a record investment of more than $1.3 billion in paediatric healthcare across ventolin price the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network.“Due for completion in 2025, the new state-of-the-art paediatric hospital for Western Sydney will consolidate the state’s most critical paediatric services including intensive care, surgical, medical and cancer care and provide the latest facilities for child and adolescent health,” Mr Hazzard said.“Patients, families, staff and community have been involved at every stage of the planning to ensure these facilities support patient wellbeing, enable new models of care, and provide modern working environments for our staff to accommodate current and emerging treatments and technology.”The new Paediatric Services Building, which will provide new and expanded critical care and acute healthcare services including. Neonatal Intensive Care UnitPaediatric Intensive Care UnitCancer ventolin price servicesOperating theatresCardiac catheterisation and interventional laboratoriesPharmacyInpatient units The redevelopment also features a revitalised forecourt and playground called KIDSPARK to welcome families, an Aboriginal Meeting Place, village green, and enhanced retail offerings to improve the experience for patients, families and staff at the hospital.Roberts Co has been awarded the contract to build the Paediatric Services Building with work set to begin later this year. To address the growth in healthcare services at Westmead, a new multi-storey car park is also being delivered as part of the project which will provide almost 1,000 car parking spaces.The new hospital car park will be the first in NSW to feature solar ventolin price panels on the façade and roof, generating around 600kW of renewable energy to reduce carbon emissions and general power at the hospital.Australian-owned business Kane Constructions has been awarded the contract to build the new carpark. Early work is under way ventolin price with work expected to be completed in 2023.

The $619 million Stage 2 Redevelopment of The Children’s Hospital at Westmead follows the Stage 1 investment into the Westmead Redevelopment which included a new children's Emergency Department, Short Stay Unit and operating theatres located in Block K ventolin price (Central Acute Services Building) of Westmead Hospital. A further $658 million has been committed to the redevelopment of the Sydney Children’s Hospital Stage 1 and Children’s Comprehensive Cancer Centre at Randwick.The investments into Westmead and Randwick are part of the NSW Government’s ventolin price record $10.8 billion investment in health infrastructure to 2024-25. Since 2011, more than 170 health capital works projects have been completed, with more than 110 currently underway.More information can be found at The Children's Hospital at Westmead - Stage 2 Redevelopment.Artist’s impressions and flythrough are available..

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Ventolin how long does it take to work

Choice is probably one of the most often discussed areas in ventolin how long does it take to work bioethics, alongside the related concepts of informed consent and autonomy. It is generally, ventolin how long does it take to work prima facie, portrayed as a good thing. In healthcare, the 2000s saw the UK Prime Minister Tony Blair pursue the ‘Choice Agenda’ where, ‘As capacity expands, so choice ventolin how long does it take to work will grow. Choice will fundamentally change the balance of power in the NHS.’1 In a consumerist society giving consumers more choice is seen as desirable. However, choice is not a good in itself, giving people more choice ventolin how long does it take to work in certain situations can be problematic.

I.e. Consumerism drives economic growth and this has a detrimental effect on the environment. And increasing the range of choices a patient is offered is often not the best way to improve the quality of healthcare provision.2 The assumptions behind the valuing of choice need careful unpacking and this Issue of the Journal of Medical Ethics includes papers that explore choice in a number of areas.This Issue's Editor’s choice is Tom Walker’s ‘The Value of Choice’,3 which puts forward a suggestion for the importance of the symbolic value of choice. There are a number of ways of categorising the value of choice in healthcare. One account sees choice as valuable because it is by choosing that individuals make their life their own.

Another account sees choice as valuable for instrumental reasons, people are generally, assuming they are sufficiently informed, the best judge of their own best interests. Walker argues for an additional third reason, the symbolic value of choice, originally proposed by Scanlon. This sees choice as valuable because being given the option to choose, whether or not one takes it up, not the act of choosing is what makes choice valuable. Being offered the option to choose has a ‘communicative role’ in that it communicates that the person has standing and, for certain types of choice, being denied the opportunity to choose, ‘can be both demeaning and stigmatising.’ Walker states that denying someone the opportunity to choose in certain circumstances does not communicate anything untoward, and he goes to explore how we might determine when not allowing someone a choice would be demeaning. Here he stresses the importance of context in making this determination, it is not fixed by the features of a patient, but what being ‘allowed’ or ‘denied’ the opportunity to make a choice reveals about the healthcare professional’s view of the patient.

€˜It communicates that they either see those patients as competent and equal members of society, or that they do not.’ Denying a patient the opportunity to choose an ineffective treatment, for example, does not communicate a negative judgement. Walker says his account, ‘is intended to supplement existing accounts, not replace them. Because choice is valuable for more than one reason no single account can capture everything that matters.’The importance of pointing to the context of the choice is highlighted in Walker’s paper and it is only through careful examination of the context of that offering that we can determine if, in fact, this is an area where choice should be offered and to whom. Such an examination is carried out in Cameron Beattie’s paper,4 which considers the High Court review of service provision at the youth-focussed gender identity Tavistock Clinic. Beattie disagrees with the High Court’s view that it is ’highly unlikely’ that under-13s, and ’doubtful’ that 14–15 years old, can be competent to consent to puberty blocker therapy for gender dysphoria.

Beattie argues that having puberty blocker therapy is a choice that minors should be given the opportunity to make. In principle, children of that age could be competent to make the decision and that the decision is no more complex than other medical decisions that Gillick competence has conventionally been applied to. Children of this age fall into what Walker calls a ‘transitional’ group, ‘Of particular importance here is the extent to which societal features mean members of some groups find it particularly hard to be recognised as competent and equal members of society. That includes members of groups subject to discrimination….It also includes those who are in what we might call transitional groups such as teenagers struggling to be recognised as competent.’ In the case of denying puberty blockers, the symbolic value of choice is clear.The paper by Zeljka Buturovic5 examines the debate over young childless women requesting sterilisation. There has been a discussion in the literature that critiques doctors’ hesitancy to accede to this type of request and Buturovic argues against these criticisms.

The argument is that rather than a doctor’s refusal to sterilise a young childless woman or putting up obstacles to this being examples of, variously, inconsistency, paternalism, pronatalist bias and discrimination, it is understandable that doctors should be reluctant to follow this unusual request, and such hesitancy is of potential benefit to the young woman. This hesitancy can act as a filter for women who are not seriously committed to sterilisation. This, in essence, is the opposite argument to Beattie’s paper, that the barriers put up to prevent people exercising their choice in this case are warranted. Young childless women should have their choice scrutinised and if necessary delayed so that it can be ascertained if the choice is a genuine one, and ‘to weed out (the) confused and uncommitted.’ Ultimately, that choice should be available for young childless woman, but it is a choice, given its long-term consequences and likely lack of reversibility, that should be carefully considered.These papers show that choice is a contextually based, complex and multi-facetted concept and approaches such as Walker’s, give us tools to think more carefully about the value of choice and what that means in particular situations. A consideration of choice is not complete without thinking about the effects of our choices on others, and this needs to be at the forefront of any ethical analysis.

The ‘choice-agenda’ can often be a proxy for an individualistic conception of personal responsibility and a construction of the ‘good’ of the choice as being solely about that individual’s right to exercise a choice, rather than a more nuanced consideration of the wider, or even limited, effects of that choice on others. Although we have well-worn ways of thinking about harm – harm to others and liberty limiting principles6 – how the exercising of individual choice might harm others is often debatable and unclear, and political with a small and large P!. For instance, in July 2021 Boris Johnson, the UK prime minister, announced that mask wearing would now be one of personal choice. The government would end the legal obligation to wear a face covering, ‘We will move away from legal restrictions and allow people to make their own informed decisions about how to manage the ventolin.’ Johnson went on to say. €˜Guidance will suggest where you might choose to do so - especially when cases are rising and where you come into contact with people you don't usually meet in enclosed spaces, such as obviously crowded public transport.’7 This mandate for ‘freedom-day’ was criticised in a number of letters in high ranking medical journals,8 9 arguing, ‘The narrative of “caution, vigilance, and personal responsibility” is an abdication of the government’s fundamental duty to protect public health.

€œPersonal responsibility” does not work in the face of an airborne, highly contagious infectious disease. Infectious diseases are a matter of collective, rather than individual, responsibility.’8 In this case, someone’s personal choice to not wear a mask on public transport, where social distancing is impossible, conflicts with someone else’s choice to travel to work as safely as they can. As the critics of this policy and work in public health ethics notes, one person’s choice can have a significant detrimental effect on others, and in situations like this, such as this mask wearing example, where not allowing choice, that is maintaining the legally mandated requirement to wear a face mask (unless there are reasons for an exemption), is an ethically acceptable restriction on ‘personal choice.’ In Walker’s terminology disallowing this choice it is not demeaning or stigmatising, as it applies to everyone, and does not fail to recognise any particular person or group as equal members of society.Choice is often portrayed as a good thing like parenthood and apple pie and the use of choice by politicians to whip up support and bolster their political agendas, as shown by the examples of Blair and Johnson, shows the rhetorical power of the concept. But to really address in what circumstances choices should be offered, to whom and what type of choice, we need theoretical tools to help us understand and be attentive to the wider implications and the papers in this Issue help us to do that.Ethics statementsPatient consent for publicationNot applicable.Ethics approvalThis study does not involve human participants.IntroductionLarge-scale, international data sharing opens the door to the study of so-called ‘Big Data’, which holds great promise for improving patient-centred care. Big Data health research is envisioned to take precision medicine to the next level through increased understanding of disease aetiology and phenotypes, treatment effects, disease management and healthcare expenditure.1 However, lack of public trust is proven to be detrimental to the goals of data sharing.2 The case of care.data in the UK offers a blatant example of a data sharing initiative gone awry.

Criticism predominantly focused on limited public awareness and lack of clarity on the goals of the programme and ways to opt out.3 Citizens are becoming increasingly aware and critical of data privacy issues, and this warrants renewed investments to maintain public trust in data-intensive health research. Here, we use the term data-intensive health research to refer to a practice of grand-scale capture, (re)use and/or linkage of a wide variety of health-related data on individuals.Within the European Union (EU), the recently adopted General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (EU 2016/679) addresses some of the concerns the public may have with respect to privacy and data protection. One of the primary goals of the GDPR is to give individuals control over their personal data, most notably through consent.4 Other lawful grounds for the processing of personal data are listed, but it is unclear how these would exactly apply to scientific research. Legal norms remain open to interpretation and thus offer limited guidance to researchers.5 6 In Recital 33, the GDPR actually mentions that additional ethical standards are necessary for the processing of personal data for scientific research. This indicates a recognised need for entities undertaking activities likely to incite public unease to go beyond compliance with legal requirements.7 Complementary ethical governance then becomes a prerequisite for securing public trust in data-intensive health research.A concept that could be of use in developing ethical governance is that of a ‘social license to operate’.7 The social license captures the notion of a mandate granted by society to certain occupational groups to determine for themselves what constitutes proper conduct, under the condition that such conduct is in line with society’s expectations.

The term ‘social license’ was first used in the 1950s by American sociologist Everett Hughes to address relations between professional occupations and society.8 The concept has been used since to frame, for example, corporate social responsibility in the mining industry,9 governance of medical research in general8 and of data-intensive health research more specifically.7 10 As such, adequate ethical governance then becomes a precondition for obtaining a social license for data sharing activities.Key to an informed understanding of the social license is identifying the expectations society may hold with regard to sharing of and access to health data. Here, relevant societal actors are the subjects of Big Data health research, constituting both patients and the general public. Identification of patients’ and public views and attitudes allows for a better understanding of the elements of a socially sanctioned governance framework. We know of the existence of research papers that have captured these views using quantitative or qualitative methods or a combination of both. So far, systematic reviews of the literature have limited their scope to citizens of specific countries,11 12 qualitative studies only13 or the sharing of genomic data.14 Therefore, we performed an up-to-date narrative review of both quantitative and qualitative studies to explore predominant patient and public views and attitudes towards data sharing for health research.MethodsWe searched the literature databases PubMed (MEDLINE), Embase, Scopus and Google Scholar in April 2019 for publications addressing patients’ and public views and attitudes towards the use of health data for research purposes.

Synonyms of the following terms (connected by ‘AND’) were used to search titles and/or abstracts of indexed references. Patient or public. Views. Data sharing. Research (See box 1 and online supplementary appendix 1).

To merit inclusion, an article had to report results from an original research study (qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods) on attitudes of individuals regarding use of data for health research. We restricted eligibility to records published in English and studies performed between 2009 and 2019. We chose 2009 as a lower limit because we assume that patients’ and public perspectives might have changed substantially with increasing awareness and use of digital (health) technologies. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses synthesising the empirical literature on this topic also qualified for review. Reports from stakeholder meet-ups and workshops were eligible as long as they included patients or the public as participants.

Since we were only interested in empirical evidence, expert opinion and publications merely advocating for the inclusion of patients’ and public views in Big Data health research were excluded. Studies that predominantly reported on views of other stakeholders—such as clinicians, researchers, policy makers or industry—were excluded. Articles reporting on conference proceedings, or views regarding (demographic) data collection in low or middle income countries or for public health and care/quality improvement were not considered relevant to this review. Despite our specific interest in data sharing within the European context, we broadened eligibility criteria to include studies performed in the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Additional articles were identified through consultation with experts and review of references in the manuscript identified through the literature database searches.

