Challenges with cancer pain management: novel opioid shortages and cancer trials restrictions.

Patients with advanced cancer often experience bothersome symptoms requiring specialist palliative care input. Oncology clinical trials commonly include a list of prohibited medications while on trial, to avoid potential drug interactions with the investigational product. This case series illustrates how recent opioid shortages combined with prohibited opioids in clinical trials significantly impacted cancer pain control and quality of life.

Optimized Synthetic Correlated Diffusion Imaging for Improving Breast Cancer Tumor Delineation.

Breast cancer is a significant cause of death from cancer in women globally, highlighting the need for improved diagnostic imaging to enhance patient outcomes. Accurate tumor identification is essential for diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring, emphasizing the importance of advanced imaging technologies that provide detailed views of tumor characteristics and disease. Recently, a new imaging modality named synthetic correlated diffusion imaging (CDI) has been showing promise for enhanced prostate cancer delineation when compared to existing MRI imaging modalities.

Sex and Age Differences in Glucocorticoid Signaling After an Aversive Experience in Mice.

Background: glucocorticoids may play an important role in the formation of fear memory, which is relevant to the neurobiology of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In our previous study, we showed the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) forms a protein complex with FKBP51, which prevents translocation of GR into the nucleus to affect gene expression; this complex is elevated in PTSD patients and by fear-conditioned learning in mice, and disrupting this complex blocks the storage and retrieval of fear-conditioned memories. The timing of release of glucocorticoid relative to the formation of a traumatic memory could be important in this process, and remains poorly understood.

The overlooked role of microbiota-gut-brain communication in child psychiatry: a call for integration in early intervention strategies.

Emerging research has highlighted the significant role of microbiota-gut-brain communication in child psychiatric disorders, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and anxiety disorders. Despite this, mainstream psychiatric interventions for children continue to focus predominantly on neurological and psychological therapies, neglecting the critical influence of gut microbiota on brain development and behavior. This commentary underscores the need for greater integration of microbiota-targeted therapies, such as dietary interventions, prebiotics, and probiotics, into early psychiatric intervention strategies.

Visualizing hemodynamics: innovative graphical displays and imaging techniques in anesthesia and critical care.

The advancements in cardiovascular imaging over the past two decades have been significant. The miniaturization of ultrasound devices has greatly contributed to their widespread adoption in operating rooms and intensive care units. The integration of AI-enabled tools has further transformed the field by simplifying echocardiographic evaluations and enhancing the reproducibility of hemodynamic measurements, even for less experienced operators.