Views and attitudes of patients and the public were identified from selected references and reviewed by means of thematic content analysis.Supplemental materialBox 1 Key search terms(patient* OR public OR citizen*)AND(attitude* OR view* OR perspective* OR opinion* OR interview* OR qualitative* OR questionnaire* OR survey*)AND(“data sharing” OR “data access” OR “data transfer”)ANDResearchResultsStudy characteristicsSearches in PubMed (MEDLINE), Embase, Scopus and Google Scholar resulted in a total of 1153 non-unique records (see online supplementary appendix 1). We identified 27 papers for review, including 12 survey or questionnaire studies (quantitative), 8 interview or focus group studies (qualitative), 1 mixed methods study and 6 systematic reviews (see table 1). Most records were excluded because they were not relevant to our research question or because they did not report on findings from original (empirical) research studies. Ten studies reported on views of patients, 11 on views of the public/citizens and 6 studies combined views of patients, research participants and the public.View this table:Table 1 Study characteristicsWillingness to share data for health researchReviewed papers suggest widespread support for the sharing of data for health research.Four systematic reviews synthesising the views of patients and the public report that willingness for data to be linked and shared for research purposes is high11–14 and that people are generally open to and understand the benefits of data sharing.15Outpatients from a German university hospital who participated in a questionnaire study (n=503) expressed a strong willingness (93%) to give broad consent for secondary use of data,16 and 93% of a sample of UK citizens with Parkinson’s disease (n=306) were willing to share their data.17 Wide support for sharing of data internationally18 19 and in multicentre studies20 was reported among patient participants. Goodman et al found that most participants in a sample of US patients with cancer (n=228) were willing to have their data made available for ‘as many research studies as possible’.21 Regarding the use of anonymised healthcare data for research purposes, a qualitative study found UK rheumatology patients and patient representatives in support of data sharing (n=40).22Public respondents in survey studies recognised the benefits of storing electronic health information,23 and 78.8% (n=151) of surveyed Canadians felt positive about the use of routinely collected data for health research.24 The majority (55%) of a sample of older Swiss citizens (n=40) were in favour of placing genetic data at disposal for research.25 Focus group discussions convened in the UK showed that just over 50% of the members of the Citizens Council of The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) said they would have no concerns about NICE using anonymised data derived from personal care records to evaluate treatments,26 and all participants in one qualitative study were keen to contribute to the National Healthcare Service (NHS)-related research.27Motivations to share dataPatients and public participants expressed similar reasons and motivations for their willingness to share data for health research, including contributing to advancements in healthcare, returning incurred benefits and the hope of future personal health benefits (tables 2–4).View this table:Table 2 Patients’ views and attitudes towards the sharing of health data for researchView this table:Table 3 Public views and attitudes towards the sharing of health data for researchView this table:Table 4 Patients’ and public views and attitudes towards the sharing of health data for researchIn the two systematic reviews that addressed this topic, sharing data for ‘the common good’ or ‘the greater good’ was identified as one of the most prevalent motivations.12 14For patients specifically, to help future patients or people with similar health problems was an important reason.14 16 One survey study conducted among German outpatients found that 72% listed returning their own benefits incurred from research as a driver for sharing clinical data.16 Patients with rare disease were also motivated by ‘great hope and trust’ in the development of international databases for health research.19 Among patients, support of research in general,16 the value attached to answering ‘important’ research questions,20 and a desire to contribute to advancements in medicine14 were prevalent reasons in favour of data sharing.

Ultimately, the belief that data sharing could lead to improvements in health outcome and care was reported.20Only one original study research paper addressed public motivations. This study found that older citizens mentioned auistic reasons and the greater good in a series of interviews as reasons to share genetic data for research.25 In these interviews, citizens expressed no expectations of an immediate impact or beneficial return but ultimately wanted to help the next generation.Perceived benefits of data sharingPatients and the public perceive that data sharing could lead to better patient care through improved diagnosis and treatment options and more efficient use of resources. Patients seem to also value the potential of (direct) personal health benefits.Two systematic reviews reported on perceived benefits of data sharing for health research purposes. Howe et al mentioned perceived benefits to research participants or the immediate community, benefits to the public and benefits to research and science.15 Shabani et al also listed accelerating research advancement and maximising the value of resources as perceived benefits.14Surveyed patients perceived that data sharing could help their doctor ‘make better decisions’ about their health (94%, n=3516)28 or result in an increased chance of receiving personalised health information (n=228).21In the original studies reviewed, advantages and potential benefits of data sharing were generally recognised by public and patient participants.22 29 Data sharing was believed to enable the study of long-term treatment effects and rare events, as well as the study of large numbers of people,24 to improve diagnosis25 and treatment quality,20 23 as well as to stimulate innovation30 and identify new treatment options.25 A cross-sectional online survey among patient and citizen groups in Italy (n=280) also identified the perception that data sharing could reduce waste in research.30Perceived risks of data sharingThe most significant risks of data sharing were perceived to results from breaches of confidentiality, commercial use and potential abuse of the data.Systematic reviews report on patients’ and public concerns about confidentiality in general,13 15 sometimes linked to the risk of reidentification,14 concerns about a party's competence in keeping data secure,12 and concerns that personal information could be mined from genomic data.14 A systematic review by Stockdale et al identified concerns among the public (UK and Ireland) about the motivation a party might have to use the data.14Patients in a UK qualitative study (n=40) perceived ‘detrimental’ consequences of data ‘falling into the wrong hands’, such as insurance companies.22 Respondents from the online patient community PatientsLikeMe were fearful of health data being ‘stolen by hackers’ (87%, n=3516).28Original research studies flagged data security and privacy as major public concerns.16 18 20 25 26 29–32 More specifically, many studies found that participants worried about who would have access to the data and about risk of misuses or abuses.13 15 18 25 27 33 A large pan-European survey among respondents from 27 EU member states revealed public concerns about different levels of access by third parties (48.9%–60.6%, n=20 882).23 Overall, reviewed papers suggest that patients and the public are concerned about the use of their data for commercial purposes.14 27 For example, the NICE Citizens Council expressed concerns about the potential for data to be sold to other organisations and used for profit and for purposes other than research.26 The Citizens Council also highlighted the need for transparency about how data are used and how it might be used in the future and for ensuring the research is conducted according to good scientific practice and that data are used to benefit society. Concerns about control and ownership of data were identified13 33 and about re-use of data for purposes that participants do not agree on.30 Fear of discrimination, stigmatisation, exploitation or other repercussions as a consequence of data being shared was widely cited by individuals.14 15 18Barriers to share dataStudies showed that patients and the public rarely mention barriers to data sharing in absolute terms.

Rather, acceptance seemed to decrease if data sharing was financially motivated, and if people did not know how and with whom their data would be shared.First, individuals often opposed data sharing if it was motivated by financial gain or profit20 or if the data were shared with commercial/private companies.14 15 In one large pan-European survey (n=20 882), respondents were found to be strongly averse to health insurance companies and private sector pharmaceutical companies viewing their data.23 Second, lack of understanding and awareness around the use of data was viewed as a barrier to data sharing.15 22 Third, lack of transparency and controllability in releasing data were mentioned as factors compromising public trust in data sharing activities.14 22Factors affecting willingness to share dataA wide range of factors were identified from the literature that impacted individuals’ willingness to share data for health research, including geographical factors, age, individual-specific and research-specific characteristics.Geographical factorsMcCormack et al found that European patients’ expressions of trust and attitudes to risk were often affected by the regulatory and cultural practices in their home countries, as well as by the nature of the (rare) disease the patient participant had.18 Shah et al conducted a survey among patients in four Northern European countries (n=855) and found a significant association between country and attitudes towards sharing of deidentified data.34 Interestingly, Dutch respondents were less likely to support sharing of their deidentified data compared with UK citizens.AgeAmong a sample of surveyed patients with Parkinson’s disease (UK), a significant association was found between higher age and increased support for data sharing.17 According to a study based on semistructured interviews with older Swiss citizens, generational differences impacted willingness to share.25 With respect to public attitudes towards data sharing, findings of one systematic review suggest that males and older people are more likely to consent to sharing their medical data.27 A systematic review by Shabani et al suggests that patient and public participants with higher mean age are substantially less worried about privacy and confidentiality than other groups.14Individual-specific characteristicsA systematic review into patients’ and public perspectives on data sharing in the USA suggests that individuals from under-represented minorities are less willing to share data.11 A large multisite survey (n=13 000) among the US public found that willingness to share was associated with self-identified white race, higher educational attainment and lower religiosity.31 In another systematic review, race, gender, age, marital status and/or educational level all seemed to influence how people perceived sensitivity of genomic data and the sharing thereof.14 However, a UK study among patients with Parkinson’s disease found no clear relationship between data sharing and the number of years diagnosed, sex, medication class or health confidence.17Factors that clearly positively affected attitudes towards data sharing were perceptions of the (public) benefits and value of the research,13 20 fewer concerns and fewer information needs,31 and higher trust in and reputation of individuals or organisations conducting and/or overseeing data sharing.12–14 35 Conversely, willingness decreased with higher privacy and confidentiality concerns11 and higher distrust of the government as an oversight body for (genetic) research data.35Research-specific characteristicsPrivacy measures increased people’s willingness to share their data for health research, such as removal of social security numbers (90%, n=3516) and insurance ID (82%, n=3516), the sharing of only summary-level or aggregate data20 and deposition of data in a restricted access online database.29 Expressions of having control over what data are shared and with whom positively affected attitudes towards data sharing.34 In one study, being asked for consent for each study made participants (81%) feel ‘respected and involved’, and 74% agreed that they would feel that they ‘had control’.14 With respect to data sharing without prospective consent, participants became more accepting after being given information about the research processes and selection bias.27 Less support was observed for data sharing due to financial incentives25 and, more specifically, if data would be shared with private companies, such as insurance or pharmaceutical companies.11 25Conditions for sharingWidespread willingness to share data for health research very rarely led to participants’ unconditional support. Studies showed agreement on the following conditions for responsible data sharing. Value, privacy, minimising risks, data security, transparency, control, information, trust, responsibility and accountability.ValueOne systematic review found that participants found it important that the research as a result of data sharing should be in the public’s interest and should reflect participants’ values.15 The NICE Citizens Council advocated for appropriate systems and good working practices to ensure a consistent approach to research planning, data capture and analysis.26Privacy, risks and data securityThe need to protect individuals’ privacy was considered paramount11 14 21 34 and participants often viewed deidentification of personal data as a top privacy measure.11 24 30 36 One survey among US patients with cancer found that only 20% (n=228) of participants found linkage of individuals with their deidentified data acceptable for return of individual health results and to support further research.21 Secured access to databases was considered an important measure to ensure data security in data sharing activities.30 34 A systematic review of participants’ attitudes towards data sharing showed that people established risk minimisation as another condition for data sharing.15 Findings by Mazor et al suggest that patients only support studies that offer value and minimise security risks.20Transparency and controlConditions regarding transparency were information about how data will be shared and with whom,14 35 the type of research that is to be performed, by whom the research will be performed,16 information on data sharing and monitoring policies and database governance,35 conditions framing access to data and data access agreements,24 28 30 and any partnerships with the pharmaceutical industry.19 More generally, participants expressed the desire to be involved in the data sharing process,35 to be notified when their data are (re)used and to be informed of the results of studies using their data.15 Spencer et al identified use of an electronic interface as a highly valued means to enable greater control over consent choices.22 When asked about the use of personal data for health research by the NHS, UK citizens were typically willing to accept models of consent other than the ones they would prefer.37 Acceptance of consent models with lower levels of individual control was found to be dependent on a number of factors, including adequate transparency, control over detrimental use and commercialisation, and the ability to object, particularly to any processing considered to be inappropriate or particularly sensitive.37Information and trustOne systematic review identified trust in the ability of the original institution to carry out the oversight tasks as a major condition for responsible data sharing.14 Appropriate education and information about data sharing was thought to include public campaigns to inform stakeholders about Big Data32 and information communicated at open days of research institutions (such as NICE) to ensure people understand what their data are being used for and to reassure them that personal data will not be passed on or sold to other organisations.26 The informed consent process for study participation was believed to include information about the fact that individuals’ data could potentially be shared,15 30 the objectives of data sharing and (biobank) research, the study’s data sharing plans,29 governance structure, logistics and accountability.33Responsibility and accountabilityParticipants often placed the responsibility for data sharing practices on the shoulders of researchers. Secondary use of data collected earlier for scientific research was viewed to require a data access committee that involves a researcher from the original research project, a clinician, patient representative and a participant in the original study.36 Researchers of the original study were required to monitor data used by other researchers.36 In terms of accountability, patient and public groups in Italy (n=280) placed high value on sanctions for misuse of data.30 Information on penalties or other consequences of a breach of protection or misuse was considered important by many.31 35DiscussionIn this study, we narratively reviewed 27 papers on patients’ and public views on and attitudes towards the use of health data for scientific research. Studies reported a widespread—though conditional—support for the linkage and sharing of data for health research.

The only outlier seems to be the finding that just over half (n=25) of the NICE Citizens Council answered ‘no’ to the question whether they had any concerns if NICE used anonymised data to fill in the gaps if NICE was not getting enough evidence in ‘the usual ways’.26 However, we hasten to point out that the question about willingness to share is different from the question whether people have concerns or not. In addition, after a 2-day discussion meeting Council members were perhaps more sensitised to the potential concerns regarding data sharing. Therefore, we suggest that the way and context within which questions are phrased may influence the answers people give.Overall, people expressed similar motivations to share their data, perceived similar benefits (despite some variation between patients and citizens), yet at the same time displayed a range of concerns, predominantly relating to confidentiality and data security, awareness about access and control, and potential harms resulting from these risks. Both patient and public participants conveyed that certain factors would increase or reduce their willingness to have their data shared. For example, the presence of privacy-protecting measures (eg, data deidentification and the use of secured databases) seemed to increase willingness to share, as well as transparency and information about data sharing processes and responsibilities.

The identified views and attitudes appeared to come together in the conditions stipulated by participants. Value, privacy and confidentiality, minimising risks, data security, transparency, control, information, trust, responsibility and accountability.In our Introduction, we mentioned that identifying patients’ and public views and attitudes allows for a better understanding of the elements of a socially sanctioned governance framework. In other words, what work should our governance framework be doing in order to obtain a social license?. This review urges researchers and institutions to address people’s diverse concerns and to make an effort to meet the conditions identified. Without these conditions, institutions lack trustworthiness, which is vital for the proceedings of medicine and biomedical science.

As such, a social license is not a ‘nice to have’ but a ‘need to have’. Our results also confirm that patients and the public indeed care about more than legal compliance alone, and wish to be engaged through information, transparency and control. This work supports the findings of a recent systematic review into ethical principles of data sharing as specified in various international ethical guidelines and literature.38 What this body of research implies is considerable diversity of values and beliefs both between and within countries.The goal of this narrative review was to identify the most internationally dominant, aggregated patient and public views about the broad topic of data sharing for health research. We deliberately opted for the methodology of a narrative review rather than a systematic review. Most narrative reviews deal with a broad range of issues to a given topic rather than addressing a particular topic in depth.39 This means narrative reviews may be most useful for obtaining a broad perspective on a topic, and that they often are less useful in generating quantitative answers to specific clinical questions.

However, because narrative reviews do not require specification of the search and selection strategy and the way of critically appraising literature can be variable, the connection between evidence generated by narrative reviews and (clinical) recommendations is less rigorous and risk of bias exists. This is something to take into account in this study. A risk of bias assessment was not possible due to the heterogeneity of the findings. We acknowledge that our methodological choices may have affected the discriminative power or granularity of our findings. For example, there is a difference between sharing of routinely collected health data versus secondary use of health data collected for research purposes.

And we can only make loose assumptions about potential differences between patient and public views.In addition, we should mention that this work is centred around studies conducted in Western countries as the whole Big Data space and literature is dominated by Western countries, higher socioeconomic status and Caucasians. However, most of the disease burden globally and within countries is most probably not represented in the ‘Big Data’ and so we have to stress the lack of generalisability to large parts of the world.Nevertheless, we believe our findings point towards essential elements of a governance framework for data sharing for health research purposes. If we are to conclude that the identified conditions ought to act as the pillars of a governance framework, the next step is to identify how these conditions could be practically operationalised. For example, if people value information, transparency and control, what type of consent is most likely to valorise these conditions?. And what policy for returning research results would be desirable?.

Once we know what to value, we can start thinking about the ways to acknowledge that value. A new challenge arising here, however, is what to do when people hold different or even conflicting values or preferences. Discrete choice experiments could help to test people’s preferences regarding specific topics, such as preferred modes of informed consent. Apart from empirical work, conceptual analysis is needed to clarify how public trust, trustworthiness of institutions and accountability are interconnected.ConclusionThis narrative review suggests widespread—though conditional—support among patients and the public for data sharing for health research. Despite the fact that participants recognise actual or potential benefits of health research, they report a number of significant concerns and related conditions.

We believe identified conditions (eg, social value, data security, transparency and accountability) ought to be operationalised in a value-based governance framework that incorporates the diverse patient and public values, needs and interests, and which reflects the way these same conditions are met, to strengthen the social license for Big Data health research.Ethics statementsPatient consent for publicationNot required.AcknowledgmentsWe thank Susanne Løgstrup (European Heart Network) and Evert-Ben van Veen (Medlaw) for their valuable feedback during various stages in drafting the manuscript..

Choice is probably one of the http://karlaskreations.com/location/ most often discussed areas in bioethics, alongside the related concepts of informed consent ventolin price and autonomy. It is generally, prima facie, portrayed ventolin price as a good thing. In healthcare, the 2000s saw the UK Prime Minister Tony Blair pursue the ‘Choice Agenda’ where, ventolin price ‘As capacity expands, so choice will grow. Choice will fundamentally change the balance of power in the NHS.’1 In a consumerist society giving consumers more choice is seen as desirable. However, choice is not ventolin price a good in itself, giving people more choice in certain situations can be problematic.

I.e. Consumerism drives economic growth and this has a detrimental effect on the environment. And increasing the range of choices a patient is offered is often not the best way to improve the quality of healthcare provision.2 The assumptions behind the valuing of choice need careful unpacking and this Issue of the Journal of Medical Ethics includes papers that explore choice in a number of areas.This Issue's Editor’s choice is Tom Walker’s ‘The Value of Choice’,3 which puts forward a suggestion for the importance of the symbolic value of choice. There are a number of ways of categorising the value of choice in healthcare. One account sees choice as valuable because it is by choosing that individuals make their life their own.

Another account sees choice as valuable for instrumental reasons, people are generally, assuming they are sufficiently informed, the best judge of their own best interests. Walker argues for an additional third reason, the symbolic value of choice, originally proposed by Scanlon. This sees choice as valuable because being given the option to choose, whether or not one takes it up, not the act of choosing is what makes choice valuable. Being offered the option to choose has a ‘communicative role’ in that it communicates that the person has standing and, for certain types of choice, being denied the opportunity to choose, ‘can be both demeaning and stigmatising.’ Walker states that denying someone the opportunity to choose in certain circumstances does not communicate anything untoward, and he goes to explore how we might determine when not allowing someone a choice would be demeaning. Here he stresses the importance of context in making this determination, it is not fixed by the features of a patient, but what being ‘allowed’ or ‘denied’ the opportunity to make a choice reveals about the healthcare professional’s view of the patient.

€˜It communicates that they either see those patients as competent and equal members of society, or that they do not.’ Denying a patient the opportunity to choose an ineffective treatment, for example, does not communicate a negative judgement. Walker says his account, ‘is intended to supplement existing accounts, not replace them. Because choice is valuable for more than one reason no single account can capture everything that matters.’The importance of pointing to the context of the choice is highlighted in Walker’s paper and it is only through careful examination of the context of that offering that we can determine if, in fact, this is an area where choice should be offered and to whom. Such an examination is carried out in Cameron Beattie’s paper,4 which considers the High Court review of service provision at the youth-focussed gender identity Tavistock Clinic. Beattie disagrees with the High Court’s view that it is ’highly unlikely’ that under-13s, and ’doubtful’ that 14–15 years old, can be competent to consent to puberty blocker therapy for gender dysphoria.

Beattie argues that having puberty blocker therapy is a choice that minors should be given the opportunity to make. In principle, children of that age could be competent to make the decision and that the decision is no more complex than other medical decisions that Gillick competence has conventionally been applied to. Children of this age fall into what Walker calls a ‘transitional’ group, ‘Of particular importance here is the extent to which societal features mean members of some groups find it particularly hard to be recognised as competent and equal members of society. That includes members of groups subject to discrimination….It also includes those who are in what we might call transitional groups such as teenagers struggling to be recognised as competent.’ In the case of denying puberty blockers, the symbolic value of choice is clear.The paper by Zeljka Buturovic5 examines the debate over young childless women requesting sterilisation. There has been a discussion in the literature that critiques doctors’ hesitancy to accede to this type of request and Buturovic argues against these criticisms.

The argument is that rather than a doctor’s refusal to sterilise a young childless woman or putting up obstacles to this being examples of, variously, inconsistency, paternalism, pronatalist bias and discrimination, it is understandable that doctors should be reluctant to follow this unusual request, and such hesitancy is of potential benefit to the young woman. This hesitancy can act as a filter for women who are not seriously committed to sterilisation. This, in essence, is the opposite argument to Beattie’s paper, that the barriers put up to prevent people exercising their choice in this case are warranted. Young childless women should have their choice scrutinised and if necessary delayed so that it can be ascertained if the choice is a genuine one, and ‘to weed out (the) confused and uncommitted.’ Ultimately, that choice should be available for young childless woman, but it is a choice, given its long-term consequences and likely lack of reversibility, that should be carefully considered.These papers show that choice is a contextually based, complex and multi-facetted concept and approaches such as Walker’s, give us tools to think more carefully about the value of choice and what that means in particular situations. A consideration of choice is not complete without thinking about the effects of our choices on others, and this needs to be at the forefront of any ethical analysis.

The ‘choice-agenda’ can often be a proxy for an individualistic conception of personal responsibility and a construction of the ‘good’ of the choice as being solely about that individual’s right to exercise a choice, rather than a more nuanced consideration of the wider, or even limited, effects of that choice on others. Although we have well-worn ways of thinking about harm – harm to others and liberty limiting principles6 – how the exercising of individual choice might harm others is often debatable and unclear, and political with a small and large P!. For instance, in July 2021 Boris Johnson, the UK prime minister, announced that mask wearing would now be one of personal choice. The government would end the legal obligation to wear a face covering, ‘We will move away from legal restrictions and allow people to make their own informed decisions about how to manage the ventolin.’ Johnson went on to say. €˜Guidance will suggest where you might choose to do so - especially when cases are rising and where you come into contact with people you don't usually meet in enclosed spaces, such as obviously crowded public transport.’7 This mandate for ‘freedom-day’ was criticised in a number of letters in high ranking medical journals,8 9 arguing, ‘The narrative of “caution, vigilance, and personal responsibility” is an abdication of the government’s fundamental duty to protect public health.

€œPersonal responsibility” does not work in the face of an airborne, highly contagious infectious disease. Infectious diseases are a matter of collective, rather than individual, responsibility.’8 In this case, someone’s personal choice to not wear a mask on public transport, where social distancing is impossible, conflicts with someone else’s choice to travel to work as safely as they can. As the critics of this policy and work in public health ethics notes, one person’s choice can have a significant detrimental effect on others, and in situations like this, such as this mask wearing example, where not allowing choice, that is maintaining the legally mandated requirement to wear a face mask (unless there are reasons for an exemption), is an ethically acceptable restriction on ‘personal choice.’ In Walker’s terminology disallowing this choice it is not demeaning or stigmatising, as it applies to everyone, and does not fail to recognise any particular person or group as equal members of society.Choice is often portrayed as a good thing like parenthood and apple pie and the use of choice by politicians to whip up support and bolster their political agendas, as shown by the examples of Blair and Johnson, shows the rhetorical power of the concept. But to really address in what circumstances choices should be offered, to whom and what type of choice, we need theoretical tools to help us understand and be attentive to the wider implications and the papers in this Issue help us to do that.Ethics statementsPatient consent for publicationNot applicable.Ethics approvalThis study does not involve human participants.IntroductionLarge-scale, international data sharing opens the door to the study of so-called ‘Big Data’, which holds great promise for improving patient-centred care. Big Data health research is envisioned to take precision medicine to the next level through increased understanding of disease aetiology and phenotypes, treatment effects, disease management and healthcare expenditure.1 However, lack of public trust is proven to be detrimental to the goals of data sharing.2 The case of care.data in the UK offers a blatant example of a data sharing initiative gone awry.

Criticism predominantly focused on limited public awareness and lack of clarity on the goals of the programme and ways to opt out.3 Citizens are becoming increasingly aware and critical of data privacy issues, and this warrants renewed investments to maintain public trust in data-intensive health research. Here, we use the term data-intensive health research to refer to a practice of grand-scale capture, (re)use and/or linkage of a wide variety of health-related data on individuals.Within the European Union (EU), the recently adopted General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (EU 2016/679) addresses some of the concerns the public may have with respect to privacy and data protection. One of the primary goals of the GDPR is to give individuals control over their personal data, most notably through consent.4 Other lawful grounds for the processing of personal data are listed, but it is unclear how these would exactly apply to scientific research. Legal norms remain open to interpretation and thus offer limited guidance to researchers.5 6 In Recital 33, the GDPR actually mentions that additional ethical standards are necessary for the processing of personal data for scientific research. This indicates a recognised need for entities undertaking activities likely to incite public unease to go beyond compliance with legal requirements.7 Complementary ethical governance then becomes a prerequisite for securing public trust in data-intensive health research.A concept that could be of use in developing ethical governance is that of a ‘social license to operate’.7 The social license captures the notion of a mandate granted by society to certain occupational groups to determine for themselves what constitutes proper conduct, under the condition that such conduct is in line with society’s expectations.

The term ‘social license’ was first used in the 1950s by American sociologist Everett Hughes to address relations between professional occupations and society.8 The concept has been used since to frame, for example, corporate social responsibility in the mining industry,9 governance of medical research in general8 and of data-intensive health research more specifically.7 10 As such, adequate ethical governance then becomes a precondition for obtaining a social license for data sharing activities.Key to an informed understanding of the social license is identifying the expectations society may hold with regard to sharing of and access to health data. Here, relevant societal actors are the subjects of Big Data health research, constituting both patients and the general public. Identification of patients’ and public views and attitudes allows for a better understanding of the elements of a socially sanctioned governance framework. We know of the existence of research papers that have captured these views using quantitative or qualitative methods or a combination of both. So far, systematic reviews of the literature have limited their scope to citizens of specific countries,11 12 qualitative studies only13 or the sharing of genomic data.14 Therefore, we performed an up-to-date narrative review of both quantitative and qualitative studies to explore predominant patient and public views and attitudes towards data sharing for health research.MethodsWe searched the literature databases PubMed (MEDLINE), Embase, Scopus and Google Scholar in April 2019 for publications addressing patients’ and public views and attitudes towards the use of health data for research purposes.

Synonyms of the following terms (connected by ‘AND’) were used to search titles and/or abstracts of indexed references. Patient or public. Views. Data sharing. Research (See box 1 and online supplementary appendix 1).

To merit inclusion, an article had to report results from an original research study (qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods) on attitudes of individuals regarding use of data for health research. We restricted eligibility to records published in English and studies performed between 2009 and 2019. We chose 2009 as a lower limit because we assume that patients’ and public perspectives might have changed substantially with increasing awareness and use of digital (health) technologies. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses synthesising the empirical literature on this topic also qualified for review. Reports from stakeholder meet-ups and workshops were eligible as long as they included patients or the public as participants.

Since we were only interested in empirical evidence, expert opinion and publications merely advocating for the inclusion of patients’ and public views in Big Data health research were excluded. Studies that predominantly reported on views of other stakeholders—such as clinicians, researchers, policy makers or industry—were excluded. Articles reporting on conference proceedings, or views regarding (demographic) data collection in low or middle income countries or for public health and care/quality improvement were not considered relevant to this review. Despite our specific interest in data sharing within the European context, we broadened eligibility criteria to include studies performed in the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Additional articles were identified through consultation with experts and review of references in the manuscript identified through the literature database searches.

Views and attitudes of patients and the public were identified from selected references and reviewed by means of thematic content analysis.Supplemental materialBox 1 Key search terms(patient* OR public OR citizen*)AND(attitude* OR view* OR perspective* OR opinion* OR interview* OR qualitative* OR questionnaire* OR survey*)AND(“data sharing” OR “data access” OR “data transfer”)ANDResearchResultsStudy characteristicsSearches in PubMed (MEDLINE), Embase, Scopus and Google Scholar resulted in a total of 1153 non-unique records (see online supplementary appendix 1). We identified 27 papers for review, including 12 survey or questionnaire studies (quantitative), 8 interview or focus group studies (qualitative), 1 mixed methods study and 6 systematic reviews (see table 1). Most records were excluded because they were not relevant to our research question or because they did not report on findings from original (empirical) research studies. Ten studies reported on views of patients, 11 on views of the public/citizens and 6 studies combined views of patients, research participants and the public.View this table:Table 1 Study characteristicsWillingness to share data for health researchReviewed papers suggest widespread support for the sharing of data for health research.Four systematic reviews synthesising the views of patients and the public report that willingness for data to be linked and shared for research purposes is high11–14 and that people are generally open to and understand the benefits of data sharing.15Outpatients from a German university hospital who participated in a questionnaire study (n=503) expressed a strong willingness (93%) to give broad consent for secondary use of data,16 and 93% of a sample of UK citizens with Parkinson’s disease (n=306) were willing to share their data.17 Wide support for sharing of data internationally18 19 and in multicentre studies20 was reported among patient participants. Goodman et al found that most participants in a sample of US patients with cancer (n=228) were willing to have their data made available for ‘as many research studies as possible’.21 Regarding the use of anonymised healthcare data for research purposes, a qualitative study found UK rheumatology patients and patient representatives in support of data sharing (n=40).22Public respondents in survey studies recognised the benefits of storing electronic health information,23 and 78.8% (n=151) of surveyed Canadians felt positive about the use of routinely collected data for health research.24 The majority (55%) of a sample of older Swiss citizens (n=40) were in favour of placing genetic data at disposal for research.25 Focus group discussions convened in the UK showed that just over 50% of the members of the Citizens Council of The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) said they would have no concerns about NICE using anonymised data derived from personal care records to evaluate treatments,26 and all participants in one qualitative study were keen to contribute to the National Healthcare Service (NHS)-related research.27Motivations to share dataPatients and public participants expressed similar reasons and motivations for their willingness to share data for health research, including contributing to advancements in healthcare, returning incurred benefits and the hope of future personal health benefits (tables 2–4).View this table:Table 2 Patients’ views and attitudes towards the sharing of health data for researchView this table:Table 3 Public views and attitudes towards the sharing of health data for researchView this table:Table 4 Patients’ and public views and attitudes towards the sharing of health data for researchIn the two systematic reviews that addressed this topic, sharing data for ‘the common good’ or ‘the greater good’ was identified as one of the most prevalent motivations.12 14For patients specifically, to help future patients or people with similar health problems was an important reason.14 16 One survey study conducted among German outpatients found that 72% listed returning their own benefits incurred from research as a driver for sharing clinical data.16 Patients with rare disease were also motivated by ‘great hope and trust’ in the development of international databases for health research.19 Among patients, support of research in general,16 the value attached to answering ‘important’ research questions,20 and a desire to contribute to advancements in medicine14 were prevalent reasons in favour of data sharing.

Ultimately, the belief that data sharing could lead to improvements in health outcome and care was reported.20Only one original study research paper addressed public motivations. This study found that older citizens mentioned auistic reasons and the greater good in a series of interviews as reasons to share genetic data for research.25 In these interviews, citizens expressed no expectations of an immediate impact or beneficial return but ultimately wanted to help the next generation.Perceived benefits of data sharingPatients and the public perceive that data sharing could lead to better patient care through improved diagnosis and treatment options and more efficient use of resources. Patients seem to also value the potential of (direct) personal health benefits.Two systematic reviews reported on perceived benefits of data sharing for health research purposes. Howe et al mentioned perceived benefits to research participants or the immediate community, benefits to the public and benefits to research and science.15 Shabani et al also listed accelerating research advancement and maximising the value of resources as perceived benefits.14Surveyed patients perceived that data sharing could help their doctor ‘make better decisions’ about their health (94%, n=3516)28 or result in an increased chance of receiving personalised health information (n=228).21In the original studies reviewed, advantages and potential benefits of data sharing were generally recognised by public and patient participants.22 29 Data sharing was believed to enable the study of long-term treatment effects and rare events, as well as the study of large numbers of people,24 to improve diagnosis25 and treatment quality,20 23 as well as to stimulate innovation30 and identify new treatment options.25 A cross-sectional online survey among patient and citizen groups in Italy (n=280) also identified the perception that data sharing could reduce waste in research.30Perceived risks of data sharingThe most significant risks of data sharing were perceived to results from breaches of confidentiality, commercial use and potential abuse of the data.Systematic reviews report on patients’ and public concerns about confidentiality in general,13 15 sometimes linked to the risk of reidentification,14 concerns about a party's competence in keeping data secure,12 and concerns that personal information could be mined from genomic data.14 A systematic review by Stockdale et al identified concerns among the public (UK and Ireland) about the motivation a party might have to use the data.14Patients in a UK qualitative study (n=40) perceived ‘detrimental’ consequences of data ‘falling into the wrong hands’, such as insurance companies.22 Respondents from the online patient community PatientsLikeMe were fearful of health data being ‘stolen by hackers’ (87%, n=3516).28Original research studies flagged data security and privacy as major public concerns.16 18 20 25 26 29–32 More specifically, many studies found that participants worried about who would have access to the data and about risk of misuses or abuses.13 15 18 25 27 33 A large pan-European survey among respondents from 27 EU member states revealed public concerns about different levels of access by third parties (48.9%–60.6%, n=20 882).23 Overall, reviewed papers suggest that patients and the public are concerned about the use of their data for commercial purposes.14 27 For example, the NICE Citizens Council expressed concerns about the potential for data to be sold to other organisations and used for profit and for purposes other than research.26 The Citizens Council also highlighted the need for transparency about how data are used and how it might be used in the future and for ensuring the research is conducted according to good scientific practice and that data are used to benefit society. Concerns about control and ownership of data were identified13 33 and about re-use of data for purposes that participants do not agree on.30 Fear of discrimination, stigmatisation, exploitation or other repercussions as a consequence of data being shared was widely cited by individuals.14 15 18Barriers to share dataStudies showed that patients and the public rarely mention barriers to data sharing in absolute terms.

Rather, acceptance seemed to decrease if data sharing was financially motivated, and if people did not know how and with whom their data would be shared.First, individuals often opposed data sharing if it was motivated by financial gain or profit20 or if the data were shared with commercial/private companies.14 15 In one large pan-European survey (n=20 882), respondents were found to be strongly averse to health insurance companies and private sector pharmaceutical companies viewing their data.23 Second, lack of understanding and awareness around the use of data was viewed as a barrier to data sharing.15 22 Third, lack of transparency and controllability in releasing data were mentioned as factors compromising public trust in data sharing activities.14 22Factors affecting willingness to share dataA wide range of factors were identified from the literature that impacted individuals’ willingness to share data for health research, including geographical factors, age, individual-specific and research-specific characteristics.Geographical factorsMcCormack et al found that European patients’ expressions of trust and attitudes to risk were often affected by the regulatory and cultural practices in their home countries, as well as by the nature of the (rare) disease the patient participant had.18 Shah et al conducted a survey among patients in four Northern European countries (n=855) and found a significant association between country and attitudes towards sharing of deidentified data.34 Interestingly, Dutch respondents were less likely to support sharing of their deidentified data compared with UK citizens.AgeAmong a sample of surveyed patients with Parkinson’s disease (UK), a significant association was found between higher age and increased support for data sharing.17 According to a study based on semistructured interviews with older Swiss citizens, generational differences impacted willingness to share.25 With respect to public attitudes towards data sharing, findings of one systematic review suggest that males and older people are more likely to consent to sharing their medical data.27 A systematic review by Shabani et al suggests that patient and public participants with higher mean age are substantially less worried about privacy and confidentiality than other groups.14Individual-specific characteristicsA systematic review into patients’ and public perspectives on data sharing in the USA suggests that individuals from under-represented minorities are less willing to share data.11 A large multisite survey (n=13 000) among the US public found that willingness to share was associated with self-identified white race, higher educational attainment and lower religiosity.31 In another systematic review, race, gender, age, marital status and/or educational level all seemed to influence how people perceived sensitivity of genomic data and the sharing thereof.14 However, a UK study among patients with Parkinson’s disease found no clear relationship between data sharing and the number of years diagnosed, sex, medication class or health confidence.17Factors that clearly positively affected attitudes towards data sharing were perceptions of the (public) benefits and value of the research,13 20 fewer concerns and fewer information needs,31 and higher trust in and reputation of individuals or organisations conducting and/or overseeing data sharing.12–14 35 Conversely, willingness decreased with higher privacy and confidentiality concerns11 and higher distrust of the government as an oversight body for (genetic) research data.35Research-specific characteristicsPrivacy measures increased people’s willingness to share their data for health research, such as removal of social security numbers (90%, n=3516) and insurance ID (82%, n=3516), the sharing of only summary-level or aggregate data20 and deposition of data in a restricted access online database.29 Expressions of having control over what data are shared and with whom positively affected attitudes towards data sharing.34 In one study, being asked for consent for each study made participants (81%) feel ‘respected and involved’, and 74% agreed that they would feel that they ‘had control’.14 With respect to data sharing without prospective consent, participants became more accepting after being given information about the research processes and selection bias.27 Less support was observed for data sharing due to financial incentives25 and, more specifically, if data would be shared with private companies, such as insurance or pharmaceutical companies.11 25Conditions for sharingWidespread willingness to share data for health research very rarely led to participants’ unconditional support. Studies showed agreement on the following conditions for responsible data sharing. Value, privacy, minimising risks, data security, transparency, control, information, trust, responsibility and accountability.ValueOne systematic review found that participants found it important that the research as a result of data sharing should be in the public’s interest and should reflect participants’ values.15 The NICE Citizens Council advocated for appropriate systems and good working practices to ensure a consistent approach to research planning, data capture and analysis.26Privacy, risks and data securityThe need to protect individuals’ privacy was considered paramount11 14 21 34 and participants often viewed deidentification of personal data as a top privacy measure.11 24 30 36 One survey among US patients with cancer found that only 20% (n=228) of participants found linkage of individuals with their deidentified data acceptable for return of individual health results and to support further research.21 Secured access to databases was considered an important measure to ensure data security in data sharing activities.30 34 A systematic review of participants’ attitudes towards data sharing showed that people established risk minimisation as another condition for data sharing.15 Findings by Mazor et al suggest that patients only support studies that offer value and minimise security risks.20Transparency and controlConditions regarding transparency were information about how data will be shared and with whom,14 35 the type of research that is to be performed, by whom the research will be performed,16 information on data sharing and monitoring policies and database governance,35 conditions framing access to data and data access agreements,24 28 30 and any partnerships with the pharmaceutical industry.19 More generally, participants expressed the desire to be involved in the data sharing process,35 to be notified when their data are (re)used and to be informed of the results of studies using their data.15 Spencer et al identified use of an electronic interface as a highly valued means to enable greater control over consent choices.22 When asked about the use of personal data for health research by the NHS, UK citizens were typically willing to accept models of consent other than the ones they would prefer.37 Acceptance of consent models with lower levels of individual control was found to be dependent on a number of factors, including adequate transparency, control over detrimental use and commercialisation, and the ability to object, particularly to any processing considered to be inappropriate or particularly sensitive.37Information and trustOne systematic review identified trust in the ability of the original institution to carry out the oversight tasks as a major condition for responsible data sharing.14 Appropriate education and information about data sharing was thought to include public campaigns to inform stakeholders about Big Data32 and information communicated at open days of research institutions (such as NICE) to ensure people understand what their data are being used for and to reassure them that personal data will not be passed on or sold to other organisations.26 The informed consent process for study participation was believed to include information about the fact that individuals’ data could potentially be shared,15 30 the objectives of data sharing and (biobank) research, the study’s data sharing plans,29 governance structure, logistics and accountability.33Responsibility and accountabilityParticipants often placed the responsibility for data sharing practices on the shoulders of researchers. Secondary use of data collected earlier for scientific research was viewed to require a data access committee that involves a researcher from the original research project, a clinician, patient representative and a participant in the original study.36 Researchers of the original study were required to monitor data used by other researchers.36 In terms of accountability, patient and public groups in Italy (n=280) placed high value on sanctions for misuse of data.30 Information on penalties or other consequences of a breach of protection or misuse was considered important by many.31 35DiscussionIn this study, we narratively reviewed 27 papers on patients’ and public views on and attitudes towards the use of health data for scientific research. Studies reported a widespread—though conditional—support for the linkage and sharing of data for health research.

The only outlier seems to be the finding that just over half (n=25) of the NICE Citizens Council answered ‘no’ to the question whether they had any concerns if NICE used anonymised data to fill in the gaps if NICE was not getting enough evidence in ‘the usual ways’.26 However, we hasten to point out that the question about willingness to share is different from the question whether people have concerns or not. In addition, after a 2-day discussion meeting Council members were perhaps more sensitised to the potential concerns regarding data sharing. Therefore, we suggest that the way and context within which questions are phrased may influence the answers people give.Overall, people expressed similar motivations to share their data, perceived similar benefits (despite some variation between patients and citizens), yet at the same time displayed a range of concerns, predominantly relating to confidentiality and data security, awareness about access and control, and potential harms resulting from these risks. Both patient and public participants conveyed that certain factors would increase or reduce their willingness to have their data shared. For example, the presence of privacy-protecting measures (eg, data deidentification and the use of secured databases) seemed to increase willingness to share, as well as transparency and information about data sharing processes and responsibilities.

The identified views and attitudes appeared to come together in the conditions stipulated by participants. Value, privacy and confidentiality, minimising risks, data security, transparency, control, information, trust, responsibility and accountability.In our Introduction, we mentioned that identifying patients’ and public views and attitudes allows for a better understanding of the elements of a socially sanctioned governance framework. In other words, what work should our governance framework be doing in order to obtain a social license?. This review urges researchers and institutions to address people’s diverse concerns and to make an effort to meet the conditions identified. Without these conditions, institutions lack trustworthiness, which is vital for the proceedings of medicine and biomedical science.

As such, a social license is not a ‘nice to have’ but a ‘need to have’. Our results also confirm that patients and the public indeed care about more than legal compliance alone, and wish to be engaged through information, transparency and control. This work supports the findings of a recent systematic review into ethical principles of data sharing as specified in various international ethical guidelines and literature.38 What this body of research implies is considerable diversity of values and beliefs both between and within countries.The goal of this narrative review was to identify the most internationally dominant, aggregated patient and public views about the broad topic of data sharing for health research. We deliberately opted for the methodology of a narrative review rather than a systematic review. Most narrative reviews deal with a broad range of issues to a given topic rather than addressing a particular topic in depth.39 This means narrative reviews may be most useful for obtaining a broad perspective on a topic, and that they often are less useful in generating quantitative answers to specific clinical questions.

However, because narrative reviews do not require specification of the search and selection strategy and the way of critically appraising literature can be variable, the connection between evidence generated by narrative reviews and (clinical) recommendations is less rigorous and risk of bias exists. This is something to take into account in this study. A risk of bias assessment was not possible due to the heterogeneity of the findings. We acknowledge that our methodological choices may have affected the discriminative power or granularity of our findings. For example, there is a difference between sharing of routinely collected health data versus secondary use of health data collected for research purposes.

And we can only make loose assumptions about potential differences between patient and public views.In addition, we should mention that this work is centred around studies conducted in Western countries as the whole Big Data space and literature is dominated by Western countries, higher socioeconomic status and Caucasians. However, most of the disease burden globally and within countries is most probably not represented in the ‘Big Data’ and so we have to stress the lack of generalisability to large parts of the world.Nevertheless, we believe our findings point towards essential elements of a governance framework for data sharing for health research purposes. If we are to conclude that the identified conditions ought to act as the pillars of a governance framework, the next step is to identify how these conditions could be practically operationalised. For example, if people value information, transparency and control, what type of consent is most likely to valorise these conditions?. And what policy for returning research results would be desirable?.

Once we know what to value, we can start thinking about the ways to acknowledge that value. A new challenge arising here, however, is what to do when people hold different or even conflicting values or preferences. Discrete choice experiments could help to test people’s preferences regarding specific topics, such as preferred modes of informed consent. Apart from empirical work, conceptual analysis is needed to clarify how public trust, trustworthiness of institutions and accountability are interconnected.ConclusionThis narrative review suggests widespread—though conditional—support among patients and the public for data sharing for health research. Despite the fact that participants recognise actual or potential benefits of health research, they report a number of significant concerns and related conditions.

We believe identified conditions (eg, social value, data security, transparency and accountability) ought to be operationalised in a value-based governance framework that incorporates the diverse patient and public values, needs and interests, and which reflects the way these same conditions are met, to strengthen the social license for Big Data health research.Ethics statementsPatient consent for publicationNot required.AcknowledgmentsWe thank Susanne Løgstrup (European Heart Network) and Evert-Ben van Veen (Medlaw) for their valuable feedback during various stages in drafting the manuscript..

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AbstractMost small where to buy ventolin pills non-coding RNAs (sncRNAs) with regulatory functions are encoded by majority sequences in the human visit homepage genome, and the emergence of high-throughput sequencing technology has greatly expanded our understanding of sncRNAs. SncRNAs are composed of a variety of RNAs, including tRNA-derived small RNA (tsRNA), small nucleolar RNA (snoRNA), small nuclear RNA (snRNA), PIWI-interacting RNA (piRNA), etc. While for some, sncRNAs’ implication in several pathologies is now well established, the potential involvement of tsRNA, snoRNA, snRNA where to buy ventolin pills and piRNA in human diseases is only beginning to emerge. Recently, accumulating pieces of evidence demonstrate that tsRNA, snoRNA, snRNA and piRNA play an important role in many biological processes, and their dysregulation is closely related to the progression of cancer. Abnormal expression of tsRNA, snoRNA, snRNA and piRNA participates in the occurrence and development of tumours through different mechanisms, such as transcriptional where to buy ventolin pills inhibition and post-transcriptional regulation.

In this review, we describe the research progress in the classification, biogenesis and biological function of tsRNA, snoRNA, snRNA and piRNA. Moreover, we emphasised their dysregulation and mechanism of action in cancer and discussed their potential as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers or therapeutic targets.cytogeneticsgenetic researchmedical oncologymolecular biologyneoplasmsIntroductionEpithelial tubo-ovarian cancer (EOC), the seventh most common cancer in women globally, is often diagnosed at late stage where to buy ventolin pills and is associated with high mortality. There were 7443 new cases of EOC and 4116 deaths from EOC annually in the UK in 2015–2017.1 Early detection could lead to an early-stage diagnosis, enabling curative treatment and reducing mortality. Annual multimodal screening using a longitudinal serum CA125 algorithm in women from the general population resulted in significantly more women diagnosed with early-stage disease but without a significant reduction in mortality.2 Four-monthly screening using the same multimodal approach also resulted in a stage shift in women at high risk (>10% lifetime risk of EOC).3 Currently, risk-reducing bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (RRSO), on completion of their families, remains the most effective prevention option,4 and it has been recently suggested that RRSO would be cost-effective in postmenopausal women at >4% lifetime EOC risk.5 6 Beyond surgical risk, bilateral oophorectomy may be associated with increased cardiovascular mortality7 and a potential increased risk of other morbidities such as parkinsonism, dementia, cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis,8 9 particularly in those who do not take menopausal hormone therapy (MHT).10 Therefore, it is important to target such prevention approaches to those at increased risk who are most likely to benefit.Over the last decade, there have been significant advances in our understanding of susceptibility to EOC. After age, family history (FH) is the most important risk factor where to buy ventolin pills (RF) for the disease.

Approximately 35% of the observed familial relative risk (FRR) can be explained by rare pathogenic variants (PVs) in the BRCA1, BRCA2, RAD51C, RAD51D and BRIP1 genes.11–14 Recent evidence suggests that PALB2, ATM, MLH1, MSH2 and MSH6 are also involved in the EOC genetic susceptibility.14–18 Common variants, each of small effect, identified through genome-wide association studies,19 20 explain a further 4%. Several epidemiological RFs are also known to be associated with EOC risk, including use of MHT, Body Mass Index (BMI), history of endometriosis, use of oral contraception, tubal ligation and parity.21–26 Despite these advances, those at high risk of developing EOC are where to buy ventolin pills currently identified mainly through FH of the disease or on the basis of having PVs in BRCA1 and BRCA2. However, more personalised risk prediction could be achieved by combining data on all known epidemiological and genetic RFs. The published EOC prediction models consider either RFs24 25 27 or common variants.24 28 No published EOC risk prediction model takes into account the simultaneous effects of the established EOC susceptibility genetic variants (rare where to buy ventolin pills and common), residual FH and other known RFs.Using complex segregation analysis, we previously developed an EOC risk prediction algorithm that considered the effects of PVs in BRCA1 and BRCA2 and explicit FH of EOC and breast cancer (BC).11 The algorithm modelled the residual, unexplained familial aggregation using a polygenic model that captured other unobserved genetic effects. The model did not explicitly include the effects of other established intermediate-risk PVs in genes such as RAD51C, RAD51D and BRIP1,12–14 29 which are now included on routine gene panel tests, the effects of recently developed EOC Polygenic Risk Scores (PRSs) or the known RFs.Here we present a methodological framework for extending this model to incorporate the explicit effects of PVs in RAD51C, RAD51D and BRIP1 for which reliable age-specific EOC risk estimates are currently available, up-to-date PRSs and the known EOC RFs (table 1).

We used this multifactorial model to evaluate the impact of negative predictive testing in families with rare PVs and to assess the extent of EOC risk stratification that can be achieved in the general population, women with a FH of EOC and those carrying rare PVs. We evaluated the performance of a subset of this model in the UK Collaborative Trial of Ovarian Cancer Screening (UKCTOCS),2 where women from the general population were followed up prospectively.View this table:Table 1 Summary of components of the EOC risk modelMethodsEOC risk prediction model developmentNo where to buy ventolin pills large datasets are currently available that include data on all known genetic and other EOC RFs. Therefore, we used a synthetic approach, described previously,30 to extend our previous EOC model11 by capitalising on published estimates of the associations of each RF with EOC. This approach was shown to provide valid risk estimates in the where to buy ventolin pills case of BC.30–32Under the assumption that the effects of rare PVs, RFs and polygenic component are multiplicative on EOC risk, the incidence at age t for individual i was modelled as (1)where is the baseline incidence. is the age-specific log-relative risk (log-RR) associated with individual i’s PV carrier status (explained further), relative to the baseline.

The log-RR where to buy ventolin pills for non-carriers is 0. is the polygenotype for individual i, assumed to follow a standard normal distribution in the general population, and is the age-specific log-RR associated with the polygene, relative to the baseline incidence. is where to buy ventolin pills the log-RR associated with risk-factor ρ at age t, which may depend on PV carrier status, and is the corresponding indicator variable showing the category of risk-factor ρ for the individual. The baseline incidence was determined by constraining the overall incidences to agree with the population EOC incidence. To allow appropriately for missing RF information, only those RFs measured on a given individual are considered.Major gene (MG) effectsTo include the effects of RAD51D, RAD51C and BRIP1, we used the approach described previously where PVs in these genes were assumed to be risk alleles of a single MG locus.33 A dominant model of inheritance was assumed for all rare PVs.

To define the penetrance, we assumed the following order of dominance when an individual carried more than one PV (ie, where to buy ventolin pills the risk was determined by the highest-risk PV and any lower-risk PVs ignored). BRCA1, BRCA2, RAD51D, RAD51C and BRIP1.33 The population allele frequencies for RAD51D, RAD51C and BRIP1 and EOC relative risks (RRs) were obtained from published data (online supplemental table S3).14 29 Although PVs in PALB2, ATM, MLH1, MSH2 and MSH6 have been reported to be associated with EOC risk, PVs in MLH1, MHS2 and MSH6 are primarily associated with risk of specific subtypes of EOC (endometrioid and clear cell),17 and at the time of development, precise EOC age-specific risk estimates for PALB2 and ATM PV carriers were not available. Therefore, these were not considered at this stage.Supplemental materialEpidemiological RFsThe RFs incorporated into the model include parity, use of oral contraception and MHT, endometriosis, where to buy ventolin pills tubal ligation, BMI and height. We assumed that the RFs were categorical and that individuals’ categories were fixed for their lifetime, although the RRs were allowed to vary with age. The RR estimates used in equation (1) and population distributions for each RF were obtained from large-scale external studies where to buy ventolin pills and from national surveillance data sources using a synthetic approach as previously described.30 Where possible, we used RR estimates that were adjusted for the other RFs included in the model and distributions from the UK.

Details of the population distributions and RRs used in the model are given in online supplemental table S2. As in the Breast and Ovarian Analysis of Disease Incidence and Carrier Estimation Algorithm (BOADICEA),30 in order to decrease the runtime, we combined the RFs with age-independent RRs into a single factor (specifically parity, tubal ligation, endometriosis, BMI and height).Other model componentsThe previous version11 modelled the incidence of EOC and first female BC. To align with BOADICEA,30 the model was extended to take account of female contralateral BC and the associations of BRCA1/2 PVs with pancreatic cancer, male BC and prostate cancer (online supplemental methods).Model validationStudy subjectsA partial model validation was carried out in a nested case–control sample of women of self-reported European ancestry participating in where to buy ventolin pills UKCTOCS. Based on the data available, we were able to validate the model on the basis of FH, PRS and RFs. Details of the UKCTOCS study design, blood sampling process, DNA extraction and processing, variant selection, genotyping and data processing are described in the online supplemental Methods and published elsewhere.35 Women with an FH of two or more relatives with EOC or who were known carriers where to buy ventolin pills of BRCA1/2 PVs were not eligible to participate in UKCTOCS.

In summary, the following self-reported information was collected at recruitment and used for model validation. Parity, use of oral contraception and MHT, tubal ligation, BMI and where to buy ventolin pills height (online supplemental table S4). As the study participants were genotyped for only 15 Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) known at the time to be associated with EOC risk, it was not possible to use the more recently developed PRS for model validation. Instead, as the model can accommodate an arbitrary PRS, a PRS where to buy ventolin pills based on the 15 available SNPs was used35 (online supplemental table S5), for which. The UKCTOCS study participants were independent of the sets used to generate this PRS.35 Study participants were not screened for PVs in BRCA1, BRCA2, RAD51C, RAD51D or BRIP1.Pedigree constructionThe UKCTOCS recruitment questionnaire collected only summary data on FH of BC and EOC.

Since the risk algorithm uses explicit FH information, these data were used to reconstruct the pedigrees, which included information on incidences in the first-degree and second-degree relatives (online supplemental methods).Statistical analysisAll UKCTOCS participants were followed up using electronic health record linkage to national cancer and death registries. For this study, they were censored at either their age at EOC, their age at other (non-EOC) first cancer diagnosis, their age at death or where to buy ventolin pills age 79. To assess the model performance, a weighted approach was used whereby each participant was assigned a sampling weight based on the inverse of the probability of being included in the nested case–control study, given their disease status. Since all incident cancer cases were included, cases were assigned a where to buy ventolin pills weight of 1. The cases were matched to two random controls (women with no EOC cancer) recruited at the same regional centre, age at randomisation and year at recruitment.We assessed the model calibration and discrimination of the predicted 5-year risks.

Women older than 74 years where to buy ventolin pills at entry were excluded. Cases that developed EOC beyond 5 years were treated as unaffected. For controls with a less than 5 years of follow-up, we predicted the EOC risks to the age at censoring. For all other controls and cases, we predicted 5-year risks.To assess model calibration, we partitioned the weighted sample into quintiles where to buy ventolin pills of predicted risk. Within each quintile, we compared the weighted mean of predicted risk to the weighted observed incidence using the Hosmer-Lemeshow (HL) χ2 test.36 To assess RR calibration, the predicted and observed RRs were calculated relative to the corresponding means of risks over all quintiles.

We also compared the expected (E) with the observed (O) EOC risk within where to buy ventolin pills the prediction interval by calculating the ratio of expected to observed cases (E/O). The 95% CI for the ratio was calculated assuming a Poisson distribution.37We assessed the model discrimination between women who developed and did not develop EOC within 5 years using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) (online supplemental methods).ResultsModel descriptionRAD51D, RAD51C and BRIP1, based on the assumed allele frequencies and RRs, account for 2.5% of the overall model polygenic variance. Figure 1 shows the predicted EOC risks for carriers of PVs in BRCA1, BRCA2, RAD51D, RAD51C and BRIP1 for various where to buy ventolin pills FH scenarios. With unknown FH, the risks for carriers of PVs in RAD51D, RAD51C and BRIP1 are 13%, 11% and 6%, respectively. For example, for a BRIP1 PV carrier, the risk varies from 6% for a woman without EOC FH to 18% for a woman with two where to buy ventolin pills affected first-degree relatives.

The model can also be used to predict risks in families in which PVs are identified but where other family members test negative (online supplemental figure S1). For women with an FH of EOC, the reduction in EOC risk after negative predictive testing is greatest for BRCA1 PVs, with the risks being close to (though still somewhat greater than) population risk. This effect was most noticeable for women with where to buy ventolin pills a strong FH. Although a risk reduction is also seen for women whose mother carried a PV in BRCA2, RAD51D, RAD51C or BRIP1, the reduction is less marked. As expected, the predicted risks are still elevated compared with the where to buy ventolin pills population.Predicted lifetime (age 20–80 years) EOC risk by PV and family history.

Each fgure shows the risks assuming the woman is untested, has no PVs or carries a PV in BRCA1, BRCA2, RAD51D, RAD51C or BRIP1. (A) Assuming an unknown family history where to buy ventolin pills. (B–E) Assuming an increasing number of affected first-degree relatives, as indicated by the pedigree diagram inserts. Predictions are based on UK EOC population incidence. EOC, epithelial tubo-ovarian cancer where to buy ventolin pills.

PV, pathogenic variant." data-icon-position data-hide-link-title="0">Figure 1 Predicted lifetime (age 20–80 years) EOC risk by PV and family history. Each fgure shows the risks assuming the woman is untested, has no PVs or carries a PV in BRCA1, BRCA2, RAD51D, RAD51C where to buy ventolin pills or BRIP1. (A) Assuming an unknown family history. (B–E) Assuming an increasing number of affected first-degree relatives, as indicated by the where to buy ventolin pills pedigree diagram inserts. Predictions are based on UK EOC population incidence.

EOC, epithelial tubo-ovarian cancer. PV, pathogenic variant.Figure 2 and online supplemental figure S2 show distributions of lifetime where to buy ventolin pills risk and risk by age 50, respectively, for women untested for PVs, based on RFs and PRS, for two FH scenarios. (1) unknown FH (ie, equivalent to a woman from the general population). And (2) having a mother diagnosed with EOC where to buy ventolin pills at age 50. Table 2 shows the corresponding proportion of women falling into different risk categories.

The variation in risk is greatest where to buy ventolin pills when including both the RFs and PRS. When considered separately, the distribution is widest for the RFs. Using the RFs and PRS where to buy ventolin pills combined, predicted lifetime risks vary from 0.5% for the first percentile to 4.6% for the 99th for a woman with unknown FH and from 1.9% to 10.3% for a woman with an affected mother.Predicted lifetime (age 20–80 years) EOC risk for a woman untested for PVs based on the different predictors of risk (RFs and PRS). (A,C) Risk for a woman with an unknown family history (equivalent to the distribution of risk in the population). (B,D) risk for a woman with a mother affected at age 50.

(A,B) Probability density where to buy ventolin pills function against absolute risk. (C,D) absolute risk against cumulative distribution. The vertical line (A) and the horizontal line (C) (labelled ‘no RFs or PRS’) are equivalent to the population where to buy ventolin pills risk of EOC. The ‘population’ risk is shown separately in (B,D). Predictions are based on where to buy ventolin pills UK EOC population incidences.

EOC, epithelial tubo-ovarian cancer. PRS, Polygenic Risk Score. RF, risk factor." data-icon-position data-hide-link-title="0">Figure 2 Predicted lifetime (age 20–80 years) EOC risk for a woman untested for PVs based on the different predictors of risk (RFs where to buy ventolin pills and PRS). (A,C) Risk for a woman with an unknown family history (equivalent to the distribution of risk in the population). (B,D) risk for a woman with a mother affected where to buy ventolin pills at age 50.

(A,B) Probability density function against absolute risk. (C,D) absolute where to buy ventolin pills risk against cumulative distribution. The vertical line (A) and the horizontal line (C) (labelled ‘no RFs or PRS’) are equivalent to the population risk of EOC. The ‘population’ risk is shown separately in where to buy ventolin pills (B,D). Predictions are based on UK EOC population incidences.

EOC, epithelial tubo-ovarian cancer. PRS, Polygenic Risk where to buy ventolin pills Score. RF, risk factor.View this table:Table 2 Percentage of women falling in different risk categories by status of PV in one of the high-risk or intermediate-risk genes included in the model and family history of cancerPredicted lifetime EOC risk for a woman who has a PV in one of the high-risk or intermediate-risk genes included in the model, based on the different predictors of risk (RFs and PRS), for two family histories. (A,B) Lifetime risk for a carrier of more tips here a where to buy ventolin pills PV in BRCA1. (C,D) lifetime risk for a carrier of a PV in BRCA2.

(E,F) lifetime where to buy ventolin pills risk for a carrier of a PV in RAD51D. (G,H) lifetime risk for a carrier of a PV in RAD51C. (I,J) lifetime risk for a carrier of a PV in BRIP1. (A,C,E,G,I) Risks for an unknown family where to buy ventolin pills history. (B,D,F,H,J) risks for a woman whose mother is diagnosed with EOC at age 50.

Predictions based on UK where to buy ventolin pills ovarian cancer incidences. EOC, epithelial tubo-ovarian cancer. PRS, Polygenic where to buy ventolin pills Risk Score. PV, pathogenic variant. RF, risk factor." where to buy ventolin pills data-icon-position data-hide-link-title="0">Figure 3 Predicted lifetime EOC risk for a woman who has a PV in one of the high-risk or intermediate-risk genes included in the model, based on the different predictors of risk (RFs and PRS), for two family histories.

(A,B) Lifetime risk for a carrier of a PV in BRCA1. (C,D) lifetime risk for a carrier of a PV in BRCA2. (E,F) lifetime risk for a carrier of a PV in RAD51D where to buy ventolin pills. (G,H) lifetime risk for a carrier of a PV in RAD51C. (I,J) lifetime risk for a where to buy ventolin pills carrier of a PV in BRIP1.

(A,C,E,G,I) Risks for an unknown family history. (B,D,F,H,J) risks for a woman whose mother is diagnosed with EOC at age where to buy ventolin pills 50. Predictions based on UK ovarian cancer incidences. EOC, epithelial tubo-ovarian cancer. PRS, Polygenic Risk where to buy ventolin pills Score.

PV, pathogenic variant. RF, risk factor.Figure 3 shows the predicted lifetime EOC risk for carriers of PVs in BRCA1, BRCA2, where to buy ventolin pills RAD51D, RAD51C and BRIP1 based on RFs and PRS for two FH scenarios. Taking a RAD51D PV carrier, for example, based on PV testing and FH alone, the predicted risks are 13% when FH is unknown and 23% when having a mother diagnosed with EOC at age 50. When RFs and the PRS are considered jointly, risks vary from 4% for those at the 1st percentile to 28% for the where to buy ventolin pills 99th with unknown FH and from 9% to 43% with an affected mother. Table 1 shows the proportion of women with PVs falling into different risk categories.

Based on the combined distribution, 33% of RAD51D PV carriers in the population are expected where to buy ventolin pills to have a lifetime EOC risk of less than 10%. Similarly, the distributions of risk for BRIP1 PV carriers are shown in figure 3I,J and in table 1. Based on the combined RFs and PRS distributions, 46% of BRIP1 PV carriers in the population are expected to have lifetime risks of less than 5%. 47% to have risks between 5% and 10%, and 7% to have risks where to buy ventolin pills of 10% or greater. A BRIP1 PV carrier with an affected mother, on the basis of FH alone, has a lifetime risk of 11%.

However, when the RFs where to buy ventolin pills and PRS are considered, 50% of those would be reclassified as having lifetime risks of less than 10%.Online supplemental figures S4 and S5 show the probability trees describing the reclassification of women as more information (RFs, PRS and testing for PVs in the MGs) is added to the model for a woman with unknown FH and a woman with a mother diagnosed at age 50, respectively, based on the predicted lifetime risks. Online supplemental figures S4A and S5A show the reclassification resulting from adding RFs, MG and PRS sequentially, while online supplemental figures S4B and S5B assume the order RFs, PRS and then MG. Assuming the three risk categories for lifetime risks are <5% and ≥5% but <10% and≥10%, there is significant reclassification as more information is added.Model where to buy ventolin pills validationAfter censoring, 1961 participants with 374 incident cases and 1587 controls met the 5-year risk prediction eligibility criteria. Online supplemental table S5 summarises their characteristics at baseline.The model considering FH, the 15-variant PRS and a subset of the RFs (but not including testing for PVs in the MGs) demonstrated good calibration in both absolute and relative predicted risk (figure 4). Over the 5-year period, the model predicted 391 EOCs, close to the 374 observed (E/O=1.05, 95% CI.

0.94 to where to buy ventolin pills 1.16). The model was well calibrated across the quintiles of predicted risk (HL p=0.08), although there was a suggestion of an underprediction of risk in the lowest quintile (absolute risk E/O=0.66, 95% CI. 0.52 to 0.91 where to buy ventolin pills. RR E/O=0.63, 95% CI. 0.42 to where to buy ventolin pills 0.95).

The AUC for assessing discrimination of these model components was 0.61 (95% CI. 0.58 to 0.64).Calibration of the absolute and relative predicted 5-year EOC risks, showing the observed and expected risks by quintile. The bars show the 95% CIs for the observed risks where to buy ventolin pills. Relative risks were calculated relative to the overall mean of observed and predicted risks. AUC, area under the receiver operating characteristic curve." data-icon-position data-hide-link-title="0">Figure 4 Calibration of the absolute and relative predicted where to buy ventolin pills 5-year EOC risks, showing the observed and expected risks by quintile.

The bars show the 95% CIs for the observed risks. Relative risks were calculated relative to the overall mean of observed and where to buy ventolin pills predicted risks. AUC, area under the receiver operating characteristic curve.When looking at individual factors, FH predicted the widest 5 year risk variability (SD=0.0013. Range. 0.04% to 4.0%), followed by RFs (SD=0.0010.

Range. 0.02% to 0.7%) and PRS (SD=0.0009. Range. 0.05% to 1.0%, online supplemental figure S6). As expected, their sequential inclusion increased the variability (SD=0.0018.

Online supplemental figure S6).DiscussionThe EOC risk prediction model presented here combines the effects of FH, the explicit effects of rare moderate-risk to high-risk PVs in five established EOC susceptibility genes, a 36-variant PRS and other clinical and epidemiological factors (table 1). The model provides a consistent approach for estimating EOC risk on the basis of all known factors and allows for prevention approaches to be targeted at those at highest risk.The results demonstrate that in the general population (unknown FH), the existing PRS and RF alone identify 0.6% of women who have a lifetime risk of >5% (table 2). On the other hand, for women with FH, 37.1% of women would have a predicted risk between 5% and 10% and 1.2% would have an EOC risk of ≥10% (table 2). The results show that the RFs provide a somewhat greater level of risk stratification than the 36-variant PRS. However, discrimination is greater when both are considered jointly.

These results were in line with the observed risk distributions in the validation dataset, but direct comparisons were not possible due to the different variants included in the PRSs and limited RFs in the validation study. The results also show that significant levels of risk recategorisation can occur for carriers of PVs in moderate-risk or high-risk susceptibility genes.The comprehensive risk model is based on a synthetic approach previously used for BC30 and makes several assumptions. In particular, we assumed that the risks associated with known RFs and the PRS combine multiplicatively. We have not assessed this assumption in the present study. However, published studies found no evidence of deviations from the multiplicative model for the combined effect of the RFs and the PRS,28 suggesting that this assumption is reasonable.

The model assumes that the RFs are also independent of the residual polygenic component that captures the effect of FH. However, for the RFs included, we used estimates from published studies that have adjusted for the other known EOC RFs. The observation that the model was calibrated on the RR scale in the UKCTOCS validation study also suggests that these assumptions are broadly valid.Similarly, the model assumes that the relative effect-sizes of RFs and the PRS are similar in women carrying PVs in BRCA1, BRCA2, RAD51C, RAD51D and BRIP1 to those without PVs in these genes. Evidence from studies of BRCA1 and BRCA2 PV carriers suggests that this assumption is plausible. PRSs for EOC have been shown to be associated with similar RRs in the general population and in BRCA1 and BRCA2 PV carriers.34 38 39 The current evidence also suggests that known RFs have similar effect sizes in BRCA1 and BRCA2 PV carriers as in non-carriers.40 41 No studies have so far assessed the joint effects of RAD51C, RAD51D and BRIP1 PVs with the PRS, but the observation that FH modifies EOC risk for RAD51C/D PV carriers29 suggests that similar arguments are likely to apply.

Large prospective studies are required to address these questions in more detail. We were not able to validate these assumptions explicitly in UKCTOCS because gene-panel testing data were not available.Other RFs for EOC that have been reported in the literature include breast feeding42 and age at menarche and menopause.25 However, the evidence for these RFs is still limited. Our model is flexible enough to allow for additional RFs to be incorporated in the future.We validated the 5-year predicted risks on the basis of FH, RFs and PRS available in an independent dataset from a prospective trial.2 A key strength was that EOC was a primary outcome in UKCTOCS. All cases were reviewed and confirmed by an independent outcome review committee.2 The results indicated that absolute and RRs were well calibrated overall and in the top quintiles of predicted risk. However, there was some underprediction of EOC in the bottom quintile.

This could be due to differences in the RF distributions in those who volunteer to participate in research (self-selected more healthy individuals43) compared with the general population or due to random variations in the effects of the RFs in UKCTOCS compared with other studies. Alternatively, the multiplicative assumption may break down in the lowest-risk category. Further, large prospective cohorts will be required to determine whether the underprediction in the lowest risk category reflects a systematic miscalibration of the model or is due to chance. Although the AUC based on model components in this validation study was modest. It is not surprising given that only a subset of the model predictors were used, and UKCTOCS recruited primarily low-risk women.

Inclusion of the optimal PRS,34 all RFs and information on PVs in the five genes that account for a large fraction of the EOC FRR are expected to lead to an increase in AUC.The current validation study has some limitations. The underlying model accounts for FH information on both affected and unaffected family members, but the UKCTOCS recruitment questionnaire did not include information on unaffected family members. Family sizes and ages for unobserved family members were imputed using demographic data. In addition, since information on whether the affected family members were from the paternal or maternal side was absent, we assumed all the affected family members were from the same (maternal) side. This may result in inaccuracies in risk predictions.

A further limitation is that UKCTOCS was undertaken to assess screening of low-risk women and therefore is not necessarily representative of a true population cohort, as women with a FH of two or more relatives with EOC or who were known carriers of BRCA1/2 PVs were not eligible to participate in the randomised controlled trial. Data were not available on the rare moderate-risk and high-risk PVs, and we were only able to assess a PRS with 15 variants, rather than the more informative 36-variant PRS. Therefore, it has not been possible to validate the full model presented here. Future analyses in other cohorts will be required to further validate the full model.In summary, we have presented a methodological framework for a comprehensive EOC risk prediction model that considers the currently known genetic and epidemiological RFs and explicit FH. The model allows users to obtain consistent, individualised EOC risks.

It can also be used to identify target populations for studies to assess novel prevention strategies (such as salpingectomy) or early detection approaches by identifying those at higher risk of developing the disease for enrolment into such studies. Future independent studies should aim to validate the full model, including the full PRS and rare PVs in diverse settings. The model is available via the CanRisk Tool (www.canrisk.org), a user-friendly web tool that allows users to obtain future risks of developing EOC.Data availability statementThe model is freely available online (www.canrisk.org). For access to UK Collaborative Trial of Ovarian Cancer Screening (UKCTOCS) dataset, which is subject to General Data Protection Regulations rules, please contact the UKCTOCS Biobank coordinator (s.apostolidou@ucl.ac.uk). The data access process is outlined online (http://uklwc.mrcctu.ucl.ac.uk/access-process/).Ethics statementsPatient consent for publicationNot required.Ethics approvalThe study was approved by local ethical review committees.

UK Collaborative Trial of Ovarian Cancer Screening was approved by the UK North West Multicentre Research Ethics Committees (North West MREC 00/8/34) on 21 June 2000 with site-specific approval from the local regional ethics committees and the Caldicott guardians (data controllers) of the primary care trusts. The SNP protocol was approved by NRES Committee North West - Liverpool Central (14/NW1026) in June 2014.AcknowledgmentsThe authors are particularly grateful to those throughout the UK who are participating in the trial and to the centre leads and the entire medical, nursing and administrative staff who work on the UK Collaborative Trial of Ovarian Cancer Screening..

AbstractMost small non-coding RNAs (sncRNAs) with regulatory functions are encoded by majority sequences in the human genome, and the emergence of high-throughput sequencing technology has greatly expanded our understanding of ventolin price can you get ventolin over the counter australia sncRNAs. SncRNAs are composed of a variety of RNAs, including tRNA-derived small RNA (tsRNA), small nucleolar RNA (snoRNA), small nuclear RNA (snRNA), PIWI-interacting RNA (piRNA), etc. While for some, sncRNAs’ implication in several ventolin price pathologies is now well established, the potential involvement of tsRNA, snoRNA, snRNA and piRNA in human diseases is only beginning to emerge. Recently, accumulating pieces of evidence demonstrate that tsRNA, snoRNA, snRNA and piRNA play an important role in many biological processes, and their dysregulation is closely related to the progression of cancer. Abnormal expression of tsRNA, snoRNA, snRNA and piRNA participates in the occurrence and development of tumours ventolin price through different mechanisms, such as transcriptional inhibition and post-transcriptional regulation.

In this review, we describe the research progress in the classification, biogenesis and biological function of tsRNA, snoRNA, snRNA and piRNA. Moreover, we emphasised their dysregulation and mechanism of action in cancer and discussed their potential ventolin price as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers or therapeutic targets.cytogeneticsgenetic researchmedical oncologymolecular biologyneoplasmsIntroductionEpithelial tubo-ovarian cancer (EOC), the seventh most common cancer in women globally, is often diagnosed at late stage and is associated with high mortality. There were 7443 new cases of EOC and 4116 deaths from EOC annually in the UK in 2015–2017.1 Early detection could lead to an early-stage diagnosis, enabling curative treatment and reducing mortality. Annual multimodal screening using a longitudinal serum CA125 algorithm in women from the general population resulted in significantly more women diagnosed with early-stage disease but without a significant reduction in mortality.2 Four-monthly screening using the same multimodal approach also resulted in a stage shift in women at high risk (>10% lifetime risk of EOC).3 Currently, risk-reducing bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (RRSO), on completion of their families, remains the most effective prevention option,4 and it has been recently suggested that RRSO would be cost-effective in postmenopausal women at >4% lifetime EOC risk.5 6 Beyond surgical risk, bilateral oophorectomy may be associated with increased cardiovascular mortality7 and a potential increased risk of other morbidities such as parkinsonism, dementia, cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis,8 9 particularly in those who do not take menopausal hormone therapy (MHT).10 Therefore, it is important to target such prevention approaches to those at increased risk who are most likely to benefit.Over the last decade, there have been significant advances in our understanding of susceptibility to EOC. After age, family ventolin price history (FH) is the most important risk factor (RF) for the disease.

Approximately 35% of the observed familial relative risk (FRR) can be explained by rare pathogenic variants (PVs) in the BRCA1, BRCA2, RAD51C, RAD51D and BRIP1 genes.11–14 Recent evidence suggests that PALB2, ATM, MLH1, MSH2 and MSH6 are also involved in the EOC genetic susceptibility.14–18 Common variants, each of small effect, identified through genome-wide association studies,19 20 explain a further 4%. Several epidemiological RFs are also known to be associated with ventolin price EOC risk, including use of MHT, Body Mass Index (BMI), history of endometriosis, use of oral contraception, tubal ligation and parity.21–26 Despite these advances, those at high risk of developing EOC are currently identified mainly through FH of the disease or on the basis of having PVs in BRCA1 and BRCA2. However, more personalised risk prediction could be achieved by combining data on all known epidemiological and genetic RFs. The published EOC prediction models consider either RFs24 25 27 or common variants.24 28 No published EOC risk prediction model takes into account the simultaneous effects of the established EOC susceptibility genetic variants (rare and common), ventolin price residual FH and other known RFs.Using complex segregation analysis, we previously developed an EOC risk prediction algorithm that considered the effects of PVs in BRCA1 and BRCA2 and explicit FH of EOC and breast cancer (BC).11 The algorithm modelled the residual, unexplained familial aggregation using a polygenic model that captured other unobserved genetic effects. The model did not explicitly include the effects of other established intermediate-risk PVs in genes such as RAD51C, RAD51D and BRIP1,12–14 29 which are now included on routine gene panel tests, the effects of recently developed EOC Polygenic Risk Scores (PRSs) or the known RFs.Here we present a methodological framework for extending this model to incorporate the explicit effects of PVs in RAD51C, RAD51D and BRIP1 for which reliable age-specific EOC risk estimates are currently available, up-to-date PRSs and the known EOC RFs (table 1).

We used this multifactorial model to evaluate the impact of negative predictive testing in families with rare PVs and to assess the extent of EOC risk stratification that can be achieved in the general population, women with a FH of EOC and those carrying rare PVs. We evaluated the performance of a subset of this ventolin price model in the UK Collaborative Trial of Ovarian Cancer Screening (UKCTOCS),2 where women from the general population were followed up prospectively.View this table:Table 1 Summary of components of the EOC risk modelMethodsEOC risk prediction model developmentNo large datasets are currently available that include data on all known genetic and other EOC RFs. Therefore, we used a synthetic approach, described previously,30 to extend our previous EOC model11 by capitalising on published estimates of the associations of each RF with EOC. This approach was shown to provide valid risk estimates in the case of BC.30–32Under the assumption that the effects of rare PVs, RFs and polygenic component are multiplicative on EOC risk, the incidence at age t for individual i was modelled as (1)where ventolin price is the baseline incidence. is the age-specific log-relative risk (log-RR) associated with individual i’s PV carrier status (explained further), relative to the baseline.

The log-RR ventolin price for non-carriers is 0. is the polygenotype for individual i, assumed to follow a standard normal distribution in the general population, and is the age-specific log-RR associated with the polygene, relative to the baseline incidence. is the log-RR associated with risk-factor ρ at age ventolin price t, which may depend on PV carrier status, and is the corresponding indicator variable showing the category of risk-factor ρ for the individual. The baseline incidence was determined by constraining the overall incidences to agree with the population EOC incidence. To allow appropriately for missing RF information, only those RFs measured on a given individual are considered.Major gene (MG) effectsTo include the effects of RAD51D, RAD51C and BRIP1, we used the approach described previously where PVs in these genes were assumed to be risk alleles of a single MG locus.33 A dominant model of inheritance was assumed for all rare PVs.

To define the penetrance, we ventolin price assumed the following order of dominance when an individual carried more than one PV (ie, the risk was determined by the highest-risk PV and any lower-risk PVs ignored). BRCA1, BRCA2, RAD51D, RAD51C and BRIP1.33 The population allele frequencies for RAD51D, RAD51C and BRIP1 and EOC relative risks (RRs) were obtained from published data (online supplemental table S3).14 29 Although PVs in PALB2, ATM, MLH1, MSH2 and MSH6 have been reported to be associated with EOC risk, PVs in MLH1, MHS2 and MSH6 are primarily associated with risk of specific subtypes of EOC (endometrioid and clear cell),17 and at the time of development, precise EOC age-specific risk estimates for PALB2 and ATM PV carriers were not available. Therefore, these were not considered at this stage.Supplemental materialEpidemiological RFsThe RFs incorporated into the model include parity, use of oral contraception and MHT, endometriosis, tubal ligation, BMI and ventolin price height. We assumed that the RFs were categorical and that individuals’ categories were fixed for their lifetime, although the RRs were allowed to vary with age. The RR estimates used in equation (1) and population distributions for each RF were obtained from large-scale external studies and from national surveillance data sources using a synthetic approach as previously described.30 Where possible, we used RR estimates that were adjusted for the other RFs included in the ventolin price model and distributions from the UK.

Details of the population distributions and RRs used in the model are given in online supplemental table S2. As in the Breast and Ovarian Analysis of Disease Incidence and Carrier Estimation Algorithm (BOADICEA),30 in order to decrease the runtime, we combined the RFs with age-independent RRs into a single factor (specifically parity, tubal ligation, endometriosis, BMI and height).Other model componentsThe previous version11 modelled the incidence of EOC and first female BC. To align with BOADICEA,30 the model ventolin price was extended to take account of female contralateral BC and the associations of BRCA1/2 PVs with pancreatic cancer, male BC and prostate cancer (online supplemental methods).Model validationStudy subjectsA partial model validation was carried out in a nested case–control sample of women of self-reported European ancestry participating in UKCTOCS. Based on the data available, we were able to validate the model on the basis of FH, PRS and RFs. Details of the UKCTOCS study design, blood sampling process, DNA extraction and processing, variant selection, genotyping and data processing are described in the online supplemental Methods and published elsewhere.35 Women with an FH of two or more relatives with EOC ventolin price or who were known carriers of BRCA1/2 PVs were not eligible to participate in UKCTOCS.

In summary, the following self-reported information was collected at recruitment and used for model validation. Parity, use ventolin price of oral contraception and MHT, tubal ligation, BMI and height (online supplemental table S4). As the study participants were genotyped for only 15 Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) known at the time to be associated with EOC risk, it was not possible to use the more recently developed PRS for model validation. Instead, as the model can accommodate an arbitrary PRS, a PRS based on the 15 available SNPs was used35 (online ventolin price supplemental table S5), for which. The UKCTOCS study participants were independent of the sets used to generate this PRS.35 Study participants were not screened for PVs in BRCA1, BRCA2, RAD51C, RAD51D or BRIP1.Pedigree constructionThe UKCTOCS recruitment questionnaire collected only summary data on FH of BC and EOC.

Since the risk algorithm uses explicit FH information, these data were used to reconstruct the pedigrees, which included information on incidences in the first-degree and second-degree relatives (online supplemental methods).Statistical analysisAll UKCTOCS participants were followed up using electronic health record linkage to national cancer and death registries. For this study, they were censored at either their age at EOC, their age at other (non-EOC) first cancer ventolin price diagnosis, their age at death or age 79. To assess the model performance, a weighted approach was used whereby each participant was assigned a sampling weight based on the inverse of the probability of being included in the nested case–control study, given their disease status. Since all incident ventolin price cancer cases were included, cases were assigned a weight of 1. The cases were matched to two random controls (women with no EOC cancer) recruited at the same regional centre, age at randomisation and year at recruitment.We assessed the model calibration and discrimination of the predicted 5-year risks.

Women older ventolin price than 74 years at entry were excluded. Cases that developed EOC beyond 5 years were treated as unaffected. For controls with a less than 5 years of follow-up, we predicted the EOC risks to the age at censoring. For all other controls and cases, ventolin price we predicted 5-year risks.To assess model calibration, we partitioned the weighted sample into quintiles of predicted risk. Within each quintile, we compared the weighted mean of predicted risk to the weighted observed incidence using the Hosmer-Lemeshow (HL) χ2 test.36 To assess RR calibration, the predicted and observed RRs were calculated relative to the corresponding means of risks over all quintiles.

We also compared the expected (E) with the observed (O) EOC risk within the prediction interval by calculating the ratio of expected ventolin price to observed cases (E/O). The 95% CI for the ratio was calculated assuming a Poisson distribution.37We assessed the model discrimination between women who developed and did not develop EOC within 5 years using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) (online supplemental methods).ResultsModel descriptionRAD51D, RAD51C and BRIP1, based on the assumed allele frequencies and RRs, account for 2.5% of the overall model polygenic variance. Figure 1 ventolin price shows the predicted EOC risks for carriers of PVs in BRCA1, BRCA2, RAD51D, RAD51C and BRIP1 for various FH scenarios. With unknown FH, the risks for carriers of PVs in RAD51D, RAD51C and BRIP1 are 13%, 11% and 6%, respectively. For example, for a BRIP1 PV carrier, the risk varies from 6% for a woman without ventolin price EOC FH to 18% for a woman with two affected first-degree relatives.

The model can also be used to predict risks in families in which PVs are identified but where other family members test negative (online supplemental figure S1). For women with an FH of EOC, the reduction in EOC risk after negative predictive testing is greatest for BRCA1 PVs, with the risks being close to (though still somewhat greater than) population risk. This effect ventolin price was most noticeable for women with a strong FH. Although a risk reduction is also seen for women whose mother carried a PV in BRCA2, RAD51D, RAD51C or BRIP1, the reduction is less marked. As expected, the predicted risks are ventolin price still elevated compared with the population.Predicted lifetime (age 20–80 years) EOC risk by PV and family history.

Each fgure shows the risks assuming the woman is untested, has no PVs or carries a PV in BRCA1, BRCA2, RAD51D, RAD51C or BRIP1. (A) Assuming an unknown family history ventolin price. (B–E) Assuming an increasing number of affected first-degree relatives, as indicated by the pedigree diagram inserts. Predictions are based on UK EOC population incidence. EOC, epithelial ventolin price tubo-ovarian cancer.

PV, pathogenic variant." data-icon-position data-hide-link-title="0">Figure 1 Predicted lifetime (age 20–80 years) EOC risk by PV and family history. Each fgure shows the risks assuming the woman is untested, has no PVs or carries a PV ventolin price in BRCA1, BRCA2, RAD51D, RAD51C or BRIP1. (A) Assuming an unknown family history. (B–E) Assuming an increasing number of affected first-degree relatives, as indicated by the pedigree diagram inserts ventolin price. Predictions are based on UK EOC population incidence.

EOC, epithelial tubo-ovarian cancer. PV, pathogenic variant.Figure 2 and online supplemental figure S2 show distributions of lifetime risk and risk by age 50, respectively, for women untested for PVs, based on RFs and PRS, for ventolin price two FH scenarios. (1) unknown FH (ie, equivalent to a woman from the general population). And (2) having a ventolin price mother diagnosed with EOC at age 50. Table 2 shows the corresponding proportion of women falling into different risk categories.

The variation in risk is greatest when including both the RFs and PRS ventolin price. When considered separately, the distribution is widest for the RFs. Using the RFs and PRS combined, predicted lifetime risks vary from 0.5% for the first percentile to 4.6% for the 99th for a woman with unknown FH and from 1.9% to 10.3% for a woman with ventolin price an affected mother.Predicted lifetime (age 20–80 years) EOC risk for a woman untested for PVs based on the different predictors of risk (RFs and PRS). (A,C) Risk for a woman with an unknown family history (equivalent to the distribution of risk in the population). (B,D) risk for a woman with a mother affected at age 50.

(A,B) Probability ventolin price density function against absolute risk. (C,D) absolute risk against cumulative distribution. The vertical line (A) and the horizontal line (C) (labelled ‘no RFs or PRS’) are equivalent to the population ventolin price risk of EOC. The ‘population’ risk is shown separately in (B,D). Predictions are based on UK EOC ventolin price population incidences.

EOC, epithelial tubo-ovarian cancer. PRS, Polygenic Risk Score. RF, risk factor." data-icon-position data-hide-link-title="0">Figure 2 ventolin price Predicted lifetime (age 20–80 years) EOC risk for a woman untested for PVs based on the different predictors of risk (RFs and PRS). (A,C) Risk for a woman with an unknown family history (equivalent to the distribution of risk in the population). (B,D) risk for a woman with a mother affected at age 50 ventolin price.

(A,B) Probability density function against absolute risk. (C,D) absolute risk ventolin price against cumulative distribution. The vertical line (A) and the horizontal line (C) (labelled ‘no RFs or PRS’) are equivalent to the population risk of EOC. The ‘population’ risk is shown separately ventolin price in (B,D). Predictions are based on UK EOC population incidences.

EOC, epithelial tubo-ovarian cancer. PRS, Polygenic ventolin price Risk Score. RF, risk factor.View this table:Table 2 Percentage of women falling in different risk categories by status of PV in one of the high-risk or intermediate-risk genes included in the model and family history of cancerPredicted lifetime EOC risk for a woman who has a PV in one of the high-risk or intermediate-risk genes included in the model, based on the different predictors of risk (RFs and PRS), for two family histories. (A,B) Lifetime risk for a carrier ventolin price of a PV in BRCA1. (C,D) lifetime risk for a carrier of a PV in BRCA2.

(E,F) lifetime risk for a ventolin price carrier of a PV in RAD51D. (G,H) lifetime risk for a carrier of a PV in RAD51C. (I,J) lifetime risk for a carrier of a PV in BRIP1. (A,C,E,G,I) Risks ventolin price for an unknown family history. (B,D,F,H,J) risks for a woman whose mother is diagnosed with EOC at age 50.

Predictions based ventolin price on UK ovarian cancer incidences. EOC, epithelial tubo-ovarian cancer. PRS, Polygenic ventolin price Risk Score. PV, pathogenic variant. RF, risk factor." data-icon-position data-hide-link-title="0">Figure 3 Predicted lifetime ventolin price EOC risk for a woman who has a PV in one of the high-risk or intermediate-risk genes included in the model, based on the different predictors of risk (RFs and PRS), for two family histories.

(A,B) Lifetime risk for a carrier of a PV in BRCA1. (C,D) lifetime risk for a carrier of a PV in BRCA2. (E,F) lifetime risk for a carrier of a PV in ventolin price RAD51D. (G,H) lifetime risk for a carrier of a PV in RAD51C. (I,J) lifetime risk for a carrier ventolin price of a PV in BRIP1.

(A,C,E,G,I) Risks for an unknown family history. (B,D,F,H,J) risks for a woman ventolin price whose mother is diagnosed with EOC at age 50. Predictions based on UK ovarian cancer incidences. EOC, epithelial tubo-ovarian cancer. PRS, Polygenic ventolin price Risk Score.

PV, pathogenic variant. RF, risk factor.Figure 3 shows the predicted lifetime EOC risk ventolin price for carriers of PVs in BRCA1, BRCA2, RAD51D, RAD51C and BRIP1 based on RFs and PRS for two FH scenarios. Taking a RAD51D PV carrier, for example, based on PV testing and FH alone, the predicted risks are 13% when FH is unknown and 23% when having a mother diagnosed with EOC at age 50. When RFs and the PRS are considered jointly, risks vary from 4% for those at ventolin price the 1st percentile to 28% for the 99th with unknown FH and from 9% to 43% with an affected mother. Table 1 shows the proportion of women with PVs falling into different risk categories.

Based on the combined distribution, 33% of RAD51D PV carriers in the population are expected to have ventolin price a lifetime EOC risk of less than 10%. Similarly, the distributions of risk for BRIP1 PV carriers are shown in figure 3I,J and in table 1. Based on the combined RFs and PRS distributions, 46% of BRIP1 PV carriers in the population are expected to have lifetime risks of less than 5%. 47% to have risks between 5% and 10%, ventolin price and 7% to have risks of 10% or greater. A BRIP1 PV carrier with an affected mother, on the basis of FH alone, has a lifetime risk of 11%.

However, when the RFs and PRS are considered, 50% of those would be reclassified as having lifetime risks of less than 10%.Online supplemental figures S4 and S5 show the probability trees describing the reclassification of women as more information (RFs, PRS and testing for PVs in the MGs) is added ventolin price to the model for a woman with unknown FH and a woman with a mother diagnosed at age 50, respectively, based on the predicted lifetime risks. Online supplemental figures S4A and S5A show the reclassification resulting from adding RFs, MG and PRS sequentially, while online supplemental figures S4B and S5B assume the order RFs, PRS and then MG. Assuming the three risk categories for lifetime risks are <5% and ≥5% but <10% and≥10%, there is significant reclassification as more information is ventolin price added.Model validationAfter censoring, 1961 participants with 374 incident cases and 1587 controls met the 5-year risk prediction eligibility criteria. Online supplemental table S5 summarises their characteristics at baseline.The model considering FH, the 15-variant PRS and a subset of the RFs (but not including testing for PVs in the MGs) demonstrated good calibration in both absolute and relative predicted risk (figure 4). Over the 5-year period, the model predicted 391 EOCs, close to the 374 observed (E/O=1.05, 95% CI.

0.94 to ventolin price 1.16). The model was well calibrated across the quintiles of predicted risk (HL p=0.08), although there was a suggestion of an underprediction of risk in the lowest quintile (absolute risk E/O=0.66, 95% CI. 0.52 to ventolin price 0.91. RR E/O=0.63, 95% CI. 0.42 to ventolin price 0.95).

The AUC for assessing discrimination of these model components was 0.61 (95% CI. 0.58 to 0.64).Calibration of the absolute and relative predicted 5-year EOC risks, showing the observed and expected risks by quintile. The bars show the ventolin price 95% CIs for the observed risks. Relative risks were calculated relative to the overall mean of observed and predicted risks. AUC, area under the receiver operating characteristic curve." data-icon-position data-hide-link-title="0">Figure 4 Calibration of the absolute and relative predicted 5-year EOC ventolin price risks, showing the observed and expected risks by quintile.

The bars show the 95% CIs for the observed risks. Relative risks were calculated relative to the ventolin price overall mean of observed and predicted risks. AUC, area under the receiver operating characteristic curve.When looking at individual factors, FH predicted the widest 5 year risk variability (SD=0.0013. Range. 0.04% to 4.0%), followed by RFs (SD=0.0010.

Range. 0.02% to 0.7%) and PRS (SD=0.0009. Range. 0.05% to 1.0%, online supplemental figure S6). As expected, their sequential inclusion increased the variability (SD=0.0018.

Online supplemental figure S6).DiscussionThe EOC risk prediction model presented here combines the effects of FH, the explicit effects of rare moderate-risk to high-risk PVs in five established EOC susceptibility genes, a 36-variant PRS and other clinical and epidemiological factors (table 1). The model provides a consistent approach for estimating EOC risk on the basis of all known factors and allows for prevention approaches to be targeted at those at highest risk.The results demonstrate that in the general population (unknown FH), the existing PRS and RF alone identify 0.6% of women who have a lifetime risk of >5% (table 2). On the other hand, for women with FH, 37.1% of women would have a predicted risk between 5% and 10% and 1.2% would have an EOC risk of ≥10% (table 2). The results show that the RFs provide a somewhat greater level of risk stratification than the 36-variant PRS. However, discrimination is greater when both are considered jointly.

These results were in line with the observed risk distributions in the validation dataset, but direct comparisons were not possible due to the different variants included in the PRSs and limited RFs in the validation study. The results also show that significant levels of risk recategorisation can occur for carriers of PVs in moderate-risk or high-risk susceptibility genes.The comprehensive risk model is based on a synthetic approach previously used for BC30 and makes several assumptions. In particular, we assumed that the risks associated with known RFs and the PRS combine multiplicatively. We have not assessed this assumption in the present study. However, published studies found no evidence of deviations from the multiplicative model for the combined effect of the RFs and the PRS,28 suggesting that this assumption is reasonable.

The model assumes that the RFs are also independent of the residual polygenic component that captures the effect of FH. However, for the RFs included, we used estimates from published studies that have adjusted for the other known EOC RFs. The observation that the model was calibrated on the RR scale in the UKCTOCS validation study also suggests that these assumptions are broadly valid.Similarly, the model assumes that the relative effect-sizes of RFs and the PRS are similar in women carrying PVs in BRCA1, BRCA2, RAD51C, RAD51D and BRIP1 to those without PVs in these genes. Evidence from studies of BRCA1 and BRCA2 PV carriers suggests that this assumption is plausible. PRSs for EOC have been shown to be associated with similar RRs in the general population and in BRCA1 and BRCA2 PV carriers.34 38 39 The current evidence also suggests that known RFs have similar effect sizes in BRCA1 and BRCA2 PV carriers as in non-carriers.40 41 No studies have so far assessed the joint effects of RAD51C, RAD51D and BRIP1 PVs with the PRS, but the observation that FH modifies EOC risk for RAD51C/D PV carriers29 suggests that similar arguments are likely to apply.

Large prospective studies are required to address these questions in more detail. We were not able to validate these assumptions explicitly in UKCTOCS because gene-panel testing data were not available.Other RFs for EOC that have been reported in the literature include breast feeding42 and age at menarche and menopause.25 However, the evidence for these RFs is still limited. Our model is flexible enough to allow for additional RFs to be incorporated in the future.We validated the 5-year predicted risks on the basis of FH, RFs and PRS available in an independent dataset from a prospective trial.2 A key strength was that EOC was a primary outcome in UKCTOCS. All cases were reviewed and confirmed by an independent outcome review committee.2 The results indicated that absolute and RRs were well calibrated overall and in the top quintiles of predicted risk. However, there was some underprediction of EOC in the bottom quintile.

This could be due to differences in the RF distributions in those who volunteer to participate in research (self-selected more healthy individuals43) compared with the general population or due to random variations in the effects of the RFs in UKCTOCS compared with other studies. Alternatively, the multiplicative assumption may break down in the lowest-risk category. Further, large prospective cohorts will be required to determine whether the underprediction in the lowest risk category reflects a systematic miscalibration of the model or is due to chance. Although the AUC based on model components in this validation study was modest. It is not surprising given that only a subset of the model predictors were used, and UKCTOCS recruited primarily low-risk women.

Inclusion of the optimal PRS,34 all RFs and information on PVs in the five genes that account for a large fraction of the EOC FRR are expected to lead to an increase in AUC.The current validation study has some limitations. The underlying model accounts for FH information on both affected and unaffected family members, but the UKCTOCS recruitment questionnaire did not include information on unaffected family members. Family sizes and ages for unobserved family members were imputed using demographic data. In addition, since information on whether the affected family members were from the paternal or maternal side was absent, we assumed all the affected family members were from the same (maternal) side. This may result in inaccuracies in risk predictions.

A further limitation is that UKCTOCS was undertaken to assess screening of low-risk women and therefore is not necessarily representative of a true population cohort, as women with a FH of two or more relatives with EOC or who were known carriers of BRCA1/2 PVs were not eligible to participate in the randomised controlled trial. Data were not available on the rare moderate-risk and high-risk PVs, and we were only able to assess a PRS with 15 variants, rather than the more informative 36-variant PRS. Therefore, it has not been possible to validate the full model presented here. Future analyses in other cohorts will be required to further validate the full model.In summary, we have presented a methodological framework for a comprehensive EOC risk prediction model that considers the currently known genetic and epidemiological RFs and explicit FH. The model allows users to obtain consistent, individualised EOC risks.

It can also be used to identify target populations for studies to assess novel prevention strategies (such as salpingectomy) or early detection approaches by identifying those at higher risk of developing the disease for enrolment into such studies. Future independent studies should aim to validate the full model, including the full PRS and rare PVs in diverse settings. The model is available via the CanRisk Tool (www.canrisk.org), a user-friendly web tool that allows users to obtain future risks of developing EOC.Data availability statementThe model is freely available online (www.canrisk.org). For access to UK Collaborative Trial of Ovarian Cancer Screening (UKCTOCS) dataset, which is subject to General Data Protection Regulations rules, please contact the UKCTOCS Biobank coordinator (s.apostolidou@ucl.ac.uk). The data access process is outlined online (http://uklwc.mrcctu.ucl.ac.uk/access-process/).Ethics statementsPatient consent for publicationNot required.Ethics approvalThe study was approved by local ethical review committees.

UK Collaborative Trial of Ovarian Cancer Screening was approved by the UK North West Multicentre Research Ethics Committees (North West MREC 00/8/34) on 21 June 2000 with site-specific approval from the local regional ethics committees and the Caldicott guardians (data controllers) of the primary care trusts. The SNP protocol was approved by NRES Committee North West - Liverpool Central (14/NW1026) in June 2014.AcknowledgmentsThe authors are particularly grateful to those throughout the UK who are participating in the trial and to the centre leads and the entire medical, nursing and administrative staff who work on the UK Collaborative Trial of Ovarian Cancer Screening..